Why Does God Require Faith?

 Many do not accept God because they cannot do so without undeniable evidence of His existence. They do not have faith that He exists. We know God requires faith because He told us:

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

Why didn’t God make it easy for people to know He exists and remove the need for faith? I believe part of it has to do with being made in His image.

26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”

Genesis 1:26 (HCSB)

God is spirit (John 4:24). He did not physically make us in His image but modeled our character and desires after His. So, is there something about God’s character that would require us to need faith to believe in Him and not rely purely on logic? I think there is.

Say a five-year-old child ran away from home and fell into an old well. The well was deep, and the cold water was up to the child’s neck. The walls were unstable and had partially collapsed when the boy fell in. The child had broken both arms in the fall, so there was no way he could get out on his own. The walls could easily collapse completely if someone else went down to rescue the child.

Pure logic dictates not sending anyone down to rescue the child because it would endanger that person. The child was simply suffering from his own choices.

However, almost no one would think like that. Of course, we would want to rescue the poor little boy. He didn’t know his choice to run away would lead to this. He must be terrified and in pain. There is no way we would let him tire out and slip below the cold water to drown. We would go beyond logic to embrace love and compassion to get the boy out of the well.

On the other extreme, if someone acted purely on emotions, a mother or father might jump headfirst into the well to get down there to comfort and protect their child. That would be a stupid thing to do because it would likely result in both of them dying.

So, to rescue that child, reason and compassion must work together. Compassion, motivating someone to risk themself to save the child, and logic, determining how to retrieve the child while keeping the rescuer safe.

How does this relate to being made in God’s image and Him requiring faith to be in a relationship with Him? God could have given us clear, undeniable evidence of his existence, making it illogical to say He doesn’t exist. However, that would only require the reasoning part of us to accept; it would require nothing from the compassionate part. Conversely, He doesn’t want us to believe in Him merely on feelings. God created us so our reasoning and compassion would work together. He wants us to accept Him with our entire being, not but part of it.

To satisfy the reasoning part of us, He has given us evidence of His existence:

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Romans 1:20 (NIV)

We need to believe that He exists. The evidence is substantial but not undeniable. He left room for doubt. Faith is required for the reasoning part of us to believe He exists.

We also need to believe that He loves us. He has given us evidence of His love by sending Jesus to die in our place and save us from our sins. However, He left room for doubt in this as well. Faith is required for the compassionate part of us to believe He loves us.

God requires faith because that is the only way our entire being can come to Him. He could have given undeniable, logical evidence of His existence, but how can you provide absolute proof that you love someone? There is always room for doubt about someone’s motivation. So, God could only ever satisfy part of our being by showing Himself to us. Therefore, He stays mostly hidden, revealing Himself through His creation and His care for us.

We are that child trapped in the well. We had no hope of saving ourselves without God climbing down into the well with us, at certain risk to Himself, and pulling us out. Thank God that His reasoning and love worked together to save us from ourselves. Thank God that He created us to be like Him.

Natural Suffering

If God is good and all-powerful, He wouldn’t allow suffering. That’s what many people think, especially during this season of Covid-19. People wonder how God could allow this, or things like earthquakes, floods, and tornadoes, to ravage our world. Others wonder why He sent this into the world. We may never know if this is an attack by Satan or a test from God, but that should not change our response to this pandemic or any trial. It also doesn’t need to threaten our faith.

This is not the first time the world has seen something like Covid-19. It is important to understand that a pandemic happens about every century. The Spanish Flu was almost exactly 100 years ago in 1918 and killed 40-50 million. In 1885, the Third Plaque killed 12 million. A Cholera outbreak in 1717 killed about 1 million. The Italian Plaque killed 1 million in 1629. In 1520, Smallpox killed 56 million. And the most famous of them all, the Black Plaque of 1347 killed 200 million. (Stats from the Visual Capitalist). Keep in mind that as you go back in time, the population of the world gets smaller.

We live in a broken world. Disease and death result from living in this sinful condition. Jesus came to save us from the ultimate consequences of that condition, but not to remove all traces of the taint of sin from our lives in this life.

