In His Hands

Open with joke of little boy wanting the new bicycle and praying to God for it.

A little boy wanted a bicycle but he did not know best how to pray for one. So as he was watching a church television program, a very traditional service, he saw how the minister prayed. At the end of the day, the lad got on his knees and said: "Lord, if it is in Your Sovereign will and in Your Eternal plan that I can get myself a bicycle - in your time and according to your will - would you please get me a bicycle In Jesus name I pray. Amen."         Two days later, there was still no bicycle; so he began to think he needed a different prayer. He turned on the television again to watch another type of ministry in operation. And at the end of the day, he got on his knees and said: "Lord, I declare my need for a bicycle! And I declare that it will be a nice blue-colored bicycle and delivered to my home within 24 hours. I lay claim to it, Amen!" After several days and still not having received a bicycle.  As he was passing through the hall he saw a statue of the Virgin Mary there on one of the shelves.  He took the statue off of the shelf and disappeared somewhere. His mother was observing him all the time. Later that night as he got ready for bed, the little boy got down on his knees and said, "Dear Jesus, if you ever want to see your mother again..." 

Having just come out of the New Year’s celebration and, especially having just had our service this past Wednesday evening, where we, as a church family, took the time to share with one another our expectations for this new year and also share our victories and testimonies from the past year. I began to think about how people perceive and view the Lord and how their perception of Him affects their relationship with Him.

Which, in turn affects how they served, or failed to serve Him throughout the year ending and even affects the way they begin serving Him for the new year.

How many of you know and understand that the way that we were raised, or the way that we have been taught up and trained about certain things, affects our understanding and belief about those things?

For example:

If you grew up in England, then this is a biscuit (slide 1)

But, if you grew up in the south in the US, this is biscuit (slide 2)

If you grew up in the North Eastern portion of the US, this is a toboggan (slide 3)

But, if you grew up in the southeastern portion of the US, this is a toboggan (slide 4)

In many kitchens across the US, this is a grinder. (slide 5)

But, in many other kitchens, this is a grinder. (slide 6)

If you play classical music, this is a violin. (slide 7)

But, if you play bluegrass and country, it is a fiddle.

To many people, this is a lifesaver. (slide 8)

But too those who have found the Lord, this is a lifesaver (slide 9)

To those in the world, this is considered treasure. (slide 10)

But to those found in Christ, this is considered treasure. (slide 11)

Do you see what I mean, by the differences in how we look at and view things, based upon what we have been taught and brought up to beleive?

And the same thing applies to how many people view God and their having a relationship with Him and how much their are willing to give of themselves to Him.

Non-Christians as well as professing Christians!

Many people view God as this all powerful, vengeful being that is just waiting on the right moment to pounce on us and punish us for wrongdoing.

Many Christians have been raised with the mindset that God is to be feared (and by the word “fear”, I mean as in a phobia, or something to be dreaded), as opposed to the Biblical understanding of the word, as found in , which reads,

Proverbs 9:10 ESV

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

In that passage, the word “fear” means, “reverence, a state of piety and respect toward a superior”. It is not the dread, that many have, of being in God’s presence and the false understanding of His wanting to impute punishment upon everyone. But rather, it is the a healthy reverence for God, which draws us to Him!

The unhealthy “fear”of the Lord, has plagued many people over the centuries and driven them back into a “works” based salvation process.

The great reformation period of the church, which took place some 500 years ago, began as one man sought to break free from other “MEN” who had assumed the role as the authoritative figures for the church and thus, only the Catholic priests were allowed to read and interpret the Bible for others.

Martin Luther, who for the early part of his life, served as a Catholic monk, lived his life and the initial part of his walk with the Lord, with a terrible fear of God’s wrath and of hell.

This produced a state of constant repentance and works to try to justify himself before God.

In a letter to his friend, on August 2, 1527, Luther wrote: 

“I spent more than a week in death and hell. My entire body was in pain, and I still tremble. Completely abandoned by Christ, I labored under the vacillations and storms of desperation and blasphemy against God. But through the prayers of the saints (his friends), God began to have mercy on me and pulled my soul from the inferno below.”

Then, one day while reading the epistle of Romans, Luther read a passage that he could not take his mind off of. That passage was , which reads, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Then, one day while reading the epistle of Romans, by Paul, Luther read a passage that he could not take his mind off of. That passage was , which reads, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

And upon reading this, Luther began to understand that each person, is only ever found righteous and right with God, through their faith and belief in His Son, Jesus Christ and of His death and resurrection. He began to realize that the Bible was saying that all people could have an intimate and personal relationship with God and should thus be able to read and study the Bible on their own!

This understanding of “personal faith in God”, prompted Luther to turn from the heretical teachings of the Catholic church and thus translate the New Testament into German, so that everyone at that time, could have their own copy of the Gospel Message and come to a healthy understanding of the grace and mercy and love of God individually!

And when someone comes to a true understanding of who God is and why He created us and why He sent His son to die on the Cross and shed His pure blood for our sins, then it sets that person free and allows them to enter into a life devoted to serving and worshipping their creator and having an intimate relationship with Him, versus that of a dread of His presence and of an unhealthy fear of the Lord!

Just like it did with Martin Luther, as it freed him from a life racked with fear and shame!

tells us, “ For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

You see, Paul was both, exhorting us, as well as warning us in this passage, that Jesus paid a high price on the Cross to set us free from our bondage to sin, but also to free us from the enslaving bondage of the law and its unattainable requirements.

