“Wait on the Lord…and He shall strengthen your heart.” (Psalm 27:14)
The Reasons I dislike waiting on God:
1. I am impatient.
I am not the most patient man. My children know this. I must temper this very often when things are not done now. We live in a fast paced society, it is “fast-food” driven. We even have slogans from these “fast-food” establishments that back that claim up like “have it your way”.
When it comes to waiting on God I am not patient. I often want Him to answer me now. I want instant responses and yet I know He doesn’t work like that.
2. Waiting on God reminds me of how powerless I truly am. Besides impatience, this waiting reminds me that I live in a temporal body and ultimately I can do nothing in this body to save my self from some certainties in life. Death, sickness (in some regards), Taxes, laws of our world. I am powerless and yet I must wait with that knowledge in mind. Perhaps you can relate to me when I say that I am stubborn…are you? In my stubbornness I, at times, refuse to admit that I cannot do something. I must do the impossible. I must becomes Superman and superdad, and superpastor…but when I am forced to slow down; when I am forced to wait on God I am reminded of just how powerless I truly am.
3. Waiting on God humbles me…it’s a matter of pride. I just mentioned how stubborn I can be. To ask for help from God and then having to wait for an answer can be a serious blow to my pride. I’m just putting it out there…I can admit that pride is sometimes often a bane of mine. I am proud of what I can do. Proud of what I can accomplish. I am proud that I am self-sufficient…and then BAM, I am knocked to my knees again. Circumstances sometimes do not go my way, things I had planned don’t pan out, and I am humbled by the outcome. Can you relate? I sure hope so. Please tell me I’m not alone in this human failing. I dislike this waiting, at times, because it means I have much more to surrender in terms of my pride to God.
BUT…
This isn’t a bad thing. When I have to discipline my children, it’s not because I hate them or want to harm them, it is because I love them deeply and I want them to grow and make better decisions next time.
This is sometimes why I find God will at times take His time in answering me. He wants me to make better decisions. He wants me to depend more on Him. He wants me to tear down the fortresses of pride that I have erected and are now keeping me from Him. The waiting isn’t because He is withholding His love from me…no, the waiting is because He loves me so much He wants me to be willing to surrender completely. I dislike it severely at times (honestly It’s sometimes a “hate” thing), yet I know He loves me so much that He will not forget me. He will not forsake me.
FOR YOU AND FOR ME:
Truth: waiting sucks! There I said it. But in the waiting on God the discipline of surrender and humility can further shape us. In the waiting we can also learn to trust Him more. In this waiting we can learn to love Him and discover how much He loves us.
Yesterday I blogged a bit about not living completely in the Christian-ecosystem that sometimes is known as the “Bubble”.
Today…
I would like to explore what people are saying about Heaven as well as pain (even if the pain isn’t even spoken about).
What are people saying about life after death?
As a Christian living in this world I recognize that to me this life is a gift…but that doesn’t always mean there isn’t pain and difficulties along the way. Life is not just about the destination but also about the journey.
QUESTIONS ABOUT SUFFERING
Sometimes the journey is painful.
Why do some people endure more pain than others? Why is there suffering in this world?
I understand that suffering and pain is a part of our fallen world but to me that answer sometimes just isn’t good enough…I want more. I yearn to get to the bottom of this whole pain thing. Isn’t that why some doctors feel called to their practice in the first place? They want to help ease the pain in this life? Isn’t there relief in sight? Sometimes I look around me and am staggered by friends who have lost parents and other loved ones through the blight of cancer and other terminal diseases.
It hurts my heart to see servants of God, who deeply love God and serve Him and yet they are afflicted with these cancers that eat away and ravage the body. I often ask “Why God?”
When I think of the verse that Jesus said (even within the context of loving your enemies) – “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” I recognize that God is fair and just in this world. I also recognize that the fallen nature of this world is the ultimate cancer that ravages our world. The rains can, and some times do, include times of emotional and physical drought for the sinner and the saint. The rains can include times of healing and times of sickness…and even death.
