There is but one living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection ... meaning ... He has no limits or boundaries because He is a spirit. He is eternal, with no beginning or end. He is forever and He is absolute, working all things according to the counsel of His own righteous and perfect will.
God has all life, glory and goodness in and of Himself and is all-sufficient in and of Himself, not standing in need of anything or any creature which He has made. He is the cause of all being, of whom, through whom, and for whom are all things. He has sovereign dominion with supreme authority and power over all things in whatsoever He pleases.
In His sight all things are open and naked. His knowledge is infinite ... having no limits, which makes Him infallible ... incapable of failure or error. God is totally independent and free from external control of any kind, so as nothing to Him is uncertain or contingent on circumstances.
God is also immutable ... meaning He is not subject to change. God cannot improve or become something less than He is. God is always holy in all His counsels, in all His works, and in all His commands. To Him is due from every creature including men or angels, whatever worship, service, or obedience He is pleased to require of them.
God as the Creator of all things, upholds, directs, disposes, and governs … all … creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest event to the least, by His Sovereign Providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge, and the counsel of His own will, goodness, grace and mercy … forever.
All things come to pass according to the decree of God, who is the first cause; yet, by the same providence, He has also ordained them to fall away, change or dissolve according to the nature of second causes; either by necessity, or contingent upon conditions or circumstances.
God, within His providence, makes use of means; yet is free to work within those means, outside those means or against those means ... at His pleasure. He has a right to give whatever He so chooses, in whatever proportions, at whatever times, and with whatever conditions He pleases. He may therefore give or withhold any or all of His blessings, as He pleases.
Within the providence of God, the power, wisdom, goodness and love of God becomes clearly apparent with the evidence that even before the first sin, He made a way for man to be redeemed from that sin through Jesus ... His only begotten Son.
God freely ordains whatsoever comes to pass ... but what looks like permission to sin by giving man a free will and the capacity to sin knowing that man would sin … even so, the sinfulness proceeds only from the man and not from God who can neither be the author or approver of sin.
God has endued the will of man with a natural liberty and freedom of choice that is not predisposed to good or evil. Man had the freedom and power of choice to do that which was good and pleasing to God ... but by his fall into a state of sin, lost all ability to will himself by nature to spiritual good.
So natural man, being altogether adverse to that spiritual good, is not able by his own strength to convert himself or to save himself from that sinful nature. It is by God's grace and mercy alone that Jesus brought to sinful man, total and complete salvation to all who would believe in Him.
As to mankind in general ... God extends or withholds His grace and mercy as He pleases in accordance with His will and sovereign power over His creatures. By doing so He ordains them to honor or dishonor in the same manner as seems good to the potter over the clay.
And so it is with us today.
My final thought that I leave with you after writing this blog these last 8 years is this ...
God loves you. He can't help Himself. God is love. "God so loved the world" ... you will find that in John 3:16. If you don't know the story ... look it up.
~~~~~~
I dedicate this final post to my two beautiful daughters, Teresa and Tara whom I love more than life itself. I am a blessed man, and as a father I have enjoyed watching them grow in the knowledge of God's love as they pattern their lives after the example Jesus set for them.
Thank you Teresa. Thank you Tara. You made me want to be a better man.
Love you both now and will throughout eternity.
In His sight all things are open and naked. His knowledge is infinite ... having no limits, which makes Him infallible ... incapable of failure or error. God is totally independent and free from external control of any kind, so as nothing to Him is uncertain or contingent on circumstances.
God is also immutable ... meaning He is not subject to change. God cannot improve or become something less than He is. God is always holy in all His counsels, in all His works, and in all His commands. To Him is due from every creature including men or angels, whatever worship, service, or obedience He is pleased to require of them.
God as the Creator of all things, upholds, directs, disposes, and governs … all … creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest event to the least, by His Sovereign Providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge, and the counsel of His own will, goodness, grace and mercy … forever.
All things come to pass according to the decree of God, who is the first cause; yet, by the same providence, He has also ordained them to fall away, change or dissolve according to the nature of second causes; either by necessity, or contingent upon conditions or circumstances.
God, within His providence, makes use of means; yet is free to work within those means, outside those means or against those means ... at His pleasure. He has a right to give whatever He so chooses, in whatever proportions, at whatever times, and with whatever conditions He pleases. He may therefore give or withhold any or all of His blessings, as He pleases.
Within the providence of God, the power, wisdom, goodness and love of God becomes clearly apparent with the evidence that even before the first sin, He made a way for man to be redeemed from that sin through Jesus ... His only begotten Son.
God freely ordains whatsoever comes to pass ... but what looks like permission to sin by giving man a free will and the capacity to sin knowing that man would sin … even so, the sinfulness proceeds only from the man and not from God who can neither be the author or approver of sin.
God has endued the will of man with a natural liberty and freedom of choice that is not predisposed to good or evil. Man had the freedom and power of choice to do that which was good and pleasing to God ... but by his fall into a state of sin, lost all ability to will himself by nature to spiritual good.
So natural man, being altogether adverse to that spiritual good, is not able by his own strength to convert himself or to save himself from that sinful nature. It is by God's grace and mercy alone that Jesus brought to sinful man, total and complete salvation to all who would believe in Him.
As to mankind in general ... God extends or withholds His grace and mercy as He pleases in accordance with His will and sovereign power over His creatures. By doing so He ordains them to honor or dishonor in the same manner as seems good to the potter over the clay.
And so it is with us today.
My final thought that I leave with you after writing this blog these last 8 years is this ...
God loves you. He can't help Himself. God is love. "God so loved the world" ... you will find that in John 3:16. If you don't know the story ... look it up.
~~~~~~
I dedicate this final post to my two beautiful daughters, Teresa and Tara whom I love more than life itself. I am a blessed man, and as a father I have enjoyed watching them grow in the knowledge of God's love as they pattern their lives after the example Jesus set for them.
Thank you Teresa. Thank you Tara. You made me want to be a better man.
Love you both now and will throughout eternity.
3 comments:
Thank you dad, I love you too!
This pretty much says it all...
I'm so thankful for God's grace in my life giving me you & mom as parents!
Teresa
ello,
I am commenting on one of your very old posts from 2009 where you found a poem in your mother's Bilble. I have been researching this poem and have found you. I am the original author of this poem and have just recently realized it Is all over the internet.
I do not know if the one written on the old discolored paper in your mother's Bible is the one I hand wrote to a Church member 30 years ago or not. But it may be.
My name is Linda and The original was written by hand only once and I never made a copy. I lived in California at the time.
Please let me know if your Mother lived there or knew someone who did that may have passed it to her.
Thank you so much for taking time to help me track this down.
Lord Bless You,
Ms Linda Darlene
Ms Linda Darlene ... Yes my mother lived in California during the 2nd world war. She also went to Life Bible College in L.A. I don't know how or when she received this poem. She was from the Pittsfield, Illinois area. Sorry I can't help you any more than that. God bless.
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