If Christ has set someone free from their bondage to sin and works of the law and that person turns back, for whatever reason, and begins trying to do works and a earned justification system to be found right in the eyes of God and to gain His approval, then that person has once again been enslaved to the law and they once again, find their lives bound under shame and condemnation.

It’s for this reason, that Paul asked the question to the church of Galatia, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

You see, our righteousness and right standing with God come only through His gift of grace and by our faith and belief in Jesus the Christ and never from our own doing!

And so, having the right understanding of how we come to God and what a right relationship with Him is built upon and what that relationship should look like, will help us to begin dismantling other people’s wrong perceptions of who He is and show them why the Bible says that they need salvation through His Son.

It is our task and our privilege to declare the GOOD NEWS of the Gospel Message to everyone and to help set the captives free!

For just as Jesus Christ Himself said, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

And those who have been truly set free from sin and shame and self-condemnation, no longer live to self, though they live in the flesh, not by the flesh, but in it none the less, while in this earthen vessel, they are to live solely by their faith and belief in the Son of God. Just as Paul said in Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

And when you walk with this understanding and the freedom that comes with it, it changes the way that you see and perceive the world and the people around you and most definitely it forever changes how you perceive and interact with God !

Your perception of God is no longer like that of the world’s perception of Him and thus, your life should be lived with the confident expectation and assurance of Him being Jehovah Jireh (your provider), Jehovah Rapha (your healer) and Jehovah Shalom (the God of your peace)!

A believer in Jesus the Christ, by virtue of the fact that Holy Spirit dwells within them, should have a confident hope and expectation that God is sufficient in all ways and for every need within their life, even before they ask Him for something!

And yet there are so many people today who say that they feel as if God is not listening to them and that He never answers their prayers and they question His ever being there for them and because of this, they say that they find themselves beginning to shy away and shrink back from any intimacy with Him.

The Bible says that God NEVER leaves us and He NEVER forsakes us and so, the reality is,many times over, these same people who claim abandonment by God, have lived such shallow and spiritually devoid relationships with Him, that it isn’t until adversity strikes, that they ever even notice a lack of His presence!

It is like the saying by A.W. Tozer, “If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference.”

So, when things go bad in life, these people pray their superficial prayers, based upon their superficial faith from their superficial relationships with a God whom they scarcely know!

These people are fearful of turning their lives over to Him, COMPLETELY, because they do not have a true and healthy understanding of the gift of their salvation and who and what God truly is!

You see, you will never truly and completely surrender yourself to that which you do no truly believe in.

This is why people who are opponents of the Cross, like the famed philosopher of the 20 century, Bertrand Russell, argued that the only reason that we ever come to a religion like Christianity, is because we have been taught and come to believe that without doing so, wickedness will reign over us and around us.

He said that we will cling to a concept like Christianity, because we find it useful in our lives, versus actually and truthfully committing to it because we believe it be TRUE!

And because of this he said that religion is based on fear, and that fear breeds cruelty.

This is why it is so vitally important for the church and its teachers and preachers to teach the TRUTH and the entirety of the Gospel Message to everyone who will listen as well as living out their lives in accordance with the will of God before others.

So that people will have an accurate understanding and perception about God through these teachings, as well as seeing those who are serving the Lord faithfully, live out their lives before others and show them what Godly living looks like!

As Paul instructed, “Imitate me, as I imitate Christ!”

“Let your light so shine before others, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

And one of the main benefits for others getting to see you and I living out our lives in accordance with the Word of God, is that they get to witness the blessings and the favor and the protection of God upon His children, as well as seeing our unwavering peace and joy in hardships and trials that we have, that the world does not have!

And so, for you and I, as Christians, when we read and study God’s Word and pray and seek Him in all areas of our lives and listen to His Holy Spirit speaking to us, we develop true and lasting perceptions about the reality of God and because of this, we are willing to entrust our lives completely into His hands!

And that which is entrusted into the hands of God, is never lost and never forsaken!

Martin Luther, whom I talked about a few minutes ago, said this about placing anything we value into the hands of God, he said, “I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.”

Whatever we entrust into the hands of God, is secure and eternal. God never loses, or misplaces anything and God has a plan and purpose for everything that He creates and allows to be!

Jesus said this of us and with regard to His Father, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

“And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”

“Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.”

Our lives, when entrusted completely and totally into the hands of Jesus Christ, are secure and eternal!

And this understanding of God protecting and blessing those who entrust their lives into His hands, is seen throughout the entire Bible and throughout the ages!

NOAH

GIDEON

HANNAH with SAMUEL

MARY, mother of JESUS.

SOLDIER IN WW2 and the SPIDER

When you and I are willing to entrust our lives completely and totally into God’s mighty hands, because we love Him and we desire to be with Him, then we are joining in with all of creation and becoming part of the endless song of praise and worship to Him.

Did you know that this is what all of creation does. 24/7, 365? It praises and worships His mighty name.

I did a search yesterday in the Bible for the phrase “praise the Lord” and it is found some 51 times in the Bible. The interesting thing about it, is that out of the 51 times it appears, 35 of those times is in one book of the Bible. Can anyone guess which book that is?

YEP, the book of Psalms!

Did you know that the book of Psalms, in Hebrew, was originally called, Tehillim, which means “praise songs” in Hebrew. And so, its Greek translation literally means, “songs of PRAISE”!

In fact the last 5 chapters in the Psalms, all start with the command, “PRAISE THE LORD”!

And in chapter 148, the psalmist declares that all of creation, everything created, is to “praise the Lord”!