abandoned to Christ.

Introduction to Advent

by Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts
Copyright © 2009 by Mark D. Roberts

When is Advent?

Advent is a Christian season that lasts for about four weeks. It begins four Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve, thus there is some variation in its length. (If you're unfamiliar with the idea of Christian seasons, you might find helpful a few pieces I've written: "Overview of the Christian Year,""The Colors of the Christian Year," and "The Christian Year and the Textures of Worship." I should mention that Eastern Orthodox Christians do not recognize Advent per se, but have a longer season that is rather like Advent. Their Nativity Fast begins in the middle of November and is a season for repentance and abstinence.

In our secular American celebration of Christmas, the Christmas season (or Holiday season, ugh) begins in the weeks prior to Christmas Day. Generally, this season starts in early December, though retailers have a bad habit of beginning Christmas in November (or even October). A couple of weeks ago, for example, I shopped in a J.C. Penney department store that was fully decked out for Christmas and was playing Christmas music non-stop while I shopped. Shame on them! In my rule book, you shouldn't listen to Christmas music or turn on Christmas lights until after you've finished the Thanksgiving turkey . . . at the earliest.

What is Advent?

The Christian season of Christmas actually begins on Christmas Eve and lasts for twelve days, ending on January 6. (No, the twelve-day season of Christmas did not start with the song. It was the other way around.) The time before Christmas is Advent, a season of preparation for Christmas. Christians prepare for celebrating the birth of Jesus by remembering the longing of the Jews for a Messiah. In Advent we're reminded of how much we also need a Savior, and we look forward to our Savior's second coming even as we prepare to celebrate his first coming at Christmas. Indeed, the word Advent comes from the Latin word that means "coming" or "visit." In the season with this name, we keep in mind both "advents" of Christ, the first in Bethlehem and the second yet to come.

If you're unfamiliar with Advent, I expect it might feel odd to think of the weeks before Christmas as something more than Christmastime. For most of my life, Advent played very little role in my pre-Christmas consciousness. As a child, I did have Advent calendars, sturdy, decorative paper displays with 25 little "windows," one of which I would open each day of December leading up to Christmas. My Advent calendar was a way to whet my appetite for Christmas, not that I needed much help to get ready for my favorite day of the year, mind you. I loved Christmas when I was young, partly because it celebrated the birth of Jesus, but mostly because it was a giant party in which I received lots of presents. In a sense, the Christian observance is a bit like my boyhood Advent calendars, though it has a much more serious purpose. It's meant to get us ready, not for a present-opening party, but for a transformational celebration of the birth of Jesus.

What Colors Are Used in Advent?

advent wreath purple pink candles

There are a few other things about Advent that you might find odd if you're unfamiliar with them. The strangest might be the Advent color scheme. We associate Christmas and the weeks leading up to it with typical Christmas colors: red, green, white, silver, and gold. Advent, on the other hand, features purple (or dark blue) and pink. The purple/blue color signifies seriousness, repentance, and royalty. Pink points to the minor theme of Advent, which is joy. The first, second, and fourth Sundays of Advent are "purple/blue" Sundays. Only the third is a "pink" Sunday. The pink, joyful color reminds us that, even as Advent helps us get in touch with our sober yearning for God to come to us, we know that he did in fact come in the person of Jesus. Thus our minor-themed waiting has a grace note of joy mixed in. If you've seen a traditionally-colored Advent wreath will recognize the purple and pink colors of this season (with the central, white, Christ-candle for Christmas Eve/Day). But if you're unfamiliar with Advent and happen to attend a church service in early December in a church that recognizes Advent, you might be startled to see lots of purple, a bit of pink, and no red or green. (Many churches combine the colors of Advent and Christmas, however, so visitors won't be completely perplexed.)

Starting tomorrow, Tuesday, December 2 2009, I will begin posting Advent devotionals until Christmas Eve.

Please join me and invite others, as we daily prepare our hearts, minds, souls and strength in devotion to remember, honor, and worship the First Coming of the King of kings and the Lord of lords, our Master and Savior, Jesus the Christ.

"If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly, then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
~ Isaiah 58:13-14

Christian Advent holiday web theme Use Crystal Cloud Graphics!

set courtesy of Crystal Cloud Graphics.

...I'm still here

...still worshiping our Savior

...still seeking the Holy Spirit's counsel

...and still exalting the name of the LORD God Almighty for His faithfulness!

