God’s activity in creating and ruling the world is seen throughout the Psalms. “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it. (Psalm 24:1-2) “The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad.” (Psalm 97:1) “The Lord reigns, He is robed in majesty.” (Psalm 93:1) The bottom line is…throughout this pandemic, you may think God has been absent, indifferent, or turning a blind eye to all the death and suffering…but He hasn’t. God’s sovereign authority is still operating on our behalf and for our good. For “the Lord works out everything for His own ends.” (Proverbs 16:4) But how and why is He doing this? As the Lord told Moses in Exodus 9:16, “for the purpose that I may show you My power and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So one thing we can be certain of today… is that God is still in control and ruling with grace and mercy.
Tag: maker of heaven and earth
II Chronicles 6:18 ” But will God really dwell on earth with men? The heavens, even the highest heavens cannot contain You. How much less this Temple I have built! “
Ok, I have two very diverse images I want you to think about today. The first is that God is limitless. Isaiah tells us that God sits enthroned above the circle of the earth and stretches out the heavens like a canopy… that His throne is heaven and His footstool is earth. (Isaiah 40:22 & 66:1) While the second image is of God’s very intimate and personal relationship with all Believers…of us actually becoming a dwelling place for His Spirit to live in. (Ephesians 2:22 & I Corinthians 3:16) To the world, this is a total contradiction…but to the Believer, it’s what our faith is built on.
Matthew 6:10 ” Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Psalm 40:8 tells us, “I desire ( or choose) to do Your will O my God.” We even see Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane praying, “Yet not as I will (want), but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39) When we seek God’s will… we desire that which pleases God and thus will create joy within us…for we will find ourselves in the center of His will…and it’s the very best place to be.
Matthew 6:9 ” This, then is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.”
In Luke 11:1 it tells us that the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him to teach them how to pray. This verse is the start then of what we call The Lord’s Prayer….undoubtedly the most perfect prayer we could ever utter. The prayer starts off by firmly placing the focus God, our heavenly Father. Jeremiah 3:19 tells us that God wants us to call Him Father, but not like any earthly father…for we are to revere His authority and divinity in light of redemption.
Hebrews 10:4 ” Because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins…”
What does being a “good person” mean to you? Maybe your list contains all the things you do. You donate, you volunteer, you help your neighbor. Or maybe your “good person” list contains all the things you don’t do. You don’t smoke, drink, or do drugs. You don’t swear, or watch X rated movies. All of us have mental lists that make up what being a “good person” constitutes. But just being a “good person” will not get us to heaven…for our eternal life is not hinged on anything we will ever do or not do. That’s because it’s only by the blood of Jesus and His sacrifice for us that we can have the hope of eternity with Him. The very foundation of Christian faith is based on this one truth…Jesus Christ came to save the world from sin and He is the only way to God…for just being a “good person” will never rescue you from going to Hell.
Hebrews 1:3 ” The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”
Jesus told His disciples in John 14:9, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.” He was trying to explain to them that He was the perfect expression and image of their heavenly Father. And even today, the notion of the Trinity…the Three in One…Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is a difficult concept to wrap our minds around. Each is a flawless part of the whole…each equally important…each deserving honor, glory, and praise.
Psalm 108:3-4 ” I will praise You, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of You among the peoples. For great is Your love, higher than the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.”
Having a really bad day? Go outside then, take a deep breath, and look up into the sky. Now celebrate the fact that God’s majesty is on display just for you. Thank Him that He sought you out in your brokenness and worked a miracle in your life. Proclaim to Him again your trust in His son, Jesus Christ. Gaze up into the sky and recognize… that vast expanse above you can not start to contain God’s love for you.
Ecclesiastes 11:5 ” As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.”
One of my very first jobs as a Nurse was in Labor and Delivery…and to this day I still marvel at the tiny perfection of a newborn baby. For God’s activity is without question evident in the flawless development, and impeccable anatomy and physiology of a newborn. But what I really enjoyed the most was watching new parents meeting their child for the first time…the awe and wonder of this little creation they held could only testify to God’s greatness and creativity.
Safetypinlove 