Acts 15:18 – “Known to God from eternity are all His works.”  NKJV

I have heard preachers preach, people pray, songs sung, and testimonies that make it sound like God is sometimes caught off guard by what transpires or what people do.  When I hear that I am reminded of this and other passages and the fact that God is OMNISCIENT.  If He is God, and He is then He sees everything from the beginning to the end.  He knows our thoughts “afar off” and although He knows He allows us to make the choices we make.

In Psalm 139 the Psalmist spoke of this truth of the All-Knowing God.  He declared that God knows EVERYTHING!  Look at the list of things the Psalmist declares of God’s knowledge:

• He has searched and known us.
• He knows our sitting down and rising up.
• He understands our thoughts afar off.
• He comprehends our path and laying down.
• He is acquainted with all our ways.
• He knows every word that proceeds from our lips that He is not aware of.
• He has hedged up about.
• His Spirit cannot be escaped or hidden from.
• We can find no place to hide.
• If we ascend to heaven or descend to hell HE IS THERE.
• He formed us and knows us.

With that knowledge, the Psalmist prays in verses 23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”  That prayer is prayed in light of the things I listed above meaning the Psalmist asked knowing that is exactly what God would do and knowing that if God fully examined his heart he would be totally exposed.

Therefore, when something catches you by surprise you can be confident that it did not surprise God.  We have made choices in life (good and bad) that brought us to the moment.  Others may have made choices that brought the situation to bear and placed us in danger, not because of our wrong choices but theirs, and God is not caught by surprise.  Therefore, it is not only permissible but desirable that we pray for His guidance and protection at all times and in all things.  Thus, the last part of the prayer, “…lead me in the way everlasting.” 

I love the comforting words of Jeremiah when God speaks prophetically through him in Jeremiah 29 declaring, “…for I know the thoughts (plans) that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  Thank you, LORD.  I am not only awed by your knowledge but inspired by the fact you know giving me comfort to live life without fear.

Yes, we are often caught by surprise but God, never.   So, as you go through this day know that God knows giving you even more reason to call upon Him and trust Him.  

Blessings abundantly is my prayer!

John 17:20-23 – “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;  21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”  NKJV

In 1 Corinthians 13, commonly identified as the Love Chapter of the Bible, we find the characteristics of love.  This chapter provides a powerful look into our own hearts and a pattern by which we should strive to live.  The expressed desire and prayer of our LORD Jesus as revealed in the text above was for love to prevail in the Body of Christ and that we All Be One! 

The Body of Christ is not divided, yet we see division, dissension, and discord among professing followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.  God’s Plan is Unity of the Faith.  Jesus came to give us life and that life was to be Abundant, and He is our common ground.  I believe that the greatest hindrance to the work of the Kingdom and personal spiritual development today is Disunity.   Likewise, there is nothing the devil would like better than to destroy the local church, especially those who seek the Unity of the Spirit. 

I ask that you consider a few specifics that I believe will prove to be beneficial in our Christian walk and warfare.

• Born-again People Constitute the Body of Christ.

Every truly born-again person is a member of the Body of Christ.  I am speaking specifically about the biblical experience of the “new birth” in Jesus Christ.  It begins with repentance – “Confess and Forsake”.

2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if any man (person) is in Christ, he is a new creature (creation); the old things have passed away, behold, new things have come.”

We read in John 3:16 about God’s love and plan.  In Romans 10:9-10 we find confession of sin and in verse 13the revelation that “if” we call upon His name we will be saved.  In 1 John 1:9, we read, “For if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Repentance is the full realization of one’s sin and a change of attitude, heart, and direction.  Biblical repentance involves conviction of sin, with a sense of condemnation, godly sorrow, and the forsaking of sin.  It is a 180-degree turn.

• God Extends Fellowship To All Believers.

Not just those who practice your particular brand of doctrine or preference.  Clearly, God extends His fellowship to people of varying opinions about various doctrines.  He accepts them but too often we exclude them because they are not like us.  We are too often major on minors straining at gnats and swallowing camels.  The hand is not the ear and the ear is not the eye.  We are different and in life, we have different preferences but require the same air to breathe. 

• The Basis of Fellowship Is Life Not Opinion.

