F4S: Ever get feelin' shocked a bit by our society? So many hard things happening here lately. So what do you know of God's grace, of His good providence and sovereignty?

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

Ever get feelin' shocked a bit by our society? So many hard things happening here lately. So what do you know of God's grace, of His good providence and sovereignty?

I know that it really helps me to know that God is still in charge, that He has things under his control when things look totally out of control in our once Law and Order Western society. 

I feel so grateful for His divine providence and sovereignty too.. far more so today than yesterday. 

Got a question for ya: Have you wondered lately why the godly men of sound faith on this planet (not perfect people but more so than me ie, David Jeremiah, Greg Laurie, Tony Evans, John F. MacArthur, Jack and Franklin Graham etc. just to name a few of em) are still not shaken by all the crazy events that have been happening in this world? I'm not saying they were not moved or shocked at all like many of us have been, but listen to how they are expositing through all the books of the Bible still, and think about it. Not shaken, founded firmly on the Rock. Livin' in the word. Yes, it's cuz they have a good grasp on God's providence and sovereignty. They trust the word like in Romans 8:28 and that challenges me to pray, praise, worship and memorize Scripture more.  

Our galaxy and the whole universe are governed by our wise God and His good sovereignty -- they ain't really governed by chance or fate and that should be very reassuring for us. You've already heard and know that huh.

I've been musing on the Living Word, Jesus the Ultimate solution for our world, and some about those who go against Him. You know the devil is God’s devil, he’s still a tool of God so to speak..even while he chose not to be humble, or obedient to Authority, or to remain and stand on God’s side. And God even uses him in our day for His own purposes. Even the evil that is tearing the world apart is working toward a greater, final purpose of God. We can’t see it yet. But we know that God allows things for a reason and that His plan is good. It must be WAY frustrating for Satan. No matter what he does, he finds that his plans are thwarted and something good happens in the end. All truth is God’s truth, always has been. And no truth will ever go against the Bible cuz the sum of God’s word is truth. His word is inerrant. Always has been true. The Bible tell us this.

"The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever." Psalm 119:160 ESV


It's always good to know what's so and what's not so.God in eternity past, in the counsel of His own will, ordained everything that will happen; yet in no sense is God the author of sin; nor is human responsibility removed.”

God still speaks to us through and via the Bible. So earnestly pray as you read all the way through, and memorize verses in it. God's way of meeting our needs is when we pray to Him for what we specifically need. And the primary means by which God accomplishes His will is through secondary causes (e.g., laws of nature and human choice). In other words, God usually works indirectly to accomplish His will. God also sometimes works directly to accomplish His will. If they happened every single day (and God certainly could do them daily if he chooses) but they would be called ordinaries, but these works are what we call miracles. And we pray for them.  A miracle is God’s circumventing, for a short period of time, the natural order of things to accomplish His will. The blazing light that fell on Saul on the road to Damascus is an example of God’s direct intervention (Acts 9:3). The frustrating of Paul’s plans to go to Bythinia is an example of God’s indirect guiding (Acts 16:7). Both are examples of divine providence at work. There are some who say that the concept of God directly or indirectly orchestrating all things destroys any possibility of free will. If God is in complete control, how can we be truly free in the decisions we make? In other words, for free will to be meaningful, there must be some things that lie outside of God’s sovereign control—e.g., the contingency of human choice (These are some ideas from some of my friends that challenge me today).


If God is not in control of all things, then He is not sovereign, and if He is not sovereign, then He is not God. So, the price of maintaining contingencies outside of God’s control results in a belief that God is not really God. And if our free will can trump divine providence, then who ultimately is God? We are. That conclusion is unacceptable to anyone with a biblical worldview. Divine providence does not destroy our freedom at all. Nope. Rather, divine providence takes our freedom into account and, in the infinite wisdom of God, sets a good course to fulfill God’s will on earth. We each must choose God or be eternally separated from Him. Basic! We are held responsible for all of our actions. Basic. (See Romans 3:19; 6:23; 9:19-21). How these facts work together is impossible for a finite mind to comprehend (Romans 11:33-36). These Bible things are spiritually discerned. People can take one of two extremes in regard to this question. Some emphasize the sovereignty of God to the point that human beings are little more than robots simply doing what they have been sovereignly programmed to do. Others emphasize free will to the point of God not having complete control and/or knowledge of all things. Neither of these positions is biblical. People can take one of two extremes in regard to this question talked about here. Some emphasize the sovereignty of God to the point that human beings are little more than animatronic robots of sorts.. simply doing what they have been sovereignly programmed to do on earth. Others emphasize free will of people.. to the point of God not having complete control and ..or knowledge of all things. Neither of these positions is biblical. Where's the truth and balance? The truth is that God does not violate our human wills by choosing us and redeeming us. Rather, He changes our hearts so that our wills want to choose Him as Savior and Lord. Have you been forgiven yet? Ask.

