Zondervan Blog

"God, I Call Foul!" [Excerpt on the Book of Job from "How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens"]

 

Does the Book of Job point ahead to Jesus? Read this slice of Michael Williams's How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens.

 

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If anyone had the right to call foul over his situation, it was God's own Son. No one else was sinless like him. No one else had a closer relationship with the Father. And yet no one else suffered more. Jesus makes it perfectly clear that there is no necessary connection between suffering and goodness. A person can even be perfect and suffer.

 

Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. (1 Peter 3:18)

 

A person can even be perfect and suffer.

Christ gives us the ultimate picture of the righteous sufferer as he accomplishes God's saving purposes. It was not easy for our Lord to endure what he did. He even asked that, if possible, God would exempt him from it (Luke 22:42). But he was willing to suffer because he trusted that this was the best way to get to the wonderful end the Father had in view — our salvation.

[What this Means for Us Today]

What we can be sure of is that God is about his redemptive work.

When we submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves to him as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1). It should not surprise us, therefore, if God occasionally calls on us to make good on our offer by suffering, for his purposes — even if we, like Job, don't fully understand why. It could be for our own growth in faith, for the growth or encouragement of those who see us bear up under the load by the power of God's grace, or for a host of other reasons beyond our ability to grasp. What we can be sure of is that God is about his redemptive work, as he always is, and has chosen us to participate in that work by sharing, at least for a while, in some of the same kind of suffering his own Son experienced.

 

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:12–13)

 

When Our circumstances, too, can occasionally lead us to doubt God's justice or goodness.

Job's horrible circumstances led him to question God's justice. Our circumstances, too, can occasionally lead us to doubt God's justice or goodness. Perhaps without our realizing it, we might be relapsing into the way of thinking that characterized our lives before we were Christians. That is, we might be placing ourselves at the center of our world. Our understanding, our desires, and our comfort are once again asserting their control. God, not we ourselves, should be at the center of our Christian lives. It can be difficult to see God at work in our suffering. Like Job, we might not see how he could be at work in it at all! But suffering is used by God to accomplish his purposes just as effectively as the good times are...

 

Yes, suffering is ultimately the result of the sin that human beings introduced into God's good creation. But, thank God, he has not abandoned us to sin's full effects. Even in the midst of those negative effects he is relentlessly pursuing our redemption and the redemption of the whole creation... Are we willing to be used by God to accomplish his redemptive work, even when that work includes suffering that we don't understand?

 

God's redemptive plan involves nothing less than the liberation of creation and his people from sin and death.

There is a realm beyond the created in which God dwells... We must be willing to acknowledge our status as created beings on an entirely different level than the Creator, and to acknowledge the limitations our created status imposes on us. Primary among these limitations, although perhaps the most unacceptable to us, is the limitation on our understanding of how and why God acts as he does. God alone knows the end from the beginning, as well as the best way to get to the end from the beginning. God's redemptive plan involves nothing less than the liberation of creation and his people from sin and death. There can be no greater good than that! He has given us, his children, a taste of that redemption even now, along with an abiding relationship with him that no circumstance, however horrible it may be, can ever sever...

-Michael Williams

 

Learn More

Learn more about Dr. Williams's book, How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens.

 

Where to Go Now

How Sorrow Prepares Us for Joy via Walt Wangerin, Jr.
Closed Door Stories: Looking Back on God's Love by the Zondervan Team
Looking for Your Life's Purpose? via Michael Williams

-Adam Forrest, Zondervan

(Images & some styling above are web-exclusive features not included in the text of How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens. Image attribution: By 18 century icon painter (Iconostasis of Kizhi monastery, Russia) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.) 

Regret and Other Opportunities [Excerpt by Jerry Sittser]

 

Excerpt from Jerry Sittser's A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss (eBook).

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Regret is inescapable in a world of imperfection, failure, and loss. But can there also be redemption? Can a life gone wrong because of loss be made right again, however irreversible the loss itself? Can people with regrets be set free and transformed?