I know I haven't updated everyone in a long time, but I really didn't feel that it was right to do so without first answering a very important question from one of my readers. And since I've been so ill, my mind has not been what it once used to be and I have so much "brain-fog" and trouble making sense of most things, I had been unable to respond to her, and was only able to post my response just last week.

So, here's a quick update for those of you who have asked....and just so you know, I truly covet all your prayers, your encouraging comments and emails. You are all such beautiful blessings from God to me.

The latest is that my blood is still having trouble keeping B12 in my system and no one knows why. So I still take shots (my darling husband gives them to me because I had to have them so often). My Gastroenterologist recently referred me to my 4th. Hematologist at UT Southwestern. UT Southwestern is like the Mayo Clinic of Texas and everyone there has been very good to me. I have to be honest, I've really been more impressed and received better care at UT Southwestern, than from the medical staff at the Mayo Clinic.

I get my blood checked again this Wednesday to see if I'm finally holding B12, and if my MMA (methylmalonic acid) and B12 levels are still in the normal range. If they are, then I can wait a whole FOUR weeks before I have to get my blood checked again....AND before I have to get another shot! Isn't God SO good?! I am pretty sure this is the news I will get, so I am pretty excited about my blood test on Wednesday...and this is not something I often say. If all goes well, I'll finally be cleared to have B12 shots only once a month for life. Isn't that such GREAT news?!

Both my Hematologist and Gastroenterlogist said that I needed to have a procedure done that was mentioned when I was hospitalized in June, then again at release and also at the Mayo Clinic. So, it was scheduled for last Tuesday and we should get the results back sometime this week. The procedure is called a Capsule Endoscopy. It's basically a horse pill with a camera in it. I swallow the pill and wear a computer thingy around me all day while the camera works it's way through my digestive tract, taking pictures and loading it onto the computer I'm wearing. So, that was interesting...to say the least.

While all this has been going on, I had to go see my Neurologist again and get another MRI due to constantly progressing, severe back pain, as well as pain going all the way down my left leg to my foot and also down my right leg, just to my knee. I've never really quite gotten much relief since finding out nearly two years ago (March 2008) that I had two slipped discs and one that was herniated. I went to PT (physical therapy) for 6 weeks last year, was put on steroids for the inflammation, but still had severe pain all the time, even though I continued my PT exercises.

I got an MRI just a few weeks ago and found that I now have degenerative disc disease (which really isn't a disease at all, just a condition where several of my discs are dehydrated). We also found out that I now have two herniate discs, instead of one and one of them (the same one they found last year that never healed, but got worse) has a VERY small BENIGN tumor on it. It's smaller than 2 mm. I'm not even sure how they saw that tiny little thing. The GREAT news is that it's not the kind that will ever get cancerous, so there's nothing to worry about except if it gets bigger and gets in the way of something, but if that's as bad as it gets...I think is not really a big deal.

So now I go to PT and Spinal Decompression Therapy Monday through Thursday for a couple of hours. Hopefully, I'll only need to do this for a total of 20 sessions. And who knows, God may choose to heal me sooner!

Through all this, the LORD our God continues to show me how incredibly merciful, kind and abundantly gracious and compassionate He is! He is truly faithful, even when we are faithless; for He can not deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13).

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the LORD! And for everything God takes away, He also provides blessings elsewhere, sometimes tangible and sometimes intangible; if we don't see it, it isn't because God hasn't provided, it's because we're missing it by focusing too much on self and too little on His magnificence.

Our Father God has been so gracious to teach me the way of His precepts and counsel me with His testimonies, that this extended time of physical "illness/weakness" has been such a blessed time of spiritual healing/strengthening. God alone can do such GREAT and AWESOME things! Hallelujah to our blessed Savior, Christ Jesus our Lord! May each of God's childrens' lives bring Him the utmost glory, honor and praise! May the name of Jesus be exalted forever and ever! Hallelujah!

"Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead."

~ Philippians 3:8-11

About four months ago, a reader emailed me a question. I'm delighted to finally be able to answer this very important question, but also very sad that it has taken me so long to do it. As most of you know, I've been quite ill for some time now and well, my thinking hasn't been clear enough, nor has time been made available to me, in order for me to give proper attention to this reader's question. But I trust our Lord God is sovereign and He has allowed all this time to pass for a reason. With this knowledge, and with the reader's permission to publicly post this answer (while leaving her identity anonymous, as requested), I move forward to one of the things that bring me great joy; exhorting brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ all the more as we see the Day drawing near (Hebrews 10:25).