He initiates, and we respond wisely or foolishly. We each can choose. For believers, “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19), and Jesus went on to say, “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16).

Sovereign grace combines two of God’s good attributes, His sovereignty and His graciousness. Both of these characteristics of God are so vast that many book volumes have been written about each. Briefly though, the doctrine of sovereign grace is the melding of the two into a thrilling truth that gives us a glimpse into the mind and heart of our great God. The sovereignty of God is His total control of all things in the past, in the present, and in the future. Nothing happens on earth beyond His full knowledge and control. All things are either caused by Him or allowed by Him for His own purposes and in accordance with His perfect will and timing (Romans 11:36; 1 Corinthians 8:6). He is the only absolute and omnipotent Ruler of the universe and is sovereign in creation, in providence, and in redemption. The other half of God's sovereign grace is grace. The grace of God is His unmerited favor toward those who have not earned it. It is undeserved favor. There are numerous examples of God’s grace in the Bible, both to His people and to those who rejected Him.

Humble Mary who admitted said she too needed a Savior ..found grace in the eyes of the Lord who bestowed upon her the privilege of bearing Christ... yes, thee only Savior of mankind (Luke 1:28).

She may have been a godly young woman, but nothing she could have done would have made her worthy of such a blessing. She was the recipient of God’s grace, and He sovereignly chose her for the task—sovereign grace. The apostle Paul admits that he was a servant of God only by grace and it was by grace that he labored effectively for the cause of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:10). Sovereign grace chose to save Paul on the Damascus Road, and sovereign grace showered him with untold blessings. As Christians we, too, benefit from God’s sovereign grace. “For by grace are you saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). Our very salvation and position in Christ is due to His grace through the faith that He gives us (Hebrews 12:2). Even those who hate God receive His grace. Every breath God allows them to take is a product of His mercy and common grace to all creation: “He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). Even the atheist enjoys the effects of God’s sovereign grace through God’s beautiful creation and His provision of the resources necessary for food, clothing, and housing. God doesn’t owe these things to us, but He sovereignly provides them to exhibit His grace.

The sovereign grace of God is noted most often by theologians in the matter of election. We see it best explained in Ephesians 1:5–6: “He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20). Therefore, Christians are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). God in His sovereign grace has chosen to save those on whom He has set His love (Romans 9:8–13). 

God in His sovereign grace has chosen to save those on whom He has set His love (Romans 9:8–13). They are picked out of the stream of helpless men and women cascading into hell. This is a humbling truth and should result in immense gratitude on our part. Why did God bestow His sovereign grace on believers? Not because we deserve salvation but to demonstrate “the riches of His glory” (Romans 9:14–23). Our only proper response is to proclaim, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). Do we believers really gain in a sense by losing, Mr. Spurgeon, really? How?

Bad and hard things happen to us here on this sin cursed planet. Example: I and others are convinced after seeing more than enough evidence.. that we got ripped off by Libs and Rinos (the DC Uniparty) in our last 2020 election. In your Land have you too been ripped off? That's so bad! How do you know?

This oriental proverb helps me: A farmer and his son had a beloved steed aka stallion who helped them and their family earn a living. One day, the horse ran away and their neighbors exclaimed, “Wow, your horse ran away, what terrible thing!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. How do you know? We’ll see.”

A few days later, the horse returned home, and while leading a few wild lookin' mares back to their farm as well. Their neighbors shouted out, “Wow! Your horse has returned home, and brought several horses home with him. What a blessing or great luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so a blessing, maybe not. How do you know? We’ll see.”

