Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries |
Why God made us like He did. God's reasons for people testing; personal suffering, Part 9.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
ROM 9:19, You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?”
a. The most obvious reason why we suffer is because we have a free will and God allows us to make our own decisions as well as allowing the consequences of those decisions to prevail.
This category of suffering is not the type that glorifies God, although God can be glorified by DEU 23:5; or GEN 50:20.
b. On the other hand, there is a category of suffering that does glorify God = undeserved suffering or suffering for blessing.
Under undeserved suffering or suffering for blessing, the believer is challenged to use the problem solving devices, and the different forms of rationales.These doctrinal rationales include: the essence of God rationale, the plan of God rationale, the policy of God rationale, the a fortiori rationale.
(a) There is what we call preventative suffering which is added to the first stage of spiritual adulthood, to strengthen it to the point of greater spiritual growth.
Paul was given the gift of undeserved suffering or suffering for blessing as a handicap to keep him in constant touch with his human limitations.
2CO 12:9, And He has said to me -
= Paul remembered something that the Lord had taught him.
2CO 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power - [the power of God given to the believer in spiritual adulthood] is perfected in weakness [or when you are unable to rely on your human strength or your human assets].”
2CO 12:10, Therefore I am well content with weaknesses [going through preventative suffering], with insults [slander and people testing], with distresses [pressure and thought testing], with persecutions [system testing], with difficulties [stress and disaster testing],
1. Insults = slander and people testing.
2. Distresses = pressure or thought testing.
3. Persecutions = system testing.
4. Difficulties, = stress and disaster testing.
Category (1) In personal love or admiration, the recipient of your love often controls your life or causes you unhappiness, unless you have attained some stage of spiritual adulthood.
Category (2) In personal hatred or animosity, the object of your antagonism or irritation often has control of your life or happiness, unless you have advanced to spiritual adulthood.
Unfortunately, many believers are easily led away from the spiritual life and the PPOG by their friendships, love life, and even personal hatred.
1CO 15:33 Do not be so deceived and misled! Evil companionships (communion, associations) corrupt and deprave good manners and morals and character. (AMP)
1CO 15:34, Awake [from your drunken stupor and return] to sober sense and your right minds, and sin no more. (AMP)
For some of you have not the knowledge of God [you are utterly and willfully and disgracefully ignorant, and continue to be so, lacking the sense of God’s presence and all true knowledge of Him]. I say this to your shame.
Unless you attain spiritual adulthood, every time you fall in love or acquire a friend, the object controls your life and your happiness.
So, when you fall in love, look how you act, how you change your manner of living or your lifestyle, how you begin to think in different terms relating everything you do to that person.
When you make a friend or fall in love, when you become jealous, possessive, when you hate anyone who has it over for you; you immediately become a slave to people.
Prin - The solution to people testing is found in the combination of personal love for God and impersonal love for all mankind.
In fact, you do not have personal love for God the Father unless you have impersonal unconditional love for all mankind.
Every time when you hear them become critical and judgmental of another believer, you are in the presence of “phonies”.
Remember the lesson that the apostle Paul learned in ACT 9:4 when he was persecuting believers,
ACT 9:4, and he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
A person who is a gossip betrays a confidence, but a person who is virtuous keeps a secret.
When you have impersonal unconditional love you have the divine power to have discretion and good judgment.
When you are spiritually self-sustained you have the divine power to be disciplined and receive doctrine.
When you are spiritually self-sustained you have the divine power and the humility to be wise and listen to good advice.
You realize
PRO 15:17, “Better is a meal of vegetables where virtue-love is than chateau briand with hatred.”
When you are spiritually self-sustained you have the divine power to accept correction and receive understanding.
This means that a person’s own foolishness ruins his life, yet he blames his bad decisions on the Lord.
Prin - You do not blame anyone for your decisions when you are spiritually self-sustained.
However, when you become jealous, angry, bitter, vindictive, or implacable; when you are dissatisfied, antagonistic toward someone else, friend or stranger, lover or enemy; you surrender the control of your life to that person.
At the same time, you have no control over your life, canceling all the characteristics of spiritual self-esteem and your spiritual growth.
When someone else has control of your life through hatred or love, you enter into the law of volitional responsibility with its self-induced misery.
Virtue-love as a problem solving device is the secret of your relationship with God, mankind, and in personal love.
2TI 1:7, For God has not given us a spirit of timidity or fear, but of power and love and discipline.
There is no built-in virtue in personal love, which only requires that another meet your standards of beauty, attractiveness, and rapport.
Therefore, to make a personal love relationship work, the believer must use a virtue base totally outside himself.
Personal love is only a virtue when directed toward God.
Impersonal love is only a virtue when directed toward all mankind.
Therefore, disappointment, disillusion, frustration, dissatisfaction with others cannot damage his happiness under the principle of misery derived from getting your eyes on people.
People can only become a distraction to the fulfillment of the God’s plan for your life when human relationship becomes more important to you than Bible doctrine. False priorities exist when social life, business life, sexual life take precedence over your residence, function, and momentum inside the PPOG.
So whether it’s love or hatred, attraction or animosity, romance or disenchantment, friendship or disillusion, these can distract you from the fulfillment of the PPOG and the glorification of our Lord Jesus Christ; unless you have passed momentum suffering.