Grace, Love, Justice of God!

“God heals the wounds of the inflected by his blow. ” Is. 30:25

People must be humbled. God must be lifted up. God must punish but even more so God wants to bless. He patiently waits until he can bless even though he is bound to punish sin first. God is amazing.

Trying to contemplate this type of love – this type of patience….is impossible, it is beyond comprehension.

By human standards, it is not even possible to muster up enough both love and justice to punish those we love and then come in with grace and mercy, the way that God does.

broken vs. brokeness

Is brokenness good or bad? Is brokenness the same as being broken?

I read an article the other day that said “God wants you WHOLE, complete, nothing missing nothing broken! Physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, financially, etc… That’s what I believe – and the scriptures back it up. WHOLE is the complete opposite of broken.”

I will agree for the most part of this idea, especially after looking at the Scriptures he uses to back himself up. God does want us to be whole physically. But what I am concerned about is the use of the word “broken.”

I do believe God wants us to enjoy Himself and enjoy life and His creation. But God never said everything is going to be good, perfect, easy…He promises danger, instability, and a life that will inevitably be broken. I do not believe in the prosperity Gospel. And I do believe God wants us to be broken all of the time, by this I mean physically and emotionally hurt and sadden.

I do think that God wants us to have a broken spirit (or spiritual brokenness) “which makes us sensitive and responsive to the Holy Spirit and develops spiritual maturity and character.”
Let me define the terms (broken and brokenness) and reference the Bible. I believe these two terms are two different concepts.

The more I read Tim’s article, the more I am confused by what he is trying to say. I think deep down he has got the concepts correct. But a lot of the Scriptures he uses are out of context or have nothing to do with spiritual brokenness. So now let me try my way of explaining it. Maybe Tim is saying the same thing. I am not sure.

Brokenness- Nancy DeMoss explains the brokenness I am talking about best, “Brokenness means the shattering of my self-will, so that the life and Spirit of the Lord Jesus may be released through me.” This brokenness is a shattering of our will. It is a choice, to let the Holy Spirit guide us instead of our own choices. (Acts 2: 38-41) People heard Peter’s preaching and they were broken in their hearts and ready to receive the Word of God. The Greek original, “katanusso” denotes a vehement piercing of sorrow. The tense of the verb indicates a one-time striking of the heart which brings one to the realization of the sorrow for one’s sin and the need for God’s grace.

Broken – being deeply hurt by tragic circumstances. A person may have experienced many deep hurts and tragedies.

This broken is physical, emotional – it is not the spiritual. It is painful, yes. But it completely different from what we mean we we are talking about spiritual brokenness. (Something God wants us to have.) Tim’s article does a good job explaining that God does not call us to be physical and emotionally sad all the time, hurt and broken down. This true. But I am saying that God does call us to a spiritual brokenness. And this brokenness is completely different from being broken. David was broken, due to his sin. Not spiritually broken but emotionally hurt. (Ps. 51:10) in the Hebrew word “shabar.” The Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew Lexicon denotes “shabar” with remarkable concrete-ness. Such meanings given for this root in it’s various moods include to break, to destroy in pieces, to break down, to hurt, to tear, to crush, to rend violently, to wreck, to rupture, to be maimed, to be crippled, to be wrecked, to shatter or be shattered.

This world is broken. The lost are hurt. They have been through train wrecks and are searching for truth and substance. A lot of unsaved folks are broken all the time. God does not want this. God comes to bring life and bring it abundantly. (Jn. 10:10)

To Christians God says this: We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Cor. 4: 8-9 (NIV)

Passion for Spiritual Brokenness:
For the Christian, we are called to have a heart for God and the Holy Spirit. A spiritual Brokenness.

Psa. 51:17(KJV) The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Put it in other words:
Sacrifice to God is the birthing of the Spirit. A humble heart God will not condemn.

God does call us to brokenness. To live selflessly. To let the Holy spirit reign.

Here are some resources on this topic:

Begin in my sanctuary – article by Nancy DeMoss

The Heart God Revives worksheet

Broken people vs. Proud People

Sad Times call for Real Action

I am calling on us as Christians living in America – all of the comforts, blessings, and entitlements to take a step back for just a few minuets read my post and ask God a question. And deal with what He might be calling you to do.

Recently with in the past 2-3 weeks- 2 Asian countries have been dealt with by nature in some incredible ways. First in Myanmar/ Burma:

On May 3, 2008, Cyclone Nargis devastated the country when winds of up to 250kph (150 mph) touched land in the densely populated, rice-farming delta of the Irrawaddy Division.

Recent reports estimate that more than 130,000 people are dead or missing from Cyclone Nargis that hit the country’s Irrawaddy delta. Shari Villarosa, who leads the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon, said the number of dead could eventually exceed 140,800 because of illnesses and injury. Adds the World Food Programme, “Some villages have been almost totally eradicated and vast rice-growing areas are wiped out.”

Then not long at all and not very far away from Myanmar another horrible event took place in China:

The 2008 Sichuan earthquake (Chinese: 四川大地震), at a magnitude 8.0 M_s/ 7.9 M_w, occurred at 14:28:01.42 CST on 12 May 2008 in Sichuan province of China. In China, it was named the Wenchuan earthquake (Chinese: 汶川大地震), after the earthquake’s epicenter in Wenchuan County in Sichuan province. The epicenter was 80 kilometres (50 mi) west-northwest of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, with a depth of 19 kilometres (12 mi)^] The earthquake was felt as far away as Beijing (1,500 km away) and Shanghai (1,700 km away), where office buildings swayed with the tremor. The earthquake was also felt in nearby countries.

Official figures (as of May 19, 12:00 CST) state that 34,073 are confirmed dead, including 33,570 in Sichuan province, and 245,108 injured. The Chinese government warned that the death toll could soar to 50,000. Tens of thousands are missing, approximately 14,000 of them buried, and eight provinces were affected. The earthquake left about 4.8 million people homeless. It was the deadliest and strongest earthquake to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which killed over 240,000 people.

Does your heart not break? Mine has.
I am asking you to do one thing:

Pray

1. Pray for the victims, victim families, governments, aide to come, etc

2. Pray asking God how you and your community of friends, family, etc can help

There are a lot of aide based groups, a lot of financial groups you can donate money to, other groups where you can donate food, clothing, and create aid boxes to ship over seas.

and if you are called, there are groups who need volunteers to go overseas to help.

My point is that we as wealthy Christians SHOULD do something. We are called by God to do something. We are called by God to share our blessings that we do not even realize we have – come on we live in America- we have EVERYTHING. At the very least please, pray.