Acting As If There Is No God

Yesterday I shared with you some thoughts I received from Tom Hoefling. Here is the rest of what he wrote:

    Those who pretend to be pragmatic, deluding themselves that such a philosophy is practical, are acting as if there is no God.

    Without faith it is impossible to please Him. Without faith works are dead. Whatever we do is ultimately empty and meaningless if it isn’t done by the inspiration, and under the loving power of, the One Who made us.

A couple of years ago or even in November 2008 I probably would have argued somewhat with Tom’s assertion about pragmatism. However, the last year God has revealed to me that what matters most is what Tom speaks of when he says we must be under the inspiration of God. Solomon wrote:

    “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts.” (Proverbs 21:2)

So Bro Dave, are you saying your motives were wrong? No, what I am saying is my heart was blinded by my vision. I was not looking with eyes of faith and that weakened my heart. I stopped trusting God. I was acting as if there is no God.

Jesus Disciples acted as if there was no God, even though He was asleep in the boat with them:

    “Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We are perishing!’ But He said to them, ‘Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?’ Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, ‘Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?’” (Matthew 8:23-27)

Who can this be, can He possibly take an underdog candidate who is 100% pro-life, unapologetically and unashamedly opposed to gay marriage and civil unions, and a genuine conservative and pave the way for him to the White House? Who can this be?

Yes, but Bro Dave America today will never elect a candidate with such credentials. Really?

    “Then one of the crowd answered and said, ‘Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.’ He answered him and said, ‘O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.’ Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. So He asked his father, ‘How long has this been happening to him?’ And he said, ‘From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!’” (Mark 9:17-24)

I need to pray that way more often; “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

You know what the real problem is for most of us with what I am proposing?

It doesn’t work.

And it doesn’t work because we have never tried it.

But oh my have we not tried political pragmatism these last 37 years since Roe v Wade? We’ve had exceptions to abortion all along and yet 50 million babies have been killed, some of them with tax payer dollars. You okay with that?

Oh but look at how many babies we’ve saved. I am thankful for every baby we’ve saved but would not all babies be saved if God’s people would rise up and elect only those candidates who refuse to support abortion for any reason, no exceptions?

But that’s not practical in these times Bro Dave. Beloved, that is stinking thinking. God is not practical in these times; Jesus has never been practical at any time. He has always been counter-culture and He expects the same from you and me.

Steve Deace posted on my Facebook page the real problem with political pragmatism:

    I just have one problem with pragmatism: it doesn’t work.

That’s right Steve, it doesn’t work. And it has a long history of failure.

Tom quoted Hebrews 11:6 is his comments above:

    “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

So then why have we not won yet Bro Dave? The reason is in the last five words of Hebrews 11:6…those who diligently seek Him.

The Greek for diligently is ekzeteo and it is a verb that means “to seek earnestly.” It also gives the sense of responsibility; it is required of us to have faith that causes us to seek God. Then and only then does the reward come.

We do not seek God because we do not believe in Him. Oh we believe in the God of our salvation. And we believe in the God Who sent His one and only Son to die for us. But mostly we believe in the God we have fashioned in our hearts.

We have God sleeping in the boat with us and yet we fear the waves.

We have God through the Indwelling Holy Spirit living inside of us and yet we fear death.

We are supposed to have God in our homes and yet we allow the vilest things to come through our television sets and computer screens.

We are supposed to have God in our churches and yet we refuse to take the step of faith as a body and make a difference in our communities because we’re afraid to violate the separation of church and state.

We seek revival in the land and yet we refuse to allow our own hearts to be revived.

Revival is God among us so why should we expect God to visit such a filthy place?

We seek a Holy and Righteous God and yet we live our lives acting as if there is no God.

To quote an old Clay Crosse song, “People it’s time to believe!”

Will you believe? Will I? It will not happen until we wash our minds of their stinking thinking through the cleansing Word of God.

Will you pick up your Bibles anew? Will you seek the riches of Scripture with a new sense of purpose; to discover the God of the Bible and not of your mind?

I pray you will; pray for me too please.

Have a very blessed weekend and please remember to go to church on Sunday and don’t forget to call your mother if she is still alive, no matter the circumstances.

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2010 David Jeffers

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