This song has been on my heart for a while now. I love to sing to God. It's just my way to worship and adore Him. It's called Desert Song and it's from Hillsong, sung by Brooke Frasier. The words of it are very powerful. That's why I love praise and worship so much - the words. These amazing songwriters find ways to pour their hearts out with their words put to beautiful music.
I've heard this song slow and I've heard it mid-tempo. I like the mid-tempo for good reason.... it sounds like a battle song. I feel like this is my song, my victory cry that I'm singing loud for all to hear - claiming victory because of who lives in me! That I will overcome all these things that are trying to tear me apart, trying to destroy me. I'm claiming and praising God for His kindness shown to me, for His provision!
THIS is my battle song! {Love it}
This is my prayer in the desert
When all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in my hunger and need
My God is the God who provides
This is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flame
{CHORUS}
I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here
This is my prayer in the battle
When triumph is still on its way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand
{BRIDGE}
All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I've received I will sow
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
God's Sovereign Will vs. Our Free Will
This is a blog I wrote months ago here and recently it keeps being brought up in multiple conversations - not by me, I promise. Other people mention it and I chime in my thoughts on what I've studied. I believe this is important because it affects the way we view our relationship with God. I believe all of those that love God and seek Him would all agree that God is Sovereign. However, there are different views on what sovereignty really looks like.
Some believe that God is sovereign and in complete control of everything, even to the extent of what we say and do. In other words, they see God as a puppet master and we are His little puppets; He is in control of everything we say and do... even the sin we commit. They believe we have no say in what happens in our lives, because God is in complete control. An example of this would be a horrific situation like being hit by a drunk driver - they believe God conducted all of that happened in that horrific accident. {I do not believe this. It is by our own poor choices that things happen and we have consequences for those choices. We ask God for direction and wisdom, but we make the choice to follow Him or not. The drunk driver makes a sinful choice putting others at risk and there are consequences}.
Others see God as Sovereign and believe He is a relational being who longs for us to know Him and love Him by our own free will. they believe He is all powerful. His sovereignty is in His character of ALL that God is - His power, His grace, His wisdom, His strength, and His glory, and His character - full of compassion, full of LOVE because He is LOVE - all that about God does not change.
Question is... is free will really free will? An old companion of mine argued that Numbers 23:19 is clear that God does not change. I questioned this scripture and wanted to look a little deeper - looking at the context of who is speaking, the history, and what they might be specifically referring to.
Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man that He should lie or change His mind…”
Numbers 22-23 is the story of Balaam and Balak and their plot to curse Israel. Balaam is known as an evil "rent-a-prophet." Balaam was rash in his decisions, he loved money and God actually calls him perverse because he chooses to run toward evil trying to curse Israel out of greed despite multiple warnings from God. In chapter 22 we see Balak, king of the Moabites, hears that Balaam can put blessings and cursings on people and it will come to pass. Balak wants to put a curse over Israel so that the Moabites can defeat them in battle. In order to get Balaam to prophesy for you, you had to pay a service fee.
Balaam reminds me of a creepy, money-hungry, TV evangelist. We see that Balaam cares more about money than he does about God’s will. Balaam is approached by Balak’s men and he let’s them stay the night so he can pray about it. Pray about what? He’s praying whether or not it’s ok to curse God’s people. Seriously?! He may have a "gift" here, but he’s obviously not sincerely seeking God’s will.
In vs. 9-12, God warns Balaam to have nothing to do with these men. God tells Balaam “you shall not go with them, you shall not curse the people for they are blessed.” God reminds Balaam that He has blessed Israel and the covenant cannot be broken, because God will not go back on His Word. Balaam goes back to the men and tells them “the Lord has refused to give me permission to go with you.” It’s like a kid saying “my dad says I can’t go, but I really want to.” In other words, he can be persuaded and that’s exactly how the men took his answer because they actually went back to Balak with the message, then it says in the scripture that he specifically sent wealthier men to persuade him. Balaam entertains their offer a second time after God already told him no. Why is he doing this? Because this dude is greedy.
In vs. 20-21 we see God change his way by allowing Balaam to go with the men, but God was angry with him. God had just told him to have nothing to do with these men. Is this unfair? I don't think so. God already warned him, but he consistently rejected God’s answer (his choice). He kept pushing for the answer he wanted because of greed. Balaam has free will and he makes his own choices, as we all do, and this ties in with God’s permissible will. God wants him to have nothing to do with these men, but God changes His way as a reaction to Balaam’s poor choices and allows him to go, but God is angry with him.
Does this mean that God is going to break His covenant with Israel and allow this evil prophet to curse the nation? Absolutely not. God never breaks a promise/covenant, because He is Sovereign. He never goes against His Word. God’s character does not change; WHO God is does not change. His glory and His power do not change.... but God does change His mind or His decisions because out of His great love for us, He gave us free will and the chance to have a relationship with Him. I believe this is brought up multiple times throughout the Bible and it's wrong to look at only Numbers 23 and say 'God never changes His mind.' This is an evil prophet speaking and he is only referencing God's covenant with Israel in this particular scripture.
God's Response
When God changes his ways, it is always a response to His people - whether that be His response to a prayer, to our repentance or when He regretted making Saul king over Israel (1 Sam 15:35) because of Saul’s poor choices… God's response is a reaction. It’s not because God is indecisive, but more so because He loves us and He has given us the gift of free will. We make good and bad choices, we sin, we repent, we pray, we worship... God reacts to our choices. Even with our choices to sin and be disobedient, God may be angry with us, but He changes from anger to showing us compassion when we repent… and that is a change that does not contradict anything in scripture or of His character, but in fact, it only proves Him more true.
