It Is Not Synthetic

"For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. 11 But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man, now was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ."
Galatians 1:10-12

I used to live in Indiana. Not that that is bad, in and of itself. There are a lot of good people in Indiana. None of that is the point. But we used to drive from Indiana to Tennessee with my maternal grandmother to see our "relatives." All of us children looked forward to making that trip, because it got us out of....you guessed it...Indiana. There are lots of corn fields and soy bean fields around where I grew up, so a change of scenery was always a welcomed thing. On our trip to Tennessee from Indiana, once you got passed the fields of the northern part, just south of Indianapolis, the land started to have rolling hills. I do so love Indiana in the fall, when the leaves on the maple trees began to turn all shades of orange and yellow and even an occasional red. But as I got older, and we made that trip more often, I began to notice something: someone was putting up these billboards and cluttering up the view of the rolling hills. There seemed to be more "See Rock City" billboards than ever before. Man was intruding upon what God had created so pure. It wasn't right. It wasn't natural. And it was ugly.

The gospel that Paul was preaching to the churches in Galatia did not come from himself, nor was it taught to him in some seminary, by some men who learned from other men. The gospel which Paul preached came directly and purely from Jesus Christ Himself. That is so radical! What if that were to happen today? First of all, I'm not sure anyone would believe the person who said they received direct revelation from Jesus Christ Himself, and secondly, perhaps, the tabloid magazines would be knocking on your door. There is one thing, beloved, of which we can be certain, when it comes to the Word which we hold in our hand: Paul, who wrote the majority of our New Testament, did not care about pleasing man, about being a man pleaser, because the gospel which he preached came directly from Jesus Christ Himself. Have you ever doubted the Word of God? Have you ever said to yourself, "How do I know that this is true?" The answer to those questions? The gospel which Paul based his life upon was not something that was man-made, or synthetic. It was from Jesus Christ Himself, whom I believe came and walked and talked with Paul, while he was on the back side of the Arabian desert.

Beloved, you can count on the Word of God to be true in your life. When it says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you," you can depend on that Word. Cling to it for dear life, my beloved. When it says, "All things work together for good, to those who love God and are called according to His purpose," then beloved, let go and trust that Word. Know that even those hard circumstances in your life are working together with God to bring about something that is so incredibly beyond anything that we, man, can contrive in our finite minds. Our God, the God of the Universe, who created the stars, and the planets, and time itself, knows about you, and cares for you with such a love that is so far beyond our comprehension. We are blown away at the love our Creator has for us. He cares for you, beloved. He cares for me. His love is a perfect love. So don't be fearful, for the Lord our God is with you and me. Lift up your head that is bowed. Raise your feeble arms that are hanging down, and praise the God who is above all other gods, and who loves you with a perfect love that will not let you go. Amen? Amen.