He Will Do It
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Straight to the Cross
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A safe and successful trip to our Assistant
Editor, Barbara Oliver, as she travels to India
this week for two months. Barbara will be blogging
on the Forthright site, with "Oliver's Twist."
We'll let you know when she posts; it promises to
be a fascinating read. In the meantime, this
week's theme is PURPOSE.
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COLUMN: Thankful
He Will Do It
by A. A. Neale
There are many plans in a man's heart,
Nevertheless the Lord's counsel -- that will
stand.
Prov. 19:21 NKJV
I'm just full of plans, but there's no guarantee
that any of them will come to fruition. (A plan
details a purpose I have set forth.)
Circumstances, limitations, and even my own
laziness or ineptness may frustrate my success.
Forming a purpose and making plans are human
activities that reflect the divine image, with one
obvious difference: The Lord always performs that
which he purposes. The weeping prophet wrote of
God's punishment of the cruel Babylonian empire,
"For the Lord has both devised and done what he
spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon" (Jer.
51:12).
Truly, only the Lord can say with all assurance,
I have purposed it;
I will also do it.
Isa. 46:11c
You and I, frail humans that we are, must always
preface our purposeful plans with a "If the Lord
wills" (Jas. 4:15).
When God speaks, it's as good as done (Isa.
55:11). Man's pronouncements are contingent -- he
may or may not do as he proposes.
Jesus' final cry at the cross was, "It is
finished." That's why he is God's Yes. "... in Him
was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are
Yes and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through
us" (2 Cor. 1:19,20).
So God is faithful, because he does what he sets
out to do. His promises are sure, for he has never
failed to fulfill a single one, nor will he ever
fail.
Some have suggested that the Almighty just might
invoke divine prerogative to do things
differently on the Last Day than what he has said
he will do. These vain imaginings forget the
infallible purpose of God!
* When God declares that he will save only the
obedient who is immersed in order to receive
forgiveness of sins, that will stand (Acts
2:38,39).
* The Lord in his purpose has provided strength
to overcome temptation, and that will stand
(1 Cor. 10:13).
* The Savior will use his church (and not human
divisions and denominations) to proclaim the
saving truth, and that will stand (Eph.
3:10,11).
* The called according to God's purpose will
discover that all things, barring none, will
work together for good in their lives,
because the Lord is doing it, and that, too,
will stand (Rom. 8:28-31).
God's counsel, or purpose, is immutable (Heb.
6:17). No amount of philosophizing, theologizing,
or rationalizing will modify the purpose and plan
of God.
He WILL do it.
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