God Nuggets Blog

Jesus absorbed evil on the cross. Look at Isaiah 53:

• Jesus was despised and rejected (Isa 53:3)
  
• He took up our infirmities (Isa 53:4)
  
• He carried our sorrows (Isa 53:4)
  
• Jesus was pierced for our transgressions (Isa 53:5)
  
• He took the punishment that brought us peace (Isa 53:5)
  
• He was crushed and suffered (Isa 53:10)

Jesus took on evil, but he scorned the shame (Hebrews 12:2).

He scorned the shame.

Jesus embraced evil, yet singled out shame and scorned it.

What does that mean? To be honest, I don't know exactly. To scorn means to "to reject, refuse, or ignore with contempt or disdain" (Dictionary.com). At the least, this Scripture tells us that we have no business wallowing around in shame! As imitators of Christ and people forgiven by God, we must reject shame! Don't allow it to take root in your emotions or thoughts!

I would really appreciate your comments and insight regarding this post.

Blessings,

Come visit us at warrenfamilylife.com

We have a squirrel infestation. I used to like squirrels. Now they are living in our chimney and our attic. They are chewing electrical wires and tormenting the dogs. The companies that eradicate squirrels in our area of the country charge about $5,000! So I have started trapping and releasing these rodents-in-cute-disguise.

Now don't get me wrong, I am a real softie when it comes to animals. So I'm driving out to the country with a small squirrel in my trunk, imagining the stress he will have to go through trying to find food and shelter before he even gets his bearings in a new environment. I imagine him in the rain that is coming later this afternoon. I think of him in the trunk experiencing the unfamiliar motion of a car and being very frightened, and it bothers me.

It bothers me, that is, until I think, Squirrel, this is your lucky day! The alternative to an unplanned move to the country is being euthanized in some way. This journey is actually saving the little rodent's life.

In the same way, when God allows unpleasant circumstances into our lives, we can be sure He is saving us from something even worse. When a trial comes, we can say, "Self, this is your lucky day!" (James 1:2). He might even be saving your life.

Blessings,

Come visit us at warrenfamilylife.com

As many of you know, we have a cat named Ladybug. We adore her. When she comes up and asks for pets or a treat, we are glad to oblige; it gives us pleasure to see her happy and content.

There was a time, though, when Ladybug was sick and I had to give her horrible pink bubble-gum-flavored medicine. She hated it. I’m sure that if she could talk she would have said, “NOOOOO!!! Come on, when was the last time you saw a cat chewing bubble gum? Please not the pink stuff; anything but the pink stuff!” But that was a request we could not accommodate, because if she didn’t take her medicine, something much worse than being forced to swallow the pink stuff could happen to her.

It’s important to note here that I took no pleasure in Ladybug’s suffering. Our episodes with the pink stuff tore at my heart. It would be unthinkable for me to make her suffer that way unless it was for a very important reason.

Somehow Ladybug sensed my good intentions. When I told her it was time for her medicine, she crouched, stiffened with dread, and dug into the carpet as if to hold on for dear life. But she let me pick her up. She didn’t run. Ladybug trusted me and knew I was trying to help her -- even though I think she believed I was stupid and terribly misguided in the way I went about it!

I can’t describe the pleasure I got from knowing that she trusted me anyway.

In the same way, we give God pleasure when we trust Him even through the hard times. My compassion for our cat is nothing in comparison to the infinite compassion of God. As Jesus said, "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9-11)

Our Father’s will for us is always “good, pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2), although occasionally that good is disguised in the form of “pink stuff.” We can be certain that if the Father doesn’t give us what we want, He will give us something even better.

Blessings,

Come visit us at warrenfamilylife.com

God is our Fortress. That isn't really news.

But think of it this way. God is all-powerful so nothing is strong enough to break through. God is everywhere-present so nothing can get around Him to get to us. God is even inside us and can protect us from ourselves. He will never leave us nor forsake us, so the fortress can never be removed. And finally, nothing can stand against Him or thwart His will (Daniel 4:35; 2 Chronicles 20:6).