In vs. 22-27 we see that an angel of the Lord meets Balaam on the road as he is on his way to meet Balak. The angel has his sword drawn and ready to kill him, and the donkey freaks out because she sees the angel. Balaam loses his temper and beats her three times. God uses the donkey to speak to Balaam, but unfortunately Balaam won’t listen. In vs. 31-35 the angel has his sword drawn and tells Balaam "turn around and go back now because your way (choice) is perverse (running towards evil).”
Then Balaam says “if it displeases You, I will turn back.” IF? He’s questioning? He’s still hoping for the answer he wants to hear from God. Seriously dude? There’s an angel in front of you with a sword drawn ready to kill you and you’re questioning. Really? This dude is stubborn.
Again, God allows him to go but it says again,“God was angry with him.” He’s allowing Balaam to make the choice and fall to his own sin; he has already rejected God multiple times. From my reading, most theologians seem to agree this is judgement on Balaam unless he repents.
Now, Balaam meets Balak, king of the Moabites, and I’m thinking he was probably very excited to see him because he’s expecting Balaam to put a curse on Israel so he can win the battle. Balaam tells him “I will try but this is not in my hands, but in God’s hands” – as if to say, "if I fail, (which I’m thinking I will because God already said NO) I blame God.”
Balaam tries to curse Israel (evil punk) as he repeatedly goes back and forth trying to get a different answer from God so that he can finish the job he’s paid for. He bosses Balak around, he even gets Balak to build altars (at Balak’s expense, not his, although he does take credit for it). Where does he think he has this authority? God never told him to do that.
Sovereign Will vs. Permissible Will
Most theologians have agreed there is a difference in God’s permissible will and His sovereign/providential will. God’s sovereign will refers to things that happen no matter what - things that we can not change, and we don’t have to pray to make it happen because but God will do (has done) it regardless. This includes creation, the promise/covenant of a Savior - a fulfillment of Old Testament prophesies, God’s covenant with Israel and the covenant/promise of our Lord’s return and the new earth. This also includes His covenant/promise to love us, to be faithful, to hear our prayers...
God made a covenant with Israel and Balaam cannot break that. He cannot curse them because God has not cursed them. However, God can and does use people to fulfill His sovereign will. For example, we see God use Mary to fulfill the promise of a Savior and we see Abraham used to fulfill the promise He made with Israel.
God’s permissible will refers to things such as who we choose to marry, our degrees, careers and the schools we attend… or when someone chooses to take a job to help a king kill off God’s chosen people. These are things we choose by our free will. We can choose to be like the great King Solomon and seek God's wisdom and ask Him to direct us in our decisions, but ultimately it’s our choices, our free will, and far too often it is our screw-ups.
The Puppet Master?
For those that say God never changes - to say that nothing about God changes, not His decisions, not His ways - it actually contradicts scripture (I'll come back to this). It breaks my heart to hear that someone believes that no matter what they pray, God already has his mind made up. So, why do you pray?
What kind of relationship is it if you don't have free will? Do you believe you are being controlled by a puppet master? Yes, even in your moments of sin, you believe God is controlling that sin too? If God is controlling your sin, that would contradict His holiness.
Also, if you believe that God is a puppet master, then how is that true love? Think of it this way, if a husband goes up to his wife, shakes her saying "you will love me. I will make you love me. I will force you to love me. I will control you to love me." That, my friends, is not true love. That is manipulation. True love is by choice. There's freedom in love.
I just hope those reading this understand that your prayers do touch the heart of God. He has given you the freedom to choose Him and to love Him.
Calvinists will not agree with this blog post and I don't understand their interpretation of the scriptures. For example, when Jesus teaches us to pray in faith, how do they interpret that? According to their interpretation, God has already decided everything. If He’s going to do it regardless, then their prayers don’t make any difference. According to their belief, their prayers don’t influence the heart of God at all. OMGosh! There’s so much that they’re missing out on with their heavenly Father! How sad it is to view God as only a Puppet Master with no emotion, no reaction, no feeling, that they can’t have true fellowship with Him.
Some look at Numbers 23:19 and claim that God cannot change based on this scripture. I believe that with all scripture, we should look at the history in that chapter; look at the surrounding chapters. Look at who is speaking because we need to know specifically what they are talking about and if they are a man or woman of noble character. In this verse, I highly recommended looking at the surrounding issue and why this (evil) person is saying this (and how this angered the heart of God).
We know from reading the earlier chapters that Balaam is a money-lovin’, perverse rent-a-prophet who was hired to curse God’s people and he tries to multiple times. Numbers 23 begins with Balaam bossing Balak around, getting him to build altars as he is praying for God to curse Israel. In verse 19, Balaam is specifically talking to Balak about Israel. He’s saying ‘I can’t curse them because God has not cursed them and God will not repent, change or break His covenant with them.' God’s covenant is unbreakable, unlike ours, as we go against our words all the time.
IMPORTANT ** The Greek word used here for change or repent is nacham: to relent, to have compassion on, to feel sorry for, to change or repent. Here’s a good explanation for nacham and here is the original text. (This has to be one of the best sites I’ve found! It allows you to click on the word in question and pull up the definition based on the original text). God is not going to repent, change or be sorry that He has a covenant with Israel.
The Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Bible commentary interprets Numbers 23:19 as, “The counsels and promises of God respecting Israel are unchangeable; and no attempt to prevail on Him to reverse them will succeed, as they may with a man.” If we try to use Numbers 23:19 to say that God never changes in anyway, then according to the original Greek word, nacham, that would be saying that God never has compassion, He never forgives and that He never relents. That would contradict everything in scripture! God changes as He reacts to us, but He will not change something that contradicts His word or breaks a promise, or that goes against His character and His sovereignty.