Although I know this to be true, can I be honest with you? It doesn’t do much to ease my hurt when I see friends hurting. I hurt right along with them as they suffer…but as a Christian I do know that there is ultimate healing and that death is not the end.
What other people are saying…
Last night I asked friends of mine a question. The question was -” who else do you long to see in heaven besides Jesus?“ Their answers ranged from grand parents, spouses, relatives and friends and even children that some had lost. Even though we have this hope and assurance of Eternity with Christ we still endure hardships and sufferings. Life is not easy and we still carry these wounds of those loved ones we have lost along with us. Sometimes their memories comfort us while other times they help us to endure through rough patches we ourselves are going through.
BUT HEAVEN IS FOR REAL…RIGHT NOW!:
Here’s a revelation, perhaps you already know this – We don’t have to wait for heaven to get here to experience God’s Kingdom now! Luke 17:20b-21 (NIV) Jesus said, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst [or,within you].”
Jesus experienced suffering in His very human life. He was hurt by betrayal, but abandonment and He even suffered the worst of deaths. I think it is safe to say that Jesus knows a little bit about human suffering and what we go through still today. Despite the fact that suffering exists here’s a source of hope for you and for me: The Kingdom of God is here and now! Jesus may have been implying the He was the Kingdom in physical form and though He isn’t physically here His Presence in the form the Holy Spirit is. We are not alone in this world…we never were. God’s Kingdom is among us still. Eternity is around us…we just haven’t recognized it yet.
It is true that when we die we will see Eternity in all of its glory, but we do not need to wait for that day to experience God’s presence every day! His presence is the essence of eternity and despite the sufferings of these human forms and the fallen world we live in, He can provide us the victory through it all! This may be difficult to swallow for some of us…I still struggle with it myself, but I do believe despite pain and suffering God is very present with us right here and right now!
Heaven is for real, so is pain and suffering, BUT the Almighty is also very, very real as well!
I looked at my reflection in the screen of my ipad, it was a dark murky shape. I couldn’t distinguish any specific features. My head was only represented as a dark blobbed mass on the screen. My eyes…indiscernible. What I could see though, was the evidence of heavy use. This device had been run through the mill. My children had downloaded a boatload of “apps”, some including baby dress-up games, makeup games, car racing games and galactic alien invasion games as well. Fingerprints painted the screen through heavy use like a paintbrush transplanting color onto a blank canvas.
As I stared at the blank – fingerprinted graffiti-ed screen, a moment of clarity (which clearly wasn’t evident on this screen of hard-use) occurred to me:
Epiphany – (maybe a momentary Theophany…right Phil Davisson?)
My life is like this tablet’s screen. Sometimes, when I allow my life to be used, the fingerprints of God are painted all over my screen. In the background there is a garbled image…a shadow of a man. Yet when I let God use me as He wills, my life becomes vibrant, the screen comes alive and suddenly the light is on…I can finally see. As this momentary epiphany occurred, then evaporated like wisps of vapor, a question began to take shape in my mind…and heart.
Question: “How often do I clutch onto my life and refuse God access?” Somewhere in a small corner of my heart a response came. It was faint. It was quiet. It was truth. “Scott, you do this often! Why are you so afraid of me?”
Call it what you will. Chalk it up to an active imagination…an overworked, tired mind.
But I know what I heard. I recognized the truth…even though it hurt. I had been holding back. I had be tightly clutching onto my feeble existence, holding it like a treasure to share with no one.
Are you clutching onto your life? Are you refusing God access? Or are there fingerprints of God all over your life? Are there signs of holy use?
Please don’t let me think that I’m alone in this. How long have I withheld myself from Him? How long have I been tightly clutching onto something that God wants to use and make better?
It was a simple moment…it was a silly electronic device that will probably be obsolete in a matter of two years…yet a simple truth seeped into my heart. And words formed on my dry tongue: “Lord use me…Here I am…Take all there is of me.”