 

I believe that there can be redemption, but only under one significant condition: People with regrets can be redeemed, but they cannot reverse the loss that gave rise to the regrets. People can be changed by the unchangeable losses they experience. Thus, for redemption to occur, they must let go of the loss itself and embrace the good effects that the loss can have on their lives. They must somehow transcend what lies behind and reach forward to what lies ahead, directing their energies toward changes they can make now. In other words, they must seek personal transformation, which comes only through grace...

 

[How Regret Can Be Useful]

Regret [can] lead to transformation if we view loss as an opportunity to take inventory of our lives. Loss forces us to see ourselves for what we are.

 

Freedom did not come from denying the past but from looking at it squarely, taking ownership of it, and allowing myself to be transformed by it.

For about four months after the accident I spent a great deal of time reviewing the quality of the marriage relationship I had with Lynda. Most of what I reviewed pleased me, though not all. I also explored my family history and observed patterns in my past that kept repeating themselves from one generation to the next. I looked hard at the kind of person I was. I kept asking questions and evaluating. I gained insights that were troubling to me. I saw how manipulative and self-righteous I was and how often I tried to impress and win others. This period of reflection proved to be liberating for me. I am more free from the past now than I would otherwise have been. Yet this freedom did not come from denying the past but from looking at it squarely, taking ownership of it, and allowing myself to be transformed by it...

 

[When Regret Goes Sour]

The gift of divine forgiveness will help us to forgive ourselves. Without it, regret becomes a form of self-punishment. We see the evil we have done and the pain we have inflicted on others. We feel an acute sense of guilt. We loathe our selfishness and foolishness. And we know that there is nothing we can do to reverse the consequences of our actions.

 

Yet a holy God imparts forgiveness if we sincerely ask for it; a just God shows us mercy and embraces us in love. If such a God can forgive us, then surely we can forgive ourselves. If such a God lavishes us with grace, then surely we can stop punishing ourselves and live in that grace. Divine forgiveness leads to self-forgiveness.

- Jerry Sittser

 

Q: How can we know when regret has turned sour?

 

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Learn more about A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss (eBook). And I'm looking forward to Sittser's upcoming book, A Grace Revealed!

-Adam Forrest, tip of the hat to Matt Saganski

 

(Some styling above are web-exclusive features not included in the text of A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

Why We Can Call the Lord of the Universe "Abba," Daddy [Excerpt by Philip Yancey]

 

A meditation for us as Easter nears, excerpted from Philip Yancey's The Jesus I Never Knew (eBook).

 

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[As Jesus's disciples grew up, they] took for granted, as did most other religions of the time, that worship must include sacrifice: something had to die. Their God had forbidden human sacrifice, and so on a festival day Jerusalem was filled with the bleats and cries of a quarter million animals destined for the temple altar. The noise and smell of sacrifice were sharp sensory reminders of the great gulf between God and themselves.

I worked in the Old Testament for so long [while working on The Student Bible] that, when one day I skipped over to the book of Acts, the contrast jolted me. Now God's followers, good Jews most of them, were meeting in private homes, singing hymns, and addressing God with the informal Abba. Where was the fear, and the solemn protocol required of anyone who dared approach [God]? No one brought animals to sacrifice; death did not enter into worship except for the solemn moment when they broke bread and drank wine together, reflecting on the once-for-all sacrifice Jesus had made.

In these ways, Jesus introduced profound changes in how we view God. Mainly, he brought God near. To Jews who knew a distant, ineffable God, Jesus brought the message that God cares for the grass of the field, feeds the sparrows, numbers the hairs on a person's head. To Jews who dared not pronounce the Name, Jesus brought the shocking intimacy of the Aramaic word Abba. It was a familiar term of family affection, onomatopoeic like "Dada," the first word many children spoke. Before Jesus, no one would have thought of applying such a word to Yahweh, the Sovereign Lord of the universe. After him, it became a standard term of address even in Greek-speaking congregations; imitating Jesus, they borrowed the foreign word to express their own intimacy with the Father.

 

No high priest need tremble to enter the sacred room.

An event happened as Jesus hung on the cross that seemed to seal the new intimacy for the young church. Mark records that just as Jesus breathed his last, "The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom." This massive curtain had served to wall off the Most Holy Place, where God's presence dwelled. As the author of Hebrews would later note, the tearing of this curtain showed beyond doubt exactly what was accomplished by Jesus' death. No more sacrifices would ever be required. No high priest need tremble to enter the sacred room.

