I woke up this morning, looked out the window and saw, to my surprise, that there
was about five cm of fresh snow on the ground. I don't know why I was surprised,
after all, it is September in Alberta.
It's common to get several snowfalls this time of year. They usually melt off
in a day or so. Every time it happens, we're astonished and amazed. I can't recall
a year when it didn't happen, but each time there is a feeling of "Snow in September?
That's just not possible."
You'd think we'd learn after a while. I guess we're just slow to catch on.
The same thing happens to believers. God answers our prayers and we're surprised.
God forgives us (again) and we're astonished. Every time God comes through, it
almost seems as if we half expected Him not to.
Our surprise is amazing. Amazing when you consider His faithfulness throughout
Scripture. Amazing when you consider His track record throughout all of history.
More amazing still when you look at the ways He's come through in our lives.
God is faithful. God delivers on His promises. God is able. God is good. We know
all those things in our heads, but do they sink into our hearts? Jesus loves us.
Jesus promises forgiveness. Our salvation is by grace alone. We know those things
intellectually, but we seem to have a problem accepting them on a spiritual level.
God knew our tendency to forget. That's why the Jews were commanded to wear phylactery
(those little boxes with Scripture written in them).
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments
that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children.
Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you
lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them
on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 NIV
Writing the Word down and wearing it was supposed to symbolize a remembrance
of how faithful God is, but like many thing simply became another rule or ritual.
No surprise there for God. He knew how fickle we could be. That's why His plan
extended to writing the truth on our hearts.
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove
from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will
follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and
I will be their God
Ezekiel 11:19-20 NIV
God's faithfulness should come as no surprise. It's written in His Word; it's
written in our lives; it should be visible for all to see. As a believer, His
love and faithfulness are written all over you.
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people,
letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, written
on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from
Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of
the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
2 Corinthians 3:1-3 NIV
The next time God comes through, just as He promised, remember, it snows in Alberta
and God always delivers. Let His faithfulness shine through your life as a beacon
for others to see.
Until next time, REJOICE, God will come through.
Hallelu Yah (Praise God)
Be blessed
Kevin
Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. You have
value in the eyes of God so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing
to the world. You are so precious to God that heaven will not be complete without
you.