Is He REALLY a GOOD GOD?

Most of you who read this blog are rooted in biblical Truth, given us by the Spirit of God. From that foundation we form our worldview. We know that until our Lord takes up His Throne and every knee bows to Him all efforts to bring peace on this earth will fail. Only then will we be exonerated from any form of human government . Because man's heart in the natural is "desperately wicked" all earthly governments fold in on themselves.

I have never been very good at ignoring an elephant in the room. Last week was the "Elephant Convention"  This week is "The Donkey Convention". This very well may be my last presidential election and I am not sitting this one out....so what am I "listening" for during these hours and hours of speeches? ...the not-so-well hidden personal agendas, based upon the way a man or woman is programmed to think.  "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he". Because Michelle's speech is freshest in my mind I will comment on just one of her statements:  "The house my family has lived in for eight years was built by slaves". ...very telling.  The wound is still there, and determines how she thinks.

If you are a student of the Word you know where this world is headed. How long do we have before we actually lay down our very lives for the Gospel, as are many around the world today? Only God knows the answer to that. I am not sleeping very well these days. If you are, well, good for you! I will be outta here before long, but my family and your family had better buckle up, no matter who is our next President. One would have to actually go to a poverty-stricken country to believe what it looks and smells like. In Kenya we saw hundreds of thousands of  street children whose parents have died of Aids. We shared meals at a convent with a Catholic woman doctor from Paris who was assigned to Nairobi's slums to pluck the orphans from the garbage heaps where they had been tossed to die.  Christians are sacrificing everything they are and have to bring water, food, shelter and the Gospel to millions of Africans. Lord, give courage and love to Phil, Deb and Greg. In Cairo, surrounded by teeming masses of starving people, we could not step out of our hotel without having mothers throw their babies in front of us, forcing us to step on them unless we gave them money. I could not bear it and  holed up in our hotel room, falling on my knees, crying out to God: "Where ARE You, God? ...my collection of Sovereignty-of- God scriptures not working well for me.  Lord, give courage to Phil as he lays down his life for these people.  In Indonesia, with its quarter of the Muslim population crowding the streets, the men falling on their faces five times a day toward Mecca to pray to an impersonal god,   are sacrificial Christians giving everything to convince these poverty-stricken people that "God is a GOOD God".  Lord, give strength and courage to Denyse and Greg....and there are ever so many other countries whose deplorable living conditions are imprinted on my mind

 I wouldn't fault you a bit if you are thinking:   "Jo Stone, you live in a lovely home in the mountains in a relatively good climate, year 'round, you drive a truck that is still sturdy after wheeling it around your mountains for seven years; your refrigerators and freezers are stuffed with food enough for weeks ahead.". Am I grateful?   I cannot even mention His Name without weeping. He showed me a long time ago that I own nothing. ......not my home, not my husband, not my children, and not my grandchildren. Nothing. ...not even myself.

He that will lose His life for My sake, will FIND it.  "...for you are not your own; you have been bought with a price.    ....for "It is the kindness of God that brings us to repentance." God has been so"kind" to America. ...but a good Father is also One who disciplines.  "To whom much is given, much is required." "We reap what we sow". You know those verses given us straight from the Mouth of God.   We ALL do who "...bow in humble adoration and there proclaim: 'My God,  how GREAT THOU ART!"

...comes a Gospel song request from dear Steve P. in Sugarland, Texas:

THIS WORLD IS NOT MY HOME...
I'm just a passin' through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from Heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.

'Way over in Glory land we'll live eternally
The saints on every hand are shouting "Victory!"
Their songs of sweetest praise drift back from Heaven's shore
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

Oh, Lord, you know I have no friend like You.
If Heaven's not my home, then Lord,  what will I do?
The angels beckon me from Heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.

It is true that we are not "at home". ...but we have an assignment, as long as we have breath: to love broken people, pointing them to the Cross...to a GOOD God Who gave His Son to die, that they might have LIFE.

  Love,  Jo