Exodus 32 - The prayer of Moses
The same Greek word nacham is used in Exodus 32 as it is in Numbers 23. Do these scriptures contradict each other? No. Balaam was specifcially talking about God’s covenant with Israel. In Exodus 32, Moses’ prayer moved the heart of God and God relented, as He was moved from anger to compassion. In Exodus 32, God is angry at the Israelites because of idolatry and sexual immorality and He tells Moses He will destroy the people and build a new nation through him – is this a threat to break His covenant? Absolutely not. The covenant would still be fulfilled because Moses was a seed of Abraham. Moses was a descendant of Levi, who was a descendant of Abraham. God would not be violating the covenant because it would still be fulfilled through a seed of Abraham. {Booyah!}
I believe Moses’ prayer is very important and one thing that stands out to me is that he prays for God’s glory to be known among the Egyptians. He was raised by Pharaoh, he grew up among the Egyptians, he cares about the people and he doesn’t want them to view God as this evil, horrible god who frees His people from slavery only to kill them later. He wants them to know God as loving and compassionate, and for the God of Israel to be great among the people. God changes (nacham) His decision as a reaction to Moses’ prayer.
Commentary on Exodus 32 ~ “God expresses the greatness of his just displeasure, after the manner of men who would have prayer of Moses could save them from ruin; thus he was a type of Christ, by whose mediation alone, God would reconcile the world to himself. Moses pleads God’s glory. The glorifying God’s name, as it ought to be our first petition, and it is so in the Lord’s prayer, so it ought to be our great plea. And God’s promises are to be our pleas in prayer; for what he has promised he is able to perform. See the power of prayer. In answer to the prayers of Moses, God showed his purpose of sparing the people, as he had before seemed determined on their destruction; which change of the outward discovery of his purpose, is called repenting of the evil.” Source)
** Here are some other scriptures to look at that mention God changing as a reaction to our decisions, He either relents, regrets or changes in His decisions: Judges 2:18, Jeremiah 18:8, 26:13, Psalm 106:45, 1 Chronicles 21:15, 1 Samuel 15:1-35, and 2 Samuel 24:16.
A friend of mine sent me this passage from a book by Walter Kaiser, Hard Sayings of the Bible:
Here in 1 Samuel 15:29 we have a clear statement about God’s truthfulness and unchanging character. But elsewhere in the Old Testament we read of God repenting or changing his mind. Does God change his mind? If so, does that discredit his truthfulness or his unchanging character? If not, what do these other Old Testament texts mean?
It can be affirmed from the start that God’s essence and character, his resolute determination to punish sin and to reward virtue, are unchanging (see Mal 3:6). These are absolute and unconditional affirmations that Scripture everywhere teaches. But this does not mean that all his promises and warnings are unconditional. Many turn on either an expressed or an implied condition.
The classic example of this conditional teaching is Jeremiah 18:7–10: “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.”
This principle clearly states the condition underlying most of God’s promises and threats, even when it is not made explicit, as in the case of Jonah. Therefore, whenever God does not fulfill a promise or execute a threat that he has made, the explanation is obvious: in all of these cases, the change has not come in God, but in the individual or nation.
Of course some of God’s promises are unconditional for they rest solely on his mercy and grace. These would be: his covenant with the seasons after Noah’s flood (Gen 8:22); his promise of salvation in the oft-repeated covenant to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David; his promise of the new covenant; and his promise of the new heaven and the new earth.
So what, then, was the nature of the change in God that 1 Samuel 15:11 refers to when he says, “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions”? If God is unchangeable, why did he “repent” or “grieve over” the fact that he had made Saul king? God is not a frozen automaton who cannot respond to persons; he is a living person who can and does react to others as much, and more genuinely, than we do to each other. Thus the same word repent is used for two different concepts both in this passage and elsewhere in the Bible. One shows God’s responsiveness to individuals and the other shows his steadfastness to himself and to his thoughts and designs.
Thus the text affirms that God changed his actions toward Saul in order to remain true to his own character or essence. Repentance in God is not, as it is in us, an evidence of indecisiveness. It is rather a change in his method of responding to another person based on some change in the other individual. The change, then, was in Saul. The problem was with Saul’s partial obedience, his wayward heart and covetousness.
To assert that God is unchanging does not mean he cannot experience regret, grief and repentance. If unchangeableness meant transcendent detachment from people and events, God would pay an awful price for immutability. Instead, God enters into a relationship with mortal beings that demonstrates his willingness to respond to each person’s action within the ethical sphere of their obedience to his will.
When our sin or repentance changes our relationship with God, his changing responses to us no more affect his essential happiness or blessedness than Christ’s deity affected his ability to genuinely suffer on the cross for our sin.
Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Ph.D., Hard Sayings of the Bible (Downers Grove, Il: InterVarsity, 1997, c1996), 209.
Thoughts? Questions?
Some believe that God is sovereign and in complete control of everything, even to the extent of what we say and do. In other words, they see God as a puppet master and we are His little puppets; He is in control of everything we say and do... even the sin we commit. They believe we have no say in what happens in our lives, because God is in complete control. An example of this would be a horrific situation like being hit by a drunk driver - they believe God conducted all of that happened in that horrific accident. {I do not believe this. It is by our own poor choices that things happen and we have consequences for those choices. We ask God for direction and wisdom, but we make the choice to follow Him or not. The drunk driver makes a sinful choice putting others at risk and there are consequences}.
Others see God as Sovereign and believe He is a relational being who longs for us to know Him and love Him by our own free will. they believe He is all powerful. His sovereignty is in His character of ALL that God is - His power, His grace, His wisdom, His strength, and His glory, and His character - full of compassion, full of LOVE because He is LOVE - all that about God does not change.
Question is... is free will really free will? An old companion of mine argued that Numbers 23:19 is clear that God does not change. I questioned this scripture and wanted to look a little deeper - looking at the context of who is speaking, the history, and what they might be specifically referring to.
Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man that He should lie or change His mind…”
Numbers 22-23 is the story of Balaam and Balak and their plot to curse Israel. Balaam is known as an evil "rent-a-prophet." Balaam was rash in his decisions, he loved money and God actually calls him perverse because he chooses to run toward evil trying to curse Israel out of greed despite multiple warnings from God. In chapter 22 we see Balak, king of the Moabites, hears that Balaam can put blessings and cursings on people and it will come to pass. Balak wants to put a curse over Israel so that the Moabites can defeat them in battle. In order to get Balaam to prophesy for you, you had to pay a service fee.
Balaam reminds me of a creepy, money-hungry, TV evangelist. We see that Balaam cares more about money than he does about God’s will. Balaam is approached by Balak’s men and he let’s them stay the night so he can pray about it. Pray about what? He’s praying whether or not it’s ok to curse God’s people. Seriously?! He may have a "gift" here, but he’s obviously not sincerely seeking God’s will.
In vs. 9-12, God warns Balaam to have nothing to do with these men. God tells Balaam “you shall not go with them, you shall not curse the people for they are blessed.” God reminds Balaam that He has blessed Israel and the covenant cannot be broken, because God will not go back on His Word. Balaam goes back to the men and tells them “the Lord has refused to give me permission to go with you.” It’s like a kid saying “my dad says I can’t go, but I really want to.” In other words, he can be persuaded and that’s exactly how the men took his answer because they actually went back to Balak with the message, then it says in the scripture that he specifically sent wealthier men to persuade him. Balaam entertains their offer a second time after God already told him no. Why is he doing this? Because this dude is greedy.
In vs. 20-21 we see God change his way by allowing Balaam to go with the men, but God was angry with him. God had just told him to have nothing to do with these men. Is this unfair? I don't think so. God already warned him, but he consistently rejected God’s answer (his choice). He kept pushing for the answer he wanted because of greed. Balaam has free will and he makes his own choices, as we all do, and this ties in with God’s permissible will. God wants him to have nothing to do with these men, but God changes His way as a reaction to Balaam’s poor choices and allows him to go, but God is angry with him.
Does this mean that God is going to break His covenant with Israel and allow this evil prophet to curse the nation? Absolutely not. God never breaks a promise/covenant, because He is Sovereign. He never goes against His Word. God’s character does not change; WHO God is does not change. His glory and His power do not change.... but God does change His mind or His decisions because out of His great love for us, He gave us free will and the chance to have a relationship with Him. I believe this is brought up multiple times throughout the Bible and it's wrong to look at only Numbers 23 and say 'God never changes His mind.' This is an evil prophet speaking and he is only referencing God's covenant with Israel in this particular scripture.
God's Response
When God changes his ways, it is always a response to His people - whether that be His response to a prayer, to our repentance or when He regretted making Saul king over Israel (1 Sam 15:35) because of Saul’s poor choices… God's response is a reaction. It’s not because God is indecisive, but more so because He loves us and He has given us the gift of free will. We make good and bad choices, we sin, we repent, we pray, we worship... God reacts to our choices. Even with our choices to sin and be disobedient, God may be angry with us, but He changes from anger to showing us compassion when we repent… and that is a change that does not contradict anything in scripture or of His character, but in fact, it only proves Him more true.
In vs. 22-27 we see that an angel of the Lord meets Balaam on the road as he is on his way to meet Balak. The angel has his sword drawn and ready to kill him, and the donkey freaks out because she sees the angel. Balaam loses his temper and beats her three times. God uses the donkey to speak to Balaam, but unfortunately Balaam won’t listen. In vs. 31-35 the angel has his sword drawn and tells Balaam "turn around and go back now because your way (choice) is perverse (running towards evil).”
Then Balaam says “if it displeases You, I will turn back.” IF? He’s questioning? He’s still hoping for the answer he wants to hear from God. Seriously dude? There’s an angel in front of you with a sword drawn ready to kill you and you’re questioning. Really? This dude is stubborn.
Again, God allows him to go but it says again,“God was angry with him.” He’s allowing Balaam to make the choice and fall to his own sin; he has already rejected God multiple times. From my reading, most theologians seem to agree this is judgement on Balaam unless he repents.
Now, Balaam meets Balak, king of the Moabites, and I’m thinking he was probably very excited to see him because he’s expecting Balaam to put a curse on Israel so he can win the battle. Balaam tells him “I will try but this is not in my hands, but in God’s hands” – as if to say, "if I fail, (which I’m thinking I will because God already said NO) I blame God.”
Balaam tries to curse Israel (evil punk) as he repeatedly goes back and forth trying to get a different answer from God so that he can finish the job he’s paid for. He bosses Balak around, he even gets Balak to build altars (at Balak’s expense, not his, although he does take credit for it). Where does he think he has this authority? God never told him to do that.
Sovereign Will vs. Permissible Will
Most theologians have agreed there is a difference in God’s permissible will and His sovereign/providential will. God’s sovereign will refers to things that happen no matter what - things that we can not change, and we don’t have to pray to make it happen because but God will do (has done) it regardless. This includes creation, the promise/covenant of a Savior - a fulfillment of Old Testament prophesies, God’s covenant with Israel and the covenant/promise of our Lord’s return and the new earth. This also includes His covenant/promise to love us, to be faithful, to hear our prayers...
God made a covenant with Israel and Balaam cannot break that. He cannot curse them because God has not cursed them. However, God can and does use people to fulfill His sovereign will. For example, we see God use Mary to fulfill the promise of a Savior and we see Abraham used to fulfill the promise He made with Israel.