Keep these things in mind and look at this Scripture:

Psalm 18:2
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

So, what have we to fear?

We fear the door.


This is my problem. Sometimes God opens a door in the fortress and allows evil in. There is so much good in our lives that we know it isn't very often. Even though I am protected over and over, day after day, that tiny door of suffering makes me afraid to trust the Fortress sometimes. My question to you is:


In your mind and emotions, and with your faith: What do you do with the door? How do you get through the suffering in your life? What do you do with the problem of evil? Romans 8:28 promises that God will only open it for our good. But often I just don't want to go through the bad to get to the good. I'm calling a locksmith!

I would love it if you would leave a comment with your thoughts.

Peace to you,

Come visit us at warrenfamilylife.com

PHOTO: Fort Pulaski Door by Rachel Pennington. " Looking up at one of the huge doors into the fort, Savannah, Georgia, USA"

American Heritage defines joy as: "Intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness."

Isn't that radical!?! I've heard a lot of teaching about the difference between happiness (bad and fleeting) and joy (good and lasting); teaching that left me confused and, frankly, afraid of either. I'm going to step out and say that I don't believe there is a significant theological difference between joy and happiness. God wants us to have both!

As Christians, with the warnings about sinful pleasure in the Bible (Proverbs 10:23), we get afraid of ANY pleasure. But just like Snoopy here, God wants us to seek pleasure relentlessly and unashamedly -- godly pleasure, that is (Matthew 13:44; Psalm 16:11). For me, maybe it's being out in nature, enjoying time with my doggies, talking to you about God-things, the satisfaction of a job well done, or a just good cup of coffee with my feet up.

Joy is a command with an explanation point (Philippians 4:4). Even Jesus, our example, endured the cross for the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2b). Perhaps our greatest joy is found in what we suffer for Christ (1 Peter 4:13). We don't need to be afraid that unashamedly seeking pleasure and satisfaction will lead us astray. It leads us straight into the heart of God, the most satisfying Source of joy!

Ecclesiastes 3:12
I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.

Blessings,

Come visit us at warrenfamilylife.com

We've all heard life's not fair, but something deep within us cries for things to be set right. I believe it is the part of us that is made in the image of a just God.

The good news is, although it may not be fair right now, one day it will be fair. And that's a guarantee! God paid Job back double for all he had lost. He promises to restore the years the locusts have eaten. In 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, he assures us that our heavenly reward will be exceedingly beyond our suffering now. And in the last verse of Psalm 27:13-14, we are promised that we will see the goodness of God in our lives here on earth.

Sometimes the justice of God feels kind of scary, like He's "up there" with a judge's robe and gavel just waiting to get us for messing up. But it is more like the part of us that wants to see the good guys win in a movie. He just makes things fair ... the catch is it takes time.

Is our God big enough? Theologically, yes. But because I cannot wrap my human mind around Infinity, my image of God is, frankly, marred. That's where faith comes in because it is in the Unseen, the unfathomable.

My faulty, puny image of God causes me much unnecessary anxiety. I am presently faced with a choice about an upcoming trip. Most people would be envious of our destination. It dropped into our laps practically for free. We have been scrimping and saving in bits and pieces for over a year to have spending money. If I miss it, I will be throwing away a rare opportunity and deeply disappointing the person who loves me most.

But I have a chronic illness that for some reason is aggravated by travel. Thanks to the limitations of traveling via frequent flier miles, this trip has a rigorous start: 3 days and 4 cities to get there. My gut tells me I'm gonna bonk. My husband tells me I'm setting myself up to fail. My God tells me that if I miss Plan A, he has Plan B ready and waiting, full of favor and grace and perhaps even more glorious than Plan A.

Please allow me to wax theological for just a moment: We can never get around God's will. But He has what I believe theologians call a "perfect" will and a "permissive" will: Plan A and Plan B.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve missed Plan A. They sinned and ruined it. Plan A was for them to populate the earth with good, kind people who had never fallen and to set up God's glorious Kingdom full of light and love right on this planet. That didn't happen.

