He Does Not Quit On The Quitters

I don't know how He does it….

In all my years working as a minister, either as a preacher, youth minister or something in-between, the thing I have hated most about my job are the ones that fall away. The people you taught, feed and worked beside, that later you hear that are no longer faithful. When you ask about them and the response is:

They aren't attending anywhere I know of, They left their spouse and ran off with someone else, They live now in some sin.

I hate looking back at the faces of all those I know knew the Truth, yet have somehow fallen in the error of the world. It doesn't matter if I knew them for six minutes, six months or six years it hurts me. But to be honest those I loved the most are always the hardest. Why? I know they believed! I know they cared! What happened? I know I taught them to watch out, there would be trying times. Why did they change? Why did they give up? What made them throw away their faith?

Their lack of faith causes me to lose faith as well. It makes me think maybe this gig isn't worth it. Why try if it is not going to do any good? Maybe my effort is in vain. It’s not worth the hurts! It makes you not want to keep doing it, to try and care less, give less of yourself, just to avoid feeling that kind of pain.

That’s why I can’t understand how He does it? I only know a relative handful of the unfaithful, had a loving relation with even less and still the hurt gets to me. How is it for Jesus, who loves us all and has been forsaken by each of us? Yes each of us, if only for a short time, have turned our back on him. He knew from the outset that the majority of people wouldn't get and stay on the right path (Matthew 7:13-14). Yet still he came taught, suffered and died.

In 2^nd Timothy 2:11-13 we read:

“It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

In this little poetic phrase, Paul is telling us some very important. We can trust in Him. He will remain faithful, even if we would quit. That doesn't mean we can go astray, no when we deny him, he will deny us. But it won’t be because He gave up on us, it will be because we gave up on Him! This weak preacher may give up on you but He won’t. If you willing to come back Jesus will be there ready to take you back.

Why would we want to hurt one that loves us this much? If anyone deserves our devotion it would be him!

Comments

Why Does A Lion Tamer Use a Chair?

Ok, I know you have seen the image. A lion tamer enters in the cage of the beast and forces it to obey his commands using a whip, a gun and a chair. Now you can see how the whip and gun could come in handy but you might be wondering why a chair would intimidate an animal as powerful as a lion? Clyde Beatty taming a lion with a chair It's not that the lion is afraid of the chair -- it's that the lion is confused by the chair. Cats are single-minded, and the points of the chair's four legs bobbing around confuse the lion enough that it loses its train of thought. Casually put, the chair distracts the lion from wanting to claw the lion tamer's face off. The powerful creature could destroy the chair in moment’s notice but instead it is distracted into submission. It’s not too much different than how Satan controls us today. By the power of God we could overcome anything that he would use to subdue us. We can overcome the evil one (1 st John 2:13-14). ...

The Right to Arm Bears

In the book of 2 nd Kings 2, we have one of the most unusual, violent and curious passages in scripture. It involves the prophet Elisha siccing a couple of bears on some kids that were mocking his bald head. As a guy that is a little light on top that has been around some surly kids, I can feel for the guy. But seriously a bear attack? On kids? What is going on? ….young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!" When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of their number. 2 nd Kings 2:23-25 It might help to explore the passage a bit more. The baldhead statement: This was an identifying mark of the prophet as opposed to Elijah who was hairy (1st Kings 1:8) a jab to say you are not him. The taunt to go up: Elijah has just been taken into heaven by the Lord a sight seen by ...

The Mighty Gulf

It is hard to get people on two sides of an issue to come together. Each has their own viewpoint, their perceptive, their own foibles, their own understanding. To gain any common ground there must be something in common. Something or someone that can bridge the gulf between the two. Could there be a greater gulf than there was between God and man? How could a holy perfect God find a way to connect to the fallen, imperfect mankind? How can one without temptation connect to those who are beset by it? How could limited mortal beings understand an omnipotent eternal God? In 1 Timothy 2:5, we read, “ For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus .” The phrase mediator here describes a person that bridges the gap, a go-between. Jesus was one who could stand in both worlds. A perfect holy one who can understand our temptations, a man who would die yet live eternally, One who was God yet became flesh and dwelt among us. ...

Ecclesiastes 12:10

Search This Blog