Archive for punishment

When The Wicked Goes Unpunished! Joshua of Ghana

Posted in #PaulthePoke, Joshua Ghana with tags , , , , , , on November 28, 2020 by paulthepoke

TEXT: Luke 11:29-36

Key Verse: “Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them” (Job 24:12).

@beholy404

There are many things about God and His dealings that we seem not to understand. One of such is the spate of wickedness and atrocities being perpetrated by wicked people and judgment does not seem to quickly catch up with them. Evils and crimes are committed in many places with impunity. The rights and privileges of the less privileged are forcefully trodden with no one to speak for them. And God seems to be silent!

Many people wonder why God delays judgment on the wicked. They want Him to unleash His wrath as they observe all the wickedness going on in the world. This was the same question Job raised in our passage as he tried to show his friends that God was not punishing him for his sins as they thought. He pointed their attention to all the wickedness going on daily around them which they were quite aware of and yet God seems to be silent about them. If God were punishing him for his sins, why then were all the wicked and terrible people around him in the society walking about free and judgment is not coming upon them, he queried.

Many people have been tempted to think that God is not fair. In fact, there are people who have concluded that it is either God does not exist or that He has abandoned the world to self-destruction. But the truth is, God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. He has a set time for everything and a day of judgment for every wicked person.

Our attitude then is to have faith in His righteousness and justice. We cannot have a sense of justice more than the almighty God. Let us leave the judgment of the wicked in His Hands and strive to maintain an upright and just life. He will certainly judge the wicked and reward the upright with good.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: God’s sense of justice will not overlook wickedness.

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Predestined With Free Will: Humanity

Posted in Jude with tags , , , , , , , , on December 23, 2018 by paulthepoke

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

It is God’s will that each created, individual human being should not perish or face judgment. God wants all of us to have a change of heart and mind and return to Him.

But God created us with the capacity to choose our own way and choose the things we want. Every day we make multiple decisions. For example, I chose to hit the snooze button when the alarm clock went off this morning. I had oatmeal instead of bacon and eggs for breakfast. I put on brown pants and a sweater. I did not want to shave but I chose to brush my teeth. You get the point.

On this planet, there are over 7 billion individual wills who have this same capacity. People are acting on their own behalf. Religion, culture, and lifestyle influence and dictate behavior on a global scale. Some have chosen sides for either good or evil. Some have not chosen sides and drift to their own drum. Some choose to believe in nothing.

As altruistic humans, we love to believe our free will is for the greater good. We conveniently neglect the consequences of our sinful choices. When we screw up, we blame God. The reality is, we are responsible for our thoughts and actions.

James 1:13-15 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

With eternal consequences for sin, humans love to blame God as an overbearing, unfair task master. “God wants to crush us with His thumb like a bug! God is a mean, cruel ogre!” This just is not true. Listen to what the prophet Ezekiel has to say. And this is even in the Old Testament…

Ezekiel 33:11 Say to them, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?

The issue is us, humanity. We have a choice. Do we choose Jesus or not? Do we accept His payment for sin or not? Eternal judgment is the cost for sin. God provides a solution for the consequence of sin. The solution is Jesus’ death on the cross.

1 Timothy 2:4-6 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.

God knew before the creation of time and Earth who was going to choose His path. He also knew who was going to refuse His path. This is God’s plan for all of humanity before time. He Chose Us, Every Single One of Us.

Ephesians 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will…

see also Romans 8:29-30

But, humanity has free will.

Ecclesiastes 8:11 When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.

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Is There Evil??? -Phil Kulis

Posted in Gospel, Phil Kulis with tags , , , , , , , , , on August 22, 2018 by paulthepoke

A question often posed, or a variant thereof goes like this… “If there’s a God, then why does He allow evil?”

My response is, “Is evil real? Or is it just a figment of your imagination?”

If it’s not real, then what is your concern?

But if it is real, should it be punished?

Have you yourself committed evil? Do you think any evil you’ve done is not as bad as someone else’s evil and therefore you’re good by comparison?

Because evil is real and evil should be punished, that means there is a good that is contrast to evil. Therefore, we have free will to choose good or evil.

And since there is a good to contrast evil proving that it should be punished, then it’s because of a violation of the Moral Law.

The Moral Law comes from the objective Moral Law Giver. Man has proven his morality is subjective relative to his situation or perception of someone else’s evil, and probability of getting caught. This is more proof of evil.

So evil is real.
Evil should be punished.
All have committed evil.
Evil is in contrast to good.
Good is defined by the Moral Law.
The Moral Law is given by an Objective Giver.

The last realization is our accountability to the Objective Moral Law Giver.

As determined earlier evil must be punished.
The penalty is Death.

Plato said, “The Deity may be able to forgive sin. But I do not see how.”

Plato understood that an Objective Moral Law Giver must be Justice. And Justice must be impersonal. So, the Moral Law Giver is obligated to punish sin.

 

water glass

Imagine for a moment sitting before you is a glass filled half way with water. While you’re watching, I place one drop of lethal poison in the glass. There is no antidote. Would you drink it? No, if you’re in your right mind you wouldn’t. What if I filled the glass with more water all the way to full? Now would you drink it? No, you wouldn’t, because the lethal dose of poison is still in the glass.

Your life is the glass of water. And the lethal poison is the evil you’ve done in your life. The additional water is the remainder of your life. Even without more evil, you can’t change the evil of the past. You are doomed.

But the Objective Moral Law Giver provided a way for you. He sent His Son who drank your glass of water and left His glass of water without the poison for you to drink. There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s done.

All that remains is for you to drink it and contemplate what that means to you.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, what whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 

And the proof of that eternal life, the power over death, is the Resurrection of His Son.

Drink up.

 

philkulis-pic

 

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Our Daily Bread…Featuring Paul Beverly

Posted in Paul Beverly, Trend Update with tags , , , , , on January 11, 2018 by paulthepoke

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

The rod of discipline is an option…

Proverbs 13:24 Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.

paddle

So Kelly Clarkson is catching a lot of backlash after admitting to spanking her children. Not beating them or hitting them hard, but spanking to let them know what they did isn’t okay. They are calling her lazy & ignorant for parenting this way. I’m guessing these are the same people that feel entitled & are raising entitled children. I received my fair share of spankings as a child & rightfully deserved them. I was a slow learner sometimes, but I figured it out. The American Academy of Pediatrics says any kind of physical punishment is wrong. I don’t agree with them. Each child is different in how they respond to punishment I believe. Time out may work for one child where it has no affect on another. Spanking may not work for some children when trying to get your point across. There is a fine line when it comes to spanking I believe, but parent the best way you know how, without crossing the line. Thoughts?

Proverbs 22:15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of discipline will remove it far from him.

Proverbs 23:13 Do not hold back discipline from the child, although you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

Proverbs 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother.

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