God’s permissible will refers to things such as who we choose to marry, our degrees, careers and the schools we attend… or when someone chooses to take a job to help a king kill off God’s chosen people. These are things we choose by our free will. We can choose to be like the great King Solomon and seek God's wisdom and ask Him to direct us in our decisions, but ultimately it’s our choices, our free will, and far too often it is our screw-ups.
The Puppet Master?
For those that say God never changes - to say that nothing about God changes, not His decisions, not His ways - it actually contradicts scripture (I'll come back to this). It breaks my heart to hear that someone believes that no matter what they pray, God already has his mind made up. So, why do you pray?
What kind of relationship is it if you don't have free will? Do you believe you are being controlled by a puppet master? Yes, even in your moments of sin, you believe God is controlling that sin too? If God is controlling your sin, that would contradict His holiness.
Also, if you believe that God is a puppet master, then how is that true love? Think of it this way, if a husband goes up to his wife, shakes her saying "you will love me. I will make you love me. I will force you to love me. I will control you to love me." That, my friends, is not true love. That is manipulation. True love is by choice. There's freedom in love.
I just hope those reading this understand that your prayers do touch the heart of God. He has given you the freedom to choose Him and to love Him.
Calvinists will not agree with this blog post and I don't understand their interpretation of the scriptures. For example, when Jesus teaches us to pray in faith, how do they interpret that? According to their interpretation, God has already decided everything. If He’s going to do it regardless, then their prayers don’t make any difference. According to their belief, their prayers don’t influence the heart of God at all. OMGosh! There’s so much that they’re missing out on with their heavenly Father! How sad it is to view God as only a Puppet Master with no emotion, no reaction, no feeling, that they can’t have true fellowship with Him.
Some look at Numbers 23:19 and claim that God cannot change based on this scripture. I believe that with all scripture, we should look at the history in that chapter; look at the surrounding chapters. Look at who is speaking because we need to know specifically what they are talking about and if they are a man or woman of noble character. In this verse, I highly recommended looking at the surrounding issue and why this (evil) person is saying this (and how this angered the heart of God).
We know from reading the earlier chapters that Balaam is a money-lovin’, perverse rent-a-prophet who was hired to curse God’s people and he tries to multiple times. Numbers 23 begins with Balaam bossing Balak around, getting him to build altars as he is praying for God to curse Israel. In verse 19, Balaam is specifically talking to Balak about Israel. He’s saying ‘I can’t curse them because God has not cursed them and God will not repent, change or break His covenant with them.' God’s covenant is unbreakable, unlike ours, as we go against our words all the time.
IMPORTANT ** The Greek word used here for change or repent is nacham: to relent, to have compassion on, to feel sorry for, to change or repent. Here’s a good explanation for nacham and here is the original text. (This has to be one of the best sites I’ve found! It allows you to click on the word in question and pull up the definition based on the original text). God is not going to repent, change or be sorry that He has a covenant with Israel.
The Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Bible commentary interprets Numbers 23:19 as, “The counsels and promises of God respecting Israel are unchangeable; and no attempt to prevail on Him to reverse them will succeed, as they may with a man.” If we try to use Numbers 23:19 to say that God never changes in anyway, then according to the original Greek word, nacham, that would be saying that God never has compassion, He never forgives and that He never relents. That would contradict everything in scripture! God changes as He reacts to us, but He will not change something that contradicts His word or breaks a promise, or that goes against His character and His sovereignty.
Exodus 32 - The prayer of Moses
The same Greek word nacham is used in Exodus 32 as it is in Numbers 23. Do these scriptures contradict each other? No. Balaam was specifcially talking about God’s covenant with Israel. In Exodus 32, Moses’ prayer moved the heart of God and God relented, as He was moved from anger to compassion. In Exodus 32, God is angry at the Israelites because of idolatry and sexual immorality and He tells Moses He will destroy the people and build a new nation through him – is this a threat to break His covenant? Absolutely not. The covenant would still be fulfilled because Moses was a seed of Abraham. Moses was a descendant of Levi, who was a descendant of Abraham. God would not be violating the covenant because it would still be fulfilled through a seed of Abraham. {Booyah!}
I believe Moses’ prayer is very important and one thing that stands out to me is that he prays for God’s glory to be known among the Egyptians. He was raised by Pharaoh, he grew up among the Egyptians, he cares about the people and he doesn’t want them to view God as this evil, horrible god who frees His people from slavery only to kill them later. He wants them to know God as loving and compassionate, and for the God of Israel to be great among the people. God changes (nacham) His decision as a reaction to Moses’ prayer.
Commentary on Exodus 32 ~ “God expresses the greatness of his just displeasure, after the manner of men who would have prayer of Moses could save them from ruin; thus he was a type of Christ, by whose mediation alone, God would reconcile the world to himself. Moses pleads God’s glory. The glorifying God’s name, as it ought to be our first petition, and it is so in the Lord’s prayer, so it ought to be our great plea. And God’s promises are to be our pleas in prayer; for what he has promised he is able to perform. See the power of prayer. In answer to the prayers of Moses, God showed his purpose of sparing the people, as he had before seemed determined on their destruction; which change of the outward discovery of his purpose, is called repenting of the evil.” Source)
** Here are some other scriptures to look at that mention God changing as a reaction to our decisions, He either relents, regrets or changes in His decisions: Judges 2:18, Jeremiah 18:8, 26:13, Psalm 106:45, 1 Chronicles 21:15, 1 Samuel 15:1-35, and 2 Samuel 24:16.
A friend of mine sent me this passage from a book by Walter Kaiser, Hard Sayings of the Bible:
Here in 1 Samuel 15:29 we have a clear statement about God’s truthfulness and unchanging character. But elsewhere in the Old Testament we read of God repenting or changing his mind. Does God change his mind? If so, does that discredit his truthfulness or his unchanging character? If not, what do these other Old Testament texts mean?
