God Is... .....By Mark Jones

 God Is...

By Mark Jones

“And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!"“  -Revelation 4:8

We Cannot Know God Fully...

God is spirit, triune, infinite, holy, unchangeable, love. The true and living God is too much for us to handle, to know, to trust, to understand, to worship. The incomprehensible one is simply too much for us.

...Yet We Can Know Him Truly

Yet he reveals himself to us through his Word. And while we may not understand all that the Bible tells us about God, we must aim to believe and communicate as much as we can about him. We must press on to know the Lord, a difficult but rewarding task, because worship without knowledge is idolatry.

...In Christ

To know the attributes of God is to not only know God, but to know what God is like. To know what God is like is to know what God is toward us. More pointedly, to know God is to know Christ. Christ is the stage upon which the attributes of God shine most clearly. Knowing the attributes of God is essential for our everyday living, and they need to be seen in a Christ-centered framework.

Nothing we do can be properly understood apart from what God is.

Renewal of Perspective.....Denison Ministries

 Renewal of Perspective

Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview:

One of the best aspects of spending time alone with God is being renewed daily by his word and presence. When we make space for God in our lives, especially at the beginning of the day, he is faithful to renew and prepare us for all we will face out in the world. Scripture says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). Where do you need renewal? How greatly do you need God’s mercies in your life? He has a plan this week to both teach and guide you into an encounter with him that will renew you with his overwhelming goodness and love. Make space for God. Make time to encounter him. And experience the refreshing spring rain he longs to bring to heal the dry and weary places of your heart.

Scripture:“And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:17

Devotional:    

This life is like a gust of wind, strong and tangible, but as fleeting as it is real. Tragically, most of us spend the majority of our lives just trying to find out why we’re here. We ask, “What’s our purpose? What’s the point of all this? What’s the meaning of life?” While Scripture is clear that this life is fleeting, God also makes it abundantly clear that what we do with our lives here is of eternal significance. We have incredibly important things to do and little time to do them. So, to truly live life to the fullest as God desires for us, to make the impact we alone can make in this life, we need a clear understanding of how fleeting and important our lives are. We need a renewal of perspective.    

1 John 2:17 says, “The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” God has a plan for you and a will for your life. Your abilities, mind, heart, and hands are of incredible importance to him. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Your heavenly Father has works prepared for you that only you can accomplish. He has plans for you that he does not have for anybody else. But he has also given you the ability to lead your own life. Every day you have the choice to surrender your life to the lordship of Jesus and follow the guidance of his Spirit. Or, you can choose to go through life being your own boss, making decisions and plans on your own without his guidance. Only one choice will lead you to a life spent co-laboring with God and making an eternal impact. Only one choice will lead you to the joy and purpose you were created for. Only one choice will assure you at the end of your days that you made a deep and lasting impact with your life. 

You see, there isn’t enough time to waste any part of your life pursuing the things of the world. There aren’t enough days to spend even a single one building your kingdom instead of God’s. And your life will be measured by the way in which you loved God and others, not by the weight of your possessions, accolades, or status. Jesus commands us in Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Jesus illustrates an often missed point here: the value of your life is your heart. God is the Creator of all treasure, of everything beautiful, but his prized possession is your heart. His deepest longing is for your affections. He knows that when you give your heart to the world, to pursuing earthly objectives, you will miss out on the peace and purpose of living your life with a constant eternal perspective. Scripture tells us that though we are here on earth, this is not our home. We are called to live here with urgency, maintaining a renewed perspective of our time. Paul writes in Ephesians 5:15-17, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Will you live your life in light of God’s will for you or your own? Will you surrender your heart to the Lord every day or keep one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom of God?