It would serve us well to acknowledge and remember that all truly born-again believers have the same Spiritual Father.  That truth is the only hope we have of achieving that for which Jesus prayed, “That they all be one…”

Biblical Unity is not possible aside from Agape Love, which is our source of Hope and Unity.  That means our love for the Family of God will have to exceed our devotion to personal opinions and non-essentials to salvation.  Remember Love Covers!  Love Covers!

I am going to tread on thin ice with some by saying, “Fellowship” is more important than believing you have the absolutely correct theology.  Do not understand that to be a call to compromise your convictions but a call to realize that you might not be 100% correct in all things.  Also, it is my conviction, the greatest sin and hindrance in the Church is Disunity.

The problem of building walls and barriers and infighting among various elements of Christianity does far more harm and alienates more than virtually anything else.  God hates the sowing of discord among brothers. Having the right spirit is as important, if not more important than making accurate decisions.

In fact, the Bible is so strong on Disunity and Discord that it says, “MARK THEM which cause divisions.” (Romans 16:17) The devil will never defeat the local church from the outside.  I conclude with this:  Romans 16:17 says mark one group of people and Philippians 3:17 says mark another group.  The first group is those who cause division, and the second group is those who set the right example.  Mark them both but avoid the first and flock to the second.   You can choose your attitude.

God bless you as you go through this day!

Genesis 9:4-7 – “But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast, I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother, I will require the life of man. 6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man. 7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth and multiply in it.”  NKJV

This command was part of the first command given to Noah after the Flood.  Have you ever wondered why God would command, Eat No Blood?  We find a clue in Leviticus 17:11where the commandment against eating blood was, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.”  The emphasis was Eat No Blood because the life of the flesh resides in it and it is used for atonement. 

Have you ever considered that the Bible declares that the “blood of Abel” cried from the ground calling for vengeance and the violence and corruption of mankind brought about the flood in Noah’s day?  If God did not spare judgment in Noah’s day do, we think He will do so in our day when millions of innocents are slaughtered before their birth and the other violence in our world?  Recall what Jesus said concerning the last days in Matthew 24:37, “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” 

One day and I believe soon Jesus will return to put an end to the reign of terror on the earth and cleanse the world by the judgment of the Tribulation of which the Flood was a type.  He will then bring a kingdom of peace on a renewed and cleansed earth.  The Blood will cleanse!

Even a cursory reading of Scripture would suggest that God deems Blood Sacred because in it is Life!  Life is in the blood not the flesh of God’s creature and that is an important distinction.  God permitted man to eat Flesh (animals), but it had to be without Blood!  God was insistent and incredibly clear on that point.  In Leviticus 17 we find, “it is sin to eat any manner of blood.”

 I know we are not under the Old Testament Levitical Laws but also realize that some things transcend the Mosaic or Levitical Law but in Acts 15 we have a record of the first Church council in Jerusalem where Paul and Barnabas appeared. They had taken the Gospel to the Gentiles.  Many within the Jewish community sought to impose on these new believers circumcision and keeping the Law. 

Paul went to Antioch after much dispute and reported to the Gentile believers, “Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls saying, You must be circumcised, and keep the Law: to whom we gave no such commandment.”  (v.24) He continued in vv.28-29 saying, “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; that you abstain from meats offered to idols, and from BLOOD, and things strangled and from fornications.” 

Why no blood today?  I have learned that God’s commands are never arbitrary but logical and reasonable.  He has a purpose in what He commands.  There are many potential reasons for abstaining from blood including health and hygiene, but the two paramount reasons, I believe are: Life is in the blood, and Life is sacred.  Follow me if you will.  Since life is in the blood and flesh is lifeless without the blood God is demanding that we respect life.  Therefore, to eat blood is to insult the life of God because “the life… is in the blood.” 

You may choose to argue that point but if you carefully examine the directive of Scripture, I believe you will concur that God considers life and blood sacred and so should we.  Thank God for the Blood of Jesus. 

Blessings as you go through this day!

Hebrews 2:14-16 – “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”  NKJV

Attempting to guard against going into something deeper than I should I want to address a few more things about the blood of Jesus and His relationship to Adam’s blood.  Jesus, the Bible declares was “born of a virgin” making Him man but not sharing the blood of Adam.  That in itself is incredible.  Had he been the child of Joseph and Mary He would have shared Adam’s blood and been a partaker of all that Adam was or the depravity of man.  Therefore, Jesus had a human body but blood for a separate source. 

