How do you know God is good, and not just lying?

"Why do you take for granted that God is good? How do you know He's not just lying to you and making you think you know the truth?"

That's where trust comes in. If you don't trust God, then you are calling Him a liar.

Trust is a foundation of any good relationship. Banks run on trust. Planes fly on trust. If you didn't trust a plane or the pilots, you wouldn't entrust yourself to them by boarding their plane. When you step into an elevator, you are exercising trust. But banks can betray our trust and planes and elevators can let us down. When you trust in God, however, you will never ever be disappointed, because your faith rests on this biblical foundation: "It is impossible for God to lie."

Turning the other cheek?

When my dog runs beside my bike, he must look like a rabbit. That's my conclusion after watching how many dogs run to their gates when we pass by each Saturday. There are two vicious pit bulls that salivate whenever they see him. That's why I keep a stick attached to the bike. It's not an ordinary stick. It's one I pulled from our garden. It's a steel rod covered with plastic, and any pit bull that tried to eat Sam is in for the whipping of his life.

God has a steel rod that you shouldn't underestimate, and anyone who attacks a Christian will have to deal with Him. That's the principle behind the Christian turning the other cheek. We back down, not because we are weak, but because we know that those who injure us or take our lives have to face a holy God who will bring vengeance.

Speaking of Jesus, the Bible says, "He was guilty of no sin, neither was deceit (guile) ever found on His lips. When He was reviled and insulted, He did not revile or offer insult in return; [when] He was abused and suffered, He made no threats [of vengeance]; but he trusted [Himself and everything] to Him Who judges fairly" (1 Peter 2:22-24 Amplified Bible).

The power of lust

When we become Christians, God forgives our every sin and grants us the gift of everlasting life. The cross paid for our crimes against His law, and our case was dismissed. Our death sentence was commuted. That's the legal side.

But experientially we are still tempted by the flirtatious pleasures of sin. Like a man who smokes 40 cigarettes a day has no problem with cigarettes until he tries to stop, so every Christian (particularly men) feels the power of the addiction of sexual lust as soon as he tries to stop.

The hypocrite secretly gives himself to sexual imaginations, but the Christian knows that God sees his thoughts and considers lust to be adultery (see Matthew 5:27-28), and so he walks in continual and sincere repentance. The hypocrite lacks the fear of God, and dives into sin while the Christian falls into it against his will. The difference is life and death, heaven and hell.

Here is what frees the Christian from condemnation: "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer" (Psalm 19:14).

Notice the word "meditation." When a lustful thought comes to the mind of a Christian, it is what he does with it that determines whether it not it is offensive to a holy God. Do he meditate on it, chew it over and enjoy its mouthwatering pleasure, or does he spit the poison out through confession and repentance? What we do with it confirms the reality of our Christianity.

"Ray, do you find it educating to be called unwise by your God?"

If you want to find out how clever you are, try making a grain of sand from nothing. Don't use any of God's materials. Do it from nothing. When you've made a grain of sand, maybe you could then try making a leaf from nothing. Don't start with one of God's seeds. Do it from nothing. Then try a bee, a frog, a hummingbird and then a milk-producing cow. The wisest of the wise is dumber than dumb when it comes to creating the simplest thing God has made. Add atheism into the equation, and you have to move into a different dimension of dumb.

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