We're Not Lucky, We're Loved!

 Good love is hard to find. Good love is hard to find.

You got lucky, babe, when I found you! 

- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, You Got Lucky, 1982

Without a doubt Megan and I are blessed beyond belief but we've never really won anything.  We all know people who just seem to win stuff all the time. But not us; not once that we can recall.  I don't really ever bother to even enter anything anymore; never buy lottery tickets or enter sweepstakes.  Thus, we'll probably not be seeing Ed McMahon on our doorstep anytime soon!  It would be nice to win something out of the blue.   Oh to hear to the words, "and the winner's are... Matt and Megan Magill!" -  But no such luck. (I'm not whining here! it's just a statement of fact)

I suppose this is why we reacted with such vigor to our friend's good fortune Sunday afternoon.   Megan and I were literally jumping for joy around our house when the news was announced that Clint and Stephanie had won a local charity's raffle of a brand new black 2011 Ford Mustang.   They stopped by the house yesterday in their new ride both beaming with joy at such a seemingly serendipitous gift.   Neither thought in their wildest dreams that they would win.  We all agreed that God is good!

He views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. - Job 28:24

 

It got me thinking about luck, chance and blessing.  Does God care who wins the Mustang?   We can't say for certain but we do know that it was not a surprise to Him (who sees all and knows all) that our friends won the car.  In the end, the Mustang itself probably falls into the category of raw material for use in the hands of those who possess it.   To the degree they are possessed by God it will be a total blessing to all they encounter.  Have I "Over-spiritualized" the raffle car?   Maybe but I don't think so....

Jesus told His disciples that God knows us so intimately that "even the very hairs of your head are all numbered" (Matt. 10:31).   He knows every way in which He'll bless us (increasing our praise of His goodness) and every way in which He'll allow us to suffer (eventually producing greater faith in His sustaining, healing hand at work in our lives) (Rom 5:3-5).

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight..... In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will
- Eph. 1:4,11

  

One of the main tenants of reformed theology is The Sovereignty of God.   He chose us (predestined) to be hidden in Him before the world was created - to one day be so overwhelmed by His irresistible grace and love for us that we might be born a second time by His Holy Spirit.  Then we'd be called sons and daughters of the Most High in eternity with Him who elected us according to His purposes.  Christians are not lucky, they're loved.   In Jesus Christ He loved us enough...

to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’...... He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. 
- Isaiah 49:9, 10

I'm so thankful that there's no such thing as chance with a God who is omniscient.    Yet there is a flip-side to God's omniscience: not only is there nothing that He does not know about  our circumstances (good and bad) may come our way, there is also nothing that He doesn't know about our hearts and the choices that so often sprout from our unbelief.

If you try and define Divine omnipotence and human free will in intellectual terms, you find language fails because they contradict each other.  Every choice a saint makes is free untrammeled choice of a human will, and yet in the final analysis it will be found to be in accord with the foreknowledge of God - Notes On Ezekiel, Oswald Chambers

Job asks....

Would it turn out well if he examined you? Could you deceive him as you might deceive men?  He would surely rebuke you. - Job 13:9-10

There is simply no way to deceive a God who created the very intellect we so often use (futilely) to manipulate our relationship with Him.   He  patiently waits on us to realize that He was, is and will always be in charge of the choosing, the sanctifying and the blessing in our lives.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. - Rom. 8:28

Thank God then that in His omniscience He saw us lost in sin and desperation and He knew our need.   In His love He saw fit to justify us eternally with a gift that we never asked for and didn't even realize we needed:  Jesus.

What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus

- Robert Lowery, 1876

Blessings,
matt

This Week 

* Tyler Men's Gathering - 7am Wednesday AM
   The Obedience Option - Introduction & Chap. 1
   2 American Center, 5th Floor (Ritcheson Law Firm)

* Friday - The Magills in Concert to benefit Breckenridge Village
   in Bullard, TX at Bushman's Event Center

*  Sunday - The Magills in Concert at Treitsch United Methodist Church in Flower Mound, TX

*  Please continue to pray as we meet with several hurting couples this week and weekend whose marriages are under attack.

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