Lost and Found

Luke 15 has 3 of Jesus’ parables.  First, Jesus told of a sheep that was lost.  The shepherd goes and finds the lost sheep.  Then he calls his friends together and said,  “Let’s celebrate because my sheep was lost and now is found.”

Then Jesus told of a woman who lost a silver coin.  She searches high and low, and finally finds the lost coin.  Then she called her friends and said, “Let’s have a party because my coin was lost and now is found!”

Then Jesus told of a man who had 2 sons.  One son asked for his inheritance early, and went and wasted it in a foreign country.  When he came to his senses, he remembered his father and decided to return to his father.  When he got home, his father called his friends and said, “Let’s have a party because my son was lost and now is found!”

The older son was working in the back forty.  He came home and heard music and dancing.  He called a servant who said, “Oh your father is so glad because your brother was lost but now is found.”

The older brother became angry and refused to go into the party.  So his father came out and pleaded with him.  But he said, “All these years I’ve been slaving for you, and did you ever throw a party for me and my friends?  I’ll tell you the party we got; it’s called work!”  The father said, “My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.  But we had to celebrate and be glad, because your brother was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”

The Loving Father represents God’s love and forgiveness.  When we go to God humbly and admitting our sin, God, in his mercy and grace, treats us like the father who welcomed back the rebellious son.  Let us go and do likewise.

The older brother represents self-righteous individuals.   His attitude shows that his obedience to his father had been years of grim duty, not loving service.  If you’re struggling with grim duty, let your heart be found by the gracious Father.

Of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son, only the son deliberately got lost, callously turning his back on his father.  But God’s love can defeat the deliberate rebellion of the heart.  Why not turn to the Loving Father today?  He is waiting and watching for you.  Go into his gracious presence today.

From Bitterness to Praise

Lamentations 3:22-23 is a familiar Scripture – “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”  In my experience, it’s common and easy to sing “Great is Thy Faithfulness.”

The thing is, Lamentations was written at a HORRIBLE time in Israel’s history.  Jeremiah wrote it after Jerusalem was destroyed by invading Babylonians.  Imagine the Oklahoma City bombing or 9-11 attacks on NYC.  Jerusalem’s homes and businesses were destroyed.  Their gold and valuables were taken by Babylonian soldiers.  Add this factor: The foreign invading army took many of Jerusalem’s residents as prisoners back to Babylon, to work as slaves.  Many Israelites felt deserted by God and bitter. 

If you read the rest of Lamentations 3, you’ll get a sense of Israel’s grief bitterness.  It’s amazing that Jeremiah was able to praise God for his love and faithfulness in the midst of such terrible destruction.  Would you be able praise God after your business and home were looted and burned, and some of your loved ones taken away as prisoners? 

How often do the people around us disappoint us?  How many people have made promises to you, that were not kept?  Almost all of us have been disappointed by someone we loved.  But God is completely faithful.  God is 100% trustworthy.   Yet there are times when some of us have felt neglected or abandoned by God.  Maybe an unexpected loss has left you feeling hopeless.  Do you still believe that you can count on God?  We live in a world of great uncertainty and huge changes.  So many promises and guarantees have been broken.  It’s no wonder that some become skeptical, bitter or hard-hearted. 

Lamentations 3:24-26 says,”The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.  The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.”  Can you wait for the Lord?   Can you wait for the One who is loving and faithful?  If you haven’t been trusting the Lord lately, remember, the Lord is GOOD to those whose HOPE is in Him, those who seek Him.  

In a disappointing, uncertain, changing world, let us trust the Lord of heaven and earth.

A Pilgrim Song -Psalm 130

Psalm 130 The Message (MSG)

A Pilgrim Song

130 ^1-2 Help, God—the bottom has fallen out of my life!
    Master, hear my cry for help!
Listen hard! Open your ears!
    Listen to my cries for mercy.

^3-4 If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings,
    who would stand a chance?
As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit,
    and that’s why you’re worshiped.

^5-6 I pray to God—my life a prayer—
    and wait for what he’ll say and do.
My life’s on the line before God, my Lord,
    waiting and watching till morning,
    waiting and watching till morning.

^7-8 O Israel, wait and watch for God—
    with God’s arrival comes love,
    with God’s arrival comes generous redemption.
No doubt about it—he’ll redeem Israel,
    buy back Israel from captivity to sin.

Shine God's Light and Love

I was recently blessed with the opportunity to spend time with a bright young boy, while visiting his grandparents.  When he said he wanted to play a game, I offered to play one with him. His Grandma accidentally brought out a chess game, thinking it was checkers; he said, No, this is the game I wanted.  I was stunned that this boy, only 6-years-old, could play chess, and asked, "Do you know how to play chess?"  He nodded and said, Yeah.  

