Monday, November 30, 2015

BUT GOD

 

BUT GOD is the Judge;
He puts down one and
exalts another.
Psalm 75:7


Should anyone take a look inside my main study/teaching Bible, they would find two words I have usually tried to underline or circle...ALL and BUT. Both words, although only with three letters each have large meaning for me as I read. You see, when I come across that word ALL, I have come to realize when the Holy Spirit spoke of ALL, that's exactly what He meant. He wasn't even hinting at a piece or part of something...He meant just what the word indicates and that is something in it's entirety.

The word, BUT, is another word altogether. It is a word of exception, correction or addition of some sort, perhaps a combination of those three words. I love every time I come to the words “But God...” side by side. In many verses the two individual words can be found separately, but my personal blessing is seeing those two words side by side revealing God stepping into a situation to make Himself known and active in the lives of His people. (By the way, most of the time in this blog, I will capitalize those two words just for emphasis)

There were BUT GOD instances in many of the lives of Old Testament people, such as Noah (Gen. 3:3), Joseph (Gen. 50:20), Ruth (1:6) and David (I Sam. 23:14). There were others, of course, but too many to mention. Even in the book of Psalms, we find those two wonderful words proclaimed by an author:

My flesh and my heart may fail,
BUT GOD is the strength of my
heart and my portion forever.
(73:26)

What precious promises we have just in that verse of God's concern, love and power. He cares for us in our weakest moments. At the same time, He is the righteous Judge and there is never anything out of His control where you and I are concerned.

For me, personally, those two words (BUT GOD) came to land in my mind and on my heart when I got into an in-depth study of the book of Ephesians. When I came to chapter 2 of that dear book, I was stopped in my tracks for a time...couldn't move on to the next verses. The first three verses of chapter two speaks of who we were in our sin prior to our acceptance of Jesus in our lives. We are reminded in those verses of how we were dead in our sins and how we walked according to the course of this world, controlled by the prince of the power of the air. Paul speaks of how we all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and mind. Paul puts us all in the same basket of sinful behavior and indulgences. To be honest, after reading those three verses, I was ready to just put my Bible down for a rest. I knew that had been my pedigree and it didn't look very pretty.

Then I came to verses 4-7 of that chapter 2:

BUT GOD, being rich in mercy, because of His
great love with which He loved us.
Even when we were dead in our transgressions,
made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have
been saved),
and raised us up with Him, and seated us
with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
so that in the ages to come He might show the
surpassing riches of His grace in kindness
toward us in Christ Jesus.

I can't tell you how often I come to these verses when I go through a tough time of discouragement or when I don't feel well. We may wonder at times if God is really “there” in our various situations. The answer for us is to be in the Word of God and this is a wonderful place to be.

We are facing a holiday time when many folks tend to go into times of depression for any number of reasons. No matter the time of year, no matter our circumstances, God will always be rich in mercy along with His other loving attributes. No matter how low our circumstances or moods, BUT GOD is still a fact of our spiritual lives. He waits in the wings of our lives to step into those circumstances we face and in His time. I hasten to say though, that it is always His time for the lost to be found, for the sinner to repent, for the back-slidden Christian

to return to God's loving arms.

Along this same thought is Romans 5:8:

BUT GOD demonstrates His own love
toward us, in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.

I Corinthians chapter 1 speaks of the foolish things of this world, and verse 27 speaks to that.

BUT GOD has chosen the foolish things of the
world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the
weak things of the world to shame the things
which are strong.

In Acts 13, Paul preached a lengthy sermon in Pisidian Antioch where he preached a very historical sermon. He began with Israel and Old Testament information on to the ministry and death of Jesus. He then made one of the most important statements that has to do with our faith. In verse 30, he said:

BUT GOD raised Him from the dead.

All Paul preached was for nothing without the fact of that statement regarding Jesus' victory over death. The fact of that statement is as real today as it was then. As Jesus was victorious over death, we who belong to Him share in that victory.

Can you recall some of those BUT GOD times in your life? Perhaps everything was in shambles around you, and then God miraculously stepped in. Those times are usually clear and memorable in our minds and should be kept for pondering in our hearts. Those times become a part of God's track record in our lives and contribute to the building our faith.

Thank You Father for those times You step into the muddled messes of our lives and bring beauty from ashes. Only you can interrupt our circumstances with such love and blessing. Thank you for not just those special moments but for every moment of Your consistent love for us. In Jesus' precious name....Amen


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