 

Those of us in modern times have lived under the new intimacy for so long that we take it for granted. We sing choruses to God and converse in casual prayers. To us, the notion of sacrifice seems primitive. Too easily we forget what it cost Jesus to win for us all — ordinary people, not just priests — immediate access to God's presence. We know God as Abba, the loving Father, only because of Jesus.

 

 

-Philip Yancey

 

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Learn more about The Jesus I Never Knew eBook
Visit Philip Yancey's Blog

 

(Images & some styling above are web-exclusive features not included in the text of Jesus I Never Knew eBook. Image attribution: By Onderwijsgek (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-2.5-nl (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/nl/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

Kneeling Before the King [Excerpt by Wes Yoder]

 

Excerpt from Wes Yoder's Bond of Brothers: Connecting with Other Men Beyond Work, Weather and Sports (eBook). 

 

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Picture men on their knees before a king in humility and dignity. The monarch says to those kneeling before him, "I knight thee," and forever after, these men are knights, made so by the honor conferred by their king, made so by accepting who the king says they are...

Now picture this: You are asked to kneel before the King of heaven — the King of kings and the Lord of lords. You bow before the one who created you in his image. You can no longer hide anything — not the lies, not your failures, not your desires, not your pride, nor your self-indulgences or sins, nothing at all. So you present what you have, which is yourself and the meager collection of treasure you have stored in your heart.

 

Image: By Howard Pyle (1853-1911) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

You can worship your own image no longer because your eyes now behold the glory of the King standing before you. In his hand is the sword of truth, honor, and courage, and his eyes flash with authority. You come to this moment with so little. What you bring, frankly, is embarrassing. Before this great Master and King, there remains one simple, honest prayer and hope of your heart.

 

In that moment, as you kneel before him, he says in the strongest yet gentlest voice you have ever heard, "Welcome, my son. I hereby confer on you your manhood. It is a gift for which you were created but could not attain. Thanks for bringing me your treasures. I now give you mine. If you accept the exchange, stand up and enter the freedom I have created for you."

 

The God Dare

Try it. Try bringing him everything. Everything.

Dare to hold your hands open before the one true and living God and say, "Lord, take from my hands anything not pleasing to you and place into my hands only those things that are pleasing in your sight. Do anything you want to bring my life into harmony with the original design."

These are the prayers of genuine manhood. You will not be disappointed, I promise.

- Wes Yoder

 

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Learn more about Bond of Brothers (eBook)

 

 

 

(Some styling above is a web-exclusive feature not included in the text of Bond of Bros. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

 

On the Other Side of Suffering [Excerpt by Philip Yancey]

 

Excerpt from Grace Notes: Daily Readings with Philip Yancey (eBook).

 

In the Old Testament, faithful believers seemed shocked when suffering came their way. They expected God to reward their faithfulness with prosperity and comfort. But the New Testament shows a remarkable change. As Peter advised suffering Christians [in 1 Peter 2:21, "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps."]

 

Other passages go further, using phrases I will not attempt to explain. Paul speaks of "sharing in his [Christ’s] sufferings" and says he hopes to "fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regards to Christ’s afflictions [Colossians 1:24]."

 

'It was just a question of slogging through till the enemy gave up.' -Harry Boer, WWII Chaplain

Harry Boer, a chaplain during World War II, spent the final days of that war among marines in the Pacific Theater. "The Second Division saw much action, with great losses," he writes. "Yet I never met an enlisted man or an officer who doubted for a moment the outcome of the war. Nor did I ever meet a marine who asked why, if victory was so sure, we couldn't have it immediately. It was just a question of slogging through till the enemy gave up."

According to Paul, at the cross Christ triumphed over the cosmic powers — defeating them not with power but with self-giving love. The cross of Christ may have assured the final outcome, but battles remain for us to fight. Significantly, Paul prayed "to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings" — embracing both the agony and the ecstasy of Christ's life on earth (Philippians 3:10).

