Recently, at a marriage weekend, my husband and I were given a bag of Scrabble letters and told to unscramble them and make a saying related to the event. However, we received the wrong mix of letters for the proper phrase. So, I made "I AM FOR U."
Trekkie Alert!!!
My husband immediately recognized that saying as part of a Star Trek - The Next Generation episode. In that show, a woman is promised to a man whom she has never met, and her marriage response to her new husband is, "I am for you."
I've been thinking how appropriate that phrase is for marriage...even from the beginning.
Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Genesis 2:18
God, in His wisdom, made man and woman to be - not enemies - but "for" each other, even "fit" for each other. And, even after 34 years, my husband and I are "fit" for each other!
However, the more I considered "I AM FOR U" the more I thought about my Lord.
The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me? Hebrews 13:6
My God is for me.
But sometimes it doesn't seem that way.
Situations turn out badly. The unexpected happens. People get mad at each other, and get mad at me. I get overwhelmed with it all and feel like throwing up my hands...or running away.
One of my prayers is for God to change my heart and my mind to be less of the "Old Adam" and more of the "New Man in Christ" - to help me keep my emotions and my mind on the truth and the greatness of what Christ has done...done for me.
Delight yourself in the Lord...Psalm 37:4b
But sin taints everything. And at times of stress, I struggle and I forget.
Then eventually, I breathe...relax, reflect, and remember:
The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? Psalm 118:6
My Lord is on my side. Through prayer, with His Word and Supper, during worship and with fellow Christians - He sustains me and keeps me in faith. He is with me and changes me through it all.
My Lord is on my side. And because of Christ and the cross, He works all things out for my good, for the good of His Children, His Church, His Kingdom.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
This I know, that God is for me. Psalm 56:9b
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| Chapel Area |
I recently started working part-time for a ministry that provides help for the needy, including food, clothing, household items, prayers, encouragement, and weekly chapel services. There is also has a thrift shop to help fund the ministry.
Last week, I happened to notice a lady who had finished shopping and was sitting with two large bags. She didn't speak English, but with hand signs, I guessed that she was waiting for the bus and would need help carrying her bags to the bus stop. She gestured that I could carry one bag, but I showed her my "muscles" and said I'd carry both!
About forty minutes later, we headed out, bags in tow. On the walk, we talked, with neither of us understanding the other. At the bus stop, she smiled and hugged me. I looked back as I walked away, and she said, "I pray for you."
I can still hear her voice in my head, "I pray for you."
The incident reminds me that, even as I think I'm helping someone, God is busy keeping His promises and caring for me...through others. That lady's prayers are more valuable to me than any help I gave her.
You see, I know that her words were from my God. He knows my struggles, my needs. He knows how encouraged I am by those words.
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works...encouraging one another... Hebrews 10:24-25
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:9-11
Pray for one another, be kind to one another, encourage one another. You never know how or when God will work through you to encourage and strengthen another person. And praise Him when the encouragement is given to you.
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:10
Many books have been written about heaven. Numerous people even claim to have visited heaven in a "near death" experience.
But honestly, the answer is...we don't know what heaven will be like.
Genesis
5 records that Enoch "walked with God...and...God took him."
From Martin Luther's lectures on Genesis:
But what sort of life it is that [Enoch] is now living, we who are
still flesh and blood cannot know. For us it is enough to know that he
was taken away also in respect to his body...But what Enoch is doing, where he is, and how he is living, we do not
know. We know that he is living, but surely not this physical life; for
he is with God...God desired to impart to the...world the hope of a better life after this life.
The experience of Enoch is recorded for our comfort and for our hope.
The apostle Paul recounts a revelation he had of the "third" heaven:
...and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter...because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 2 Corinthians 12:4, 7
In discussions and debates about Paul's famous "thorn in the flesh" we often miss the reason for that thorn - Paul's knowledge of heaven.
Detailed insight into heaven is God's privilege and not mine. But He gives His Word for my comfort and hope.
These passages come to mind:
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”...But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, 57
And [Jesus] said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no
more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for
the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4
...and so we will always be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:17b
The truth of heaven is...heaven is not just a better version of this world, where everything runs perfectly. There's something more, and that more is God. In heaven, we will fear, love, and trust God above all things, and be in a perfect relationship with Him, and we will be with Him.
Spontaneous generation is an outdated idea that life can develop and grow from something that's not alive.
One summer, our family returned home after a week away and found fruit flies in our kitchen. These small bugs were flying near some old bananas.
When I think of spontaneous generation, I remember those bananas and all those fruit flies.
The most famous example used to illustrate spontaneous generation is that old meat, left sitting out, produces maggots. Of course, we now know that bananas don't actually grow fruit flies, and old meat doesn't create maggots.
Over our 20 years of homeschooling, we've studied the Evolution vs Creation debate, from many views, especially from the scientific angle. We've looked at evidence for both sides, and there's lots of it.
In the end...I think it all comes down to spontaneous generation. Evolution is nothing more than spontaneous generation over a long period of time.
And I don't believe in evolution.
I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
As I sit typing, I'm looking at my son's electric organ that someone constructed from wood and other materials. I also see hymnals - music and words that many people composed and wrote. And when Al is playing the organ, I hear that music.
Man, the living creation, is made in the image of his creator, God, and man also creates many things. Spontaneous generation of life, today known as evolution, just didn't happen - life needs a creator, a God.
And, while certain Christians might believe in some type of evolution, it's the atheists who flock to evolution.
And that leads to another aspect of the debate: If there is a God, then I'm somehow accountable to Him; but if evolution is true and there's no god, I'm accountable to no one.
Evolution is attractive because it sounds good and freeing to "do whatever I want" and to create my own meaning for life.
But, just as the scientific evidence for evolution falls short, the "meaning and fulfillment factor" for evolution is also lacking.
King Solomon was a man who had everything and even wrote:
...whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. Ecclesiastes 2:10
But Solomon found that success and material wealth don't provide happiness or meaning. He calls it all vanity, and concludes that:
...[God] has put eternity into man's heart... Ecclesiastes 3:11
And Solomon is so right.
I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord...Who was crucified, died, and was buried...the third day, He rose again...I believe in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.
God, our creator, is worthy of our devotion, our praise, our love.
And because of the cross, Jesus takes care of the accountability issue; He brings life and gives meaning to that life.
God put eternity in our hearts, and evolution can't compete with that.