Many see the sickness and death around us wonder how an all-loving God could allow such a thing. Or they may decide God is not powerful enough to stop Covid (the Spanish Flu, the Plaque, earthquakes, etc). Satan tries to get Christians to think if they have faith then things like Covid will not touch them or their families. Then when trouble comes, and it will, doubt comes along with it. Satan uses this doubt to turn many away from God, or to drive a wedge between them and God to start pushing them away from Him. He wants you to be angry at God for this disease when the real source of the problem is Satan himself. If not for sin, death and disease would not be a problem. And we know who helped get sin into this creation.

Satan also wants us to think this pain and suffering is pointless. That is far from the truth. Times like these force us to realize we are not as powerful or as in control as we foolishly thought we were. It should drive us toward God to seek the peace that only He can offer through any trial. These difficult times force us to choose. Will our faith grow stronger or will we start turning from that faith? Trials force change. Change can be good. Stagnation is never good.

What is the source of these plaques? We do not know for sure, but we see in the book of Job that Satan had power over a storm, lightning, strong winds, and groups of people to cause all these to do his bidding. Satan has power in this world, and he will use that power to cause chaos and destruction. God is not the only one who has the power to cause things like these, but He is typically the one everyone blames.

Mankind may also be to blame for some of the natural suffering we endure. We have messed up the environment. We have killed off animal species. We chose to live in areas of the world that are clearly unsafe. Science has reached into areas we do not fully understand, causing undesired results or fallout. We eat foods that God did not declare to be food. We live in ways He explicitly told us are not healthy. There are frequently negative consequences from doing these things.

Like Job, we can question God, but also like Job, God may very well put us in our place and show us how ignorant we were in doing so. He may even show you how you (or we) were to blame, and we falsely accused God.

For me, I’ll have faith that no matter the source of this current trial, or future ones, that God can make good result from it, and I’ll look for how I can play a part in the good that is occurring.

We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

Why Evil?

Why does God allow evil? That is likely the most common reason people have for rejecting God. They look around the world and recognize it is messed up. People do horrible things to each other, so they reasonably ask themselves, “If God is all-loving and all-powerful, how can there be evil?”

The answer to this problem is found in 2 Peter 3:9: The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance. It is God’s desire that all people come to repentance, which is a churchy way of saying He wants everyone to stop doing bad things and seek Him instead. Obviously, everyone is not doing that. If it is God’s will that this happen but it is not happening, what does that mean? It means we can choose if we will turn to Him or try to find our own way through life. In other words, we have freewill. We can make our own decisions and those lead us closer to or further away from God.

Something closely tied to the concept of freewill is that God wants us to choose to love Him. Without freewill we would have no say in the matter. If God forced us to love Him, that would be no different from rape. He would be forcing His will on us against what our own will would had been if He had allowed us to have our own will. It would be brainwashing at the deepest level. Even though it would be for our own good, it would still be forced upon us.

Therefore, God must allow freewill so we can choose to love Him. However, the cost is that people can make horrible decisions which have devastating effects on others. Could God step in and stop those actions? Yes, but actions are not the only thing God views as evil. Jesus told us in Matthew 5:21-22, “You have heard that it was said to our ancestors, Do not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you, everyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” So, for God to stop evil, He would have to stop us from thinking evil. This gets us right back to having freewill. If God controlled our thoughts, we would not have freewill.

In summary, the reason evil exists is the same reason there is love: freewill. God allows us to choose to follow Him or our own desires. The fruit of those choices are love and evil. So, for there to be no evil, there would also be no love. That is too high a price to pay. Therefore, God chose to send Jesus to pay the price for evil so we could experience the gift of love.

[Nothing here is original except for the packaging of these concepts. I formed my thoughts about this question from the Bible, and other authors such as C. S. Lewis, Timothy Keller, N.T. Wright, and William Lane Craig.]

The Golden Rule

I am sure you have heard the Golden Rule from Luke 6:31-32, which says, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (NIV) Perhaps you have heard it stated like this, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This is straight from Jesus and a good rule to live by.

Christianity is not the only religion to have a rule like this. Confucianism has what is called the Silver Rule: ‘What you do not wish done to you, do not do to others.’ This is basically the Golden Rule stated in the negative form.

The Golden Rule works very well if used correctly. However, it is very easy to apply this in the wrong way. I know I have. How could you apply such a wonderful concept incorrectly? Actually, it is quite easy if you do not consider the context of the rule.