 

In all these sufferings, large and small, there is the assurance of a deeper level of meaning, of a sharing in Christ’s own redemptive victory.

We will never know, in this life, the full significance of our actions here, for much takes place invisible to us. When a pastor in an oppressive country goes to prison for his peaceful protest, when a social worker moves into an urban ghetto, when a couple refuses to give up on a difficult marriage, when a parent waits with undying hope and forgiveness for the return of an estranged child, when a young professional resists mounting temptations toward wealth and success — in all these sufferings, large and small, there is the assurance of a deeper level of meaning, of a sharing in Christ’s own redemptive victory.

-Philip Yancey

Learn more about Grace Notes eBook
Visit Philip Yancey's blog

 

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(Images & some styling above are web-exclusive features not included in the text of Grace Notes. Image attribution: Christian chaplain helmet by Robert Nay [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

How's Lent Going for You? 6 Encouraging Insights from Lysa TerKeurst

 

Made to Crave Devotional

Did you give up something for Lent? How is that going for you?

I chose to give up something I crave every day, and you know what? I'm not doing so hot. I feel like I've stumbled right off the wagon. 

If you can relate, or you feel like other cravings are breathing down your neck, check out these words from Lysa TerKeurst's Made to Crave Devotional: 60 Days to Craving God, Not Food.

- Adam Forrest, Zondervan

1. I've realized [my struggle with food] isn't as much about losing the weight as it is gaining truth - the truth of who I am in Christ and how I am made for more than this constant, self-defeating struggle.   2. It's the truth that reminds me a scale can measure my physical body but never my worth [as a person]. And it's the truth that God loves me the way I am, but He loves me too much to leave me stuck in a place of defeat. 3. [We have to] park our minds on the truth that our triumph in this trial matters. Triumph will produce a blessing... The blessing we have to consider is this: 'that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything' (James 1:4).   4.  I can recognize the beauty of discipline and crave the intimacy with God it unleashes.   5. I can rest assured though the journey will be hard, I will be held.   6. I had to choose to operate in the reassurance of God's love, the remembrance of God's grace, and the reality of God's power. And, according to Isaiah 41:10, God is the one holding me up, not the other way around. To that I say, 'Amen!'

 

Made to Crave Action Plan

Learn more about Made to Crave Devotional: 60 Days to Craving God, Not Food

 

Learn more about the Made to Crave Action Plan, a video-based group study.

 

Find Lysa TerKeurst on Twitter (@lysaterkeurst)

(This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared for information purposes only. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

Celebrating Easter with Kids: Recommended Books, Activities, and Sweepstakes

 

The Easter story can be heavy stuff to teach our young ones! That's why Ruthie Spaans, a member of our Zonderkidz team, shares these recommendations for Easter books, free activities, and a limited-time sweepstakes. (Enter the Beginner's Bible Easter Sweepstakes by March 26, 2012.)

 

For Christians around the world, the Easter season marks the foundation of our faith. Easter is when we celebrates the death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus — heavy stuff to teach to little ones!

 

That's why our Zonderkidz team is always searching for new ways to teach Christ's message to your kids. Our goal is simple: to encourage you to spend time with your child, and with God. We pore through parenting blogs, investigate the latest trends, and hang on every word when others share how they're teaching matters beyond ABC's and etiquette, delving into the deeper things of our faith.

 

Fun Books that Go Deep

If you are looking to teach your preschoolers the deeper messages of the resurrection in fun yet inspirational ways, we recommend the Beginner's Bible resources. The Very First Easter, The Beginner's Bible Book of Prayers, Jesus Saves the World (an I Can Read book), and The Beginner's Bible Deluxe Edition are wonderful tools to help you introduce the Easter story, with traditional art, fun characters, and even audio narration!

 

Inspirational & Fun Activities

Some parents like to use food or crafts as the theme. Others look for the latest technology, such as apps, to tell the Easter story in a way that today's generation of kids accept without question. Still others combine traditional holiday activities with a theological twist to illustrate the story.

I encourage you to visit TheBeginnersBible.com and The Beginner's Bible Facebook page for weekly devotions, coloring pages, stickers, and other teaching resources. We even have an animated Easter video on YouTube for you to enjoy!

