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Many tears this morning for our evil, sinful dying world, and the people affected by the tragic and wanton shooting in Aurora Colorado. The only Light of this world is Jesus. 'When the darkness closes in I will still say Blessed be the name of the Lord'.
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.
(Habakkuk 3:17-19)
---------------Update--------------
OK I've had time to cry, pray, mourn, sing, run to the bible, and pray some more. That's what I do on tragedy days.
Jesus is Good. How so, one might ask? Well, how many angels did He send to tend to the people who love Him? "Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14). If we were blessed with spiritual eyes being opened as Elisha's servant was, (2 Kings 6:17) and God allowed him to see the myriads of chariots in the spiritual realms standing at the ready for battle, we might see legions of angels sent from on high at the command of God, to minister to those in pain and anguish in Aurora Colorado this morning.
He is Good because though the evil stain of sin and hate overspread the Mall in Aurora, His victory will out pace all that satan can do or ever thought to do. Satan is a loser and all his schemes and plans will fail. The Holy God of Israel has won! Take heart even in the darkness because He is the Light! He has the victory.
Therefore who can say how many miracles were given in grace to the people at the shooting location? Who can say how many medical miracles He effected through the hands and minds of the paramedics, nurses, and doctors? Who can say who many miracles were effected by His own hand, directly? Because He is good and loves us, we can have assurance that His eyes were on the situation.
"For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." (2 Chronicles 16:9a)
What else is Good? We do not know how many people who were threatened with death at any second will re-think their time on earth and finally repent to Jesus unto salvation. He sends Gospel seeds which flower, and do so ever more when there is darkness and sin. This is so He can be glorified ever more brightly.
He is Good because He will accept true repentance from all who come to Him, even the shooter himself. His mercies are so far above us, we cannot conceive of a loving God such as this. Yet He does love us. He is Good because of this, caring for and redeeming a sinful humanity.
It is satan that is bad. But we are not unaware of satan's schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11) and we persevere in love so satan will not steal the joy, even on a dark day such as this. My love for Christ does not depend on positive circumstances. Let our love for Him and our faith that He is working in this situation just as He always has in every situation, ever since He said, "in the beginning..."
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.
(Habakkuk 3:17-19)
---------------Update--------------
OK I've had time to cry, pray, mourn, sing, run to the bible, and pray some more. That's what I do on tragedy days.
Jesus is Good. How so, one might ask? Well, how many angels did He send to tend to the people who love Him? "Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14). If we were blessed with spiritual eyes being opened as Elisha's servant was, (2 Kings 6:17) and God allowed him to see the myriads of chariots in the spiritual realms standing at the ready for battle, we might see legions of angels sent from on high at the command of God, to minister to those in pain and anguish in Aurora Colorado this morning.
He is Good because though the evil stain of sin and hate overspread the Mall in Aurora, His victory will out pace all that satan can do or ever thought to do. Satan is a loser and all his schemes and plans will fail. The Holy God of Israel has won! Take heart even in the darkness because He is the Light! He has the victory.
Therefore who can say how many miracles were given in grace to the people at the shooting location? Who can say how many medical miracles He effected through the hands and minds of the paramedics, nurses, and doctors? Who can say who many miracles were effected by His own hand, directly? Because He is good and loves us, we can have assurance that His eyes were on the situation.
"For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." (2 Chronicles 16:9a)
What else is Good? We do not know how many people who were threatened with death at any second will re-think their time on earth and finally repent to Jesus unto salvation. He sends Gospel seeds which flower, and do so ever more when there is darkness and sin. This is so He can be glorified ever more brightly.
He is Good because He will accept true repentance from all who come to Him, even the shooter himself. His mercies are so far above us, we cannot conceive of a loving God such as this. Yet He does love us. He is Good because of this, caring for and redeeming a sinful humanity.
It is satan that is bad. But we are not unaware of satan's schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11) and we persevere in love so satan will not steal the joy, even on a dark day such as this. My love for Christ does not depend on positive circumstances. Let our love for Him and our faith that He is working in this situation just as He always has in every situation, ever since He said, "in the beginning..."
Comments
This is just so horrible. Lawlessness abounds.
ReplyDeleteJesus said "If I be lifted up I draw all men to me". It is at the darkest hour when the light becomes more visible. It is tragic that men will still love the darkness, but there will be many that will see that light, and take hold of it!
ReplyDelete1 Thes.5:16-18...Rejoice, Pray, and be thankful always and in everything. (my paraphrase)...Even more as we see the day approaching!..Praying for the Lord to save and comfort those who suffer at the hands of the evil and violent ones! (Tears)
Thanks for the good word, Never Forsaken. While your comment came in, I was working on an update. I've added tot he essay by now and I hope that someone, somewhere can be encouraged by it.
DeleteHi Elizabeth,
DeleteI read your update. I agree with you in prayer for those who will seek the Lord through this tragedy, be it for comfort, a miracle, or salvation.
I always pray for you Elizabeth. I know that you proclaim boldly the message of the gospel, and warnings of the prophetic end days. I also know how that can burden ones heart. That is why I often read your other blog as well, to see how you are doing in your 'quiet life' time.
The 1 Thes.5 scripture helped pull me out of the gloom very recently. I needed to 'rejoice' through the heaviness.
~God Bless~ Lisa
Never Forsaken, thank you so much. I am really touched by your kindness in praying for me and your sensitivity in understanding how heavy things weigh on me sometimes. Thank you so much, what a blessing to have friends like you :)
DeleteBeautifully written in these times of peril Grace. May we all keep our eyes on God despite the Satan"s efforts to do otherwise.
ReplyDeleteGod bless
Marrell
Hi Marrell, thank you so much. You're very wise to say let's keep eyes on Jesus.
Delete"Therefore who can say how many miracles were given in grace to the people at the shooting location? Who can say how many medical miracles He effected through the hands and minds of the paramedics, nurses, and doctors? Who can say who many miracles were effected by His own hand, directly? Because He is good and loves us, we can have assurance that His eyes were on the situation."
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely ridiculous? You can't say God did any of that. What you CAN say is 14 are dead and God stood by and watched. Maybe the families of the victims want their loved ones alive and well. Maybe they aren't thinking about how God "might" have saved a few more people. I mean, if God's ALL POWERFUL, I'm not impressed that this wasn't "worse."
You dismiss God's goodness and overlook satan's badness. This is skewed thinking.
DeleteAnd as my friend JD Hall wrote on his blog Pulpit and Pen, "Evil men do not diminish the glory of God. They give Him cause to display it."
DeleteToo often we blame Satan for things like what happened here in Aurora. We must remember that mankind is able to do this on his own without any help from Satan at all. We are filled with sin, totally depraved, there is NOTHING good in us before we receive the Holy Spirit and are born again. I am thankful that the Holy Spirit has a restraining hand on mankind in general, keeping more people from committing evil acts such as these. Yes, Satan is alive and well on planet earth (to quote an old book title), but this mass murder just shows what mankind can do all by itself when they reject Christ and follow the evil desires of their heart.
ReplyDeleteAlbert Mohler says it much better than I am able to express myself:
http://www.albertmohler.com/2012/07/20/the-dark-night-in-denver-groping-for-answers/
You're absolutely right- we are totally depraved creatures capable of achieving the lowest acts on our own.
DeleteSatan is the author of sin who can be blamed for these acts either directly or indirectly. How? If a person is not in Christ, they are in satan, rejecting Jesus's way and automatically accepting satan's philosophies. The events in Aurora just go to show how low sin's snare can take a person. And the time of the Tribulation hasn't even begun yet...