As the Creator, God originated human life. To say that man can exist apart from God is to say that a watch can exist without a watchmaker or a story can exist without a storyteller. We owe our being to the God in Whose image we are made. Our existence depends on God, whether we acknowledge His existence or not.
As the Sustainer, God continuously confers life. He is Life, and all creation is held together by the power of Christ. Even those who reject God receive their sustenance from Him: “He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust”. To think that man can live without God is to suppose a sunflower can live without light or a rose without water.
As the Savior, God gives eternal life to those who believe. In Christ is life, which is the light of men. Jesus came that we may have life “more abundantly”. All who place their trust in Him are promised eternity with Him. For man to live—truly live—he must know Christ.
My Wife Charlotte shared this picture with me. Our next door neighbor John, who flew Black Hawk Helicopters and served in Iraq, died last July–I see his son when I look at this picture. Not all the brave leave the “Home of the Brave” to enter battle. Some are required now to be the brave of the home. It is said a picture is worth a thousand words. This picture leaves me speechless.
The doctrine of irresistible grace refers to the biblical truth that whatever God decrees to happen will inevitably come to pass, even in the salvation of individuals. The Holy Spirit will work in the lives of the elect so that they inevitably will come to faith in Christ. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit never fails to bring to salvation those sinners whom He personally calls to Christ.
At the heart of this doctrine is the answer to the question: Why does one person believe the Gospel and another does not? Is it because one is smarter, has better reasoning capabilities, or possesses some other characteristic that allows them to realize the importance of the Gospel message? Or is it because God does something unique in the lives of those that He saves?
If it is because of what the person who believes does or is, then in a sense they are responsible for their salvation and they have a reason to boast. However, if the difference is solely that God does something unique in the hearts and lives of those who believe in Him and are saved, then there is no ground for boasting and salvation is truly a gift of grace.
Of course the biblical answer to these questions is that the Holy Spirit does do something unique in the hearts of those who are saved. The Bible tells us that God saves people “according to His mercy…through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit”. In other words those who believe the Gospel and are saved do so because they have been transformed by the Holy Spirit.
YHWH / YAHWEH / JEHOVAH: “LORD” Strictly speaking, the only proper name for God. Translated in English Bibles “LORD” (all capitals) to distinguish it from Adonai “Lord.” The revelation of the name is first given to Moses “I Am who I Am”. This name specifies an immediacy, a presence. Yahweh is present, accessible, near to those who call on Him for deliverance, forgiveness and guidance.
YAHWEH-JIREH: “The Lord will Provide” The name memorialized by Abraham when God provided the ram to be sacrificed in place of Isaac.
YAHWEH-RAPHA: “The Lord Who Heals-“I am Jehovah who heals you” both in body and soul. In body, by preserving from diseases, and by curing them when afflicted with them and in soul, by pardoning their iniquities.
YAHWEH-NISSI: “The Lord Our Banner”, where banner is understood to be a rallying place. This name commemorates the desert victory over the Amalekites.
YAHWEH-M’KADDESH: “The Lord Who Sanctifies, Makes Holy” – God makes it clear that He alone, not the law, could cleanse His people and make them holy.
YAHWEH-SHALOM: “The Lord Our Peace” The name given by Gideon to the altar he built after the Angel of the Lord assured him he would not die as he thought he would after seeing Him.
YAHWEH-ELOHIM: “LORD God” Combination of God’s unique name YHWH and the generic “Lord,” signifying that He is the Lord of Lords.
YAHWEH-TSIDKENU: “The Lord Our Righteousness” As with YHWH-M’Kaddesh, it is God alone who provides righteousness to man, ultimately in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, who became sin for us “that we might become the Righteousness of God in Him”.
YAHWEH-ROHI: “The Lord Our Shepherd” After David pondered his relationship as a shepherd to his sheep, he realized that was exactly the relationship God had with him, and so he declares “Yahweh-Rohi is my Shepherd. I shall not want”.
YAHWEH-SHAMMAH: “The Lord is There” The name ascribed to Jerusalem and the Temple there, indicating that the once departed glory of the Lord had returned.
YAHWEH-SABAOTH: “The Lord of Hosts- “Hosts” means hordes, both of angels and of men. He is Lord of the host of heaven, and of the inhabitants of the earth, of Jews and Gentiles, of rich and poor, master and slave. The name is expressive of the majesty, power, and authority of God and shows that he is able to accomplish what he determines to do.
Mom– (from Me and the Family) We will always love you with all our Heart. The role you played as my mother can never be replaced, it is a very important role, that the Lord chooses to give many women. Mothers are told to love their children. “Then they can train their children to love their husband, wives, and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their God, so that no one will malign the word of God.” The Bible says, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?” When does motherhood begin? (The Discussion of my last post)
Children are a gift from the Lord. In Titus, the Greek word “phileoteknos” appears. This word represents a special kind of “mother-love”. The idea that flows out of this word is that of “preferring” our children, “caring” for them, “nurturing” them, “affectionately embracing” them, “meeting their needs,” “tenderly befriending” each one as unique from the hand of God. We are commanded in the Scripture to see “mother-love,” as our responsibility. Both mothers and fathers are commanded to do several things in the Word:
Availability – morning, noon, and night.
Involvement – interacting, discussing, thinking and processing life together.
Teaching – the Scriptures, a biblical world-view.
Training – helping a child develop skills and discover his strengths.
Discipline – teaching the fear of the Lord, drawing the line consistently, lovingly, firmly.
Nurture – providing an environment of constant verbal support, freedom to fail, acceptance, affection, unconditional love.
Modeling with Integrity – living what you say, being a model by which a child can learn by “catching” the essence of godly living.
The Bible never commands that every woman should be a mother. However, it does say that those whom the Lord blesses to be mothers should take the responsibility seriously. Mothers have a unique and crucially important role in the lives of their children. Motherhood is not a chore or unpleasant task. Just as a mother bears a child during pregnancy, and just as a mother feeds and cares for a child during infancy – so mothers also play an ongoing role in the lives of their children, teenagers, young adults, and even fully-grown children. While the role of motherhood must change and develop – the love, care, nurture, and encouragement a mother gives never cease. Happy Mother’s Day:)
I was having a discussion with a person who does not view life to begin at conception. How did we ever get that view?? Every culture’s view of when human life begins changes as society’s values, moral standards, and knowledge about the process of embryonic development change. Prior to the 1973 court decision that allowed abortion on demand, developing embryos were considered unborn persons. Now, even a fetus that could survive on its own outside its mother’s womb could be aborted, under certain medical circumstances. This demonstrates that we do not consider an unborn child to be a true human being.
Science tell us that human life begins at the time of conception. From the moment fertilization takes place, the child’s genetic makeup is already complete. Its gender has already been determined, along with its height and hair, eye and skin color. The only thing the embryo needs to become a fully-functioning being is the time to grow and develop.
More importantly, God reveals to us in His Word that not only does life begin at conception, but He knows who we are even before then. King David said this about God’s role in our conception: “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb….Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them” (Psalm 139:13, 16).
Society continually seeks to devalue the lives of the unborn, creating its own definitions of humanity based on distorted views of morality. But the undeniable fact is that life begins at creation, and a human is created as soon as it is conceived. God is present at our creation; He is, in fact, our Creator. Our value as human beings created in His image are conceived even before we are.
