Daily Bible Readings YLT January 30th

When things are going well for us, when we prosper, when our health is good, when where we live is blessed with a benign climate, when there is order in nature and damaging insects or disease do not destroy our crops and food, we are not driven into the arms of God to fear Him and honour HIm. Even here when a disaster ceases at the intercession of Moses, Moses knows that the Pharoah and His servants are "not yet afraid of the face of God". But when things do not go well for us, when illness or loss or grief hits us, then we may remember God and turn to Him in our hour of need. We may then spread our palms towards Jehovah, and pray that He will remove that which we feared which has come upon us. And whatever we go through, God will be with us, His rod and staff they comfort us. We will not be afraid under the wings of the Almighty. Some say that God is in control of everything so that anything that happens in our lives is the will and purpose of God. Not so! This is a monstrous doctrine and leads to terrible interpretations and explanations, that say that somehow this tragedy or loss in our lives is within the "mystery of God", that it was His purpose that our child should die in a car accident or our parents from a cruel illness, that people may starve in war or the rain does not come so that harvests fail, or storms or fires or earthquakes or volcanoes or tsunamis destroy all that we own. God has so established things that we have free will and this is freedom of choice, and He has purposefully withheld HIs own power and authority so that whatever happens in the world is according to human choices, and spiritual forces against God and His creation, for God is opposed in both the spiritual realm and on earth where the effect of these spiritual forces are worked out. For to have real choice there must be the possibility to choose good or evil.And in our ability to choose, His authority can be prayed for by us, to request that God bring His power to bear on the earth. We, who believe, and have the gift of the Holy Spirit, God's own life and power living within us, may also exercise His authority as servants under Him. Jesus tells the people, when the Pharisees have said that Jesus casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons, that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand, "but if by the finger of God I cast forth demons, then come unawares upon you has the reign of God. (Luke 11:14-20) We cannot command the reign of God to come but as we live in obedience to the King, we find the power of his reign comes unawares. "we have not the wrestling with blood and flesh, but with the principalities, with the authorities, with the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, with the spiritual things of the evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12)