The verses immediately preceding the Golden Rule say:

²⁷…Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. ²⁹If anyone hits you on the cheek, offer the other also. And if anyone takes away your coat, don’t hold back your shirt either. ³⁰Give to everyone who asks you, and from one who takes your things, don’t ask for them back. (Luke 6:27-30 HCSB)

The context of the section containing the Golden Rule is all about doing what is best for someone else even if it is difficult. The rule is about doing the right thing. It is important to note that the right thing may not be the first thing that comes to mind. To apply the Golden Rule correctly, you have to understand the needs of the other person.

I often phrase the rule this way to myself, “Treat others as you would want to be treated if you were in their exact situation.” One problem I have in doing this is seeing things from someone else’s perspective, but you absolutely have to do that to live out this rule. Without understanding the needs and backgrounds of the people you are trying to help, you could harm them.

An extreme example may illustrate this point. Say you are walking in the woods one day and hear splashing and screaming. You run through the trees to see someone splashing in a lake who is tangled up in rope. You were already thirsty before hearing the screams. The run to the lake made your throat feel like sandpaper. You could apply “do unto others as you would have them do to you” literally. You might think, I am very thirsty, and I would really like a drink of water from this jug of mine. Therefore, I will toss my jug to that drowning man so he can have a drink of refreshing water. I am really sacrificing here. I am such an awesome Christian.

That is obviously an absurd example, but it clearly shows what misapplying this rule can lead to hurting someone when you intended to help. Unfortunately, this happens frequently.

I am by no means saying that you should not try to apply the Golden Rule as much as possible. You simply need to give some thought as to how you wish to help someone before you do it.

God’s Timing in the Lives of Vance and Juli

I sat at a table in my tuxedo, alone, sad, and disappointed. There were a couple of hundred people around me in that large room, but I had rarely felt as alone as I did at that moment. 1995 was only minutes old, and I had just finished a long and frustrating 1994.

I was at the old train depot in downtown Atlanta, right next to the Coke Museum and Underground Atlanta, at a Christian New Year’s Eve celebration. I was the only guy in our group of seven who had gone down for this event. I was ‘chaperoning’ six women from my church. I don’t think they really needed a chaperone. They probably just felt sorry for me and invited me along.

It was a nice event and the room we were in was about 150 feet long and 30 feet wide, with a third of it set up as a dance floor. Christian music was blasting and people were having a good time. Well, most of them were.

I know it is cliché, but I was very much alone in a crowded room. I sat at that table praying and telling God that I had finally learned the lesson He had been trying to teach me. It had literally taken one year, pretty much to the minute, to learn this lesson.

It all started the previous New Year’s Eve. I had been out with a group from my church on that New Year’s too. We had gone to a concert. I was 28 years-old at the time and was ready to settle down. Just after midnight on that trip, I told God: “This year we are going to find my wife. I am ready to have a family.”

I had started 1994 with a very positive attitude. I was ready to get married and I was excited that it was going to happen that year with the plan God and I were putting into place. I was very enthusiastic about implementing that plan. I hit the ground running and had a date early in January followed by another date not too longer after that. Unfortunately, those dates were not with the same girl. That developed into a pattern for most of 1994: A lot of first dates but very few second or third dates. I just was not connecting with any of these women. I did date a couple of women multiple times, but I always felt I was forcing myself to stay with them in the hope that something would blossom. Instead, all those relationships rotted on the vine.

I worked very hard that year to implement the plan I thought God and I were working on together. In the back of my mind, I did not want to be thirty and single and that deadline was rapidly approaching.

Just prior to going to sit by myself at that table, I had just been outside to apathetically watch the birth of 1995 with a brilliant fireworks display that was launched from somewhere in downtown Atlanta. We had a good view from our location standing just outside the train depot. I think it was a very nice display, but I remember very little about it.

The event itself was fabulous. I enjoyed myself right up to the point of walking out to see the fireworks. The group of girls I was accompanying were fun, and I liked being around them, but there was no chance of any relationships sprouting from that group. In fact, I had already dated two of them. We were all just friends. In fact, one of the girls in our group whom I had dated ended up being a bridesmaid in my wedding, but that’s jumping ahead.

I had danced with a few women who were not in our group, but there was just nothing there either. I had seen this one girl who caught my eye several times that night. However, she was always on the opposite side of the dance floor. I had even tried swapping sides a few times only to find she had left the dance floor or worse had swapped sides as well, so I never managed to dance with her before midnight.

