God’s restraining grace is something we often take for granted. It’s even present to some degree in the lives of unbelievers. The Puritans called it common grace. It’s seen in the work of the conscience and in society’s acceptance of certain basics of right and wrong. But is it possible to lose God’s restraining grace?
There is no sin in our lives that is too big or for which God won’t forgive us if we are truly repentant. But knowing that doesn’t mean we can sin with impunity like children with our fingers crossed behind our backs. The person who thinks he or she can do whatever and ask for forgiveness later is in rebellion against God.
One of the consequences of willful sin can be the removal of God’s restraining grace where He steps back and allows us to do what our sinful heart desires. Without that restraining grace, we find that the sin we thought we could control is now controlling us. As someone once said, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”
David was at his wits’ end. Even his own men had turned against him. Yet he wasn’t at his faith’s end. Instead, David strengthened himself in the Lord.
What can we learn from David about how to strengthen ourselves in the Lord? What should we remember about God’s sovereignty, goodness, justice, and mercy? And how might God be using our challenges for good so that, as Romans 8.29 says, we can become more like Christ?
Do you ever find yourself bored with your prayer life? In his book, Praying the Bible, Donald Whitney, Professor of Biblical Spirituality and Associate Dean at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, poses the question, “Why don’t Christians pray more?” He gives the startling answer that we don’t pray more because we tend to pray the same old way about the same old things, day after day, and prayer becomes boring! So, what does Professor Whitney recommend to infuse life into our time with God?
Also, do you ever feel like God teaches you something, you respond in obedience, and then, almost immediately, God gives you another opportunity to be tested in the same area? Perhaps you wonder, “Why am I here again?”
Anxiety and stress, even paranoia are not just modern issues. People in the Bible suffered from the same emotions. Today we’ll see an example in the life of Saul. If we’re struggling with some of those same emotions, could the reason Saul suffered such strong negative feelings be true for us, even to a small degree? If so, understanding it could change our lives.
We’ll also talk about word pictures in the Bible and how Jesus can cause our hearts to burn with the fire of the Holy Spirit by opening our understanding of His Word!
Our Proverbs reading reminds us that even the thoughts of an evil man or woman are an abomination to God, because, “thoughts are words to God.”
Thoughts come, even ungodly ones at times, but what do we do with them? Do we take them and consider them, look at them from different angles, or do we reject those that are not pleasing to Him? What are we saying to God with our thoughts?
And from our Old Testament reading in 1 Samuel, we’re reminded of the importance of our perspective. How do you view life and its potential problems? What do you see? One kind of vision leads to greater faith in God; the other leads to fear, worry, and doubt.
Today and in the next post, we’re going to talk about guilt, what it is, and why we experience it? We’ll look at how the world views it, some examples of guilt in the Bible, and we’ll get the biblical perspective on it. Finally, we’ll discuss what we as Christians should do about it?
There are numerous reasons why a person might feel depressed. We can be depressed because of a loss or a setback, because of a lack of sleep, or because of illness. And I don’t have to tell you ladies about hormonal issues. And, sometimes, there is no known cause other than living life in sin-cursed bodies in a fallen world. It’s, also, true that a failure to handle the events and responsibilities of life in a biblical way can cause feelings of depression. But we must be very careful about making assumptions where others are concerned.
