Thy will be done....really?

Matthew 6: 9-13

The Lord's prayer, a model prayer, is one I am intimately familiar with, having
used this prayer when I was nothing more than a check-the-box christian (lower
case on purpose.) I found it easy to remember and adequate for situations when a
prayer seemed necessary. I even thought, once I began to learn a bit about Christ,
that it was sufficient because God already knew what I needed. So to me, there
are inherent dangers in using this prayer.

That being said, it is a wonderfully complete formula for praying for those who
really do wish to honor God, a prayer taught by my beloved savior that He used
as a teaching tool. I do not believe that it takes the place of personal prayer with
God where one speaks his heart and communicates with the One true living God.

The line in the title of this blog is very very interesting. Thy Will Be Done. That
is such an easy concept to swallow when the will of God seems to line up with
the will of His creature. When things are going well, when there are no hovering
dark clouds, it is indeed an honest expression of support, if you will, for
God's plan, an unchangeable sovereign plan that must and will be fulfilled.

But....what happens when the will of God brings troubles...and troubles will come,
it is inevitable.  Rich Mullins sings 'There's bound to come some troubles in
your life...' and struggle, sadness, illness and death are part of life and, therefore,
part of God's plan for each of His creatures. Do we still have the faith to state
that His will be done? 

I have been blessed with a life that has certainly seen some troubles especially
when I thought I had the keys to the car and was in charge of things. When
it all went south, I never attributed things to the will of God, in fact, I didn't
even know God; yet, I was certainly willing to shout at God and blame Him for
things. I believe that only when one is in Christ, when one understands
who is in charge, when one can take comfort in the realization that He is
in charge, loves you and knows what is best for you, can one really state
with absolute sincerity that God's will be done. I thank my God that I have
accepted Jesus as my savior, and I pray that when things REALLY
turn bleak, and, of course, they will, I can find rest, comfort and confidence
in His will and look forward to being in His presence for eternity.

Yes, God, Your will done for it is true, right and just!
Praise God!

Yes, Virginia, the Bible is the Inerrant word of God!

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,  2 Timothy 3: 16

Just heard the awesome news that a cherished friend is in Christ! Now that's a wonderful present! He suggested that I read a book by Marcus J. Borg, entitled The Heart of Christianity. I'd suggest you try the book, also. It is, in part, a look at two paradigms, a
traditional view of Christianity and a more modern approach. I believe he presents both
fairly and allows the reader to examine some of the ways things seem to be changing in the
Christian church.

One of the things brought up is the whole debate over whether the Bible is the word of God.
I find this to be something frequently brought up by those who are digging as hard as possible for ways to reject Christianity. Being less than a good apologist, I can only come
up with one set of reasons why I believe it to be so.

But don't you know that the Bible was actually written by men?

Yes I do. Poor Moses would have gotten very very tired had he had to carry all those stone 
tablets down that mountain. Men, obviously, were the writers. Your point is......

And don't forget that the Bible was translated into different languages. Surely their
were changes in the process!

Indeed from Hebrew to Greek to Latin... etc. Thank God that the Bible is available in so many different languages today. Your point is.......

But in the passing down and eventually the copying, surely there must have been
changes, omissions, etc.

I cannot even write a sentence, usually without a mistake or correction. Your point being.....

Oh, I see. You are saying that the Bible, through all these processes, probably changed and is, therefore, not the word of God and, thus, not believable. You must mean that the God of the Universe was incapable of seeing to it that the Bible, through the ages, remained inerrant and the truth.

Let me make a list of the things that God if incapable of doing....

1-
2-
3-
4-

The list is an empty set! God is capable of anything He sets out to accomplish. If God
breathed out the Bible through the helping guidance of the Holy Spirit into the hands of
those who developed it, that's what He was able to do.... because He is God.

Did you ever take a moment to think about all of the events, people and circumstances that had to fall into perfect order leading up to the stone being rolled away and Christ Jesus being raised? God, unable to do His will?

No glorious way! Praise our God!

Well Marcus Welby...Father Knows Best!

And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Matt 23: 9    

You know you are getting older when you reference TV shows that aren't even played
anymore on the 'Old TV' Cable Networks! I thought of Robert Young and the rolls he
played, especially pertaining to the idea that 'father knows best.'

You remember, don't you, when your parent angered you by answering the universal
child question.."Why?" with, "Because I told you so!" Debates with parents, especially
when a child is young, are really meaningless and probably cause this type of
parental response. Obviously, there are a myriad of things that older folks know
in terms of what is best for their children. I am going to suggest that God, our
Father, knows at all times what is best for His children...us!

He knows, for example, the difference between 'What we want,' and 'What we need!'
What an important distinction. Because the Father is sovereign and in control, He may
very well choose to 'give" us something that we didn't ask for or something 'instead of'
what we asked for. Most of us would readily admit that we really don't know what is best
for us a lot of the time. How fortunate we are to have a Father who knows all things.

He knows all that we think, say and do. Not gonna sneak an obtuse, unkind or sinful
thought past this Parent, He is aware. This becomes especially important in our
daily battle against our sinful nature. We can 'use' His complete knowledge of our
nature to lean on when we feel that temptation begin to overtake us. It's a lot like
using our human parents as an excuse..."My dad will tan my hide if he catches me
doing that!" ( I know, I just dated myself, again!)

I think it's probably a natural condition to want to please our parents. We don't
want them to be upset or disappointed in us if at all possible. Well that becomes
magnified when it comes to our Heavenly Father. It's our job to glorify Him by
our actions and behavior... a full time job for sure!

So Father really does know best, and that, it seems to me, is comforting and reassuring!
We LOVE you Father God! Praise be to You, always!

God's Providential Deliverances

Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Matthew 6: 8

In his book, Praying Backwards, Bryan Chapell makes the statement that All time and
space exist before the face of God. Isn't that fascinating to try and comprehend? In
essence, it means that He can see and work out events throughout time, simultaneously
because He is God. 

Well we cannot have it both ways. We either look at our lives, the events that occur,
the people we meet and love, our individual life story and chalk it up to fate, karma,
coincidence, haphazardness... stuff just happens... OR.. we realize that there is a purpose
and reason behind all the things that occur. God is sovereign. That means that He is
in charge and in control of all things past, present and future.

All of us, I am sure, can look back at past events that just happened a certain way and
realize that, above and beyond our own individual efforts to see things done our way or
to control outcomes, things happen as if they were meant to happen or the way they
needed to for results to work out. Not that everything works out the way we wish. Yet,
we see God working to bring His outcomes.

Chapell also points out that there are providential "deliverances" that we are simply
not aware of.  Things happen to us and around us that may affect our safety, our
jobs, our relationships that go on outside of our realization they are occurring.  God is
simply doing what He and only He can do. He is affecting the world He created in
His ways according to His plan. We can go to Him, humbly, in the name of His Son and
petition Him with our desires, our problems and our hopes. He has called upon us to
do this. Yet we must remember, above all, that it is His will that must be done, not our
own. 

We are His children so He knows us like no one else can. He is aware, always, of our
circumstances and our needs. It is desire to do what is best for us.. and He always will
because He is our God!