Key Idea: God, who is the rightful ruler and the best trainer, renews the hearts of his people and gives them the capacity to choose to act his way, keep returning to him, and keep relying on him.
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God is the rightful ruler and the best trainer. God commands as the rightful commander, directing with authority and control. His demands serve his purposes, not his whims. He guides to show his people the best way, forming them as the perfect reflectors of himself. He transforms us from rebels to trusters, changing our nature, function, and heart condition.
He renews the hearts of his people and gives them grace-enabled capacities. His work in our hearts supplies us with the means and knowledge to make proper choices. His grace enables us to respond appropriately to him, others, and our internal circumstances. What he gives is not mere scaffolding but a supply of internal capacities.
He enables his people to choose his ways. In his supply, trusters can properly bear his image. They can act according to reality from God’s perspective rather than being captive to the filtered view of our earthiness. They can live by decision, not reaction. In his supply, trusters can keep returning to their relationship with him after discipline. When they turn their faces from him to other things, his grace enables them to turn their faces back and reconnect with his heart. In his supply, trusters can rely upon him based on facts, not assumptions or emotions. They can place their confidence in him even when they do not see him at work, for their trust is not grounded in perception but in truth.
Launching Pad: Amos 4:12-13
