by Walt Henrichsen | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Mentors Corner
In Romans 5:1‐11 the Apostle asks and answers the question, “Why does God treat His friends like they are His enemies?” He answers by noting that life is filled with tribulation, which God brings into our lives to purify our hope. All tribulation and opposition in life come from God. There are only two people in the universe that can hurt you, God and you. You hurt yourself when you sin. Otherwise, all pain, hurt, opposition, persecution, etc. originates with God. This, the Bible calls testing. James 1:12‐15 teaches that the difference between a temptation and a test is the believer’s response to it. God tests, and when we fail the test by sinning, it is a temptation. God never tests for the purpose of making people sin. People sin because they refuse to respond correctly to God’s tests. It seems that there are three fundamental areas in which God tests: 1) ‐ By asking you to do what you do not want to do, illustrated by God asking Jonah to preach to Nineveh. 2) ‐ By not letting you do what you want to do, illustrated by circumstances preventing you from completing your plans. 3) ‐ By taking from you something that you consider precious, illustrated by God taking away your health, your spouse, your child, etc. God tests His people, but is adamant in His insistence that we not test Him. Hebrews 3:8‐12 reminds the reader that at Kadesh‐Barnea God tested Israel by asking them to fight the giants. Israel tested God by refusing to fight. God had Israel’s best interest in mind when He asked Israel...
by Ron Hocutt | Nov 6, 2017 | Articles, Mentors Corner
1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. I became aware recently of a beautiful real-world example of the promise in 1 Cor 10-13 and am relaying this with permission as I thought it a rare glimpse into the true day-to-day struggles, trials, and temptations we must overcome if we are to be true obedient disciples of Jesus Christ. The scenario went like this: “ …I was purchasing something online from a vendor and using PayPal to pay for it. They asked me to select the “Friends and Family” button on PayPal so they wouldn’t get charged a fee for the transaction. “ What would you do? This may seem like a simple thing not worthy of God’s attention, but with obedience, the devil is in the details, literally. I think the most common reaction among Christians and non-Christians alike would be to just select the “Friends and Family” button to avoid any conflict. If the Spirit tweaked our conscience, we might justify it as a good thing by feeling we’d done the person a favor by saving them the money. This person, however, felt differently. A man with a pretty clear sense of his own depravity, he was aware of his desire to simply do as they asked, but also aware that this would be a lie and therefore an abomination to God. Not...
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