I still clutch sometimes. I still refuse to let go at times. I’m not there yet…but that simple moment has made all of the difference to my heart, soul, and mind.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)
When we as a family prepare to go on a vacation there are usually two types of people in our family. Type One – the under-packer who just wants to be out the door and in the van in fifteen minutes or less and worry about what we didn’t bring with us later. Type Two – The over-packer who wants to bring everything from our home along with us on the trip and takes twice as long to get ready to leave. Also this type two person (who will not be named but I’m married to her) has to clean the house as if we were receiving an inspection from a military grade house inspector with white gloves and all.
If you haven’t guessed yet, I’m the type one person who at times sits impatiently in the van honking the horn as the type-two person (again unnamed but I’m married to her) finishes cleaning the house until it shines and is sparkling clean.
Truth be told, I am glad that my wife takes great care in our preparations and in the long run, as much as I hate to admit it, She is right.
There’s another kind of baggage in life though
Sin can weigh us down.
Make no mistake about it, the old life (before Christ) leads to death. When we come to Jesus and we accept His gift of salvation we are made into new creations by His blood. The old has gone and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17)…but at times we still feel as if we have to keep lugging that baggage around with us. It weighs us down, causes us difficulty and trouble and yet we still habitually burden ourselves with this unnecessary baggage.
What is this baggage?
1) It is the remnants of the old creation –
When Christ saved us, He did so completely yet we find it very difficult to let go of old habits and old sinful ways of living. The Holy Spirit prompts us to unclinch our white knuckled fists which are tightly holding onto these things that we needn’t any more to grasp. In times of trial and stress, these old remnants also rear their ugly heads to cause us strife and further temptation as well. When we lose our focus on the forward prize of Holiness, which is the image of Christ alive in us, we face the old self again. When this happens a flood of the old tendencies pours in and once again we find ourselves taking two or three steps backwards in our progress of Holiness. This baggage has been there all along festering and molding in a cold dark corner of our hearts and we’ve been reluctant, even rebellious in our lack of spiritual attempts to deal with it, so, instead we ignore it. The Holy Spirit knows that this baggage does not belong in our new creation. He is spurring us, even painfully at times, to let go of it. Why do we still clutch it ever so tightly? What good can ever come from its hold on us? This baggage stands blatantly in our path of real, tangible Spiritual growth and yet we allow it to stunt us.
Prayer – Dear Lord, allow me to see this baggage in my life today. Show me that which still blocks my steps to full surrender. Reveal to me the places that I have yet to let go of. I do not want these burdens of the old creation to hinder my forward progress of reflecting You. -Amen.
2) The Baggage can also be our guilt, shame and self-worth.
The old life also has a way of convincing us that we are not good enough to be like Christ. It will try and convince us that we will never be good enough or smart enough to receive such a reward from God. This has nothing to do with pride, in fact just the opposite. When Christ redeems us, the wretched sinner, He does so completely. When we commit our hearts to Him, He washes us clean. This doesn’t mean that we won’t face temptation again or that we can not fall, but it does mean that His blood sacrifice can and will cover up our sinful old creations and wash them away. Our part, within this free will, however, is that we must confront our old harmful choices that we have made. This is the consequences of sin, we have to face it. Sometimes in facing it we find ourselves so wrecked by it that we begin to doubt if Christ could truly love us because we have done so much wrong. This remnant of the old baggage clings to us and tries to convince us of the lie that we are not worth His time and that, perhaps, we were never salvageable through His gift of salvation. Don’t buy the life. This isn’t about pride, but it’s about truth. You matter to God! He loves YOU! He wants to remind you that you are His precious child and that you are a son or daughter of the Most High! Don’t cling to this old baggage, which is a lie. Let go of it, and embrace this truth of His saving grace – You are His and He would do it all over again if you had been the only human alive! When you let go of this old baggage and recognize how much it has weighed you down you will begin to see how free you will feel.
Let go, and find this burden lifted from you!
Prayer – Dear Lord, remind me again of how much you love me. Remind me when I struggle with my identity in You that I am worthy because of Your love. Help to me see myself as You see me, and as I do help me to let go of my grip on this baggage of self-worth. Thank you for your love and for your hand upon my life, lift me up out of this pit of self-degradation and give me a passion to serve and love you with ever fiber of my being. -Amen.