  

He then showed me how to set the different pieces on the board.  He said he wanted white pieces; so he got to move first.  As we played, I observed that he knew how to move each of the 6 pieces, that all have different rules on how they can move differently. He understood the basic rules of chess.  After my moves, He examined possible consequences of how my move might affect his.  As the game went on, I encouraged him to consider all his options on his possible moves and tried to coach him a bit.  I was impressed with this child's understanding of this complex game.  After we finished, and I visited and prayed with with him and his grandparents, he politely offered me a piece of chocolate.  I left amazed at his potential, which renewed my hope for the younger generation.

After reflecting on this, every heart and mind has unlimited potential, as that young child does.  God looks past the outward appearance, to see the heart.  God sees whether we love Him with all our hearts (Deuteronomy 6:5, Luke 10:27), or just halfheartedly, or ignore or reject Him.  It's tempting for us to show a good side to others only when we want something from the other person, while ignoring God's Word and Christ's command to love our neighbor as ourselves (Leviticus 19:18, Galatians 5:13-15)   But those who truly love God express their love for others.  They shine as lights in a dark world, as the Master directs us in Matthew 5:14-16.  So often Christians are known for our judgmental attitudes, but it’s more Christ-like to shine God’s love and light.  To God be the glory for all his light in this dark world!

Why does God allow tornadoes, tragedy and suffering?

"If there is a God, why would He allow this unwanted divorce, undeserved termination from a job, or unexpected illness?"

"The agnostic philosopher David Hume claimed that tragedies in the world such as the tornadoes in Moore, Oklahoma last week constitute prima facie evidence that God is either evil, impotent, or non-existent.  

'Admittedly, reconciling the reality of suffering with faith in a loving, all-powerful God is difficult.

'The late rector John Stott claimed that the existence of suffering in the world posed the single greatest challenge to the Christian faith.

'When Lee Strobel was preparing to write his best-selling book “The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity,” he conducted a nationwide survey asking, “If you could ask God anything what would you ask?”  The top response was, “Why is the suffering and evil in the world?”

'As a pastor for more than 30 years, I realize that when people pose that question they are not as concerned with suffering in the world in general as they are with the reality of suffering in their own lives.  If there is a God, why would He allow this unwanted divorce, undeserved termination from a job, or unexpected illness?

'One night my wife and I were traveling on an interstate highway in the middle of West Texas in a driving rainstorm when our headlights went out due to an electrical malfunction in our car.

'We could not see two inches in front of us, but we were hesitant to pull over to the shoulder of the road for fear of being hit by another car.

'Thankfully, we spotted an eighteen-wheeler in our rear-view mirror.  We allowed it to pass us, and then we simply zeroed in on its taillights and followed it safely into the city limits of our town.

'Although there is no pat answer to the question, “Why does God allow suffering in the world?” the Bible does offer three truths (or “lights”) we can depend on to lead us safely through the storms of adversity that unexpectedly blow into our lives.

'God is loving. The psalmist declared, “The earth is full of your lovingkindness, O Lord” (Psalm 119:64).  Even apart from the Bible, the world is filled with the evidence of a benevolent Creator.

'Yes, occasionally floods and tornadoes bring indescribable heartache and even death.  But such disasters are the exception rather than the rule.  Most of the time rivers stay within their banks and winds are held in check.

'The outpouring of help by first responders and the financial support for those whose lives are destroyed by the occasional disaster are a reflection of the goodness of God in whose image we are made.

'God is all-powerful. Again, the psalmist claims that God is in control of all His creation (Psalm 103:19).  Some people find this truth troubling.  If God has the ability to prevent natural disasters and human tragedy, why doesn’t He?

'In an attempt to acquit God of responsibility for evil in the world,  a growing number of  people think of God as a loving but impotent old man who would like to help us, but is incapable of doing so.

'But do you find any comfort in the belief that you are simply a victim of random events and people?  Fortunately, the Bible assures us that there is a God who is in control of everything that happens in our lives.

'God’s ways are beyond our understanding.  One of the most famous analogies about God’s purpose in suffering is that of a bear caught in a trap in the woods.  The hunter, wanting to help the bear, approaches him, but the bear won’t allow it.

'The hunter, determined to help, shoots a dart full of drugs into the bear.  The bear is now convinced that the hunter wants to hurt him.

'The drugged animal, now semi-conscious, watches as the hunter actually pushes the bear’s paw further into the jaws of the trap in order  to release the tension.

'The bear has all the evidence it needs to conclude the hunter is evil.  But the bear has made its judgment too soon, before the hunter frees him from the trap.

'At some point God will seem unfair to those of us trapped in time, but we make our judgment too soon.  

'One day, perhaps not until heaven, we will understand what the Hunter was up to in our lives.  Until that time, God says “Trust me.  I have a plan I’m working out in your life, even though in the darkness of the storm you cannot see what that plan is.”

Dr. Robert Jeffress is pastor of the 11,000-member First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas.  His daily radio program “Pathway to Victory” is heard on 760 stations nationwide. He is the author of 20 books including, How Can I Know: Answers to Life's 7 Most Important Questions."

Copied from: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/05/26/why-does-god-allow-tornadoes-tragedy-and-suffering/?intcmp=trending