This answer will be saturated with Scripture, as God clearly states that He alone is qualified to answer on His behalf. So I choose to allow God's word to speak rather than share any opinion which may be solely based on my personal experience or from what others have written or spoken. Therefore, please be sure to be like the Bereans and read every Scripture that is noted and test it with the Word of God for yourself, so that your faith is founded only in the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, and not that of any man or woman; as we are all but fallible human beings who worship the one and only perfect and awesome Savior, the LORD God Almighty.

"Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. [Acts 17:11]...And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. [1 Corinthians 2:1-5]...but test everything; hold fast to what is good. [1 Thessalonians 5:21]...Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. [1 John 4:1]"

QUESTION:

"My question is about your post concerning the young man who killed some people at a church. You posted his letter, which I read. My question is why, if this person was so desperately seeking God, did He not answer? From his letter, it seems this young man was trying to find God...searching for Him the best that he could. The Bible also says that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Acts 2:21). Wasn't that young man drawn to Jesus (John 6:44); he was certainly crying out to Him?

If one is searching for God, not something to fill what only He can fill, but truly seeking God, isn't that being drawn BY Him TO Him?"

ANSWER:

According to Scripture, God always answers...His children; that is, those who are called by Him and granted the gift of repentance that leads to salvation (Romans 2:4, Romans 8:28-30, 2 Corinthians 7:10).

In order to best understand the answer to this reader's question, we must first search God's word to understand His character; His character as He reveals in Scripture, and not by man's attempt to describe God by limited human logic and reasoning. Once we've done that, then we will be able to better discern what exactly happened to this poor soul who took the lives of many others before taking his own, after "attempting" to "find God".

First, let me share that the LORD our God is most certainly not lost; we are. That is why Jesus said He came for the "lost" (Luke 19:10). We, do not "find" God, He finds us in our wretched and depraved state, saves us from our miry pit of destruction, and puts us in a right relationship with Him (Psalm 40:1-4). Think about it. If God were a god that you had to "find", then that would imply that he is fallible and has a very poor sense of direction. And who would want to worship and follow a god who not only has no idea where he is going, but also needs your help in order to have a relationship with you? Doesn't make much sense does it?

Okay, now that we've got that all cleared up, let's consider how we might best gain understanding of God's awesome and holy nature revealed to us in His word. When we read Scripture, first, we must all be in prayer, asking the Holy Spirit, Who alone can discern the thoughts of God our Father, to help us understand what it is we are reading (1 Corinthians 2:10-13), that we might accurately divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). For the LORD clearly states in Jeremiah 9:24, "but let him who boasts boasts in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love [lovingkindness], justice and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."

In reading God's word, we too often (especially us women) read it based on our emotions or personal experience rather than on God and His holy and unchangeable character. As we see in the aforementioned Scripture (Jeremiah 9:24), God desires that we understand and know Him, that He is a God who practices steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth. We all seem to like the "lovingkindness, steadfast love" part of the LORD, but seem to negate that He is also a just and righteous God who demands that justice be executed and holiness be perfected in everyone who calls on the name of the Lord. Who can stand before such an awesome God? No one, except the man, Jesus Christ the Lord.

Note: It is impossible for any human being to be perfect or be found righteous before the sight of God. But God, in His great mercy, compassion and grace, has declared righteous, those He has called...."For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." [2 Corinthians 5:21]

The reader states: "From his letter, it seems this young man was trying to find God...searching for Him the best that he could. The Bible also says that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Acts 2:21). Wasn't that young man drawn to Jesus (John 6:44); he was certainly crying out to Him?"

The key word here is "seems". No one can know with absolute certainty, another person's heart; only God knows.

What we can ascertain is God's nature and how He relates to His creation, particularly human beings. And we do this by how the Lord has reveals Himself in Scripture:

"The LORD passed before him [Moses] and proclaimed, 'The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and fourth generation.' "
~ Exodus 34:6-7

The most amazing thing about this passage is the fact that the LORD God Himself is proclaiming His nature; revealing His very character to His children.

In Psalm 103:8-13, King David echoes this truth, in which the LORD God proclaimed of Himself to His servant Moses, "The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will He keep His anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear Him."

The key phrase in this passage is, "those who fear Him". We'll come back to that in a bit.

