Finding satisfaction in God

I love Psalm 63.  The opening verses read, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek You; my flesh thirsts for You; my flesh faints for You, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.  So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary, beholding Your power and glory.  Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You.  So I will bless You as long as I live; in Your name I will lift up my hands” (verses 1-4; ESV).  Amen!

Pay close attention to the beginning of verse 5: “My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food.”  The older I get, the more patently clear it is to me that only God truly satisfies the deep hunger and thirst of the soul.  John Piper often puts it this way: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”  I used to wrestle with that sentiment, but I believe that he is right.

The other options just leave you with a bad case of indigestion, as it were.  They leave you with regret, heartache, and shame.  How do I know that?  First, because that’s what the Bible says (see Isaiah 55:2); second, because to be transparent with you, I have chosen disobedience and sin at times in my life.  It always leaves me guilty, unfulfilled, and despondent.

In acknowledgement of the day being Halloween (and with the recognition of all the candy you will have), I thought I would conclude with talking about Snickers.  The Snickers advertisements tell us “Snickers satisfies.”  I've even found the word “satisfies” right on the snickers wrapper.  Well, I like snickers, and while it may temporarily lessen hunger, ultimately it doesn’t really satisfy.  God alone satisfies.  He satisfies you at the deepest part of your heart and soul.

Kevin     

Words from days gone by

The other day, I found a CD of a very special broadcast of my dad’s radio program.  Back in 2001 a generous listener – who actually wished to remain anonymous – gave money to the radio station requesting a broadcast that honored Jerry Bauer and his family.  What an amazing honor!  April 24th, 2001 was the day of this unique broadcast.  Both my mom and dad hosted the program; my brother Mark and I also had the chance to say a few words.  I confess that I shed several tears as I listened to this CD.  There were so many memorable moments in the broadcast that are worthy of being shared again in this blog.  But I wanted to share what I had to say that day.

“Hi, my name is Kevin Bauer.  I’d like to thank the anonymous listener for making this possible and providing this time for me to give my testimony.  To start off, the doctors injured me doing the birthing process when I was born.  In fact, I still have the spot on the top of my head that the doctors gave me.  Then the doctors told my parents months later that I had a disease called Infantile Spasms; I was having up to 200 seizures a day.  I still have the journal that my mom took on how many seizures I had with and without the medicine.

But when I was 10 months old, I was in my hospital crib and actually died for three minutes.  When God brought me back to this Earth I had no signs of having Infantile Spasms anymore.  I haven’t had a seizure since that day!  All glory and praise goes to God for me being the only one of thousands of people to ever be healed totally from the disease.

If that wasn’t enough, when I was 6 years old, I had what the doctors called HSP, which basically means that I had blood in my urine.  After 18 months, I was healed from that.  Most people who get HSP have to go on dialysis for the rest of their lives, a process that takes 20 to 25 hours per week.  Currently, at this chapter in my life I am 19 years old.  I’m working at a retail store called Lord and Taylor.

When I think about my life, without a doubt, the most important thing that I did was to give my life to the Lord at a Billy Graham crusade.  God has told me to talk with you about what Billy Graham talked about with us that night.  Unfortunately, we have to start with the bad news.  In fact, it’s really bad news; which is the fact that every single one of us is a sinner.  That’s what the Bible says in Romans 3:23: ‘For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’  You may respond to that by asking yourself questions like, “So what?  What’s the big deal about sin?  Why does that affect me?”  The Bible gives us the answers.

 

The Bible says that all sinners stand condemned before God.  John 3:18 states, ‘He who believes in Him (Jesus Christ) is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son.’  Sin also separates us from God since He is perfect.  That’s what the Bible says in Isaiah 59:2: ‘But your iniquities have separated you from your God and your sins have hidden His face from you.’  And Isaiah 59:12 says that our sins testify against us.

This problem of sin presents an extremely urgent need for a life-changing solution.  Sadly, however, the human response is typically just to try to make sure that our good works outweigh our bad works and just hope that we will somehow win God’s approval.  But God is too perfect and holy to say to Himself, “Well, that guy is a sinner, but since he’s just such a good person, I’ll just not worry about him.”

But there’s good news.  Christ’s solution for our sin was to perform the ultimate work of good on our behalf.  He died and paid the penalty of our sins on the cross, and resurrected in three days.  The Bible says that God made Him who knew no sin – Christ – to be sin for us (that’s in 2 Corinthians 5:21).  It also says ‘whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’  Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’  Each and every one of us now has a choice to make: accept or reject.  Accept God’s plan of salvation or reject it.  Which choice have you made?  Have you accepted Christ’s forgiveness or are you continuing to reject it?  There is no other solution.  I pray that you will live for the Lord now and forevermore.”

