Several times in my writing I have brought up the fact that the Bible is full of examples for us. The Bible is full of flawed men and women, full of mistake ridden examples. The nice part of this is that while they are mistake prone, they have been called by God to do His Work.
There is an extreme comfort in this, for I, like most of us, am mistake prone, imperfect and flawed.
Perhaps the most confusing part of all this is that God knew in advance that the world He was creating was going to be filled with sin filled, sin powered, if you will, man. God called these sin filled men and had them do His Pure and Righteous work.
He did this knowing that they were sin filled, that not only were they imperfect, they were fatally flawed before He called them, He also knew they would go off track AFTER He called them.
He knew.
Some of the greatest example of God's men in the Bible were less than mighty and pure before He called, and they fell out of the Pure and Righteous life after they were called. They forgot the God who called them, His laws, and His Ways.
Again, the most confusing part is that God knew that He was calling flawed vessels, He also knew that their once mighty example would be set aside and shunned by them as they got further away from having His Spirit, His direct calling on them.
The second most confusing part is that God would include the imperfections in His Word. He did not just give us the glowing examples of His miracles, His Power, and His Majesty. He also showed us the seamier side of the men He called. In all the works of Non-Fiction "religious" writings I can see no one putting forth imperfect examples. Yet God has shown us both sides of the coin.
He knew.
He knew we needed to know the whole story.
He knew we needed the positive examples to draw on, also that we needed the imperfections to assure us that we are not unique or alone in our own travails.
Gideon who took 300 men and defeated the mighty armies of the Midianites, fell out of God's will and married many women against the Words of God.
Solomon who asked for wisdom and knowledge from God instead of fame and fortune, forgot that wisdom and fell into sin, He chased after the pleasures of the world, he had many wives and concubines, he was gluttonous and a party boy.
David who was pure and a man after God's own heart, in later years became a murderer, an adulterer and again, married many women.
Abraham who was a friend of God lied twice about his wife being his sister in an attempt to save his own skin, took a servant of His wife and had a child causing dissension in the world that lasts unto today. Then in an attempt to save the peace in his house left the servant and her child in the desert to die.
Now what I want you take away from all this isn't the end of the story or the beginning or the middle.
I want you to take away the WHOLE story.
God knew.
He knew what was going to happen, He called them, they did His Work and then they still made mistakes, sinned after they saw the mighty wondrous works God did.
God knew and called them anyway.
Our God is a forgiving God.
Our God is not just the God of second chances He is the God of 3 or 4 chances.
Now I realize that He would prefer we do not need more than one chance, but He shows us that He can still work with the imperfect, the flawed no matter how many times we fall.
Daniel never fell out of service and faithfulness.
Enoch walked with God and was translated to live with God without ever physically dying that we are aware of.
Job stood tall in his faithfulness.
Joshua and Caleb were faithful all of their days.
So God in His infinite Wisdom gave us three types of examples.
The faithful and true.
The flawed yet good intentioned ones.
The few who resented God's calling and did His Will despite their best efforts to not do His Will.
Samson wasted his life using the Power of God for His own purposes.
Jonah was angry and bitter, ran from God and when he did repent and fulfill God's purpose He pouted like a child the whole time.
He even used Judas Iscariot to fulfill prophesy that had to be fulfilled to finish the work started in the Old Testament. Even the traitor had a purpose in God's Will.
God knew the beginning and end of each of those He called, Yet He still used them. When they fell He still used them. When they refused He used them.
He knew.
How many of us knowing what little we know would have used them anyway? How many of us would then have chronicled the mighty works AND the sin in the same work? We just want the glowing terms that make us look good. He wanted the whole story put in writing so that we might have both the positive and negative examples set before us.
He knew we would need both the good and the bad examples.
He knew what He was doing all along.
Imagine that.
Christ tells Thomas that Thomas saw and believed, then, looking down through the generations, He speaks directly to us.
(Joh 20:27) Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
(Joh 20:28) And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
(Joh 20:29) Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
God knew.
That is an extremely comforting fact. He knew.
He is in control.
He is Forgiving.
He knows us, not only our potential to do His Work, but our propensity to fall along the way.
