God on the Spot – Part 12: Taking Us into His Presence

By Dianne E. Butts –

Besides Christ coming again, God is also still on the hook to take those who accept Him as their God into heaven. There is nothing we can do apart from trusting Christ to make God do this. He made the promises. And in the end it is God alone Who is on the spot to save us and to deliver us from this world into His presence for all eternity. But based on the fact that He has kept every promise whose time has come that He’s ever made so far, as we’ve seen in this series of articles, we can be certain He won’t fail to keep this promise as well.

But until then, we can put God on the spot today. I’m sure you’re asking how can we possibly put God on the spot?

We can tell people about Him. After that it is God Who is on the spot to live up to what we’ve told them.

We can challenge people, but it is God Who is on the spot to convince them.

We tell the truth about Him. He alone is on the spot to prove it’s true.

It’s about His character. If we truly portray His character as He has revealed it to us through His Word, then Bible, then He has to come through (or else His character has changed—and that can’t happen).

We have a responsibility to know Him. Then we tell the truth about Him. At that point, He is on the spot to take that ball and run with it…or not. It is then His reputation on the line. It is His character on the spot. Not ours.

Don’t we say God always answers prayer? If that’s true, then we can tell someone to pray about a problem they’re experiencing and to watch for God’s answer. It is His reputation on the line to answer their prayer.

Don’t we know God always acts in perfect love? Then if we tell others that God will act toward them in love, it is His character that is on the spot.

Don’t we know that God always keeps His promises? Then what promise can you show someone in the Bible today that they can challenge God to keep? It is God Who is on the spot to keep it.

What might happen if we put God on the spot more often? What if we challenged Him to keep His promises? To display His character? To prove He is all He claims?

Wouldn’t we be bolder in our walk with Him and our witness to others?

Wouldn’t we find an incredible freedom to live in that boldness?

Wouldn’t we feel an unexpected and refreshing rest in simply telling the truth about God and then leaving up to Him what He will do with it in the lives of others?

We are not on the spot to defend God. We are not on the spot to prove He exists. We are not on the spot to convince people to know God or trust Him for salvation and eternal life. We are on the spot to live faithfully, trusting Him. How might our lives be empowered if we fully recognized it is God alone Who is on the spot to do everything else?

© 2010 Dianne E. Butts

Dianne has written for over 50 Christian print magazines and seventeen books. Her work has been published in Great Britain, Bulgaria, Poland, Canada, and Korea. You can follow the progress of her current book of true stories of unplanned pregnancy here: www.DeliverMeBook.blogspot.com When she’s not writing, she enjoys riding her motorcycle with her husband, Hal, and gardening with her cat, P.C. in Colorado. www.DianneEButts.com.

God on the Spot – Part 11: The Remaining Prophecies

By Dianne E. Butts –

Even though in the last two articles in this series we saw numerous prophecies fulfilled, God is not off the hook yet. God is still on the spot to bring about all His remaining promises, which are prophecies of our future.

One day the disciples asked Jesus, “What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3; see also Mark 13, Luke 21). Jesus, speaking around 30 AD, gave a list of future events. Nearly 2000 years have elapsed. So are we any closer to these things happening?

Here are twelve prophecies God is on the spot to fulfill before Jesus comes again:

Israel back in the land: Predicted: Ezekiel 20:34 (also Isaiah 11:10-12, Jeremiah 31:10, Luke 21:24). Fulfilled: Israel had not been a nation since the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD forty years after Christ. But after World War II and Hitler’s attempt to annihilate the Jews ended in 1945, the Jews returned to the land. Israel officially became a nation again on May 14, 1948.

Nations against Israel: Predicted: Matthew 24:15. In order for the antichrist to set himself up in “the holy place” (the Temple in Jerusalem) and proclaim himself God (“the abomination that causes desolation”) and demand the whole world worship him, there must be 1.) a one-world government system controlling all the citizens of the world, and 2.) a Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem.

Being fulfilled?: I first heard the term “The Quartet” around the August 1, 2010, when I picked up a new book on prophecy titled, The Israel Omen by David Brennan. According to that book, The Quartet is the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and Russia. Imagine my surprise when I next heard that term in a secular radio news report on FOX radio news on or around August 18, 2010. This report announced “The Quartet” had arranged for peace talks between Israel and Palestine to resume in Washington D.C. the week of September 2.

Rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem: Prediction: Matthew 24:15. Being fulfilled?: The Temple Institute (http://www.templeinstitute.org/) in Jerusalem is currently building all, and has already completed many, of the items needed for the Temple to resume its ministry when it is erected in our future.

Wars and rumors of wars, nation will rise against nation: Predicted: Matthew 24:6-7.

Famines, earthquakes: Predicted: Matthew 24:7.

Persecution of God’s people: Predicted: Matthew 24:9.

Many will turn from the faith: Predicted: Matthew 24:10. Called the great apostasy or the apostate church.

Many come claiming to be Christ, deceiving many: Predicted: Matthew 24:5, 24.

False prophets deceive many: Predicted: Matthew 24:11, 24.

The love of many will grow cold: Predicted: Matthew 24:12.

The gospel of the Kingdom of God will be preached in the whole world: Predicted: Matthew 24:14.

“This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened”: Predicted: Matthew 24:34. The generation that witnessed Jesus did not all pass away before the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 AD. The generation that witnessed the attempted annihilation of the Jews by Hitler and the rebirth of the nation of Israel could be the generation that will see all these things occur.

December: “God on the Spot – Part 12: Taking Us into His Presence” Besides Christ coming again, God is also still on the hook to take those who accept Him as their God into heaven for all eternity. But until then, we can put God on the spot today. In the final part of this series in December, we’ll see how.

© 2010 Dianne E. Butts

Dianne has written for more than 50 Christian print magazines and seventeen books. Her work has been published in Great Britain, Bulgaria, Poland, Canada, and Korea. Follow the progress of her current book of true stories she compiled to bring help and hope to those who have experienced an unplanned pregnancy at www.DeliverMeBook.blogspot.com. When she’s not writing, she enjoys riding her motorcycle with her husband, Hal, and gardening with her cat, P.C. in Colorado. www.DianneEButts.com

God on the Spot – Part 10: Providing the Sacrifice

By Dianne E.  Butts –

Have you ever thought about what it would take for God to prove to us that He exists? It seems like there should be an infinite number of answers. But I swear to you, I can only think of two:
1.)    Come down here and show Yourself.
2.)    Do something only God can do.

(If you can think of others these two don’t cover, I’d be interested in hearing from you.)

Even these two are inter-dependent because even if God did #1, how would we know it was Him? He would still need to do #2 to prove it was Him.

Jesus claimed to be the Christ: the one God promised to send and God Himself coming down here in the flesh. Question: But how can we know it was Him? Answer: Over and over again He did things only God can do. You know, change water into wine, calm the storm, make the blind see, make the lame walk, walk on water, raise the dead…that sort of thing.

But then something happened that seemed really unbelievable: He died. And at the hands of humans, no less. If Jesus was God, then how could this happen?

Again it was prophesied hundreds of years before it happened and then God was on the spot to bring all of His predictions to pass. Below are just ten prophecies God was on the spot to fulfill.

The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus were recorded by all four men who recounted the biography of Jesus in the Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Below we’ll compare these accounts with two Psalms written by King David, who lived 1040 – 970 BC, Isaiah (740 – 681 BC), and accounts by Moses (1526 – 1406 BC) showing all ten of these things were predicted hundreds of years before they happened:

He remained silent. Predicted: Isaiah 53:7. Fulfilled: Matthew 27:12-14.

Sacrifice of the Son and the lamb is provided on Mount Moriah. Predicted: Genesis 22:1-18. (Compare Genesis 22:2, Genesis 22:14, and 2 Chronicles 3:1.) Fulfilled: Mark 10:32-34. (Mount Moriah is the hill on which the Temple stood within Jerusalem.)

Pierced His hands and feet. Predicted: Psalm 22:16. Fulfilled: John 19:18, 20:25.

They put gall in His food and gave Him vinegar for His thirst. Predicted: Psalm 69:21. Fulfilled: Matthew 27:34, John 19:28-30.

Mocked and insulted Him; challenged God to deliver Him. Predicted: Psalm 22:7-8. Fulfilled: Matthew 27:39-44.

Divided and cast lots for His garments. Predicted: Psalm 22:18 Fulfilled: John 19:23-24.