It was standing out among the dazzling display of moving lights in the sky when it fully struck me that the plan of finding my wife in 1994 had failed. I wondered why God had failed to implement our plan. 1994 was over and I stood there among many couples giving each other New Year’s kisses while disappointment sank into me. That is when I went back inside and sat down at the table by myself.

I sat thinking about the plan I had thought God and I had been working on all year when I realized that God had not been a part of that plan at all, I had told God what my plan was and simply expected Him to fall into line.

I prayed something very similar to this after that realization:

Lord, I get it now. I was so arrogant to think I could tell you when you should do anything. I am so sorry, Lord. Who am I to tell you anything? I realize I must wait on your timing and that your timing is always better than mine anyway, unless my timeline just happens to match what you already have planned. In that case, it is once again your timing and not mine anyway.

I am sorry I tried to tell you to find me a wife last year. I understand now that I must wait until you think it is the right time for me, if you want me to be married at all. I will serve you as a single man all my life if that is your will. I am willing to submit to your will, Lord. However, I would prefer to be married and  will wait until you feel it is the right time for me to find a wife who will help me be more of the Christian man I need to be. In Christ’s name I pray, Amen.

After I prayed that prayer, I sat thinking about what God might want me to do next. I sat there less than two minutes before one of the women from my group walked up and asked if I wanted to come dance with the group. I told her I did not feel like dancing any more. She insisted and grabbed me by the arm and hauled me out of my chair back. She led me back into the dancing crowd.

About ten feet into the crowd I come within five feet of the girl I kept seeing across the dance floor all night. I pulled on the girl’s arm who was leading me to our group. She turned around and I leaned over and told her, “We are dancing right here.” She shrugged and we stopped. We started mixing in with the crowd around us as we danced.

I turned and made eye contact with the girl I had wanted to dance with all night. We started dancing and trying to talk to each other over the blaring music. Eight months and four days later I married her. We celebrated our 20th anniversary last year. She certainly has helped me develop as the Christian leader God is directing me to be.

This is an awesome story, but the most impressive part is that I could see Romans 8:28 at work through this. For a refresher, here is Romans 8:28:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (NIV)

I tried telling God what to do and when. Instead of being angry with me and keeping me from ever getting what I wanted, He used it as a way to teach me to trust in His timing and in His plans. I do not subscribe to the myth that there is only one perfect (or even almost perfect) person out there for each of us. However, I do know that some couples are more compatible than others. Juli and I are more than compatible and I know God led me to her. I am extremely happy that He did.

God took my arrogant, selfish attitude and taught me something valuable that I will never forget: God's timing is perfect. Never try to force your timetable on God.

Love is Not Always Pretty

Valentine’s Day is about showing others how much you love them. A lot of love was shown last Valentine’s Day in the Kessler home. That was the day Grams (my mother) was taken out of the nursing home to continue her rehab at home. We did not know how long it would last, but we knew it would require many sacrifices from the whole family. We were willing to endure them to help Grams be happier and more comfortable. She really wanted to be back in her home and we really wanted to do whatever we could to help her.

There is something that happened that Valentine’s Day that you will NEVER find this written in any poems or songs, but it was one of the most romantic acts of love I have ever witnessed. This may sound odd to many of you, but some of you will understand exactly what I am talking about. There is nothing more romantic for a guy than having your wife clean your mom’s bottom after a messy episode so that you don’t have to. I will always deeply appreciate Juli loving my mom and me enough to endure doing that.

We miss you mom and I am very thankful for my wonderful wife.

Life Training

My wife and I are entering a season of life that has had me thinking about preparing my children for different aspects of their lives. I have been trying to make sure I have taught my daughter all she needs so she will be ready when she leaves for college next year. My son recently turned 15 and I have been teaching him how to drive.

There are many things we are trying to cram into our daughter, since this is the last year she will be living in our house. From talking with my friends, I am not alone in just now discovering some of the things we should have been doing for years. One simple example is getting up in the morning. We have slipped into the bad habit of letting her sometimes fail to extract herself from her bed when her alarm goes off. We then go in 5 or 10 minutes later to get her out of bed. In college, we will not be calling her in the morning to get out of bed. If she keeps this up, she will simply be late for class or miss it altogether. To prepare her, we are letting her know that we will no longer be her snooze alarm. If she fails to get up, she will be late. I know it will happen, and the first time will be quite painful, for her and for us, but it is the only way she will learn to rely on herself instead of on us.