Get On With It!
Letting go of the baggage that hinder us is only the first step, now we have to press on. Jesus is our living example, and this world still needs His example lived out in Holy Christ-following people. Shine so that others might see Him. Live as the Holy Spirit leads you to live. Get up and get on with this new creation…oh and leave your baggage behind!
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31
The Jewish leaders struggled over 613 individual moral statutes or commands by which they were to live and conduct themselves. Sometimes they debated among themselves as to which of these moral statutes were vital and which of them were less vital. They didn’t want to make the mistake of placing some statues above more important one and vice-versa. Yet this struggle brought itself right before Jesus. One of the teachers ventured to ask Him this question, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” (Mark 12:28).
Jesus laid it all out for those who would hear Him; “The most important one,” Jesus answered, “is this: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31)
Now, dear fellow Christ-follower, it is either time for us to put up or shut up. I don’t mean to be crass here or offend you, but I cannot stress how vital it is for us to love the Lord with every fiber of our being. Jesus placed this as the #1 priority in the lives of those asking and still today it ought to be #1 in our lives as well.
Let me illustrate:
Our homes are powered by electricity (well most of them are anyway). If we were to bring in a brand new television to watch we first must take it out of the box and connect it to a power source. Without the power source all of our favorite shows and possibilities are impossible. We need to plug that television into the power in order for anything to happen, without it nothing works and nothing ever will.
Without first loving God with our EVERYTHING nothing else will work. Without first loving God with ALL of our heart, soul, mind and strength we are powerless. It is either all or nothing. God doesn’t want a partial kind of love. He isn’t some on again off again God, either get on board with Him and love Him completely or don’t at all.
Secondly, don’t try and fake out God…He’s not buying the act. Others might see how good we look dressed up for Church and how we act in front of other Christians but if this isn’t consisted behind the scenes God knows. This is a tough pill to swallow. I’m not here to say that I have this all figured out either, because I too struggle at times with a divided heart. Not intentionally mind you, but at times I catch myself and find that I have to once again realign my relationship and priorities with God.
How is your heart today? Do you find that at times you have a divided heart when it comes to your relationship with the Lord? Perhaps it’s time for a heart realignment so that you can once again get plugged back into the true sources of power and life.
You have all probably seen this project already on Pintrest, and I’m in no way claiming that it’s mine…because it’s not, but I would like to incorporate a teachable lesson to accompany it. Please find the elements of this project accompanied by scripture passages below free for you to use if you so choose to do so. This teachable craft can be used for youth programs, women’s ministries, senior adult ministry or even at home with your family.
Elements & Scripture Discussion:
1. The Potting Saucer –
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth – Genesis 1:1
the saucer for this Easter craft represents (at least to me) the world in which we live. God created it and we live in a location and placed that was formed by His hands. We are blessed to live in such a world and should take care of this world as best we can. Genesis 2:5 – “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” God still wants us to take care of this world that He has entrusted us with.
2. The Potting Soil –
The potting soil represents you, me and all of creation.
“Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7
God created this world for us and He desires to have fellowship with us. He longs for us to love Him in return and so in this Easter story we recognize that we too play a part in the crucifixion and the resurrection. Jesus came to die for us because we really and truly matter to Him. He created us and this Easter story is about our salvation through Christ Jesus.
3. The Gardening Rocks
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” -Romans 3:23
“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned” -Romans 5:12
The gardening rocks represent sin in this world. It weighs us down and keeps us bound in our slavery to it. We cannot save ourselves from its weight, nor can we do enough good works to receive eternal life. We need help. We are all fallen, each one of us and because of this Jesus came to set us free and to remove the weight of sin from our lives.
4. The Three Crosses
With younger children you might want to tie these for the kids before hand.
“And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death–even death on a cross!” -Philippians 2:8
The Cross of Jesus is suffering and death. But it was suffering and death for a purpose. Jesus died so that the sins of every person on earth could be forgiven and also that we could be restored in our fellowship with God. Without the cross and Jesus’ suffering we are still hopelessly lost. We must look to the cross and Christ on the cross for our source of salvation.