In the text verse, we read the word children which clearly is human children.  Those children are said to be partakers of Flesh and Blood.  Then it speaks of Jesus and says that He himself likewise took part of the same.  The word “took part” as applying to Christ is completely different than the word “partakers” as it refers to the children. 

The word, “took part” implies “taking part in something outside oneself.”  The Greek word for “partakers” is KOYNONEHO and means “to share fully.”  Therefore, all of Adam’s descendants or children share fully in Adams’ flesh and blood.  Then we read that Jesus “took part” and the word used is METECHO which means “to take part but not all.”  The children took both flesh and blood of Adam, but Christ took only part.  He took the flesh part where the blood was a result of a supernatural conception.

Jesus, therefore, was a perfect human being after the flesh.  He was the seed of David according to the flesh.  Adam’s body was made of the dust of the earth and God breathed the breath of life into him which added the blood and man lived.  Adam’s blood was corrupted in the fall and since God made one the blood of all nations, the human race was tainted. 

Of course, we are all accountable for our sins and not charged with the sins of our parents but in the Fall, depravity set in and man had a bent toward evil came under the domain of darkness and needed a deliverer to cleanse him via the “Blood of the Lamb”.  He needed divine justice to be satisfied, Satan’s legal claim to be negated and become a New Creation in which we have the Blood of Christ applied to our souls.

Do you remember the confession of Judas in Matthew 27:4, “I have betrayed the innocent blood”?  That is powerful if you think about it.  Sin made human blood corruptible and because of sin death began its process in human beings and in death decay or corruption.  Remember that it was said of Jesus that His body would see no corruption.  It could not because it was not tainted blood in his veins.

If you are a believer and have received Jesus as your personal Savior, you now have the benefit of the Sinless Blood of Jesus applied to your soul.  You have passed from death unto life and death has lost its sting.  Remember the words of Romans 5:8-9 – “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, having been JUSTIFIED BY HIS BLOOD, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”  (Emphasis mine).   It is through the Blood.  What can wash away my sins nothing but the Blood of Jesus!  What can make me whole again, nothing but the Blood of Jesus!  Oh, precious is that flow that makes me whiter than snow; no other fount I know, nothing but the Blood of Jesus!

May you walk in the purity of His precious blood all the days of your life.  Blessings!

Leviticus 7:26-27 – “Moreover you shall not eat any blood in any of your dwellings, whether of bird or beast. 27 Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.'”  NKJV

The Bible is a book of blood and those who seek to eliminate the Cross, suffering, and the blood from the gospel message do harm to the truth of God’s word.  The Bible clearly declares that “without the shedding of blood there is no remission”.  (Hebrews 9:22).  We used to sing, “There is Power in the Blood” and there is for in it is the very life and power of the Gospel.  The Bible is a “living” book and it lives because of the Blood of the Lamb. 

Hebrews 4:12declares, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of the soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”  The Word of God is Alive!  In the KJV the translation is “quick” which means “alive” or “living”.  When we read the Bible, we are not just reading words on a page but that which we read is ALIVE!

Leviticus 17:11declares, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood…”  Life is that mysterious thing that scientists have never been able to fully and completely explain, define or fathom.  While scientists seek to define it, God declares it is “in the blood” and flesh is alive because of “the blood”.  I am not a scientist, chemist, or medical doctor so what I say is strictly from a layman’s understanding and research. 

The human body is nothing short of amazing and we are told that it is made up of many different types of tissues.  Some of those are defined as muscle, nerve, fat, gland, bone, connective tissue, etc.  All tissues have a common denominator, they are fixed cells and microscopically small having specific and limited function.  The Blood on the other hand is not fixed but mobile and is not restricted to one part of the body but is free to move throughout the body and if it ceases to flow to various parts those parts die.

