Our God is in heaven doing whatever he wants to do.
How much more plain can it be? However, it is not nearly quite so simple.
"From this passage Augustine very properly and ingeniously shows, that those events which appear to us unreasonable not only occur simply by the permission of God, but also by his will and decree. For if our God does whatsoever pleases him, why should he permit that to be done which he does not wish?
"It is deserving of notice, that if God does whatsoever he pleases, then it is not his pleasure to do that which is not done."
Head spinning yet? Point is...if it didn't happen, God didn't want it to happen. Period. We may not understand it, but we must take it on faith and abide with it.
(Commentary from Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms)
"The Peace that Brings Access"
Romans 5:1-2
Reading from the English Standard Version
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
We have seen that God declares us righteous in His sight, based on the obedience of Christ. This is justification.
This declaration does not in any way depend on our good deeds, but true faith is exhibited by our works. This is evident in James 2. Faith without works is dead.
Freedom from the guilt of sin is not the only benefit of justification. In today's passage, we see that this justification gives us peace with God which gives us access into the very throne room of God.
As harsh as this sounds, few people today realize that their greatest enemy is God. What?? I thought God loves everybody. Yes, but..."we are born in sin, hating our Creator. Apart from Christ, His wrath is revealed against all our unrighteousness, and we are dead on arrival, having fallen short of the glory of God."
This enmity between us and God only ends when he forgives us. "In justification, we receive His pardon and, therefore, eternal peace. Our Father does chastise us for sin after we have come to faith, but not punitively; it is loving discipline for our holiness (Heb. 12:7-10)."
This peace brings access to God's grace. "Jesus has removed every barrier between God and His people, and we have free access into the very presence of our Creator Himself in His Son." Under the Old Covenant, only the high priest could enter into the presence of God. Because of Jesus, we are all granted this privilege.
Hallelujah! This is truly Good News!
"Trusted Standards"
John 14:15
Reading from the English Standard Version
If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
This loving obedience is one evidence that we are living by grace. If we think we are free to live as we please, we are not living by grace, nor do we understand grace.
"Jesus said that if we love Him, we'll obey His commands. The term command suggests clear direction. We're told what to do or not do. We are not left in doubt how we're to live. The commands in the Bible provide a clear set of moral standards."
Popular philosophy espouses "situation ethics," which have no external, objective standard of behavior. It responds to whatever seems right at the moment. But anything can be made to "seem right."
Even Christians can fall into the trap of situation ethics. We must let the commands of God "give definition to love." The Scriptures are trustworthy and provide us with good objective standards.
I will insert my own observation here and say that, no, the Bible does not answer ever question that can be addressed. But I believe that it gives us principles to guide us in every situation. Even so, there will be times that I'm stumped as to what is right and wrong. The answers are not always easy, and, as much as some people want to make them so, they are not always black or white.
I thank you for the peace that is mine through faith in Christ. I praise you for direct access to you, God. I am so grateful that we no longer have to rely on the help of a priest, who is only allowed access into your "holy of holies" once a year. I praise you that we are allowed into your holiest place any time we need. Your throne is accessible to us, through the obedience of Jesus Christ.
I also praise you for your sovereignty in this world. I believe the words written above, Lord, that say that you are in the heavens and you do whatever you please. This, to me, is a good thing. It's a great and awesome thing. This way, I know that whatever happens is, somehow, your will and works into your master plan somehow. I may not understand it all, and some things appear to be terrible to me. But your plan is working itself out, and I trust you implicitly. I also understand, and accept by faith, that if there is something I desire and it does not happen, it is because you don't want it to happen.
I praise you, God, that Wings of Freedom Church now has our Certificate of Occupancy for our meeting location. We should have power and water by the weekend, hopefully. May you be glorified by all that we do.
I pray for the wedding this Saturday. Father, let everything go smoothly, both in the Friday evening rehearsal and dinner, and in the wedding on Saturday. Help this father of the bride remember all his steps and not mess anything up. Also help me not to sob all over Rachel's dress. :-) I pray for Rachel and Justin and their life together. May it be full of grace and peace, and may you be at the center of it.
Good day to all. Rejoice in God's control over all things. He is good; all the time.
Grace and peace, friends.