As God expressed in Exodus 9:14, “There is no one like Me in all the earth.” God is just that…incomparable, and matchless to anyone or thing we can imagine here on earth. He is transcendent and beyond what our paltry human minds can contrive. Look up into the sky today…take in the sheer vastness of it…now ponder, that’s just a tiny bit of God.
Tag: nothing is impossible with god
Ecclesiastes 3:1 ” There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.”
It’s hard to imagine, but there’s an appointed time for everything happening in your life today. From the very important to the mundane, each matter has been carefully created by God to fit perfectly within His purpose and timetable. In verse 11 of this chapter we read that God has made everything beautiful in its own time…in its right and proper time. For with the Lord, there is no unplanned or unintended actions…that’s because His timing is always perfect.
Colossians 3:8 ” But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.”
Ephesians 4:22 tells us to put off our old selves…or rid ourselves of our old ways. But it’s almost impossible to do if you’re still hanging out with the same wrong friends… at places that got you in trouble before. Putting aside our old ways means we have to disarm our sins…exposing them to God’s truth and confessing them, but then ridding ourselves of whatever necessary to make a clean break from the past.
Isaiah 45:22 ” Turn to Me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.”
Come back to Me, says the Lord. Isaiah 44:22 says, “Return to Me, for I have redeemed you”. The Lord Jesus Christ is our Kinsman Redeemer…our Savior, and redeemer of our souls.
John 1:10 ” He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.”
I think as Believers, we all smugly think that if we had lived during Biblical times and had witnessed the miracles and teachings of Jesus…we would of immediately realized He was the Messiah. But would we? Humanity saw Him as just another man…indeed, a good man who taught with unheard of authority and passion, but still just a flesh and blood human like the rest of us. Would we have been able to recognize His divinity…when the incarnate Jesus Christ…the embodiment of God took on human form and lived among us? I would hope and pray so.
Psalm 116:6 ” The Lord protects the simple-hearted; when I was in great need, He saved me.”
The Lord is watching over us. Us, the simple, plain folk with honest, sincere hearts and a desire to love our neighbor as ourselves. Us, the common people with uncommon grit and perseverance when disaster strikes. Yes, we may be just ordinary people, but with God’s help, we can come together to do extraordinary things.
II Peter 2:19 ” They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity – for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.”
The selfish human nature is always striving for the liberty of self-determination. “I want to do what I want, when I want to”, is our mindset. But with that enticement comes deception and seduction as we wander farther and farther off the right path. And sooner or later, we find ourselves in the middle of perversion, and wonder just how we got ourselves into such a mess. In the search for freedom, we have instead become a piece of property…owned and controlled by depravity and lies.
I Samuel 16:13 ” So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power.”
God had sent the Prophet Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint one of Jesse’s seven sons as King. As six strapping young men paraded past Samuel…each time he thought to himself, “This has to be the one!” But God reminded Samuel in verse 7, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” It wasn’t until the youngest son, David, was called from the pasture, that God declared, “He is the one.” This should give all of us encouragement…especially those who have said to themselves, “I have nothing to offer God.” The Lord doesn’t consider outward appearances. He looks only at what He can do through us if we’re a willing worker.
I Thessalonians 5:14 ” And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”
Even though Paul was addressing this letter to the Church in Thessalonica…he probably could be speaking directly to any modern-day Church you know. Certain members of the Thessalonian Church, in anticipation of Christ’s return, had become careless and neglectful of their responsibility to work and support themselves. In other words…they were sitting around, waiting for the Rapture! Now, we may not see that degree of slothfulness in Church today…but what you can see is the attitude that “It’s me and Thee, God, and I’m not worrying about anybody else.” Paul warned that laziness and apathy would contribute to the downfall of any Church. Secondly, as the Church Body, we are to be Spiritual Cheerleaders for the fainthearted…the worry-warts…and those who can only see the cup half empty. We are to be encouragers of each other. Finally, as the Church, we are all to be ready with a helping hand for those who are weak spiritually, for when they grow, the Church grows.
Isaiah 1:11 ” The multitude of your sacrifices – what are they to Me? Says the Lord. I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.”
God looks carefully at what we offer Him. But He looks even more closely at what we don’t offer Him. Are you withholding some area of your life for fear He’ll tell you to stop it? Are you denying Him a corner of your world because you enjoy it way too much? What we offer up to the Lord is much more important to us than to Him…for what He’s looking for is a total surrender…a relinquishing of ourselves…and a giving up of control. As I Samuel 15:22 states, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” God’s looking for our obedience not some ritual.