 

As a special treat, we encourage you to enter The Beginner's Bible Easter Sweepstakes on Facebook, for your chance to win a set of some of the newest products in The Beginner's Bible lineup.

 

Enter the Beginner's Bible Easter Sweepstakes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We wish you a blessed Easter season, and pray each day for our parents and children's ministries that work hard to bring Christ's message to kids!

- Ruthie Spaans, Zonderkidz

 

(This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

Hi Creativity, Meet Ministry... (The UNTITLED Blaine Hogan Interview)

 

Blaine Hogan's UNTITLED: Thoughts on the Creative Process is a declaration of war against the blank page.   

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In this interview with long-time creator Blaine (Creative Director at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL) you will get a taste of his insights on attacking the blank page, executing vision, getting more out of contemplation, and as Blaine writes, "creating beauty from the inside out."

 

Full disclosure: Blaine's UNTITLED eBook isn't published by Zondervan, but I believe you creators (writers, pastors, teachers, worship leaders, and artists of all stripes) will be encouraged and empowered by Blaine's perspective. I look forward to hearing your comments! -AF

 

ZBLOG: In UNTITLED you ask, "Is there anything in my work I love so much I would eat it?" That's my first question: What are you hungry for?

 

Blaine Hogan

BLAINE: Movement. Heart movement. In myself first and then in an audience. I'm starving for and always on the lookout for something that I find deeply moving. As I continue to explore this discipline of the creative process, I find that the more I can discipline myself to being open and to exploring various corners of things, the chances for finding things in this vein dramatically increase. And when I find something that moves me, I want to eat it. I want to internalize it, through the lens of my own story — then I want to figure out the best way to tell it.

 

ZBLOG: You support artistic "fringe exploration" and "rebellion," but you also observe, "sometimes artists get so carried away with their rebellion they begin to wage war with their own center of gravity." What is your center of gravity? And how do you recommend other artists stay centered?

BLAINE: Put simply, the continually refining work of Christ in my life. I grew up Catholic so I find myself repeating the Lord's Prayer throughout the day without even knowing it. For me this has always been centering. Contemplation is another thing I use to stay centered. Probably everyone reading this works in a fast paced environment, and the opportunity for silence and meditation I imagine is rare. However, if we aren't quiet, I'm not sure we can stay centered. When we stop we recognize our breath — something we didn't "work" to do. It just happens. This is the cosmic mystery of Christ within us. We center ourselves when we stop.

 

ZBLOG: A good number of people I know, both non-Christians and Christians, believe that creative thinking and doctrinal thinking are at loggerheads. Do you see a tension between the artist's work and the theologian's? Or can Michaelangelo and Martin Luther sit at the same table?

 

"That's Just the Way I Am" and Other Self-Deceptions [Excerpt by Craig Groeschel]

 

Excerpt from Craig Groeschel's The Christian Atheist: When You Believe in God But Live as if He Doesn't Exist (eBook).

 

[The Confrontation]

Craig Groeschel

At the tender age of twenty-six... several leaders who were overseeing my journey toward [becoming a pastor] were convinced that I was a workaholic and needed help to change. I was convinced they were wrong. This wise and caring panel of ministers asked me to take a week off to contemplate my priorities and consider what changes I could make that would give me the endurance to go the distance. Knowing this was a battle I wouldn't win, I agreed to take some time off, although I honestly never planned to follow through and slow my frenzied pace.

When they inevitably discovered that I didn't take the week off but instead continued working feverishly, they assigned me to mandatory counseling to address my workaholic tendencies. I found myself sitting quietly in a little chair, facing a well-intentioned counselor. He reviewed his notes, mumbled a little to himself, looked up at me, and said, "You really don't think you can change, huh?" ... Convinced that this was just the way I was, I explained [how] I couldn't lessen my drive to work. I'll never forget what happened next. He leaned in, and lovingly, not much above a whisper, said, "So ... what you're telling me is, even our God isn't big enough to help you change?"

He got me.