Our Passover Lamb; not a bone would be broken. Predicted: Exodus 12:43, 46. Fulfilled: John 19:31-37.

He was pierced for our transgressions and by his wounds we are healed. Predicted: Isaiah 53:5. Fulfilled: Hebrews 9:27-28, Romans 4:25.

Assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich. Predicted: Isaiah 53:9. Fulfilled: Matthew 27:57-60.

“Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and …the LORD makes his life a guilt offering.” Predicted: Isaiah 53:10-12. Fulfilled: Acts 2:22-39.

When Satan connived through humans to have Messiah killed, it was God on the spot to preserve His life even though He died. God requires death for sin, and so God provided the death He required to pay for the sins of anyone who will accept it. But because Jesus never sinned, death could not keep hold of Him.

We cannot atone for our sins and live. So if God wanted to save us, He was on the spot to do it all.

November: “God on the Spot – Part 11: The Remaining Prophecies.” God is still on the spot to bring about all His remaining promises, which are prophecies in our future.

© 2010 Dianne E. Butts

Dianne has written for over 50 Christian print magazines and seventeen books. Her work has been published in Great Britain, Bulgaria, Poland, Canada, and Korea. You can follow the progress of her current book of true stories of unplanned pregnancy here: www.DeliverMeBook.blogspot.com When she’s not writing, she enjoys riding her motorcycle with her husband, Hal, and gardening with her cat, P.C. in Colorado. www.DianneEButts.com

God on the Spot – Part 9: Fulfilling the Prophecies

By Dianne Butts –

There has been silence from God for four hundred years.

As we have seen through the first eight parts of this “God on the Spot” series, God has made many promises, including to bring the Messiah through Abraham’s bloodline, then narrowing down that branch of the family tree to King David’s line.

God made other promises as well: that Messiah would be born of a virgin, in Bethlehem, with a mysterious star, be called “God with us,” and more.

Centuries have passed. When will God honor His promises? And perhaps more importantly, how will people know who His promised Messiah is? How can they (and we) recognize Him?

The answer: The Messiah is the one who fulfills all of God’s promises. That’s why God gave all those promises (prophecies) in the first place: so we could recognize Him when He came.

Every last one of God’s promises, predictions and prophecies must be fulfilled. If they aren’t, what would that mean? God was wrong? God lied? God couldn’t pull it off? If God is all-knowing (meaning He can’t be wrong), and if there is no shadow of darkness in Him (meaning He can’t lie), and if He is all-powerful (meaning He can pull off anything He wants), then every single statement God has made about Messiah must come true. Without exception. 100%. Or else either God is not God, or the one we’re looking at isn’t the Messiah. So, let’s recap God’s promises and see if they are fulfilled:

Messiah would come from the bloodline of Abraham and then David:

Do you ever get bored reading all those “so-and-so was the father of so-and-so” passages in the Bible? When you read the Christmas story, do you skip over Matthew 1:1-17? In Luke, do your eyes glaze over when you hit 3:23-38? Well wake up! This is the very reason genealogies are recorded in the Bible! If God promised Messiah would come through the bloodline of Abraham and then David, then bloodlines had to be traced in order to know who qualified! Or if someone claimed to be the promised Messiah, then the first order of business would be to check his ancestry to see if he fulfilled this prophecy. Matthew and Luke trace Jesus’ genealogy to verify that He qualifies.

Having established His bloodline, the other prophecies given in the Old Testament (at least four hundred years prior to His birth) must be checked as well. There are so many, we don’t have enough room to cover them all here, but here are some:

He would be born of a virgin: Prophesized: Isaiah 7:14. Fulfilled: Luke 1:31-35.

He would be called “God with us”: Prophesized: Isaiah 7:14. Fulfilled: Matthew 1:21-23.

He would be born in Bethlehem: Prophesized: Micah 5:2. Fulfilled: Luke 2:4-7.

There would be a mysterious star: Prophesized: Numbers 24:17. Fulfilled: Matthew 2:1-2, 9-10.

When Herod tried to kill this newborn king, it was God on the spot to protect the life of the infant Jesus, which He did by two dreams: one sent the Magi home without returning to Herod (Matthew 2:12) and the other warned Joseph to flee (Matthew 2:13-17).