The choice is entirely up to you. You have both the Holy Spirit and the world vying for your heart. But only God will reward your affections with his own. Only God gave up his life entirely out of his unending devotion and love for you. All you have to do to live fully for God is encounter the love of your heavenly Father each day and live in response to that love by loving him and others. When you are faithful to listen, God is faithful to guide you day to day and season to season. His kingship demands our obedience, and his love stirs our hearts until obedience to him is natural. Experience both the majesty and love of your King today. Let the Holy Spirit lead you to a life of radical, loving obedience. Allow the Spirit and the word to renew your perspective on the purpose of your life. And choose today to live with eternal perspective by loving your heavenly Father and others.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on both the fleeting nature and importance of this life.

“Remember how short my time is! For what vanity you have created all the children of man! What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?” Psalm 89:47-48

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10

2. Reflect on your own life. In what areas have you been pursuing the world instead of God? Where have you chosen to rule your own life? What decisions have you made apart from the leadership of God? Confess those sins to the Lord, and receive his forgiveness. He longs to restore you totally to himself. He will daily forgive your sins and lead you fully to the life he has in store for you. 

3. Commit yourself to live for the kingdom of God instead of your own. Pray to the Lord, and tell him your desire to live for his kingdom. Submit your will and live for him instead of yourself. Ask for the help of the Spirit as you go through your day. Listen for his voice and follow his leading as you pray.

This life requires a daily process of confession, forgiveness, and commitment. Daily we need to gain fresh perspective on what really matters. Constantly throughout our day we need to remind ourselves of why we were created. Engage in this process, encounter the grace of God as you make mistakes, and live your life pursuing all that God has in store for you. You can never experience the same peace, purpose, and grace-filled love anywhere else as you will living fully surrendered to God. God will never forsake you or reject you. He has only love for you. Choose him over the world today and experience the life you’ve been longing for.

Extended Reading: Matthew 6

Fear Not! Your Time Will Come.....SHIRLEE ABBOTT

 Fear Not! Your Time Will Come

SHIRLEE ABBOTT

“So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the LORD has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the LORD has commanded.” Exodus 36:1 (NIV)

For years, I wrote meeting minutes, typed business letters and pulled together newsletter content. It helped support my family, but it wasn’t my calling from God.

In tears, I wailed, “When will I do what I am truly called to do for God?” In truth, He was refining my skills, preparing me to write for His glory. But back then, I was clueless.

Sometimes we long to do something great for God, thinking we’ll wake up one day with a sudden talent to get it done. We fail to notice how God’s been slowly working the needed talent into our skill set.

This was the case of the Hebrews when they stepped out of slavery in Egypt and into a bleak wilderness. God was leading His people, and at Mount Sinai, He said, “Build Me a beautiful sanctuary.” The how-to details were assigned to skilled workers: “Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the LORD has given skill and ability …” (Exodus 36:1).

Did Bezalel, Oholiab and the others wake up one wilderness morning with a sudden talent for goldsmithing, woodworking and weaving? God could have worked it that way. But more likely, they learned their skills while they were slaves in Egypt.

Day after day, year after year, they may have used their talents at the direction of pagan overlords. Clueless about their amazing future, they honed their skills with little hope for something bigger and better. But God knew what was coming. (Exodus 31:1-6)

Fast-forward to today. What skills are you honing on routine tasks, at the direction of a difficult boss or simply to pay for the food on your table? God may be polishing your skills for bigger and better projects to come, ones that will display His glory.

Let’s imagine those Hebrew artisans. God’s instructions said to weave cherubim into the tabernacle curtains. (Exodus 36:8) Cherubim, with four wings and four faces, are hard to draw and even harder to weave.

How many designs may have been tried and rejected before they found one worthy of God’s holy tabernacle? How many hard-worked rows were perhaps unraveled and redone? The Bible doesn’t count the do-overs. We only know that the finished product was glorious.

Similarly, you read a devotion here, and it touches your heart. You don’t see the do-overs — the first, second and 22nd versions that weren’t quite right.

Dear sisters, do you wonder (like I did) when God will put your skills to use for Him? Feel stuck in a wilderness of do-overs? Think what’s done for God’s glory should come easily?

Fear not!