The blood is incredibly mysterious for it is composed of many different elements, compounds, and strange chemical bodies many of which are still not understood, and their function not truly understood.  The Blood of Jesus is also essential to the Body of Christ.  The life of each member depends on His blood and is dependent upon it for life.  His blood brings nourishment, carries off waste (cleansing), and enables the body or cells within the Body of Christ (people) to grow and develop.  We are all one by the Blood of Jesus!  We are all related by the blood of Adam, but that blood was poisoned by disobedience and now we need a complete “exchange transfusion” removing the poison of Adams’ blood and replacing it with the life of the blood of Jesus.

The virgin birth was necessary because of the pollution of man’s blood through Adam’s disobedience.  If Jesus were to be a son of Adam and yet a sinless man, he had to be born of a virgin.  Jesus was “born of a woman” (not man) and as a result, could be a perfect human being because he did not have one drop of Adam’s blood flowing in his veins. 

The entire plan of redemption rests upon the power and authority of the Blood of the Lamb.  The blood is unlimited in its movement within the body and is the only tissue that is not fixed.  There are other fluids in the body, but they are not tissue, they are secretions. The blood is the only liquid tissue that can reach every single cell in the body and all the members of the body are united through the blood.  That is true in the natural and in the spiritual.

I mentioned something earlier about Adam’s blood and Christ and desire to expand on that briefly.  Medical science teaches that the blood that flows in an unborn babe’s arteries and veins is not derived from the mother but is produced within the body of the fetus (baby).  After the sperm enters the ovum and a fetus begins to develop does the blood appear! 

It is completely unnecessary that a single drop of blood be given to the developing embryo in the womb of the mother.  The mother provides all the nutrients required for the baby to develop and produce its own blood and as a result, not one single drop of blood passes from the mother to the child.  If you doubt this it can be researched and in Howell’s Textbook of Physiology, Second Edition, pages 885 and 886 we read:

“For the purpose of understanding its general functions, it is sufficient to recall that the placenta consists essentially of vascular chorionic papillae and from the fetus (the unborn child) bathed in the large blood spaces of the decidual membrane of the mother.  The fetal and maternal blood DO NOT COME INTO ACTUAL CONTACT.  THEY ARE SEPARATED FROM EACH OTHER by the walls of the fetal blood vessels and epithelial layers of the chorionic villae.”   The words in capitals should sufficiently explain.

When God created woman, He made her so that no blood would be able to pass from her to her offspring.  In the initial creation, God was looking forward in time to the birth of Jesus and providing a “sinless savior” for mankind.  Born of a woman and yet without blood contaminated by the sin of Adam.  That does not fully explain His sinlessness but hopefully will inspire you in your appreciation of the Blood and its power!

We will address this more in the next devotional.  But for now, we pause and say, “God bless you richly as you go through this day”. 

Blessings the day after Christmas!

Today many are celebrating with family in the warmth of their homes opening presents and preparing to partake of the holiday feast prepared or being prepared.  Sadly, there are others alone, cold, penniless, and destitute.  Some of them have lost all hope.  I ask that you remember them in your thoughts and prayers and if you have not already, plan to help someone in need, if not today soon.  Christmas is about Love, Caring, and Giving, and how better to manifest the Spirit of Christmas than to reach out to someone in need?

I only offer this poem below that I wrote 15 years ago during a time I had encountered parathyroid cancer and experienced a work of God the surgeon called a miracle.  As I sat in my truck at lunch praying and reading scripture I felt a warmth cover my body and knew in my heart that God had totally removed the remnant of the cancer.  I had gone through surgery but it did not appear that all had been removed. 

A second surgery was planned and about 2 weeks before the surgery this experience took place and when the PTH and calcium levels were checked they had gone from high to the low side of the normal scale.  The doctor said, “This does not happen medically.”  He then said, “I think we know who did this.”  We proceeded with the second surgery to repair some things and check everything and from that day to this, all have been normal.  Each Christmas I remember the rich blessing of life that God has given me and I give Him all the praise.

I give this poem as my gift and pray that God grant you a most joyous Christmas.  As I bid you adieu for the day, I depart shouting – – M E R R Y   C H R I S T M A S!!!

Twilight and Midnight Christmas

When we are young and life is like a flowering tree

We think only of the moment, what’s in it for me?

Christmas is a time of anticipation

Youthful joy and full of expectation

What will we get? What can we do?

It’s all about me and little about you.