But in my humble opinion, Plan B, set up from before the beginning of time, is even more glorious. God became flesh and dwelt among us. He died a criminal's death for you and me: By one beautiful, horrific sacrifice Christ atoned for all men, for all sin, for all time. God's Son was raised again to sit at the right hand of God and will one day come again to defeat evil once and for all. He will rule with power and set up that perfect Kingdom on a New Earth where pain and loneliness and decay and suffering are demolished forever. God has revealed, and will continue to demonstrate to a watching universe who would never have known otherwise, His infinite love and kindness by the death, resurrection, and ascension of His Son.

OK, theology lesson over.

Now back to my trip -- and any decision you may be facing. Many years ago, I took a trip that made me so sick that I could have died. Other trips have left me confined to bed for months. Some have had no ill effect at all. (You can understand why I feel like I'm playing Russian Roulette here. Don't want to miss God's will on this one!)

What if I had discerned and chosen Plan A and not traveled at the wrong time on the wrong trip that made me so sick. What if I had never made some of the other choices that led to the development of my illness. I could have had a much easier life. But I never would have had the depth of compassion and understanding that I do now. I wouldn't have the ability to look across a room and see the pain that someone was hiding inside. I wouldn't have insight and hope to offer others who have suffered. There is no way I would know God in the intimate tender way that He has revealed Himself to me, and I certainly wouldn't be writing this blog. I believe I would be of much less use to God in general.

So maybe Plan B is Plan A after all. Maybe we're not big enough to screw up God's will for our lives. Maybe it all does turn out for the best even if it doesn't feel like it in the moment. Maybe the world is safe because God has it all under control. Maybe I am safe. Maybe, even if the worst happens, I'll be glad about it one day.

Maybe God is big enough. And maybe you and I can both dare to believe it!

With love,


Come visit us at warrenfamilylife.com

SpiritualGraphics.com

"God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong" (1 Corinthians 1:27).

God gives and commands special treatment for the weak, the brokenhearted, the contrite, the dependent. So why is it that when we come across someone like this we are disgusted or at least uncomfortable?

I have a friend named Donna. Donna is attracted to weakness. In a pet store full of beautiful birds, she fell in love with the one-legged bird that preferred to hide under his newspaper all day. When she chose from a litter of kittens, she looked at the runt, the one that might die, and said, "I want that one." What a beautiful picture of God.

When you are down, when you are at your worst, when you feel like a bug that has hit the windshield of a car. That is when God says, "I want that one," and points at you.

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You can stop reading here. But, if you'd like to dig a little deeper, I selected some encouraging Scriptures. Most are paraphrased for simplicity. Each is linked to take you directly to the original Scripture if you want to see it:

Psalm 12:5 - God arises and protects the weak.

Psalm 72:13 - He pities the needy and saves them from death.

Ezekiel 34:16 - God searches for, binds up, and strengthens the injured.

Romans 15:1 - God commands us to "bear with the failings of the weak."

Hebrews 5:2 - Jesus subjected himself to weakness when He came in the flesh.

2 Corinthians 12:9 - He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

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I believe God can't touch a life without bringing healing into it. But it is not for us to say when or what that healing will look like. Sometimes it takes the form of emotional healing. Other times, God heals a character defect, or a relationship. At other times God heals a sin problem. Jesus still heals physically just as he did when he walked the earth, And He still performs the ultimate miracle of redeeming a soul from eternal death.

"Then why am I still in pain?" you may ask. I have no adequate answer other than to tell you that suffering is an extremely valuable commodity in the economy of God's Kingdom. Therefore, your reward will be great (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). God stores up every tear in a bottle in heaven (Psalm 56:8). Even though God knows, that if we could see what He sees, we would actually choose the same suffering for ourselves, He weeps with us anyway (John 11:35).

"[God] said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me" (2 Corinthians 12:9).


Come visit us at warrenfamilylife.com