It can be affirmed from the start that God’s essence and character, his resolute determination to punish sin and to reward virtue, are unchanging (see Mal 3:6). These are absolute and unconditional affirmations that Scripture everywhere teaches. But this does not mean that all his promises and warnings are unconditional. Many turn on either an expressed or an implied condition.
The classic example of this conditional teaching is Jeremiah 18:7–10: “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.”
This principle clearly states the condition underlying most of God’s promises and threats, even when it is not made explicit, as in the case of Jonah. Therefore, whenever God does not fulfill a promise or execute a threat that he has made, the explanation is obvious: in all of these cases, the change has not come in God, but in the individual or nation.
Of course some of God’s promises are unconditional for they rest solely on his mercy and grace. These would be: his covenant with the seasons after Noah’s flood (Gen 8:22); his promise of salvation in the oft-repeated covenant to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David; his promise of the new covenant; and his promise of the new heaven and the new earth.
So what, then, was the nature of the change in God that 1 Samuel 15:11 refers to when he says, “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions”? If God is unchangeable, why did he “repent” or “grieve over” the fact that he had made Saul king? God is not a frozen automaton who cannot respond to persons; he is a living person who can and does react to others as much, and more genuinely, than we do to each other. Thus the same word repent is used for two different concepts both in this passage and elsewhere in the Bible. One shows God’s responsiveness to individuals and the other shows his steadfastness to himself and to his thoughts and designs.
Thus the text affirms that God changed his actions toward Saul in order to remain true to his own character or essence. Repentance in God is not, as it is in us, an evidence of indecisiveness. It is rather a change in his method of responding to another person based on some change in the other individual. The change, then, was in Saul. The problem was with Saul’s partial obedience, his wayward heart and covetousness.
To assert that God is unchanging does not mean he cannot experience regret, grief and repentance. If unchangeableness meant transcendent detachment from people and events, God would pay an awful price for immutability. Instead, God enters into a relationship with mortal beings that demonstrates his willingness to respond to each person’s action within the ethical sphere of their obedience to his will.
When our sin or repentance changes our relationship with God, his changing responses to us no more affect his essential happiness or blessedness than Christ’s deity affected his ability to genuinely suffer on the cross for our sin.
Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Ph.D., Hard Sayings of the Bible (Downers Grove, Il: InterVarsity, 1997, c1996), 209.
Thoughts? Questions?
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
The Pearl
“A pearl is a beautiful thing that is produced by an injured life. It is the tear {that results} from the injury of the oyster. The treasure of our being in this world is also produced by an injured life. If we had not been wounded, if we had not been injured, then we will not produce the pearl.” - Stephan Hoeller
We often refer to something or someone as a pearl when it is cherished, rare and valuable. It makes sense to refer to someone you love as a pearl, but what if we changed that around? What if we saw them {and ourselves} as the oyster and our hearts as the pearl? Look closer at the oyster. It really is beautiful, but it endures so much tormoil just to make something so valuable inside.
Pearls from the sea are much more valuable than freshwater pearls. Pearls form because the oyster has an invader, a microscopic parasite that enters in and settles in the shell. The rim of the pearl shell is fragile and is prone to injury, it needs to protect itself. Little creatures such as crabs and worms may invade the oyster and can injure the pearl, but this small group of cells/tissue find a way to protect themselves by forming a safe haven called a pearl sac. A pearl sac is a group of cells that form a small packet for protection so that it can continue to grow, and as they grow, the pearl grows. Over time, it moves and the pearl sac travels into the shell and a beautiful pearl will form and hopefully found by someone who will cherish it.
I am trying to look at this a little differently. I see myself as a small oyster in a big ocean, being attacked and struggling through difficult times, but my trust is placed in my Heavenly Father. He is my safe haven, my fortress. He sees me as valuable and cherishes me as a Father loves his daughter. I have some close friends that have gone through unbearable struggles, having everything taken from them.... yet they still shine.
They still have a luster about them that is rare and beautiful.
I see them as strong, courageous oysters and their hearts are beautiful pearls. The oyster may go through hard times, worms may try to destroy it, but when we hide our hearts in God, we find our safe haven. Just like the pearl sac protects the pearl so that it can grow. The pearl grows and becomes more beautiful over time. Hopefully it is only found by someone who will cherish it and recognize it's worth.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
God's promises
"You're afraid that everything that was in your past will come out in your future. God says no, that He will bless you and restore everything. Your past will be your past. Do not be afraid. He will bless you.... I see little girls all around you. They need to hear your testimony. You will be a mentor and a teacher to them. They need to hear what you have to say. People will tell you it's too hard, that you can't do it but God has called you to it. You already know this. I'm just confirming it."
These words were spoken to me by my pastor years ago while I was in a discipleship program in college. He had no idea what I'd been praying about. It was amazing to listen as God confirmed everything He had been speaking to my heart.
Since then, I have been involved with teaching and mentoring middle school girls. I want to do more but not sure where God will lead me with that. I am involved at my church helping lead a Lifegroup of about 12 girls. They are amazing young women, and I love them dearly. They are awesome!
You might be asking... what about your past coming out in your future? What did that mean? I did not exactly grow up in a Christian home, it was an abusive home. I lived in that environment for 13 years. My dad is now involved in church and acts a lot different than the man I remember growing up. I still struggle with a lot of fear and worry... but it's not the same fear. It's not fear that I might marry someone who will do the same thing to me, but it's different.
Now I struggle with fear of rejection. Fear of being myself and not being loved for who I am. Fear of falling for someone who doesn't love me. Fear of not being good enough, fear of making a mistake and ruining everything. I hate fear. It eats away at my heart causing me to miss out on God's blessings. I HATE IT! I just scream thinking about it.