Then in our teens, those rebellious years

We bring to our parents exquisite joy and rivers of tears/

Christmas is a time of anticipation

Youthful joy and full of expectation.

Why can’t I go off with my friends and see

What this world can offer me?

Then as young adults with children of our own

We are now parents and the worry to us belongs.

Christmas is a time of our children’s anticipation

Waiting to see if we fulfilled their every expectation.

If you fail, this will you hear, “But I wanted the latest and hottest fad

I didn’t get it now I am mad.”

Then come the twilight years

You are alone to face all your fears.

Children and grandchildren grown with families of their own.

It’s Christmas and you are alone,

Forgotten it seems with no one to share

Life’s little joys for no one does care.

Remember this in your Christmas of twilight

As you turn inward and are filled with the darkness of night.

It’s not the specific day that makes it is so dear

It’s not even the time of the year.

It’s that your family has set one day aside

To join you and celebrate Christmas there by your side.

© Roy Beaird – 2005

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Luke 2:4-7 – “Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. 6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”  NKJV

Although I try to avoid last-minute shopping at any time, I especially avoid it during the Christmas season.  I absolutely abhor the commercialization that has frequently stolen the true meaning of Christmas from hearts.  I love seeing children with their eyes gleaming and encountering people who have a heart and spirit of love and generosity.  The contrast that weighs heavily on my heart is those who are focused on self, enduring the season out of obligation, and the Scrooge mentality that goes around “Bah Humbug.”

As I often do, I reflect on my childhood and the childhood of my children to draw my precious memories about Christmas.  We grew up poor but because virtually everyone around us was in the same condition we did not notice and were not truly aware of our lack.  We had loving parents and grandparents whose love and care overshadowed any lack.  We would usually get one present for Christmas and were grateful and appreciative of that item whether a toy pistol, a truck or whatever it was.  The cost of the item might have been $5-10 but brought a million dollars of joy to our hearts.  We had love and that made Christmas special.

I wrote the simple verse below out of my heart’s cry for a return to celebrating the Reason for the Season” and what I pray for.  May God bless you on this Christmas Eve and may your celebrations be filled with love, peace, joy, and gratitude.  May you remember who it is that we are truly celebrating and what His birth, life, and death brought to mankind! 

When Christmas Lives In The Human Heart

Each year when autumn recedes into winters fold

 With some hearts merry and some hard and cold,

There is a season that December brings

Children, toys, and glistening things.

Cynical commercialism got its start

When Christmas was banished from the human heart.

When men remember the meaning of this celebration

Moving past the politically correct deliberation,

We find that relations between classes of men

Bring peace and freedom again and again.

Love and Joy are given a new start

When Christmas lives in the human heart.

Decorations, festivities, gifts, food, and caroling

Can make the heart of man rise up and sing.

When there is caring and charity within

Christmas begins to truly live again.

Men are united rather than torn apart

When Christmas lives in the human heart.

© Roy Beaird – December 2013

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

1 John 1:5 – “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”  NKJV

I believe in creation and believe that God has always been and will always be.  I also believe that there was a time, in God, before time.  God’s creation of the universe added nothing to His person or power it was a revelation of Who He Is!  He created all things for His Glory which allows us to catch a glimpse of His fullness.  When we glorify God we add nothing to His dimension but we expand our horizons.  When we magnify God we do not make Him greater than He is or larger but greater and larger to us or in our understanding and appreciation.

Revelation travels down three paths or roads.  I would like to briefly hit some high points in this concept. 

• Revelation through Nature.

Psalm 19:1-3 declares to us that the very heavens declare the glory of God.  In Romans 1:18-20, we read, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”

It will be futile to say to God on the Day of Judgment, “No one told me…”  Yes, we need to spread the Good News but the Bible reveals that Nature itself reveals God and this is the simplest revelation of Him.

• Revelation through the Word of God – The Bible.

The Bible, I believe, is a progression in revelation.  We couple God’s Word with what is clearly revealed in nature and the two combine to give an expanded revelation of God.  In the Bible, we quickly realize that God is a God of Love, Grace, Mercy, Justice, and Truth.  In the Bible, we have a revelation of God’s Plan of Salvation and the lost-ness of man without Christ.

