Bible Prophecy the Ultimate Proof

I had a conversation with a good friend yesterday who said that even he, who is a skeptic about Bible Prophecy sees that we are living in dark times.  I questioned him, "Why are you a skeptic?  Prophecy is the absolute undeniable proof that Scriptures are real, inspired, and trust worthy."  Alas, there in lies the rub.  Prophecy forces the issue of Biblical inerrancy.

You don't even have to be an End Times prophecy scholar, there is PLENTY of fulfilled prophecy in the Bible. About 2500 prophecies are recorded in Scripture, of which 2000 have come to pass without error (source).  Of the Messianic prophecies, there are over 300 Old Testament prophecies that Jesus Christ fulfilled in his birth, life, death, and resurrection.  The odds of any man fulfilling just 8 of these was 10 to the 17th power.  

Thus, more than any book ever produced the Bible is the only text that has been completely accurate in every prophetic line.  These are not vague passages that can be interpreted in a number of ways like the so called prophecies of Nostradamus - the Bible holds day specific prophecies that have come true.

This leaves my liberal friends in a bit of a lurch because they like to pick and chose what Scriptures they are going to believe and which ones they are going to discard.  So instead of dealing with the rational arguments that dictate the faulty reasoning behind such theology, they leave prophecy out all together.  They don't deal with it past, present, or future.  (2 Timothy 4:3)

I Don't Want to Hear it

As a result, they are like wind swept waves (Ephesians 4:14) - thrown around by every wave of doctrine that passes as new biblical truth.  They have no foundation for interpreting world events, no way of judging where we are or who is teaching them (Matthew 24:11).  They rely on their opinions and feelings to tell them what is right and what is wrong (Proverbs 28:26).  They rationalize sin.  The Bible calls them carnal Christians (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Settle your mind Friend, the ONE source of truth, the ONE source of life (John 14:6), and the ONE source to tell you where we are going is the Holy Scriptures (Matthew 5:18, 2 Timothy 3:16).  Don't be proud (James 4:6), don't think too highly of yourself (Isaiah 5:21), you are not the arbiter of truth and you know if (Romans 3:4).

Falling on Grace

I don't accept help comfortably or well.  Fiercely independent and self sufficient, "By myself!" was one of my first sentences.  I have never been still.  My family tells me that while I was a loving child I would not sit on anyone's lap and cuddle, unless they had a book.  I wanted my own apartment at 13 and constructed, what I believed to be, an extremely compelling argument for the merits of such an arrangement.  I have accepted as little help as possible my entire life.  I prefer to be the giver:  the big sister, the loving wife, the generous mother, the benevolent boss, the helpful daughter, the faithful friend.  Those are roles I prefer to play.

My colleagues gave me a baby shower before my son was born and I do not know if I have ever been so uneasy in my entire life.  A faithful colleague commented, "Dolley is not used to having people do for her, look how uncomfortable she is!"  Perhaps that was the first time I ever registered that thought and for me, it was a source of pride.

God broke me in 2011 and in most ways I am still broken.  There is a beautiful country song called, "Glass" that resonates with me.  The refrain says, "We are fragile, we are human, we are shaped by the light we let through us, we break fast, we are glass."  In spite of the brokenness, I am still not comfortable asking for help.

Recently, the Lord has shown me I was not made to be self sufficient.  Today, He revealed that I am even uncomfortable receiving from Him.  My prayers are often prayers of mercy; I ask Him to take things from me but not DO things for me.  I am under such intense spiritual attack at this point in my life, I am humbled to ask for help.  I can not walk this path alone, I can not pick myself up when I stumble, I have to hold my hand up and take the help that is offered.

One of the most profound talents of our time was the singer Rich Mullins.  He walked a very deep spiritual path and I identify with him.  His song, If I Stand, followed me on my walk today and I realize that bruised and battered as I am no longer capable of standing, so I will fall on the grace.

Blessings

Abigail and Dolley readers I have been contemplating blessings, the gifts and talents we are all given.  Several weeks back, my son and I studied the parable of the servants and the talents.  We discussed how the Lord had given him many talents and that he was supposed to use them for God's glory, how he was never to become arrogant in the gifts, and how he needed to use them responsibly.  It was heavy teaching for a twelve year old but necessary to prepare him for life.