He knew.
He knew all about us and loved us anyway.
Praise the Lord, He knew.
There is an extreme comfort in this, for I, like most of us, am mistake prone, imperfect and flawed.
Perhaps the most confusing part of all this is that God knew in advance that the world He was creating was going to be filled with sin filled, sin powered, if you will, man. God called these sin filled men and had them do His Pure and Righteous work.
He did this knowing that they were sin filled, that not only were they imperfect, they were fatally flawed before He called them, He also knew they would go off track AFTER He called them.
He knew.
Some of the greatest example of God's men in the Bible were less than mighty and pure before He called, and they fell out of the Pure and Righteous life after they were called. They forgot the God who called them, His laws, and His Ways.
Again, the most confusing part is that God knew that He was calling flawed vessels, He also knew that their once mighty example would be set aside and shunned by them as they got further away from having His Spirit, His direct calling on them.
The second most confusing part is that God would include the imperfections in His Word. He did not just give us the glowing examples of His miracles, His Power, and His Majesty. He also showed us the seamier side of the men He called. In all the works of Non-Fiction "religious" writings I can see no one putting forth imperfect examples. Yet God has shown us both sides of the coin.
He knew.
He knew we needed to know the whole story.
He knew we needed the positive examples to draw on, also that we needed the imperfections to assure us that we are not unique or alone in our own travails.
Gideon who took 300 men and defeated the mighty armies of the Midianites, fell out of God's will and married many women against the Words of God.
Solomon who asked for wisdom and knowledge from God instead of fame and fortune, forgot that wisdom and fell into sin, He chased after the pleasures of the world, he had many wives and concubines, he was gluttonous and a party boy.
David who was pure and a man after God's own heart, in later years became a murderer, an adulterer and again, married many women.
Abraham who was a friend of God lied twice about his wife being his sister in an attempt to save his own skin, took a servant of His wife and had a child causing dissension in the world that lasts unto today. Then in an attempt to save the peace in his house left the servant and her child in the desert to die.
Now what I want you take away from all this isn't the end of the story or the beginning or the middle.
I want you to take away the WHOLE story.
God knew.
He knew what was going to happen, He called them, they did His Work and then they still made mistakes, sinned after they saw the mighty wondrous works God did.
God knew and called them anyway.
Our God is a forgiving God.
Our God is not just the God of second chances He is the God of 3 or 4 chances.
Now I realize that He would prefer we do not need more than one chance, but He shows us that He can still work with the imperfect, the flawed no matter how many times we fall.
Daniel never fell out of service and faithfulness.
Enoch walked with God and was translated to live with God without ever physically dying that we are aware of.
Job stood tall in his faithfulness.
Joshua and Caleb were faithful all of their days.
So God in His infinite Wisdom gave us three types of examples.
The faithful and true.
The flawed yet good intentioned ones.
The few who resented God's calling and did His Will despite their best efforts to not do His Will.
Samson wasted his life using the Power of God for His own purposes.
Jonah was angry and bitter, ran from God and when he did repent and fulfill God's purpose He pouted like a child the whole time.
He even used Judas Iscariot to fulfill prophesy that had to be fulfilled to finish the work started in the Old Testament. Even the traitor had a purpose in God's Will.
God knew the beginning and end of each of those He called, Yet He still used them. When they fell He still used them. When they refused He used them.
He knew.
How many of us knowing what little we know would have used them anyway? How many of us would then have chronicled the mighty works AND the sin in the same work? We just want the glowing terms that make us look good. He wanted the whole story put in writing so that we might have both the positive and negative examples set before us.
He knew we would need both the good and the bad examples.
He knew what He was doing all along.
Imagine that.
Christ tells Thomas that Thomas saw and believed, then, looking down through the generations, He speaks directly to us.
(Joh 20:27) Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
(Joh 20:28) And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
(Joh 20:29) Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
God knew.
That is an extremely comforting fact. He knew.
He is in control.
He is Forgiving.
He knows us, not only our potential to do His Work, but our propensity to fall along the way.
He knew.
He knew all about us and loved us anyway.
Praise the Lord, He knew.
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