There is a problem with that plan. She currently drives her brother to school. So, do we let her sleep in and cause her brother to be late as well? That is not fair to him. We are currently trying to work out the balance of teaching her versus having her actions affect her brother negatively.

It reminds me of the Biblical principal that you reap what you sow. Even though waking up is not a crucial spiritual matter, the principal still applies. If we let her continue to sow not getting herself out of bed, she will reap being late to classes in college. Not a major thing, but something to be avoided.

Teaching my son to drive falls into a different category. It is not only about teaching him rules and a new skill. There are serious safety factors to consider. Bad choices in driving can have far more devastating impacts than being late to school. It was hard to literally let go of the wheel and let him sit in the driver’s seat, and there have been a couple of times when I had to reach over to grab the wheel and point him in a safer direction. However, he will never learn to drive if I keep my hand on the wheel at all times.

Reflecting back on how I am teaching my kids these things, I cannot help but think about how God teaches us. He often allows us try new things knowing full well we have to learn as we go. He lets us sit in the driver’s seat with Him watching our progress. He knows we will make mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes are only inconveniences. Sometimes they are very painful. Sometimes those mistakes affect people who had no part in making the mistake.

God has to allow us to make those mistakes so we can learn from them and to allow our freewill to function. If God stepped in every time we were about to make a mistake, He would have to control almost every aspect and every decision of our lives. He did not design things that way. He allows us to make our own choices and to enjoy or suffer the consequences of those choices.

I know He sometimes reaches over to grab the wheel and move us out of the path of an oncoming disaster. But He cannot do that too often or we would not have freewill nor would we learn from the choices we make.

A Subtle Reminder

(If you think this doesn’t apply to you, wait till the end)

I was in the shower the other day when a spot on my back started to itch again. Even though it was my back that itched and not yours, you probably know exactly the spot I am talking about. It was that spot on your back that you just can’t reach yourself. It is a bit frustrating when there is an itch there.

I don’t seem to be the only one who suffers from getting an itch you just can’t scratch. In fact, there is a term for this exact thing:

Acnestis (ak-NEES-tis): The part of an animal's skin that it cannot reach to scratch itself - usually the space between the shoulder blades.

I was somewhat surprised to find a word for this plight.

All this got me to wondering why there is a spot we cannot reach. Did God create mankind in all our magnificence and then when Adam got the first itch on his back that he could not reach say “Oops, I didn’t think about that?” I highly doubt that God did not foresee this issue. I am not saying this is a major issue or anything. However, his ability to design to the smallest detail is so astounding that I believe He never says “Oops” about anything He has designed. (In fact my latest book is devoted to that exact topic: God Doesn’t Say Oops)

If God could foresee this problem, why did He not simply adjust the design of our shoulders or our elbows to bend just a few degrees more to be able to reach our acnestis (the spot we cannot reach)? This is total speculation on my part, but I believe I may know one reason why He gave us a spot we just could not reach alone. It may be a way for God to subtly remind each of us that we cannot do everything by ourselves; we often need help from others. This need is one of the primary reasons why God created the church. Sure, you can get a stick or something to scratch your back, but that still requires you to look outside yourself for help to some degree. The most fulfilling way to have that itch scratched is to have someone else scratch it for you. Then you can just relax and enjoy it.

God designed us to need other people in our lives. A very wise man once wrote:

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. – Proverbs 27:17 (HCSB)

Being around others helps us grow stronger (emotionally, mentally, and sometimes physically). There is also power in simply being with other people:

And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken. – Ecclesiastes 4:12 (HCSB)

God wants us to depend on other people and not merely on ourselves. That is one of the main purposes of Christ establishing the church. It is here to help us through this life.

So, the next time your back itches and you just can’t reach that itch, remember that you are not meant to go through life alone. Be thankful that God has put others in your life to help you with that itch and with the much more serious problems you encounter in your journey through this life.