Like those artisans in Exodus, you are a work in progress. God is refining your talents.

You may try and fail many times before you get it right, but God has a plan for your weaving, your writing, your special skills. Trust Him and keep working. Your time will come.

Lord God, You know how much I want to do something good for Your glory. I’m impatient with skill-building and do-overs. Give me eyes to see it as practice, not failure. Move me from clueless to cooperative. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

A Man Worthy of Our Praise.....Dr. Charles Stanley

A Man Worthy of Our Praise

Dr. Charles Stanley

Matthew 8:23-27

The men traveling with Jesus on a stormy Galilean night said something that ought to make us sit up and take notice. “What kind of a man is this . . . ?” If we ask ourselves that same question, we will start to see the big picture of who Jesus is instead of concentrating on the “slivers” of personality revealed by individual stories.

When the wind, which has been funneled through a narrow gorge, pushes out over the Sea of Galilee, the water becomes turbulent. Jesus and His disciples were caught in just such a dangerous storm while making their way to Gadara. Waves crashed over the deck of the wooden boat. The experienced seamen onboard were certain that death was imminent.

But Jesus was sleeping. He was resting quietly during a storm so frightening that the Greek word used to describe it is seismos—from the same root that gives us the phrase “seismic activity” for earthquakes. What kind of man is this who can sleep while the boat heaves and pitches? The answer is: the One who created the seas and knows how a storm brews and what energy causes a wave to stay in motion. That’s the kind of man: a divine Being cloaked in humanity, who rebuked the winds and sea so that they became perfectly calm.

Scripture indicates that both the air and the water were instantly stilled. Such is the power of Jesus, the Creator and Lord over the universe. Taken together, all the Bible stories about Jesus reveal the “big picture” that He is the only man worthy of glory, honor, and praise (Dan. 7:13-14). 

The Subtle Pride of Achievement.....by Mike Pohlman

 The Subtle Pride of Achievement

by Mike Pohlman

What do you have that you did not receive? - 1 Corinthians 4:7

Pride is crafty. It has a way of bleeding out of us in ways we don't even recognize. This is unfortunate for if we recognized it sooner we just might avoid the fall (cf. Proverbs 16:18).

Jerry Bridges is a great teacher. He uses Scripture like a surgeon uses a scalpel. And he just cut me again.

In his book, Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate, Bridges takes up the subtle sin of pride by looking at the "sin of achievement." He warns us against slipping into a mindset that sees our accomplishments as our own doing. And we do this in subtle ways. For example, it may be the simple telling of a story to a friend or family member that involves a promotion at work, or success on the hoop court, or an academic milestone--but with no mention of God. Subtly, we have projected ourselves as the ones who accomplished something when in fact all the credit should go to God.

Why is this? Why should God get all the glory in our achievements? Bridges, with a little help from the Apostle Paul, explains:

To the proud Corinthians, Paul wrote: "Who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?" (1 Cor. 4:7). So what do you have that you did not receive? Nothing. You have nothing that did not come to you as a gift from God. Our intellect, our natural skills and talents, our health, and our opportunities to succeed all come from God. We have nothing that will enable us to achieve success that we did not receive from God.

Bridges continues to cut:

So why do we boast, either in an overtly proud fashion or in a more subtle way in which we want to be proud but don't want to appear to be? In both instances, it is because we have failed to acknowledge that success came from God. Sure, there was diligent effort involved, but who gave you the ability and the desire to succeed? And who blessed your efforts? Ultimately, all is from God.

Now, I know there is a way to simply "paste" God-talk on our conversations while still inwardly swelling with pride (cf. Matthew 15:1-9). It is not enough to simply say, "Praise God." What Bridges is calling for, in any and all of our achievements, is a sincere recognition of God's grace toward us. We give God all the glory, all the recognition, all the credit "since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything" (Acts 17:25). If we are to boast it is only in the cross (cf. Galatians 6:14).

As the great Protestant Reformer wrote, "We are beggars; this is true." And beggars don't get glory.