Later that week, the farmer’s son was trying to break one of the mares and she threw him off and to the ground, breaking his leg. The villagers cried, “Wow. Your son broke his leg, what terrible thing!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. How do you know? We’ll see.”

A few weeks later though, some military soldiers from the national army showed up marching through their town. They and their leaders were recruiting all the able-bodied boys for the army. They did not take the farmer’s son though, who was still recovering from his leg injury. Friends shouted, “Your boy has been spared from war, what tremendously good thing!” To which the Christian farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. How do you know? We’ll see.”

With any event that happens, in and of itself it can be hard to judge at times huh. I mean judge as totally good or totally bad, a blessing from God or a curse from this fallen world of sinful people, as fortunate or unfortunate for a Christian believer. But that only time will tell the whole story. Not everyone lives long enough to find out the ‘whole story,

“Divine all-sufficiency, to come to the end of everything in ourselves and in our circumstances. When we reach this place, we will stop asking for sympathy because of our hard situation or bad treatment, for we will recognize these things as the very conditions of our blessing, and we will turn from them to God and find in them a claim upon Him.” ~ A.B. Simpson

God didn’t want Paul to get the big head over some divine visions given to him, so God actually allowed Paul a thorn in his life. “..when I am weak, then am I strong.” KJV (What was the thorn? I don’t know the details, but it was a messenger of Satan to buffet -- or beat up Paul)

“EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO YOU IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD. IF THE WAVES ROLL AGAINST YOU, IT ONLY SPEEDS YOUR SHIP TOWARD THE PORT (Which one? The best one there worth sailing to -- Heaven, through Christ. That is our final port of call with Him, believer).  

IF LIGHTNING AND THUNDER COMES, IT CLEARS THE ATMOSPHERE AND PROMOTES YOUR SOUL’S HEALTH. (We grow strong by correct focus in trails with struggles and opposition. We believers tend to humbly turn, to trust more, and to all out seek the Lord more when occasional afflictions, natural disasters, infirmities, persecutions and trials come our way and God allows them to). 

YOU GAIN BY LOSS (Really? Yep in Christ you can. Everyone can know the Lord in a meaningful relationship and then gain a whole lot spiritually from God when humbled by life's hard circumstances, rough treatment. Sure, when brokenhearted or crushed in spirit, when reduced on different levels by this earthly experience here, when hurting from the sting of rip-off, fraud and defrauding, when individuals or groups throw stones or oust, when strange circumstantial occurrences happen that we can't figure out, when other types of loss kick you here. You know, losses from personal misjudgements, or your own negligence and forgetfulness, or even from stroke, dementia, alzheimer's etc.. but we weak believers can put on the Spirit's strength. God can still heal and help. We indeed can recover by faith and gain as we choose to live biblically disciplined in denying our fleshly nature from worldly things, as we continue to look up, reach up and out, as we are spiritually-aggressively in supplications seeking first the Lord and his specific will for us. Just do it -- seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness today [See Matt. 6:33-34]). 

YOU GROW HEALTHY IN SICKNESS (What? Really? Perhaps not always physically from healing here, but spiritually you can become well, yes more well than you've ever been before! Too many local churches and individuals today live spiritually sick and that has to do with their constant intake and primary focus. Do they serve idols? Do they do mixed sowing or have a mixed intake? Do they have a worldly spiritual diet that dulls their hunger for the milk of the word, for living water, for the healthy Bread of Life and spiritual things)

YOU LIVE BY DYING (Yes, by denying your old man, saying NO to the devil and your old fleshly nature inside! By saying NO again and again to temptations, to the lusts of the eyes, the lusts of the flesh, and the pride of life. For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain said the Apostle Paul -- and you too can live forever starting today by saying YES Lord, and NO to all He wants you saying no to. You can live forever even after you physically die if not raptured. I do hope we are caught away -- raptured up and out first, but we'll still live forever in koinonia fellow).  

AND YOU ARE MADE RICH IN LOSES (believer, as you pray. As you turn and trust, as you get the doubt out praying believing in the Lord). 

Q. HAVE YOU SUFFERED A FEW LOSSES IN LIFE LATELY LIKE I HAVE? (Sorry about that. Does this bug you much? It has sure bugged me at times.) 