[Addendum: Apparently some of us need to be reminded that we cannot do everything by ourselves more than others. After I wrote this blog, I showed it to my wife who quickly responded, “I can reach my entire back. I don’t have an acnestis.” Then, to my dismay, both of my kids and her promptly showed me that they can in fact reach every spot on their backs without any help. I then started to think I was quite unique in the fact that there is a massive area on my back that I cannot reach. After that, I started asking my friends, neighbors, and strangers if they did or did not have an acnestis. (I loved the looks I got from this question.) I was happy to discover that most people do in fact have a place on their backs which they cannot reach. I was not happy that they could not reach those spots but that my wife and 2 kids were the odd-balls and not myself.

So, if you have no trouble reaching everywhere on your body by yourself, then maybe you do not need to be reminded that you need help from others quite as much as I do.]

This is Not Plan B

Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Matthew 25:34 (HCSB)

Many people in the world have the misconception that Eve messed up the plan God had for us. There may even be some who think we would still be in the Garden of Eden if she had not taken a bite from that fruit.  However, Eve did not wreck God’s plans.  I will discuss why we know that is true in a bit, but I want us to think about this misconception first.  You may think this misunderstanding doesn’t really mean much, but there are some important implications to believing this lie.

One thing implied by this misconception is that humans have the power to hinder God’s plans.  We don’t.  God is far too powerful for that.  Thinking we can throw a monkey wrench into God’s plans is simply giving us too much credit.  Job had it right when he replied to God saying, “I know that You can do anything and no plan of Yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2)  Later, we will see why Eve did not mess up His plans.

Another thing implied by the misconception that Eve messed up God’s plans is that God did not see it coming.  That is not true.  God knew mankind would sin and would need to be saved from those sins.  The Bible tells us He had a plan to save us from our sins before He even created the world.  Paul tells us:

⁴For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love ⁵He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself.
Ephesians 1:4-5 (HCSB)

Before God even created the world, He knew we would need to be adopted back as His children through Jesus Christ.  God knew man was too weak to resist sin.  I am sure he knew Adam and Eve would sin since no person is strong enough to resist the attraction of sin.  Because He knew this, He planned for Jesus to die on the cross to pay the price of our sins before He even made us.  Wow, that is love!  God wanted us to be able to enjoy Him so much that the Father and the Son were willing to pay that price.

Some people think that since God knew Adam and Eve would fall to sin and since He placed the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil right there in front of them that God was setting them up for failure.  That is true in a sense but false in another.  It is true that God placing them in the Garden with the tree did guarantee them to fall victim to sin.  While this is true, God had already planned to pay the price for their mistake before He put them there.  It is kind of like having a teacher giving her students a VERY hard test on purpose.  The students fail the test horribly.  However, after she grades the tests and informs the students of their grades, she turns around and retakes the test herself and gives each student a 100% on the test.  While it is true that Adam and Eve failed the test, they still got to be 100% pure in the end because Jesus took the test too and passed it for them.

God’s plan for mankind was made before the creation of the world and before Adam and Eve’s sin.  That sin did not change His plan one bit.  The Heavenly Kingdom awaiting all Christians was planned before they sinned and even before this creation was made.

Gifts Eternal

As I am trying to get good deals on Christmas gifts for my kids and my wife, I wanted to take a minute and reflect on gifts in general.  Yes, it is fun to open up that new tablet, new camera, or new 70” television.  But, these things only give us pleasure for a short while.  It is good to give the people you love things which make them happy and show them you care about them, but we need to keep these things in the proper perspective.  It is also good to receive gifts.  However, we cannot let these short lived pleasures take our eyes off the gift God has planned for all Christians.

I have been thinking about Heaven much more since I wrote a book about it last year.  That experience really helped me gain an eternal perspective on life.  I still slip into short term thinking quite often, but I am getting better about thinking about the eternal impacts of my daily choices.  Thinking about the treasure of Heaven really helps when I am having “one of those days.”  So, this shopping season I have been reflecting on the differences between the gifts we give one another and the gifts God gives to us.

The most basic of the gifts God gave us is creation itself; without which we of course would not be around to appreciate anything God has to offer.  But more than that, He went far beyond what was required to keep us alive on this planet when He created the universe.  He created a vast cosmos which boggles our minds and which we can admire.  He created this earth with such beauty and majesty when he could have created everything in shades of gray.  We would have been perfectly functional if gray were all we could see.  We might have had shape-lights instead of red-lights but we would have managed just fine.  However, He wanted us to enjoy His creation and so He gave us the gift of seeing the beautiful colors which He created.  With this gift we can admire the stunning colors of a butterfly, the incredible shades of red and pink in the sunset, and the thousands of different types of flowers.  God went way beyond what we needed in the gift of creation.

