Heaven and earth will
pass away,
but My words will by
no means pass away.
But take heed to
yourselves. Lest your hearts
be weighed down with
carousing,
drunkenness, and
cares of this life, and
that Day come on you
unexpectedly.
For it will come as a
snare on all those
who dwell on the face
of the earth.
Watch therefore, and
pray always that
you may be counted
worthy to escape
all these things that
will come to pass,
And to stand before
the Son of Man.
Luke 21:33–36
As I ponder
and meditate upon God and His word I am filled with amazement and wonder. God, God, Just, Merciful, Patient, and
Goodness does not step into my life and force me to change to His will. He allows me to be what He made me,
human. I can live, laugh, cry, enjoy
this earth and all that is in it, and as I face the trials and temptations,
those times of persecution, I am not forced to be anything but human. Yes, it is true that God elected His
children before time began, this is found in Scripture, although many would
deny this fact, and though elected by God He still allows me to be human. I make mistakes, I make wrong choices, I
face consequences from my good and bad choices and even the brunt of others and
their choices, but in all this, I am still human. My meditation, not some emptying of my mind, as some teach, in
the Church. Some Seminaries, and Christian Universities, rather a pondering
over His words in His Scripture whereby He reveals to me, a human with all the
good and bad of being human, His patience and love towards me so that I can
choose to live according to what He in His love has revealed. The object of God’s patience is with man and
secondarily to those creatures who are to be under our control. The patience that God spares man extended to
lower creatures is due to the patience God gives to man. The lower animals due not injure God, as
does man, therefore are not the objects of His patience, but as they are
forfeited by man, and man deserves to be deprived of them; as man in this
regard falls under the patience of God, so do those creatures which are
designed for man’s good. This is our
God, all Goodness resides in Him and due to His patience with man, even though
man does not deserve His patience, all creatures fall under God’s patience. All
created things are under the Mercy and Goodness, and His patience. The object
of God’s goodness, then, is the whole creation, not the devils in hell, but as
a creature is a mark of His goodness, but not of His patience. There is a sort
of sparing of those devils and a deferring of their destruction and punishment,
yet there is a day coming in which God will no longer spare them, or any of His
creation that is opposed to Him. God is
longsuffering, but God does have a day in mind when His patience will have run
its course and He will act to remove all sin from His creation. Heaven and earth will pass away: this is not
just a promise, it is a fact, and we are not to be so concerned with this fact,
it will occur. We must attend to our
lives, our humanity that God has allowed to live as humans and not as a robot
simply under His control. God is
patience: yes! God is good: yes! God is love: yes! But God is Just, Holy, and demands that His holiness be not
denigrated by what His creation does in all the life that He has given them. To be Love, Good, Merciful, and Patient; God
has given us His word, and prayer. We
can communicate with God and He listens and attends to our requests according
to His will and purpose. We are not
left destitute. We have Him. Did He not come to earth, The Son of
God? Did He not pay the price needed to
satisfy the debt that we cannot pay?
So, why is it that we need to add so much to His written word; i.e.,
images, things of veneration, and fight over such things as when and how to
conduct the Lord’s Supper, or what manner should a person be baptized? Why do some argue that there is a need for a
second baptism of the Holy Spirit when Scripture does note even allude to
such? Are we not to adhere to what
Scripture speaks and nothing else? Are
we not to live according to His Ten Commandments, reiterated by Jesus Christ
when He spoke: “Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with
all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first
and great commandment. And the second
is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37–39).
As I ponder
and meditate upon His word He reminds me that I, a human being, created by God,
and have His patience, who has His election to salvation, that I am responsible
to what He has instructed: “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine,
and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the
sand” (Matthew 7:26). But the
greatness of God teaches me His will, gives to me His Holy Spirit to guide me
in my study of His word, in my prayers, and in all that I do, furthermore, God
has saved my by Himself, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. So I ask myself and you: on what are you
building your home?
Also I say to you,
Whoever confesses
Me before men, him the
Son of Man
also will
Confess before the angels of God.
Luke 12: 8
Love God by all you do
Richard L. Crumb
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