COULD YOU ASK FOR A BETTER PROMISE (..than from God found in Romans 8:28-29? Well, I do love John 3:16 that goes with that)? 

IT IS BETTER THAT ALL THINGS SHOULD WORK FOR MY GOOD THAN ALL THINGS SHOULD BE AS I WOULD WISH TO HAVE THEM (..cuz God's thoughts and ways are so much higher than yours or mine -- our Father knows best). 

ALL THINGS MIGHT WORK FOR MY PLEASURE AND YET MIGHT ALL WORK MY RUIN, so God allows some adversity at times. IF ALL THINGS DO NOT ALWAYS PLEASE ME here, THEY WILL ALWAYS BENEFIT ME in Christ so I can mature. THIS IS THE BEST PROMISE OF THIS LIFE.” (Christ will make all things apparently work for my good in His time. So I have chosen Him and his forgiveness. I have chosen to love and follow Christ the sovereign King of the universe. [I've simply been musing on truth in the words of Charles H. Spurgeon here])


What do you mean, paradox, Kurt? Well, that's a seemingly absurd or contradictory statement or proposition in which, when investigated closer, proves out to be well founded and totally true.

I say when you're in God's will, doing His will and then are persecuted, you can suffer some loss. It's painful and frustrating at times, but God says you will gain even after such loss. (Read some more on this..)


Might seem counterintuitive or contradictory at times what God says. Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 'Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 'Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.'" Matt. 5:3-12 nkjv

The Bible says, "And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew [and loved and chose beforehand], He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son [and ultimately share in His complete sanctification], so that He would be the firstborn [the most beloved and honored] among many believers." Romans 8:28-29 amp

“My God, I have never thanked You for my thorn. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorn. I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensated for my cross, but I have never thought of my cross as itself a present glory. Teach me the value of my thorn.” George Matheson


God makes the first step in drawing, in conviting, and in saving us. He is the intiater and we are the responders.. and we indeed can properly respond with true repentance and saving faith if they Spirit works within us so we want to. So we decide to. We love Him because He first loved us. We don't opt to worship Him so that he will come down, We worship because the Spirit worked and we want to.

Today I drink as much as I want to, and I don't want to. God worked and works. He makes me loathe what I use to love, and love what I used to loathe. He works in us both to will and then to do of His good pleasure in that order.

“Providence is that continuous agency of God by which he makes all the events of the physical and moral universe fulfill the original design with which he created it” (Systematic Theology - Norman Geisler). 

A. H. Strong says: “Providence is that continuous agency of God by which he makes all the events of the physical and moral universe fulfill the original design with which he created it.”
Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather in barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them…. God clothes the grass of the field…. Will he not much more clothe you…” (Mt. 6:26-30). “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Mt. 10:29-30). “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather in barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them…. God clothes the grass of the field…. Will he not much more clothe you…” (Mt. 6:26-30). “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Mt. 10:29-30).

It's God who shakes the earth from its place….” Job 37:6.— “He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain showers, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’” Mat. 5:45.— “He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Isa. 40:26.—“Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, who brings out their host stars by number;He calls them all by name.…” Job 9:5-6.— “He moves the mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in His anger. He shakes the earth from its place….” Job 37:6.— “He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain showers, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’” Mat. 5:45. — “He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Isa. 40:26.— “Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, who brings out their host stars by number;He calls them all by name..”

The Bible says, “The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.” Psa. 147:9.— God, “He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call.” Mat. 6:27.—“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow…yet even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” 1 Chron. 16:31.— “ Let them say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns!’” Dan. 4:35.— “He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth.” Psa. 47:7. — “God is King of all the earth.” God’s Providence Over the Animate World Psa. 147:7-8. -- “The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.” Psa. 147:9.— “He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call.” Mat. 6:27.—“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow…yet even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” Providence Over Human Affairs in General 1 Chron. 16:31.— “ Let them say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns!’” Dan. 4:35.— “ He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth.” Psa. 47:7.— “ God is King of all the earth.” (Read more...)

Here's a few more... 

Photo by Edume Chopetia. Recommended Resource: Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J.I. Packer. Chosen But Free, revised edition: A Balanced View of God’s Sovereignty and Free Will by Norm Geisler and The Potter’s Freedom by James White