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Vol. 12 No. 5 May 2010 |
Page 7 |
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Vol. 12 No. 5 May 2010 |
Page 7 |
Editor's Note
Marilyn LaStrape
The Bible is overflowing with passages of Scripture expressing and describing God’s gifts of love that He has extended to us. These passages are superlative in their context. They are unequaled, unrivaled, incomparable, unmatched, supreme, unparalleled, consummate and untouchable. They reveal the relationship God is seeking with His ultimate creation through His Son Jesus Christ.
If only we could understand everything God does and allows is because He is God and He is always pursuing our salvation through Jesus Christ! Titus 2:11-13 says, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” It does not get any better than that!
God has given us life, health, provision, protection, forgiveness and a host of other incomprehensible blessings because He is God! What a different world this would be if we all understood in humility and obedience that every blessing is because of who God is, not because of who we think we are, who we know or who knows us! James 1:17 plainly states, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” God is the eternal source of good; He is forever faithful, and He never changes. It does not get any better than that!
Life is a priceless gift from God. Psalm 71:6 solemnly declares, “By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You.” Because of disobedience, a generation of people lost their lives in 40 years of wilderness wandering. Moses speaking to the younger generation said, “And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the LORD our God as He has commanded us” (Deuteronomy 6:24-25). Why are we still in the land of the living? God continues to give us life because He is always seeking our eternal good. God proved that to the zenith when He sent Jesus Christ into this sin cursed, fallen world. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10b). It does not get any better than that!
Health is an unrivaled gift from God. Many of us are now recognizing and experiencing that reality. Truer words were never spoken: “If you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything.” Virtually all of us will acknowledge the fact that health is priceless no matter what your age. This is one of the statements made in a medical brochure from one hospital: “The true gold in your golden years is health.” We know that all the money in the world cannot buy or guarantee your health!
After the children of Israel were delivered from Egyptian bondage, God made a promise to them regarding their future health status. Exodus 15:25b-26 says, “There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, and said, ‘If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.’”
God’s promise to them for good health is stated again in Deuteronomy 7:9; 15. “Therefore know that the LORD your God…keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments. And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you.” Psalm 105:37 reads, “He also brought them out with silver and gold, and there was none feeble among His tribes.”
Medical professionals, medications, therapies, surgeries, etc. aid us in overcoming our illnesses and diseases. However, the body’s definitive ability to heal itself comes from God. Psalm 30:2 reads, “O LORD my God, I cried out to You, and You have healed me.” Jeremiah 17:14 says it this way, “Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for You are my praise.” It does not get any better than that!
Material provision is an unmatched gift from God because everything here belongs to Him. Psalm 104:24 says, “O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions.” Moses reminded the children of Israel of God’s material provision after their Egyptian bondage in Deuteronomy 8:4, “Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.” Jesus taught “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or “What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:31-33). It does not get any better than that!
Protection is another incomparable gift from God. David pronounced in Psalm 28:7, “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am greatly helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.” Psalm 84:11 says, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the LORD will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Ephesians 6:10-11 proclaims, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Jude 24 states, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” It does not get any better than that!
Forgiveness is not “a,” but “the” consummate gift from God. We have no basis for a relationship with God until He forgives us of our sins! Psalm 103:10-13 declares, “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” It does not get any better than that!
We must come to understand that these blessings and all others are predicated on our obedience. It may well be summed up in this glorious statement from our Lord, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23). Now it certainly does not get any better than that!