The bindings of the cross pieces represent (to me) the lashings that Jesus received prior to his crucifixion. It should also represent for us the truth that we (sinful man) put Him there. We bound Him to that cross, but He willingly went in place of us.
A.W. Tozer: “The old cross is a symbol of death. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again in newness of life. God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It always stands at the far side of the cross.“
5. The Tomb and the Large Rock
“…an empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!” -Bill Gaither“They found the stone rolled away from the tomb” Luke 24:2
Both the tomb and the large stone (it could be white to represent life or another color) represent Christ’s resurrection. I’m sure it’s obvious to us all, but it also represents the fact that sin & death could not hold the Son of God! We can find peace, assurance and hope in this empty tomb!
“At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid.” John 19:41
“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” “3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.” John 20:1-10
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,” John 11:25
“For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Thessalonians 4:14
6) The Grass seed or sprouts (Plant the grass seed before you place the rocks)
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” -John 10:10
The grass seed will grow during the Easter season which will serve to remind us of the eternal life/ new life that Christ brings to us.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:3
Each of these verses talks about the new life that only Jesus Christ offers to us. New life is a free gift to us all if we accept it and believe in Christ and His love for us.
As we watch this “new life” grow during the season of Easter, may it continue to serve as a remind of God’s love for us and of our deep desire to grow in our faith. We shouldn’t stop learning about this relationship. We have also been given the help of the Holy Spirit to guide us and instruct us in this new life! “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 14:26 The Holy Spirit will show us areas of our lives that we need to still surrender to God and He will continue to work within us, helping us along the way.
This new life isn’t only about getting into heaven, it is also about living that eternal life right here on earth so that others might see Christ through us. When we embrace this new life, we become Christ’s representatives (Light) into the world (which is still lost in darkness). Be God’s light to others as you bloom and grow!
***Disclaimer: Again I didn’t invent this craft, I simply adapted it and provided a simple yet effective method for teaching this amazing story of love that God has for all of us! I am sure you can tweak this and make it your own in order to fit the demographic you wish to do this teaching craft with. This lesson play is free to use as you see fit! To God be the Glory!****
Perhaps, even “relentless” isn’t a good enough description of how God loves us. Yet, perhaps it adequately speaks to the nature of God who never quits on His creation. Do you remember the story of the prodigal son? In that parable of Jesus what does the Father do? Despite the son asking for his inheritance and wishing his father to be dead, the father lets him go. One of the hardest things to do as a parent is to let a child go and have them make their own choices even if those choices are harmful. Tough love has the capacity to hurt your heart while you relentlessly pursuit reconciliation and renewal of that lost loved one.
The father waited for his son to come to his senses. The story is more than just about this lost or prodigal son. This story is about the relentless kind of love that is embodied in the father. He waits, and even while his son is still a long way off, the father goes and runs to him. (Luke 15:20) It was unbecoming of an adult in the culture of Jesus to run anywhere, and this father runs to his undeserving and wayward son.
Isn’t that what God the Father has done for us through His Son Jesus Christ? He relentless love took Jesus to the cross for us. His relentless love brought about a way for us, the undeserving and wayward sinner, to experience right relationship with Him once again.
For the love of God – Our Response
What is our response to this relentless love? Can we recognize how undeserving we are and how amazing it is to have a God who pursues us like this? Secondly, if we accept this relentless love through Jesus Christ alone, the next step in the reciprocation of that love is our desire to become like Christ. By this I mean we ought to recognize that Jesus embodied for us in His living and dying what Holiness in human form looks like. Thus we are to place our feeble feet in the very footprints of Christ for the salvation of humanity! Our response to His love will take us to places we would never have wanted to go. (John 21:18) Perhaps it won’t take us to suffering and death like the Apostle Peter, but His love will propel us to do outrageous things for the cause of Christ!
Christ’s relentless love will prompt us to take up our crosses too and follow him! (Matthew 16:24) If we truly accept His salvation and grace in our lives, we will not be able to just keep it hidden inside of us, we will want to share that ceaseless love to those who are still lost in the darkness of lovelessness.