In the weeks that have followed, the Lord has brought this Scripture to my mind over and over again.  For it is every true believers desire to hear the words, "Well done good and faithful servant!  You were faithful with a little now I give you plenty."  But truly, in our sinful hearts, how many of us are truly humble about our blessings?  I think if you examine your heart, you will find pride, I know I do.

We as a society value money, beauty, and intelligence.  Some are gifted in all of these things, some two, others one, and for others their gifts lie elsewhere.  Let us take some examples, the financially blessed and the financial failure.  Two men with equal intelligence, beauty, and work ethic - one with a financial blessing on his life and one without.  The blessed one's work multiplies, everything he touches prospers; the other is a failure in all that he does.  Both work equally hard.  Two athletes are equally gifted, both work equally hard; one blows his knee out his Senior Year, the other is blessed with health, fame, and money.  One woman is blessed with a lovely figure; another is not.  Both work out at the gym, watch their caloric intake, both strive.  One is successful, the other a failure.

We could site hundreds of examples; students, singers, artists.... the point is that we all have our blessings and sometimes hard work has nothing to do with success.  The American Dream that if you just work hard enough at something you will be successful is not necessarily true.  If God chooses to withhold blessings from your life, no amount of toil is going to change that.

Blessings From God

Of course I am not advocating laziness, slothfulness, and apathy because sometimes in order to fully appreciate the blessing He calls us to labor long and hard as unto Him and not man.  What finer prize is there in this lifetime than to strive and work for something well beyond when most would give up to finally attain the dream.

Woe to us that forget that all blessings come from Him; all good things in life are His gift to you.  We are told to honor Him and to work hard but the failure I see is that we become proud.  The Pro Athlete looks at his college teammate who was hurt and thinks, "I am better than him."  The beautiful trim woman looks at her unattractive cousin with disdain.  The rich man looks at his brother with scorn and self righteousness.  We become arrogant in our blessings, they become our curses, we become their slaves.

I have been just as guilty as you.  There is no finger pointing in this blog, I can look in the mirror and read these words back to myself, the blessing I have been given here is clarity.  He saw this in me and arranged a fiery trial for me in 2011 to burn it out of me.  It hurt, it was painful, and gut wrenching, I didn't like it at all but it was for my good.  You see the blessings that so clearly flowed in my life before the trial have been withheld since.  My beauty is fading, my body is fat again, my health is precarious, my career has sputtered, the magnetism that I drew people to me has dimmed, the favor I have always sought has been tempered, and I have been humbled.

Perhaps this little blog is just for me, perhaps it will touch you, perhaps it will convict you and send you to your knees in repentance.  I hope so because humbling hurts.

Saturday Morning Reflections

Abigail and Dolley readers I was very blessed this week to spend time with my dearest friend.  It has been several years since we have seen each other and we sat and talked into the night about the details of our lives.  As we caught up, it was very apparent to both of us that God deals with those He loves in different ways.  We each struggle with an area of our lives that keep us on our knees.  I think if we didn't, we would never be obedient to do the good works He has laid up for us.

I have had an irrational fear that when I get to Heaven, the Lord will look at me and ask, "What did you do for me?"  The terror that strikes my heart is indescribably for I have never really done anything great for the Lord, in my own eyes.  I have never gone on a missions trip, I don't take food to the homeless, I don't minister to people in jail... but on further reflection, does this surprise God?  Does He expect that when I finally come home that my life will have not reflected His love?  Wouldn't a loving God put tasks in front of me that He knows I will do?  The Lord doesn't want me to fail, He doesn't want me to get to Heaven and have nothing stored up...

Now, I am not saying we earn our Salvation or that our motivation for doing good works should only be reward but let's get real here.  We work for pay, we don't work for altruistic reasons.  We are also tremendously short sighted and have no real understanding of eternity, so like a child He must move us along in this life insuring we are placed in situations where we can earn our rewards.