Is Our God the Only God

“I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "that I am God” (Isaiah 43:11-12). I remember as a freshman in Bible College reading a critical, critique of the Christian faith by an ungodly individual. He said the Christ faith is "nothing more than a psychological crutch." My response was how dare he attack my God and my faith. Then it dawned on me, he had not experienced the power and grace of God that comes through the new birth. The above verse does bring to mind the question, Is belief in God something for the weak, a childish gullibility, a way of side stepping reality? From [Freud’s] perspective, God is merely a creation of the human mind, a projection emanating from human need and desire rather than a distinct reality or being that exists independently of the human mind. Freud’s notion of God acting as an idealized father figure for humans, providing a cushion from the harshness of the real world and a comforting friend in the midst of life’s troubles, reduces God to a human construct. Indeed, for Freud, God is made in humanity’s own image and is the “ultimate wish-fulfillment”; God does not actually exist but is merely the creation of humanity’s imagination and desire for a loving father figure. Can we as believers respond to this? Is God really able to be explained away so easily by one aspect of psychology? The answer is a resounding no. As the song writer stated "He lives, He lives, I know my Savior lives, for He lives within my heart." Our verses for today reminds us we are here as witnesses to "Declare the praises of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light" (I Peter 2). Unlike the blind unbeliever we are recipients of God's blessings. We are the people who anticipate His mighty deliverance yet to come. How dare we remain silent? There is no place for discouragement or retreat in our lives. To be discouraged is to lack courage. No believer has the luxury of discouragement, for we are in a battle for truth. Jesus Christ is our Commander and Chief, and He won the battle for us back at Calvary. Thus we fight from victory, rather than for victory. The same God who made the corpse of Jesus our living Lord is the same God Who is mighty to save. Being a witness of the living God, ought to humble us. Jacob was humbled when God touched his thigh, he was renamed Israel and walked with a limp the rest of his life. We ought to beware of any Christian leader who does not walk with a limp. Sometimes God orders circumstances into our lives to develop humility and create greater dependence upon Him. It is because God works greater through weakness than strength. The truth is we can get humility voluntarily or involuntarily. Its much easier if we get it voluntarily. "God gives more grace to the humble" one way or the other we'll get it. For God commissions humble, trusting, witnesses to do His Kingdom work. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

Called to Mimic

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children” (Ephesians 5:1). I remember seeing two Mime's perform. To my delight, I watched them communicate quite effectively without ever saying a word. A Mime is one who acts a part with gestures and actions. They don't use words, they use actions to express their message. The word "Imitators" in our verse means "Do as I do." What the Apostle is saying is "Don't talk about His love, walk in His love, live it, express it. Don't tell everybody you have it, show them that you have it. Do as God does. Mime. In other words, live it out before the world." This is a command calling for divine imitation to be our way of life. We are to "mimic" God's attitudes and actions through the power of the Holy Spirit. Mimes let their actions speak in place of their words. This doesn't mean that we are never to speak. It does mean that our actions give credibility to our words. Do you remember the old saw "What you do speaks so loud I can't hear what you say". I remember meeting an extremely over weight man who managed a health club. He was really pumped up about their exercise programs and he talked long about the health benefits made possible through membership in his club. I'm sure he has good management skills, he certainly was excited, however his physical condition did not make for good advertisement. Jesus gave us a similar charge in the Sermon on the Mount. He told us to "Love (as our lifestyle), our enemies and to pray (as a lifestyle) for those who persecute us so that we my be sons of our Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (Matthew 5:44). As God's children we should be like our father, and love should meet love. We were born with Adam's depraved nature and we were fully deserving of the wrath of God. Now we are in Christ, empowered by His Spirit and motivated by a desire to walk in a manner pleasing to our new Father, God. (John 8:44). Imitation can be costly. In the early church, when a man gave his life to Christ, he often had to leave his job because it conflicted with his profession of faith. The same thing happened to F.W Charrington, the heir to a fortune made in the liquor industry. As Mr Charrington was walking by a tavern one night, he notice a woman waiting outside the door. A man, who was obviously her husband, came out, she tried to restrain him from going back in. With a savage blow of his fist, the man knocked her out. At which point he walked back into the bar, totally oblivious to his bleeding wife, who was lying on the street. Mr. Charrington looked at the name above the tavern door and saw it was his own. He said "with that one blow that man did not only knock his wife out, he also knocked me clean out of that business forever." He gave up the fortune he might have had. (From Morning Glory, July 26, 1993). Imitating Christ, can be costly in another way. Jesus told us that those who hated Him would also hate us. Some people hate Jesus because He is righteous and holy and they are not. His life exposes the corruption in their life. We are to be salt and light. Salt poured into an open wound will always bring a reaction. Light shining in darkness exposes what is going on in the dark. When we live like Christ we will receive some of the wrath of a world that hates righteousness. The Louvre in Paris is perhaps the most famous art museum in the world. It displays originals by such masters as Delacroix, Michelangelo, Rubens, da Vinci, Ingres, Vermeer, and many others. Since 1793, the Louver has encouraged aspiring artists to come and copy the masters. Some of our most famous modern artists have done that and have become better painters by copying the best the world has ever known. An article in the Smithsonian magazine tells about Amal Dagher, a 63 year old man who has been duplicating art at the Louvre for 30 years. Dagher remains in awe of the masters and continues to learn from them. He said, "If you're too satisfied with yourself, you can't improve." Like the Louver copyists, we'll never reach perfection before we get to heaven. Even so, we must resist the temptation to be satisfied with our present imitation of Jesus. We need to keep looking to Him, learning from Him, and asking for His help. To become like Christ we must learn from the Master. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.