No list of gifts from God would be complete without listing the gift of Jesus.  We in no way deserved for the Son of God to die to solve our problems, but He wanted to do it.  Even though this was something extremely hard to do, it brought Him joy to give this gift to us: “who for the joy set before him endured the cross.” (Heb 12:2 NIV)  Yes, the gift of salvation cost Jesus dearly, but He gladly paid that price to give it to us.  Jesus’ sacrifice could have made it possible for us to be with God as his slaves or servants and that would have still been a great blessing.  But, God went far beyond what we needed with this gift and actually adopts us as His children and makes us co-heirs with Christ. (Gal 4:7, Rom 8:17)  Once again He gave us much more than what we needed.

There are many other blessings and gifts which God gives to us.  I could not possibly list them all, but I do want to help us focus on the gift, or the prize, for which we are all striving as Christians.  We need to constantly keep in the forefront of our minds the eternal gift of Heaven which God is preparing for us.  No amount of mega-television sets, tablets, iPhones, or whatever can compare to what awaits each of us.  We may think we are going way beyond what is needed in a gift we give to someone.  But, no matter how extravagant the gift, the happiness it brings will fade with time.  “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36)  God is the only one who can truly meet our needs and even exceed them.

I am not saying we should not give gifts to each other (wife, did you catch that?).  I am merely saying we need to keep the gifts we give in perspective and give them for the same reasons God gives us gifts.  God’s gifts are all to enable us to have a relationship with Him and to help others do the same.  When we give a gift we should not expect the gift itself to work some miracle.  But, we should be focusing on how that gift will affect our relationship with the person we are giving it to.  The enjoyment of the gift will fade, but that relationship can last for all eternity.

While we are out fighting the crowds or online at home looking for that great deal on the perfect gift, we have to remember we cannot ever buy a perfect gift.  God is the only one who can give those.  It is good for us to give gifts to each other to show we care for each other.  However, we can only give things which may give temporary happiness.  That happiness will fade.  Only God can give gifts which give joy and happiness for all eternity.  Thank you God for this beautiful creation, the undeserved gift of Jesus’ sacrifice for us, and the other blessings we have in this life.  But, most of all, thank you for the gift of Heaven which you have planned for us.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV)

Heavenly Attitude

I came to a realization the other day while cutting the grass.  I should point out here that I do not particularly like cutting grass.  Actually, I pretty much have always hated it.  Simply having vegetation which holds my yard in place is pretty much sufficient for me.  If it is green vegetation, that is just a bonus.  However, my neighbors would not be very happy if I maintained my lawn this way.  So to maintain neighborly relations, I was cutting the grass.  While I was doing it this particular time, I was thinking about something I often tell my kids: Your attitude makes all the difference in whether you enjoy or hate doing something.

While I was cutting the grass, I started to think about how much I would rather be doing something else and started to have a bad attitude about the task at hand.  I knew if I looked at cutting the grass with a different perspective then I would be able to better enjoy the task.  I started thanking God for even having a yard with grass.  I thanked Him for my house and my family who lives there with me.   I went on to thank Him for many other things related to the house or the yard.  This change in perspective helped me to have a much better attitude about cutting the grass.

The concept that your attitude affects your enjoyment of what you are doing was not the realization that struck me that day.  I have known the importance of having a good attitude for many years.  It is something I continually try to impress upon my children and to practice myself.  I just have a hard time actually maintaining that good attitude all the time.  Two people can go through the same situation and one can hate it while the other can love it.  The difference in their level of enjoyment is purely based on their attitudes.  The same is true for upcoming events and whether you will view it with dread or fear.

A good example of how attitude affects your anticipation of an event happened in our house very recently.  A new school year just started.  We had one child who was extremely excited about the school year.  The other was fearful about many things and mostly dreaded it.  One chose to focus on the positive aspects and the other on the negative aspects and it totally shaped their attitudes about the upcoming event.  The one with the better attitude was able to look forward to and enjoy the first day of school.  Seeing how they approached this situation helped to emphasize that no matter what you are doing the better your attitude is toward that thing the more you will enjoy it.