One of the most misapplied Scriptures in churches today is that "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." [Acts 2:21] to mean that everyone and anyone who merely states their desire to go to Heaven rather than Hell, will be saved and that God will indeed grant them eternal life. But this great misunderstanding is far from being true.

Don't be convinced by my words. Be convinced by God's words:

"though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad -- in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of Him who calls -- she was told, 'the older will serve the younger.' As it is written, 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.'

What shall we say then? Is there injustice in God's part? By no means! For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.' So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy."
~ Romans 9:11-16

It is written in Scripture that only those God has called to Himself will have the ability to "cry out to God" out of a true and repentant heart.

"I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for my sheep [Jews]. And I have other sheep [Gentiles] that are not of this fold . I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one Shepherd. [John 10:14-16]...You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give it to you [John 15:16]...My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand [John 10:27-29].

Now, let's return to the phrase "to those who fear Him." God repeats this phrase all throughout Scripture, from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Here are just a few:

"The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them. [Psalm 34:7]...The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He makes known to them His covenant. [Psalm 25:14]...Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His steadfast love, [Psalm 33:18]...Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land. [Psalm 85:9]...but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His steadfast love.[Psalm 147:11]...Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before Him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed His name. [Malachi 3:16]...And His mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to generation. [Luke 1:50]...The nations raged, but Your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding Your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear Your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” [Revelation 11:18]

We know that when God repeats Himself, not only is the point He is repeating vitally important, but we can know with certainty that our merciful, kind and patient God wants us to really "get it".

The reason why it "seemed" like this man was truly "seeking" our God who is not lost, is because he is passionate in his plea. But we must remember, passion does not equal sincerity. If you reread Matthew Murray's letter (addressed to God), in the light of God's word and in the brilliance of God's holy character, you will clearly see that this man was not truly "seeking" God. Instead he was seeking the approval of other people and for someone to come into agreement with his personal theology and way of thinking. In other words, he was seeking false gods. Matthew Murray created idols of the "people of the church" and tried to create them to be the kind of people he thought would accept him, pity him, befriend him and ultimately benefit him somehow.

If you recall, in Matthew Murray's letter, he curses at God, blasphemes His holy name (all, which I blacked out), and drowns his entire letter with tidal waves of arrogance, self-exaltation, and the idea that the world and God owed him something (1 Timothy 6:3-5, 2 Timothy 3:2-5). This is truly not a man who is crying out to God with a broken and repentant heart; because if he were, then his letter would've been filled with adjectives used by "those who fear Him", and not by those who dishonor God, His name and His character.

Matthew Murray was very obviously in love with his sin. And God clearly states that He never listens (not that He doesn't hear, but He doesn't hear and act on) the prayers of such people (Psalm 66:18). Unlike us, God cannot be fooled and He will not be mocked. He is faithful to do all that He has claimed.

Therefore to conclude my answer to this reader's question, I will end with this:

The LORD God is absolute when He states that He only saves those He has called (Matthew 24:31). And He is faithful to save every single one of them (John 18:9). Without God's call of salvation on a soul, no person will ever desire God on his own, no matter how much they say they do (Romans 3:10-12); for we know our hearts are deceitful and wicked above all things and only the Lord our God can truly know it (Jeremiah 17:9-10). God is faithful; His character is not dependent on the act(s) or proclamations of men, "What if some were unfaithful: Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar,' " [Romans 3:3-4b]

I believe this last passage of Scripture I will share, perfectly answers what happened to Matthew Murray; tragically, a false convert, who chose to "believe" in a god of the false, watered-down, man-centered gospel (Galatians 1:6-9), that has no power to save a soul, but merely tickles itching ears (2 Timothy 4:3-4), as the hearer plummets down the slippery slope of destruction (Psalm 73:18-20).

"The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and His ear toward their cry. The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The LORD redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned."
~ Psalm 34:15-22

Do words really matter? Does the true meaning of words really matter? Does it matter how we use words, when we say them, and to whom we attribute them?

The Holy Spirit of God inspired King David to write:

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer."

~ Psalm 19:14

Our Savior Jesus Christ, when He was here, said:

"I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

~ Matthew 12:36-37

It is apparent that according to God, words are very important; how we use them, what we mean by them, when we say them and to whom we attribute them. After all, it is also written in Scripture through the Apostle John that:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:1

Jesus Himself is the Word of God. God chose to reveal Himself to us through His Word; through His spoken and written word. Through God's word (the holy Scriptures), the Holy Spirit leads us into understanding the deep mysteries of God that the world cannot understand or fathom.