• Revelation through the Person of Jesus Christ.

Colossians 1:15-17 we find, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him, all things consist.”   Then in verse 19, we read, “For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell.”  This is reemphasized in Colossians 2:19 and by the words of Jesus as recorded in Hebrews 1:1-3 that IF we have seen Him (Christ) we have seen the father.

We know that in the “solar spectrum “there are “seven visible colors” which compose the spectrum seen in the rainbow, in the flashing colors of a well-cut diamond, or beveled glass.  At the upper end of the spectrum, we find violet and at the lower end red.  Someone used this to illustrate that these seven basic colors represent or reveal the perfection in the Godhead.  The number “seven” has long been associated with God and Perfection.  The writer declared a short listing as follows:

• Red Speaks of God’s Sacrifice.
• Blue His Heavenly Character.
• Purple His Royal Personality or Personage.

I won’t take the time to rehearse all seven but you see the pattern and progression.  We also know that the rays of the sun can be deadly to all living organisms and are indispensable and essential to all living organisms.   Thus, we can see that in God we have His rays of Justice which demand full payment for sin, and we find His rays of Love which reach out to offer salvation, joy, peace, and mercy to all who will receive.  Jesus is our shield against the demands of Justice and our cloak of God’s Love.

May the LORD walk with you opening the right doors and closing the wrong ones this beautiful day.  Blessings!

Psalm 139:13-16 – “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.  14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.  15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.  And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.”  NKJV

I find myself looking at this matter and although I probably won’t give it a lot of time, I sense that we are going I am troubled with the hoopla over the Bruce Jenner’s and others deciding they are truly women or women deciding they are men.  They go through an extensive effort to become a woman.  Truthfully, no male can become a woman for their chromosomes remain the same before and after.  I heard a psychologist say that people who engage in this behavior have a mental health issue and I would not argue that.  This whole “transgender” fervor and the overt and covert declarations that God blew it in creating people troubles me deeply.

The question I have and until now have given almost zero thought to is:  “What will people like Bruce or Caitlynn Jenner say to God when they stand before Him?”  Will they tell God He blew it?  Obviously, they believe He did so how do we square this type of behavior with the Bible?

David declared in Psalm 139 that man is “fearfully and wonderfully made” and that God knew our members, parts, gender, etc. before we were even conceived.  If we believe that God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent how do we reconcile the suggestion that He screwed up in creating us?   Bill Gothard said years ago that those particular physical characteristics in each of us were marks of ownership and a recognition that God did not make mistakes. 

I guess if we press this to the limit, we will have to question other cosmetic attempts to fix what God created in our human bodies.  Honestly, I do not know how to answer these questions although I have an opinion I have not thought, researched, and prayed it through to the place of having a core conviction regarding it.  I know in my own heart that since I am a Creation of God and God is Perfect, I have to believe that He knew what he was doing in creating me.  He made me a male, gave me the particular physical traits that I have, and since He knows the end from the beginning, I would be inclined to believe that He did it for a reason. 

I was not created 6’5″ and while each of us undoubtedly from time to time has questioned why some parts, of our bodies, were created as they were.  I have found in this inquiry personally that I understand some of them and others I have simply accepted.  Why are some members of the same family able to dip into the gene pool and have a full head of hair and others given to male pattern baldness?  There are so many physical traits that we could delve into but if we accept what God has created and focus on Him not some perceived deficiency in us, we will be ahead in the game of life. 

I am convinced that if I lament the abundance or lack in a particular physical aspect of my physical frame, I will open the door to the devil to create an unhealthy condition in my heart.  I will be prone to question God in all things, not just those particular things.  I will miss the reality and truth that I am ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ and my frame is His design as is my gender.

I really would not have the audacity or courage to stand before God and say, “Sorry Father, but you blew it when you created me.”  We are told that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and if we do not like the temple can that spill over into not liking the architect of the temple?

I find myself looking at this matter and although I probably won’t give it a lot of time, I sense that we are going to be dealing with people in church and life who have questions that we need to have answers for. I would ask that you examine your heart, God’s Word, and prepare to give answers to those who challenge and honestly inquire.  We are to be ready to give an answer to every man for the reason of the hope that is in us.  Know what you believe and why?

God bless you!