Guardian of the Fatherless

In preparing to preach in Atlanta, GA this weekend, I have been meditating on the nature of God as “Father of the fatherless” and came across this quote by Charles Spurgeon. It is from his book “Faith’s Checkbook.”

“In God the orphan finds mercy.” (Hosea 14:3)

When a child is left without its natural protector, our God steps in and becomes his guardian: so also when a man has lost every object of dependence, he may cast himself upon the living God and find in Him all that he needs. Orphans are cast upon the fatherhood of God, and He provides for them. No trust is so well warranted by facts, or so sure to be rewarded by results, as trust in the invisible but ever-living God.

Better have God and no other friend than all the patrons on the earth and no God. To be bereaved of the creature is painful, but so long as the Lord remains the fountain of mercy to us, we are not truly orphaned.

Lord, let me find mercy in Thee! The more needy and helpless I am, the more confidently do I appeal to Thy loving heart.

“Do not talk nonsense, you are My child!”

Dan Cruver posted this great quote this morning. Soak in the truth of it today!

“My relationship to God is not a variable one. The case is not that I am a child of God, and then again not a child of God. That is not the basis of my standing, that is not the position. When God had mercy upon me, He made me His child, and I remain his child. A very sinful, and a very unworthy one, perhaps, but still his child!

And now, when I fall into sin, I have not sinned against the law, I have sinned against love. Like the prodigal, I will go back to my Father and I will tell Him, “Father, I am not worthy to be called your son.” But He will embrace me, and He will say, “Do not talk nonsense, you are My child,” and He will shower his love upon me! That is the meaning of putting on the breastplate of righteousness! Never allow the devil to get you into a state of condemnation. Never allow a particular sin to call into question your standing before God. That question has been settled.” ~Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Biblical Faith

Biblical faith is the radical abandonment of our whole being in grateful trust and love to the God disclosed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ: so that we become willing agents in a costly confrontation with every form of evil and unjust suffering in the world. This faith involves us in embracing the pain and confusion of others, and in being willing to live with uncertainty ourselves while moving forwards a future that is already at work among us.

– Vinoth Ramachandra, Gods that Fail: Modern Idolatry & Christian Mission, pp. 40-41, quoted in Paul David Tripp’s, A Quest for More, p. 76.