The realization I had while cutting the grass was that our attitudes in Heaven will always be perfect.  Most people believe that in Heaven we will live in constant joy and I believe this to be true as well.  I cannot think of anything in the Bible which proves or disproves this belief.  But, it is hard to imagine having anything other than joy while being in the presence of God.  As we have seen, it is impossible to have joy with the wrong attitude.  Whatever we happen to be doing in Heaven we will have the best possible attitude about it.  This will lead us to receive the most enjoyment possible from whatever we are doing.  Of course, there is much more to Heaven than simply having the right attitude.  (You can read my book on Heaven (Heaven: Harps Optional) to see what I mean.)  It will certainly be easier in Heaven to have a good attitude since there will be no sickness or death.  However, even during this life, we can see how our attitude affects our enjoyment of any situation.  If Heaven is filled with joy, it must also be filled with people with awesome attitudes.

The closer we are to having the best possible attitude in this life, the closer we are to experiencing a little piece of Heaven right here.  When you find yourself upset about having to do something, try and change your perspective and your attitude to be more positive.  We cannot always do this of course but the more we attempt it the easier it becomes.  It may even become a habit if you work at it hard enough.  After it has been a habit long enough, it will simply be your character to have a positive attitude.  You will simply be that person who always has a good attitude and who people wish to be around.  That is what I am striving for but I have a long way to go.

There may or may not be grass in Heaven.  If there is, I highly doubt we will need to cut it.   But if we do, it will be with a huge smile on our faces.  Until I reach Heaven, I will be working at having a smile on my face as much as possible.

The Human Dilemma

⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will

Ephesians 1:4-5 (NIV)

These two verses may be the most powerful ones in the entire Bible.  They sum up both the entirety of God’s plan for us and His love for us very nicely.  They clearly state the dilemma God had when deciding whether or not to create mankind.  I just love these verses!

The phrase “before the creation of the world” reflects back to Genesis 1:26 when God is talking to Himself and says "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness” (NIV).  It was not some rash impulse that God had to create mankind.  There was a lot of thought put into the plan to create us and what that would mean.

In Job 38:4-7, God told Job the angels were around when God created us.  If God already had the angels, He must have desired something different from mankind.  We do not know exactly what an angel’s relationship to God is or how much freedom an angel is given.  However, it seems that once an angel chooses to disobey God, there is no turning back to Him.  There is no account of an angel repenting in the Bible.

With us it is different.  Each of us breaks our relationship with God when we sin.  We then need to turn to Jesus to have those sins forgiven and our relationship with God restored.  After that point, we remain faithful and our relationship with God is secure, even when we do sin again.  That is what is meant when it says that God “predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ.”  When we are saved from our sins we are also adopted into God’s family.  This all means that we appear to have more freedom of choice than the angels do.  Creating us with the ability to choose to serve Him meant that some people would choose not to.  Even those who do choose to serve God do not always do what He wants them to do.  According to James 4:17, any time we fail to live up to what God wants of us, it is sin.  What is mind boggling is that before God even created us, He knew we would sin and that He would have to send Jesus to die for those sins to restore our relationship with Him.  As soon as God created us, Jesus was sentenced to death.  Yet, because He loved us so much, even before you, I, or anyone else was created, He was willing to pay that price.

That is why I feel these two verses are so powerful.  They speak of God’s wisdom in understanding the failings mankind would have and being able to devise a plan to overcome them.  They also speak of God’s love for us with Him being willing to send Jesus to die for our failings.  But even more powerfully, they tell us He was willing to create us knowing the full extent of the pain and suffering it would cause Him.  He could have seen the price Jesus would have to pay for creating us and decided He was fine with just having angels around.  God did not need us.  He is complete within Himself.  Yet, He knew that we would benefit greatly from being in relationship with Him so He was willing to pay that price so that we could experience all the good He can offer us.  Praise God for His love for us and His desire for us to experience the blessings which can only come from Him, especially since He had to pay a terrible price for that to be possible! 

Keep in mind that we are only experiencing a part of God while in this life.  We cannot fully appreciate what God has done for us until we reach Heaven and can truly realize what it means to have been adopted into God’s family and the blessings that come with that.