 

Identifying the Lie

Many Christian Atheists live year after year under the illusion that we simply can't change. Once we've forgiven ourselves for past mistakes, some surrender to present problems, never even hoping to overcome them. We may openly, even proudly, believe in God, but we honestly don't believe he can change us. And it's not that we've never tried to change. We have — often. Perhaps we prayed and asked God for help, but nothing happened. Or we read a book, listened to a sermon, or accepted advice from a trusted friend, only to end up in the same place we started. Maybe we made a New Year's resolution, joined a support group, even visited a counselor, all hoping to change. But when we didn't succeed, we eventually surrendered our hopes for a different life. Even though I believe in God, I don't really think he can help. After all, this is how he made me. Maybe, like the apostle Paul, this is simply the thorn in my flesh...

 

Admitting to the Problem

The apostle Paul had some strong words for the Corinthian church, which was struggling with all sorts of sinful behavior. He explained that we battle with different weapons than the world uses: "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds" (2 Cor. 10:3–4). The Greek word translated as strongholds is ochuroma (pronounced oak-EWROH-muh), which means to fortify, lock up, or imprison. This is what our enemy tries to do to us. He lies to us until we're convinced that we're stuck and can never escape our problems. That's what happened to me and my workaholism. I believed that this was just the way I was made. I'm driven to work hard. People who don't work hard are lazy and don't care as much as I do. I'll never change this about me. My thoughts made me a prisoner. Like many other Christian Atheists, I believed the lie that I couldn't change.

Some can't stop gambling. Others can't stop spending. Many can't stop lusting. Still others can't stop eating. Even technology holds some people hostage... Some are simply bound by a false belief. They think they aren't good with people and never will be. Or they're convinced that they'll always have a negative attitude. Some believe they could never get in good physical shape. Others are convinced they're destined to remain in a meaningless job. They're imprisoned by false thoughts, all along believing they can never escape, never change...

 

We can always find plenty of excuses why [our addiction] isn't that big of a deal. But if we won't admit our problems, we can't change.

Addictions are idolatry. We're trying to meet some need that only Christ can, looking to anything but him. I was trying to prove my worth in production, rather than finding value in Christ alone. Admitting that took more work (and pain) than I can describe. Too many Christian Atheists won't acknowledge their problem in the first place. I wouldn't for years. We can always find plenty of excuses why it isn't that big of a deal. But if we won't admit our problems, we can't change.

 

God Can Help You Change

[Jesus said], 'With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.' -Mark 10:27

Admitting our problems is only the first step. After that, we must invite God to work, because he is the one who can change any problem... With people, change may be difficult, even impossible — but not with God. God is bigger than our problems, no matter what they are. If you've believed that you simply can't change, acknowledge that that is a lie. With God, all things are possible.

If you're not dead, you're not done. God still has something important for you to do. These truths alone make you important. You can change. Capture wrong thoughts and replace them with truth. Can the excuses. If you keep making excuses, you're insulting God's power. With God, all things are possible — even the thing that you think isn't. 

- Craig Groeschel

 

Learn More

Learn more about The Christian Atheist eBook.

 

Suggested Posts

Take the Christian Atheist Quiz Are you a Christian Atheist? Take the quiz to find out.
Is God Unfair? via Craig Groeschel

 

(Image and some styling above are web-exclusive features not included in the text of The Christian Atheist. Image attribution: Willow Creek Church Association. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

What Does Joel the Prophet Have to do with Jesus? [Excerpt from "How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens"]

 

I picked up How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens and dared author Michael Williams to show how the Book of Joel focuses on Jesus. This is what I found in Williams's book. -AF

 

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Give me what I deserve! We all might want to think twice about demanding that, because what we think we deserve might diverge significantly from God's judgment on the matter.

The prophet Joel ministered during the time when a severe drought and locust plague were crippling the land. God's people had evidently assumed that divine blessing was their right, no matter how corruptly they lived. But God reminded them by means of these natural disasters that abundant life was realized only in relationship with him. When that relationship was ignored or allowed to fade, then the protective barriers against death and destruction were lowered and the enemies of life could charge in. In Joel, this phenomenon is called "the day of the Lord." It is a day when the consequences of turning away from God and the need for his salvation are realized.

