Faith Through the Journey

God Hasn’t Stopped Being God

The turmoil of these days is so great, bad news seems to abound. It would be so easy to despair – and I have a couple of times. My heart breaks for those suffering loss, becomes anxious about international turmoil, and greatly distressed about the volume of social unrest being forced upon us, and particularly upon our children. My anxious heart has cried out more than once, “God, are You still there? Are You still listening?”

Throughout Biblical history, different civilizations and people have risen and fallen, They have occasionally tried to do battle with God, believing that their gods were just as powerful as Almighty God Himself. The Egyptians, the Philistines, even the Israelites who followed the idol Baal were all crushed by the power of God. When He is directly challenged, God will ALWAYS defend His reputation. He will never surrender to a lesser god. He will NEVER stop being God! He will also not be mocked, as Galatians 6:7 says. What we sow, we will reap.

God has not let go of the world, or left it to spin our of control. He is still perfectly in charge of it all, in spite of what it may look like at the moment! He has not stopped being God! And because He is God, He is ALWAYS love!

“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty let him come, and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” Revelation 22:17

God has NOT stopped being God–the all powerful, all knowing, all loving, all forgiving God, and HE NEVER WILL!

Sorrow That Turned to Joy

Sorrow That Turned to Joy

Sorrow That Turned to Joy

— Read on faiththroughthejourney.com/2012/04/08/sorrow-that-turned-to-joy/

Cancel Culture

There is a disturbing phenomenon that has entered our society–it’s the insidious practice known as cancel culture. There is an anonymous, self-righteous “they” that have appointed themselves as the arbiters of acceptable behavior and language. Once these people have pronounced judgment and “cancelled” someone, there is no second chance. That unfortunate cancelled person may as well crawl under a rock or live on a deserted island because their usefulness to society has ended. One mistake–according to some anonymous group–and someone’s life and reputation can be ruined. The concept of forgiveness is completely out of the question–one mistake and there is no mercy. The hopelessness and despair felt by these unfortunate people is so unfair and sometimes tragic.

Enter HOPE. The entire message of Jesus is that there is ALWAYS a second chance…and a third chance…and a 71st chance, and a 2,945th chance! The cross, the Easter story is ALL ABOUT forgiveness, about second chances. As long as we are breathing, there is ALWAYS a chance! A chance to confess our sins and be forgiven and welcomed by a Father who wants us. Even when we mess up and have to keep asking for forgiveness, He is ALWAYS willing to forgive us. The Bible tells us in Psalm 103:12: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” God not only forgives, He FORGETS! Hebrews 8:12 says: “For I will forgive their wickedness, and I will remember their sins no more.”

Someone has wisely spoken that God sent Jesus to pay a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could never pay. Our sins were nailed to the cross the day Jesus died, and His resurrection finished the magnificent payment. In effect, when Jesus paid, our debt was CANCELLED! It’s amazing, isn’t it, to think that God KEEPS us but cancels our sin! Unbelieving society does exactly the opposite: there is no forgiveness, the people are discarded. The transgression is forever remembered and held against an individual by those who espouse cancel culture. The God who loves and forgives the individual values them above all and FORGETS their wrongdoing! What a wonderful, loving God He is!