Intersecting Faith & Life

In what ways has the pride of achievement shown itself in your life? How can we better deflect attention on us while focusing it on Christ?

Further Reading

The Perils of Pride, C.J. Mahaney
God Glorified in the Nobodies, John MacArthur
Philippians 2:1-11

A Prayer for Patience, Bravery and Courage.....By Tiffany Thibault

 A Prayer for Patience, Bravery and Courage

By Tiffany Thibault

Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. - Psalm 27:14

Patience, or a lack of it. Every single day, the challenge for patience comes my way. Sometimes I can see it coming, but then other times I will find it staring me right in the face, mocking me, testing me, waiting to see what I will do about it.

Waiting patiently is a daily, life-long discipline. We have to wait for meals to be ready, for paychecks to come, for traffic lights to change, and mostly for other people. Every single day, we have to be patient in our thoughts, our words and our actions.

We also must wait patiently for the Lord. Often, we pray for people and situations over and over again, waiting for an answer that never seems to come. This verse not only tells us to wait patiently for the Lord, but then it says that we are to be brave and courageous.

We are to be brave. We can choose to be brave in the moment of crisis without fear. In those painful and difficult situations that come our way, we must wait for the Lord to answer our prayers. He has before and we can be confident that He will do so once again.

We are to be courageous as we confront our painful and difficult situations, even as we struggle with fear in the midst of it. Courage means making the determination in your mind that you will face your difficulties head-on. You can have that courage, because you know that you have God on your side. It says in Jeremiah 32:27 “Nothing is too difficult for me.”

Psalm 27:14 says “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” It not only tells us to wait patiently for the Lord, but it states it two times! Regardless of the situation, regardless of the level of fear that we have, we are to wait patiently for the Lord to do what He will do. That posture of waiting is probably the most important thing that we can do in our lives.

So, step aside and let God be God. If we can give him the opportunity to move in both our lives and in the lives of others, it could turn out to be the most amazing thing ever!

2 Peter 3:9 says this: "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Since God is patient with you, you can absolutely be patient while you wait on Him.

He loves you. He is with you. Turn to Him at all times and in all situations and wait with expectation to see what He will do. It will be amazing!

Dear Lord,

As I go through my days, facing each of the situations before me, I pray that you give me the strength to be patient as I wait for you to move in every single one. Help me to be brave and courageous when the fear grows strong and the time passes so slowly. Help me to cast fear far away, as I keep my eyes on you in every single situation today.

In Your Name, I pray,

Amen.

It Didn't End at the Cross.....Senior Living Ministries

 

It Didn't End at the Cross

 Senior Living Ministries

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
--1 Peter 1:3-5

A little boy born with Down syndrome attended his third-grade Sunday School class faithfully each week. As you can expect, the other children did not readily accept the boy because he seemed different.

The Sunday after Easter, their teacher brought in small boxes--one for each child. The children were told to go outside, find some symbols of new life, and put them in their containers. So the children ran wildly throughout the property looking for something to fill their boxes.

Once they returned to the classroom, they began to share their discoveries with the class. One by one they opened their boxes to show flowers, butterflies, leaves, and more. Each time the class would "ooh" and "ahh."

Then the child with Down syndrome opened his box to reveal nothing inside. The children exclaimed, "That's stupid! It's not fair! He didn't do the assignment right!"

The little boy exclaimed, "I did so do it! It's empty...because the tomb where Jesus laid was found empty!"

If Jesus had not risen from the dead, our faith would be foolish and fake. But He did rise from death, confirming His life and message. The resurrection of Jesus is the basis for our hope of life eternal beyond the grave.

Don't ever forget to include the resurrection of Christ from the dead when speaking of His death on the cross. For because He conquered sin on the cross and death through His resurrection, we can have unmistakable hope in Him for eternity.

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Praise God that you serve a risen Savior! Thank Him for His sacrifice on the cross and for defeating death so that you and I may experience eternal life with Him one day.