For the love of God…be bold in your relentless pursuit of others!
For the love of God…be genuine in your passion to serve Him humbly!
For the love of God…wrap your arms around the unlovable and show them love like they have never seen before!
For the love of God…be Holy as He (Jesus Christ) is Holy!
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases His mercies never come to an end, They are new every morning New every morning Great is Your faithfulness, O Lord Great is Your faithfulness”
-May all the Glory be to God and that of His Relentless love of You and Me!
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14
Recently a new television series on science and the universe began on the FOX television channel. It is called “The Cosmos” updated and adapted from the the original series by Carl Sagan.
It’s host is American astrophysicist, author and science communicator Neil deGrasse
Tyson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson
Some fundamental Christians might be offended by this television series due to the absence of the Creator and in some cases how the church in the middle ages is portrayed. I honestly am not offended by either of these, in fact I find myself fascinated by the universe and how far science and our human exploration has come since the original series was aired in 1980.
You see for me science and our Creator go hand in hand. When I watch this series and other series’ about the universe I can’t help but marvel at the vastness of God’s creation.
Sometimes the Christian view is too small…
Tunnel Vision:
It is my belief that sometimes we of faith in God limit our understanding of a limitless Creator. We can become so fixated on the details of creation and how it was made and how long it took to make it. Granted I recognize too that science and those who solely rely on its tangible data can also have tunnel vision when theories of space and the ever expanding universe are completely quantified and accepted as concrete truths. By this I mean to say that when something becomes accepted as truth it is very hard to change that acceptance if more evidence comes along to shake that truth apart. For instance at one point people believed that the Sun revolved around the earth but we know now that the Earth actually revolves around the Sun.
What I am trying to say is that this Universe is amazing and wondrous and we who have faith in God shouldn’t be afraid to explore it and study it because I believe it points right back to Him! Recently I wrote that we cannot put God in a box and completely quantify his majestic nature, and when it comes to the Universe we can only begin to catch a glimpse of how deep and how wide God’s love is for us (Ephesians 3:18) along side His truly mind-boggling creation of the Universe around us.
“Don’t lose the forest for the trees…”
Recently I have been teaching a bible study in our church (Corps) on the book of Revelation. In this study I have stressed over and over again to our little class not to get so caught up in the interpretation and meaning of the symbolism of John’s vision and even various theories of the apocalypse for that matter. In other words don’t lose the forest for the tree, don’t get so bogged down in the details that you lose sight of the bigger (much bigger) picture! In the very same sense, the series of the Cosmos on FOX and other studies of our Universe should be looked at in this way as well. How amazing is our God and that of His vast creation around us. How small we are in His Universe, and though we may not comprehend it all, we should begin to see how much He loves us and how precious we are to Him.
“…your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14
“Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money,, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost….Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” Isaiah 55:1,2,6
God, through his prophet Isaiah offers nourishment and life to those who seek Him. The Hebrew people would understand this concept and remember how God had provided manna from heaven to their ancestors while wandering in the wilderness after leaving Egypt. They would also recall how God led them into the promised land and brought them victory at Jericho.
God provides all that we require to live this life here on earth as His servant. All that we have to do is seek Him daily and have faith in His unlimited provision. But His provision doesn’t just stop with His children, He longs so desperately to extend His grace and blessings upon the rest of the world as well. After all, Jesus came for the whosoever (John 3:16) and if anyone would seek Him they will find the storehouses of God are never ending.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33.
Are you thirsty today? Are you hungry for more in this life? Is there something lacking in your life and you can’t seem to find out what IT is? God still calls the righteous and the whosoever to come to Him. The very first two words of Isaiah 55:1 says; “Come ALL”. It doesn’t say “Come some of you”, or “Come you VIP’s”…it says “Come ALL”!
Allow God to replenish your storehouses today. Allow Him to renew you. If you’re seeking Him for the first time why don’t you pray this prayer with me:
PRAYER
How to Pray: Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Your Name. Amen.
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Pastor's Ponderings 