I guess I'm posting this to remind myself of that promise above. The promise that God will bless my future and He has a plan. I'm posting this to remind myself that God is good, His ways are perfect and He loves me. I'm posting this asking for prayer for strength to overcome these fears. Sometimes... you just need someone else to pray.
These words were spoken to me by my pastor years ago while I was in a discipleship program in college. He had no idea what I'd been praying about. It was amazing to listen as God confirmed everything He had been speaking to my heart.
Since then, I have been involved with teaching and mentoring middle school girls. I want to do more but not sure where God will lead me with that. I am involved at my church helping lead a Lifegroup of about 12 girls. They are amazing young women, and I love them dearly. They are awesome!
You might be asking... what about your past coming out in your future? What did that mean? I did not exactly grow up in a Christian home, it was an abusive home. I lived in that environment for 13 years. My dad is now involved in church and acts a lot different than the man I remember growing up. I still struggle with a lot of fear and worry... but it's not the same fear. It's not fear that I might marry someone who will do the same thing to me, but it's different.
Now I struggle with fear of rejection. Fear of being myself and not being loved for who I am. Fear of falling for someone who doesn't love me. Fear of not being good enough, fear of making a mistake and ruining everything. I hate fear. It eats away at my heart causing me to miss out on God's blessings. I HATE IT! I just scream thinking about it.
I guess I'm posting this to remind myself of that promise above. The promise that God will bless my future and He has a plan. I'm posting this to remind myself that God is good, His ways are perfect and He loves me. I'm posting this asking for prayer for strength to overcome these fears. Sometimes... you just need someone else to pray.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Me @ 30
I just celebrated the 5th anniversary of my 25th birthday.... orrrrrr you could say I'm 30. I'm actually ok with it. My life is not exactly what I thought it would be right now. I am still learning who I am, but aren't we all? I honestly never pictured myself single at 30. I pictured myself married at 25 to a wonderful husband, with beautiful children. Life doesn't always go the way you plan. Thank God.
I was just thinking, what if I had gotten everything according to my plan? What have I really learned about myself as a single adult? How would I be different if I had gotten married straight out of college and had kids!? How have I grown because I don't have those things right now? What if I had married any of the guys I've dated? :-/ Ohhhh... so many questions.
I look back on my relationship with God and I feel blessed and loved as a child of God. I see how my dependency on Him has grown over the years. More than anything it was because He was the only one I could really cling to. If I had gotten married already, I don't know if I could honestly say I would love Him as much as I do right now. As with any relationship, my love for Him has grown over time. God has His ways of nudging us to depend on Him and watch His faithfulness. I really am thankful and I love my life. Wow. Didn't know if I'd be able to say that. Yeah. I love my life. It's definitely not perfect, but I see how my struggles make me who I am.
As a single adult, I've learned a lot about who I am. Sometimes, it takes longer for some of us. {I feel like Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride where she's learning what eggs she likes} Me? Scrambled. More? Hmm... simply complex. What have I learned about myself? I like being outdoors, love nature, hiking and playing at the lake. I hate shopping for clothes and crowded malls annoy me. Shopping is stressful. Although, I love shopping for food. I love to cook. I love praise and worship music, I have a good ear for music and pitch. I get nervous singing and I'm still learning to let go and just worship. I play piano, took lessons for over 9 years. I like baseball but basketball is my favorite! Go TARHEELS! My all-time favorite hobby is photography, I've considered doing that full-time. My biggest pet peeves are feeling lost and feeling ignored. I hate the out-of-control feeling I get when I'm lost driving somewhere. I hate it when I'm talking and being ignored. I have never been a big flirt, in fact I can be kind of distant with guys I like. I struggle with fear of rejection a lot. I guess you could say I've learned a lot about myself over the years. I just feel like it's taken me longer to bloom and really know who I am.
{Here's a secret} I wasn't your typical little girl that dreamed of her wedding at age 9, spending hours planning a pretend wedding with the boy down the street. I was usually out playing in the woods trying to find a clubhouse to build with some mildew covered boards and fallen trees, or I was playing with my pet bunny Peter. May he RIP. I never wanted to get married until I got to college. I was in this ministry program and one day the Lord led my Pastor to prophesy over me. It was God's way of comforting me because I struggled with so much fear. {Funny, because I never told my pastor} He came to me and said, "you're afraid that everything that was in your past will come out in your future. God says no, that He will bless you and restore everything. Your past will be your past. Do not be afraid. He will bless you."
{heart. melting. now}
I get the question "so why aren't you married yet?" Funny when it comes from someone that's divorced. {Insert sarcastic remark here} How do they really expect me to answer that? If I had gotten married a few years ago.... I definitely wouldn't cling to God as much as I do. I feel like I know Him better, more than just Christ my Savior, but as my provider, my comfort, my friend, my counselor, my healer, and my love.
I know I need to be more open and not be so distant with guys. I automatically put my guard up and shove any feelings I have to the side, trying to forget. Why? Fear. Stupid old fear. Satan trying to keep me from God's promises. God is at work, I know that. I just wish I knew how to let my guard down and be more open.
Psalm 27:13-14:
"I am still confident of this, I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD, be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD."
The promises of God are real and powerful and they will come to pass. I just have to trust Him. I obviously want to be married one day. Don't know who will be the lucky man. ;-) I want to have children and raise them in a loving, Christ-centered home where they are encouraged in their talents and for them to know they are accepted and loved. I want a career that I love! I want to run my own business because I'm sick and tired of people that restrict me, belittle me and don't allow me to be creative and lead! I would rather use my talents, explore my gifts and be my own boss.
