God’s Far-Reaching Redemption

God’s Far-Reaching Redemption

Have you recognized God’s redemptive power working in a specific situation in your life—other than your salvation? We could coin a new term and call it situational redemption.

I’ve seen it in others and experienced it in my own life. If you are born-again, you’re probably personally familiar with it as well.

There are many examples recorded in the Bible. One which comes to mind is God’s redemption after the sin of David and Bathsheba. They each experienced shame and drastic consequences as a result their sin of adultery. But through it all, they repented and allowed God to work things out for their good and the good of the nation of Israel.

We see evidence of God’s grace toward them when King David announced that Solomon would inherit his throne. Solomon’s mother was Bathsheba and he was not the heir apparent nor the heir presumptive. He was but one of many sons from David’s several wives.

Replica of Michelangelo's David
Photo by Connie Wohlford

This account is recorded in the first chapter of 1 Kings. In verse 28, David instructed, “Call Bathsheba to me.” She approached her husband, the king, and he proceeded to tell her of his decision to pass the throne to their son, Solomon. David’s decision was ordained of God and Solomon was soon crowned and went on to build a new Temple to Yahweh, the Lord God. 

Generations back, in the family tree, God had graciously shown redemption and favor. David’s great, great grandmother was a former harlot. She was Rahab, wife to Salmon and mother of Boaz, who married Ruth. Among these four people we find a couple more of my favorite redemption stories. The interweaving of God’s redeeming love and power is truly fascinating and a thing of great beauty.

By the grace of God, the very bloodline of Jesus Himself runs through this branch of the family tree.

God does not hold grudges. When we join His family by receiving Jesus, our Heavenly Father eradicates our sin. All consequences may not be erased though. As I mentioned, David and Bathsheba agonized through severe consequences.

 

In my own somewhat similar experience, the consequences of sin for my soon to be husband and me, were not removed. I was still pregnant and had to face the shame and embarrassment—not to mention subjecting my dear parents to that as well. To this day, I’m still embarrassed by my sin which could not be hidden for long.  I’d like to mention that I’m grateful, beyond words, that I did not get an abortion, as was suggested by a friend at the time. I honestly didn’t consider it, but the thought makes me shudder.

 

By the amazing grace of God, my husband and I have experienced God’s redeeming love and unmerited favor. I gave birth to our first son some months later. This son of ours is living proof of God’s redemption. He excelled in good character, academics, and sports in school. He graduated from the US Naval Academy, served our country for twenty years as an aviator in the Navy and Air Force, is currently a high school science teacher, and with his wife, has given us four amazing grandchildren, whom they are raising in a Christian home.

Our God loves to redeem—because He loves.

A definition of redeem is to compensate for the faults or bad aspects of something.* Another definition is to reclaim and restore to the original state or even better than the original state. I have experienced this many times in my journey with God. I know other people can tell their own stories as well—many of which are much weightier than mine.

 

How about you? I’d love to hear about your own experiences in a comment below. If you prefer not to write it, at least talk to our Redeemer about it and express your gratitude to Him—again.

Special note: In the 45 years since our first son was born, this is just the second time I’ve publicly mentioned this sin of my past. Because of shame and guilt I have chosen not to talk about it but I believe the Lord wants me to open up and be more vulnerable. Perhaps, in doing so, someone will be encouraged or helped in some way.

Thanks for reading my post and may God richly bless you as you and I continue in His amazing grace.  

©Connie Wohlford 2016

*https://www.google.com/#q=define+redeem

Daniel’s Dilemma à Daniel’s Destiny

Daniel’s Dilemma  à  Daniel’s Destiny

Daniel and his three Hebrew buddies had a serious dilemma.

By King Nebuchadnezzar’s decree all the wise men in his kingdom were to die since, thus far, none could interpret the king’s weird dream. It just so happened that Daniel and friends were in the category of wise men in this kingdom of Babylon.

Now King Neb had asked a bit much of his staff of wise men—demanding that before they interpret his dream, they had to state what the dream was. By this he would know there was no faking it.

Since Daniel knew his God well he was confident that Yahweh, Who knows all things, certainly knew King Neb’s dream and what it meant. Daniel therefore ask if he might have a little time to consider the matter before the king lowered the boom on all the wise men. He was granted permission.

Daniel went home and told his three friends that their lives were on the line. BUT they knew and trusted their God, confident He would come through. That night God revealed the mystery’s solution to Daniel in a night vision.

With a grateful heart, Daniel praised God. In his declaration of praise we see the attributes of God which prompted such great faith.

"Daniel answered and said: ‘Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. ²¹ And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding.
²² He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And
light dwells with Him.

²³ I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, And have now made known to me what we asked of You, For You have made known to us the king’s demand’” (Daniel 2:20-23).
 
Did you notice that I said, a couple of times, that Daniel and his friends knew their God? That is key to their great faith. They had a history with Yahweh (God). They knew the attributes of God—that wisdom and might are His; He can change the times and seasons; He can set up and take down kings; He the giver of wisdom and knowledge; He knows deep secret things and knows what’s in the darkness.
We too can have great faith, just like Daniel. When we know our God intimately and are familiar with His attributes, we will know He is trustworthy even in the scariest of circumstances.
When we pray, let’s let our prayers be based on God’s attributes. AND let’s let our expectations be based on God’s attributes.


 
Let’s each cultivate our own history with God. Our growth in faith today will be part of our history with God tomorrow.

 

You can read this entire fascinating story in your Bible, in the second chapter of Daniel. Here you’ll see Daniel state what the dream was and it’s interpretation, giving all credit to his powerful God. You can also learn about how King Nebuchadnezzar was so impressed he declared that the God of the Hebrews was the God of all gods, Lord of kings, and so on. He also gave Daniel a big promotion in his kingdom.

Thank you for reading my blog post today. I hope you’re encouraged to build your history with God. Your comments are welcome.

©Connie Wohlford 2015