"But, as it is written,

'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him' --

these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."

~ 1 Corinthians 2:9-14

So why then as Christians are we not more careful about our words? Why are we not more considerate about how we use them, when we say them, what we actually mean by them and to whom we attribute them? I believe it is for various reasons we are all familiar with - yours truly included. Most of which, is that we're just not really paying close attention to our words or the attitude of our hearts when we speak.

We'll only take a look at two (2) most commonly misused words in the English language amongst Christians and unbelievers alike:

AWESOME

Personally, I know I have misused words often because I'm excited, or want to express that excitement to others. For example, prior to about 6 years ago, I used to use the word "AWESOME" all the time. I would use this word to describe my elation or simple enjoyment from something or someone. If I liked a person and really enjoyed my time with them, I would say, "Oh, you're so AWESOME!". If I liked something they did or said, or wanted to share a particular experience I had that I truly enjoyed, I'd say, "Wow, that was AWESOME!".

I stopped using this word, except to attribute it to God, or the things of God, the day a precious sister kindly rebuked me when I told her I thought her teaching was "AWESOME!". She gently said to me, "Sunny, I thank you for your encouragement. But I assure you that neither my teaching nor anything about me is AWESOME." I argued with her and tried to share with her why I was right. She patiently listened, then said, "Sunny, do you really understand what "awesome" means?" I told her, "Not really. I hadn't ever really thought about it." But I took a stab at it anyway and said, "Does it mean exceptional or really wonderful?" She lovingly said, "No. The word awesome means, 'to inspire awe'. So then we have to look at the definition of the word "awe". Awe means, 'an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like'. So, Sunny, let me ask you another question. Do you agree with me that by the true definition of this word, only God and His magnificent works is truly worthy of being called awesome? I mean, is there anything or anyone in this world that you have every truly felt was so grand, so wonderful, so magnificent that you were in awe of them or what they had done? Because if that's the case, then we have another problem to discuss." I had to concede, she was right and I was wrong.

God alone is awesome. God alone causes me to stand in awe, breathless, and totally overwhelmed by His grandeur.

I shared this wonderful truth with my family, and since that day, none of us ever apply or attribute the word "AWESOME" to anything or anyone except God and His wondrous works.

All throughout Scripture, the only time God applies the word "awesome", He uses it only as an attribute of Himself or to describe His magnificent works. Therefore, as His children, why should we carelessly use this word to describe anyone or anything else except God?

GOOD

I've often used this word to mean "nice". But the LORD our God has been so gracious to reveal to me that the words "nice" and "GOOD" do not mean the same thing.

nice adj. - pleasing; agreeable; delightful

good adj. - morally excellent or perfect; virtuous; righteous; pious

With understanding the true definitions of the words "good" and "nice" I realized I could no longer use them interchangeably and, I perceived better why my Lord Jesus said,

"Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone."

~ Luke 18:19

It always perplexed me that Jesus said that; being that He IS God, why did He question the man who called Him "good"? I never understood fully, until I accurately understood what "good" meant.

When I finally grasped the true meaning of this overly misused word, I finally understood why Jesus thought it very important to first clarify this man's definition of the word "good" before He continued to speak with him. Jesus wanted to make sure that the man who called Him "good" was attributing this word to Him only because this man recognized Jesus to be God, and not merely a "nice" man or for the sake of flattery.

Anytime God stops the flow of a conversation (or even a listing of genealogy to clarify something, i.e., Genesis 5:22) it is always "good" to pray, ask and listen to the Holy Spirit as He leads you into all truth (John 14:26); so that we might understand and know Him more, in order to love Him better.

From this wonderful teaching of the Holy Spirit, I began to only use the word "good' when speaking of God or the things of God. Therefore, I've taught my sons:

"Anything absent of God, is absent of good; since God alone is good.

Till this day, I still ask my sons, "Did you have a 'good' day or 'nice' day?" And they know exactly what I mean. :-)

Things to consider:

Have you ever used the words "awesome" and "good" inaccurately? If so, will you every do it again?
Are there any other words you've regularly use that you're convicted should only be attributed to God or the things of God? If so, please share.
How has God's Holy Spirit convicted you today from this article and what will you do about it today?

"Thus says the LORD:

Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understand and knows me, that I AM the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."

~ Jeremiah 9:23-24

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