 

Joel reminded them that when ... they unplugged themselves [from God, the life-generating power source], it wouldn't take long before things in their lives got awfully dark.

God's people were looking forward to the day of the Lord as a day when God would judge all those other people who had rejected him and gone their own way. It was hard to come to terms with the fact that God's judgment could include them as well. They needed to return to him and recommit themselves to their relationship with him in order for there to be any rescue from the dangers that stalked them down the dark alleys they had taken. So Joel called for fasting, prayer, and mourning (2:12). For God's people the good things of life would not come about because they were somehow better than other people, but because they were plugged into the unfailing, life-generating power source. Joel reminded them that when by their faithlessness they unplugged themselves, it wouldn't take long before things in their lives got awfully dark.

 

Joel saw in the immediate disasters of drought and locust plague vivid reminders of the coming day of the Lord when God's judgment would be amplified to a global scale. Everyone on earth would come to a place called "Jehoshaphat," which means "the Lord judges" (3:2, 12). The ultimate day of the Lord is coming when comprehensive and final divine judgments will overwhelm mankind like a colossal tsunami and make the devastating drought and locust plague of Joel's day seem like minor inconveniences. Then, too, the only island of life in a sea of death and destruction will be found in relationship with God.

 

The prophet Joel, from an 18th-century Russian icon.

 

[Joel through the Jesus Lens]

The apostle Peter quoted from Joel's prophecy on the day of Pentecost after Jesus' resurrection and ascension (Acts 2:17–21), indicating that Jesus' death on the cross was our day of the Lord, when God's judgment for our disobedience was experienced on our behalf by our sinless representative. Joel told God’s people of his day that the disasters they were experiencing were the natural result of abandoning God, and their effect was intended to remind them that their life was found in God alone.

 

On the coming final day of the Lord, when all nations will gather before the Lord for judgment, the one and only criterion that will hold any sway before the Judge of all the earth will be relationship with him. Those who have such a relationship through faith in Jesus Christ will enjoy the life that flows from that relationship. Those who don’t have such a relationship will experience the dire consequences. Jesus experienced those dire consequences so that all who come to the Father through faith in him can be assured of life. He is the one who will do the judging on the day of the Lord, and he knows the sheep that belong to him [see Matthew 25:31-32].

Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead. The day of the Lord is coming. Joel sees "multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision" (3:14). Those who decide to turn to God for life through faith in his Son will have nothing to fear on that day. They will be safe and secure inside the stronghold of his love (3:16). Why would anyone choose plan B?

 

[What this Means for Us Today]

To experience [a foretaste of the restoration of all things], we have to make sure our chairs are scooted up to the table of God's grace.

Believers today live between "days of the Lord." Jesus has already experienced our day of judgment and has enabled us even now to enjoy a foretaste of the restoration of all things that will take place when he returns again on the final day. To experience that foretaste, however, we have to make sure our chairs are scooted up to the table of God's grace. Only in our relationship with the source of life can we expect to realize true life for ourselves. We can only really live when we live together with him...

 

We may look forward to the day of Christ’s return with confidence that he has paid the price for our sin. But more than that, we may look to our Lord for life. As long as we are trusting in him, we will never be disappointed and we will never have to fear. Instead of the day of the Lord being a "dreadful" time for us (2:11), it will be a time of rejoicing, of fruitfulness, and of security (2:19–27)...

 

There are many who are hoping that their lives will have been "good" enough to merit a pass on the day of judgment. Others are waiting for the day to come when they can finally experience life. Some are just trying not to think about the coming day of judgment. How easy it is to resolve all of these concerns about that day through faith in Jesus Christ! Jesus offers us his own righteousness to replace our blameworthiness, unshakable joy to replace our circumstantially determined happiness, and justifiable confidence in him to replace our justifiable doubt in ourselves. The day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision (3:14). Let's decide for life in Christ.

-Michael Williams

 

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Learn More

Learn more about Dr. Williams's book, How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens.

 

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-Adam Forrest, Zondervan

(Images & some styling above are web-exclusive features not included in the text of How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens. Image attribution: By 18 century icon painter (Iconostasis of Kizhi monastery, Russia) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

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