I want to conclude this blog today by sharing a paragraph that my dad wrote way back in 1971.  It’s amazing to me how these treasures from Dad’s life of faith continue to be discovered.  I didn’t know about these words until just a few days ago.  Ten years before I was born, my dad wrote these words:

“My friend, how long has it been since you talked with the Lord and found that He really cares about you?  I know that I’m nearer home than I was yesterday and so are you, so why not come to Him now.  God knows everything and He also leads to victory.  Since God heard my prayer, He is able to hear yours.  Jesus is coming soon, what a day that will be, when my Savior I shall see for they that sow in tears shall reap in joy.  So don’t be afraid, don’t turn Him away.  My God specializes in things thought impossible.  Come to Jesus now!”

Seven days since a horrible tragedy

A week ago, there was a horrendous display of violence, carnage, and evil in Las Vegas.  A gunman opened fire on a group of people in what was supposed to be an event of fun and distraction.  In the end, hundreds were injured and 58 people were murdered.  My heart was broken and filled with deep sadness when I heard this terrible news.  I know something about unexpected loss.  The lives of 58 families are forever changed.  They now have to endure that terrible phrase of a “new normal” of life without their loved one.  I know they are struggling with grief, sadness, and heartache.

After such chaos and bloodshed, many are probably also questioning the goodness of God.  Got questions.org posted a good article about this subject matter.  In fact, recently it was their question of the week.  For the rest of the blog, I just want to cite this entire article.  I enjoyed reading these words, and I hope it will be a blessing for you as well.  Of course, you can find this content at got questions.org.  The title of the article is “How can I believe in the goodness of God when there is so much evil in the world?”  Here is what is said to answer:

“The evil in the world did not come from God.  If Adam and Eve had only obeyed God, then they may have lived on earth forever, walking with God, tending the garden, working together – what might God’s “Plan A” have been?  After they sinned, the created ones were just not on the same page with God anymore.  God cannot tolerate sin and has no sin within Himself, so mankind hid from God in guilt and fear.  One could perhaps blame Adam and Eve for the evil in the world, as they blamed each other and the serpent; however “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  It is safe to say that, had we been in the garden instead of Adam and Eve, we would have sinned in the same way.

God is good in that He has a plan to redeem fallen mankind.  The salvation Jesus provides attests to His goodness and love (Romans 5:8).  The effect of the Fall is universal, but so also is the offer of divine grace (John 3:16).  The Bible clearly indicates the devastating effects of sin upon man and the hopelessness of man in solving his own sin problem.  The proper understanding of the doctrine of sin is essential to understanding God’s remedy for it.

God is good in that He has sent His Son “to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).  Jesus called Satan “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31), which means Satan has been allowed a certain amount of authority over this earth.  The blame for the evil in this world should be placed squarely upon Satan.  Much is written about the devil – he comes only to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10).  He is a fierce enemy (1 Peter 5:8).  He is a liar and a murderer (John 8:44).  By contrast, Jesus is the Good Shepherd who gives His life for the sheep (John 10:11).  He is the Lamb of God, sacrificed for us (Revelation 5:6).  He is the truth and the life (John 14:6).  Jesus is the “seed of the woman” to crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15).  Jesus is Goodness incarnate.

 

God is good in that He is implementing a plan to rid the universe of evil once and for all.  He is the God of justice, and He will one day make all things right (Psalm 89:14; Revelation 21:5).  Sin and evil will be dealt with in perfect judgment (Revelation 20:13).  Because of Christ, we have the promise of Romans 16:20, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.”

God is good in that He provides for His children (Matthew 6:33).  He gives life to all and upholds all things by His wisdom and power (Hebrews 1:3).  He is patient with sinners, desiring them to come to repentance and to find eternal life (2 Peter 3:9).  God gives us eternal life and abundant life now, free from the death penalty of sin (Romans 6:23).  He is “rich in mercy” because of “His great love for us” (Ephesians 2:4).

Just picture the Sinless One who created everything, willfully hanging on a cross and spilling His blood for the sin of those who put their faith in Him.  Who can charge Him with injustice (Romans 9:14)?  Jesus proves God’s love.  “Love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:7-8).”

I was reminded of a line from a Rebecca St. James song: “Everybody asks, ‘is God good?’  I believe He is.  In fact, I know He is.”  Amen to that!

Kevin