God's the Author...

Yesterday I had the honor and privilege of bringing God's Word to my church. As always I love it. Never thought I would say that but I did and I do. It's amazing to think that the God of the universe actually cared enough to not only send His Son to die on the cross thus saving us from God' wrath, but He also gave us His Word to instruct us on all matters of life (2 Peter 1:3).

My sermon this weekend dealt with the life of Joseph and God's Sovereignty being clearly painted all throughout. In going through his life though, there is one whole chapter that at first glace seems as though it does not need to be in there. Chapter 38 of Genesis is all about Judah and Tamar. Tamar ends up being the daughter-in-law of Judah. Judah's son (Tamar's wife) ends up dying so Tamar marries the next brother and he dies. The story continues with one brother not willing to procreate with Tamar and God gets really angry with that. But the kicker is that later on, Judah is travelling and sees what he thinks is a temple prostitute sitting on the side of the road an decides to use her. It ends up being Tamar and he gets her pregnant.

What in the world...why did God seemingly get angry over the one man not procreating with Tamar but not angry (at least enough to recorded in His Word) at the man who sleeps with his daughter in law thinking she is a prostitute. In my mind, sexual sin way worse than the sin of not procreating (check out Genesis 38 if you are unsure of what I am talking about). However, God works in and through this sin in order to bring about the birth of His Son. Tamar is mentioned in Matthew 1 as being in the lineage of Christ. That is a huge mind blower for me.

However, when I read Romans 8:28 it all comes into focus and I am reminded that it doesn't matter what I want or believe. God is the One who is in control causing all things to work together for good. Who am I to tell God how things should be done. I need to keep my eyes on Him, on His Word, and being obedient. The rest is up to Him. Not a long one today...just a good reminder.

It's been a while...

So I've been busy....that's understating it just a bit. I haven't posted a blog in over a month. I'm not out of the clear yet as I have to preach this coming weekend at Canyon Hills. The sermon that I am giving is the last one that I gave while I was at Christ the Rock...The Sovereignty of God. I am fairly sure that God had me give this sermon so that I would be reminded that this move was of Him and that if He didn't want it to happen it wouldn't have happened.

My thoughts for today are really short and probably "duh" thoughts to most people. It just hit me as I was thinking through my sermon. Here it is:

God has a plan and He is faithful to plan working things in such a way as to see the smallest detail through to the very end.

There isn't one accident with God. The other day I was driving on 405 and I was in the fast lane when all of a sudden I realized that the exit I needed to take was coming up quick. I turned on my turn signal and looked for a spot to get over, but the loving people of the morning commute were not about to let me over. I ended up missing my exit, which is the last exit for many miles. I had to go all the way to I-5 and turn around. Now to say the least I was irritated. I swore that if I caught the old man in the little Chevy Aveo I was going to do something to scare him...I didn't get the chance thankfully. He probably is a member of Canyon Hills :).

This was a minor incident in my life but I was reminded this morning that even that was part of God's plan. It had to be...because if it hadn't happened, then something else would have. I would have gotten to work earlier, I would have met different people in a different order, I would have gotten more work done which would have meant that I would have left work earlier, and so on and so forth. God has a plan and I cannot get outside of that plan.

That's a huge comfort to me and it's gotta be a huge frustration for those who want nothing to do with God. You know I still watch my little sheep from CRCC through the eyes of MySpace and I can see how many of them are trying their hardest to do what they want when they want. (I know that they are not mine to care for any more, but it's hard to let em go.) They are trying to get outside of God's plan not realizing that God's plan will happen and it will include them. Pharaoh tried to do the same thing to Moses, Nebuchadnezzar tried to do the same thing with the three young Israelite boys, and the Jews tried to do the same thing to Jesus. News flash though, "God is Sovereign", He has a plan and is powerful enough, omniscient enough, and God enough to see it through to the end without anyone stopping Him or stepping outside of that plan.

So....Praise God for who He is and What He is doing....after all what else can we do. We are either for Him or against Him.