My life is ever-changing, always exciting, always something to tell and somewhere to be. Can't wait to see what God has in store. Overall.... 30 is looking pretty good.
I was just thinking, what if I had gotten everything according to my plan? What have I really learned about myself as a single adult? How would I be different if I had gotten married straight out of college and had kids!? How have I grown because I don't have those things right now? What if I had married any of the guys I've dated? :-/ Ohhhh... so many questions.
I look back on my relationship with God and I feel blessed and loved as a child of God. I see how my dependency on Him has grown over the years. More than anything it was because He was the only one I could really cling to. If I had gotten married already, I don't know if I could honestly say I would love Him as much as I do right now. As with any relationship, my love for Him has grown over time. God has His ways of nudging us to depend on Him and watch His faithfulness. I really am thankful and I love my life. Wow. Didn't know if I'd be able to say that. Yeah. I love my life. It's definitely not perfect, but I see how my struggles make me who I am.
As a single adult, I've learned a lot about who I am. Sometimes, it takes longer for some of us. {I feel like Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride where she's learning what eggs she likes} Me? Scrambled. More? Hmm... simply complex. What have I learned about myself? I like being outdoors, love nature, hiking and playing at the lake. I hate shopping for clothes and crowded malls annoy me. Shopping is stressful. Although, I love shopping for food. I love to cook. I love praise and worship music, I have a good ear for music and pitch. I get nervous singing and I'm still learning to let go and just worship. I play piano, took lessons for over 9 years. I like baseball but basketball is my favorite! Go TARHEELS! My all-time favorite hobby is photography, I've considered doing that full-time. My biggest pet peeves are feeling lost and feeling ignored. I hate the out-of-control feeling I get when I'm lost driving somewhere. I hate it when I'm talking and being ignored. I have never been a big flirt, in fact I can be kind of distant with guys I like. I struggle with fear of rejection a lot. I guess you could say I've learned a lot about myself over the years. I just feel like it's taken me longer to bloom and really know who I am.
{Here's a secret} I wasn't your typical little girl that dreamed of her wedding at age 9, spending hours planning a pretend wedding with the boy down the street. I was usually out playing in the woods trying to find a clubhouse to build with some mildew covered boards and fallen trees, or I was playing with my pet bunny Peter. May he RIP. I never wanted to get married until I got to college. I was in this ministry program and one day the Lord led my Pastor to prophesy over me. It was God's way of comforting me because I struggled with so much fear. {Funny, because I never told my pastor} He came to me and said, "you're afraid that everything that was in your past will come out in your future. God says no, that He will bless you and restore everything. Your past will be your past. Do not be afraid. He will bless you."
{heart. melting. now}
I get the question "so why aren't you married yet?" Funny when it comes from someone that's divorced. {Insert sarcastic remark here} How do they really expect me to answer that? If I had gotten married a few years ago.... I definitely wouldn't cling to God as much as I do. I feel like I know Him better, more than just Christ my Savior, but as my provider, my comfort, my friend, my counselor, my healer, and my love.
As for marriage, I want a real man of God. Not some fake crap where they put on an act to impress you. I want something real, genuine. Someone that loves the Lord and I see that in his actions, in the way he treats people, the way he loves people and the way he loves me. I want a man that challenges me to grow closer with Christ, someone who makes me want to seek God more and be a better person. Ohhhh there's so much I'm not saying right now, holding it in because this is an online journal for all to see! {Breathe}
So... yes I am 30 and single, and it's going to be great! You never know, I may just be un-single before 31. :o) I know I need to be more open and not be so distant with guys. I automatically put my guard up and shove any feelings I have to the side, trying to forget. Why? Fear. Stupid old fear. Satan trying to keep me from God's promises. God is at work, I know that. I just wish I knew how to let my guard down and be more open.
Psalm 27:13-14:
"I am still confident of this, I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD, be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD."
The promises of God are real and powerful and they will come to pass. I just have to trust Him. I obviously want to be married one day. Don't know who will be the lucky man. ;-) I want to have children and raise them in a loving, Christ-centered home where they are encouraged in their talents and for them to know they are accepted and loved. I want a career that I love! I want to run my own business because I'm sick and tired of people that restrict me, belittle me and don't allow me to be creative and lead! I would rather use my talents, explore my gifts and be my own boss.
My life is ever-changing, always exciting, always something to tell and somewhere to be. Can't wait to see what God has in store. Overall.... 30 is looking pretty good.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Pooh quotes are the best
To all the peeps I love....
You know I'm buying this very soon. Too cute! I {love} it.
Ohh the random goodness I find online. I found this on etsy.com
{Love it!}
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The Office
So.... I got one of the best compliments the other day. The guys at my work told me I remind them of Pam from The Office. AHHHHH! I love that show! Pam is awesome. She gets a pretty awesome guy too. I just had to share. It made my day. :o)
My absolute favorite episode is the one where Jim dresses like Dwight for the day! So... let's get a comment blog thing going here.
What is your favorite episode from The Office?
1,2,3... GO!
Happy Wednesday everyone! Excuse me now. I must go replace Tom's pens with crayons. :o)
My absolute favorite episode is the one where Jim dresses like Dwight for the day! So... let's get a comment blog thing going here.
What is your favorite episode from The Office?
1,2,3... GO!
Happy Wednesday everyone! Excuse me now. I must go replace Tom's pens with crayons. :o)
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Music on the Brain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1k8yIwS5nI
This song has been on my mind for the past few days. I love the words! My favorite verse....
This song has been on my mind for the past few days. I love the words! My favorite verse....
In the chaos and confusion, I know You're sovereign still
In the moment of my weakness, You give me grace
to do Your will
to do Your will
When You call I won't delay
This my song through all my days
There is no one else for me
None but Jesus
Crucified to set me free
Now I live to give You praise
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