When God made promises about the Messiah He would send, He was putting Himself on the spot to fulfill every one of them—and He did.

October: “God on the Spot – Part 10: Providing the Sacrifice.” When Satan connived to have Messiah killed, it was God on the spot to preserve life through His death—Messiah’s life as well as the eternal lives of all who would be redeemed by it.

Dianne has written for over 50 Christian print magazines and seventeen books, including the recently released For God So Loved the World He Created Chocolate (Group, 2010). Her work has appeared in Great Britain, Bulgaria, Poland, Canada, and Korea. When she’s not writing, she enjoys riding her motorcycle with her husband, Hal, and gardening with her cat, P.C. in Colorado. www.DianneEButts.com www.DeliverMeBook.blogspot.com

God on the Spot – Part 8: Protecting the Bloodline, Preserving His Word

By Dianne E. Butts –

God has brought about His plans and preserved the knowledge of Himself in the Tabernacle/Temple and His written Word…in spite of human failure and sin.

Saul failed to be a great king. After Saul, David was Israel’s greatest king but he too failed, committing adultery with Bathsheba and murdering her husband, Uriah, to cover it up. David desired to build a house for God’s Ark, but God prevented him because he had blood on his hands (1 Chronicles 22:7-8). David provided the blueprints and all the materials to build the Temple, but it was his son, Solomon, who built it.

Solomon started out strong, asking God not for riches and honor but for wisdom to lead His people. This so pleased God, He granted Solomon’s request for wisdom and gave him riches and honor besides (1 Kings 3:5-15). But God warned Solomon not take on many wives, for they would lead him astray (1 Kings 11:1-13). Solomon built the magnificent Temple, a palace and more. But he married more than a thousand wives of various nationalities and religions and eventually allowed their idols into the Temple corrupting the portrait God had painted of Himself (1 Kings 11:1-6).

Solomon instituted forced labor and heavy taxation for all this building. Upon his death the northern tribes sent Jeroboam to Solomon’s son, now king Rehoboam, to request these burdens be lifted. But Rehoboam refused and the kingdom divided in two for almost four hundred years, from 975 to 586 BC.  The tribes Judah and Benjamin continued David’s line and occupied the south known as Judah, including Jerusalem. The remaining ten tribes, known as Israel, occupied the north and eventually built worship centers in Bethel and Dan so that its occupants would not have to travel into Jerusalem to worship at the Temple. These “duplicate” worship centers further corrupted the one true portrait of the One True God.

The list of kings of both Judah in the south and Israel in the north toggled back and forth between godly kings, like Rehoboam’s grandson, Asa, Asa’s son Jehoshaphat, and later Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah, and those who did evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab and his wife, Jezebel (1 Kings 16:29-33).

During this time, the Word of God was so neglected that it became lost. (Or perhaps God, being on the spot to preserve His Word, hid it in the Temple.) Under Josiah, Hilkiah the high priest found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord. He presented it to King Josiah who read it and renewed the covenant in front of all the people (2 Kings 22:1-23:3ff, 2 Chronicles 34).

It was the sin of the people and certain kings, and the corruption of the portrait of God painted in the Temple, that finally led to God cleaning house by sending His people into exile. First Israel in the north fell to Shalmaneser and was taken into captivity in Assyria in 722 BC. Then Judah in the south fell to Nebuchadnezzar and was taken into exile in Babylon, and Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed in 586 BC.

It was God Who was on the spot to preserve the bloodline from Abraham to Messiah through the exiles and preserve the revelation of Himself in His Temple and Word until the people returned and rebuilt the Temple.

And then for about four hundred years, God was silent.

September: “God on the Spot – Part 9: Fulfilling the Prophecies.” When it was time to bring Messiah into the world, God was on the spot to fulfill all His promises.

Dianne has written for over 50 Christian print magazines and seventeen books, including the upcoming For God So Loved the World He Created Chocolate. Her work has appeared in Great Britain, Bulgaria, Poland, Canada, and Korea. When she’s not writing, she enjoys riding her motorcycle with her husband, Hal, and gardening with her cat, P.C. in Colorado. www.DianneEButts.com www.DeliverMeBook.blogspot.com

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