My wife has always accused me of thinking too much. And she's right. And I REALLY think that most other people often think too much, especially when they think about God.
Thinking about God in Heaven is great. Don't get me wrong. But us humans REALLY need to remember that "knowing God", means that we CAN and SHOULD live with many unanswered questions.
You see, when we DO have questions we can, if we choose to, remember what God said to Job (38:4) after all of Job's affliction and loss. In all of Job's doubts about how he could now possibly live on, AFTER all his loss of earthly possessions: God asks him, "Where were YOU when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding." What I think God was really saying here, in this question of Job, considering ALL of the questions Job had about God, and ALL the calamity which had come upon his life, wasn't God asking Job, "Hey, Job, how do you think things could have been different, considering ALL which I have created for you and everyone else here on Earth? Could YOU have done better, Job? Yes, Job, how is YOUR life so much more important than all of THIS, which I have made??"
You see, we all draw our conclusions as to what we think the actions of God in the world are all about. "Why did this or that happen?", we ask. Yes, why the world wide destruction of cities and their inhabitants? Why all the disease and famine and casualties of war? Why God? What IS the purpose of all this?
But, my Friends, the world is not about us. Life is not about what we think or know, or even about the people in our lives and what they think about us. Job's friends judged him by what was happening in his life. People around you judge you by how you look and dress, and what kind of car you drive or house you live in. And YOU do the same yourself, right?
..........
Dear Lord, thank You for giving us Your Perfect Word to go by. Thank You for giving us a Way for us to come DIRECTLY to You, Oh Father! Yes, it is YOUR Word which always brings us and our world to focus on ONE Man, ONE idea and ONE Savior! The ONLY Savior. Show us daily, God, remind us that our consuming interest on self CAN be re-directed to You, THROUGH the Bible. Help us enter Your Word, for THERE is YOUR entrance into OUR World and OUR lives! In Jesus Name we thank You. Amen.
..........
The Bible is SURELY trying to get us, like God did with Job, to face a life and a world with HIM in it. Yes, God's Word want us to MAKE that change in our life, by allowing God to lift us up beyond ourselves, so that you and I can be consumed by the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God, INSTEAD of ourselves! Do you see this? I am sure you can.
Let us re-direct our passion by desiring to be brought back to our feet, to FACE our Father God! How else can we catch a glimpse of His Glory and receive deliverance, my Friends? From our jobs or our bank accounts, or our own image in the mirror, or what others think of us? Can we stop talking to ourselves all the time and start focusing on God more often?
Our self-consuming prattle of what we are to do next in our lives, will not bring us back to our repentance. Rather, let us SEEK the evidence of our repentance, let us LOOK for how we are turning around in our lives! Only THAT will bring you back to God. And please don't try so much to understand God, but try to repent by looking at your worship. Can you do that? People only end up imploding upon themselves when all they do is question God and His motives. Let JESUS bring you closer to knowledge of the Father and how you worship Him.
..........
Thank You, God, for revealing Yourself to us. Release us from our bondage of self, Father, please. Help me let You touch me at the core of my greatest need, so that I will never be the same again! You have made yourself visible through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And please, at the times of my greatest failures, help me feel my lostness without You. Thank You, Dear God. Tommy
.........
And John tells us about those who only glorify themselves, instead of glorifying only their Father in Heaven and our Lord Jesus Christ, ".... for they (the Pharisees) loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God." (John 12:43).
Let God fill you with His Word. LET Jesus' Cross show you His Holiness. Then let yourself tremble in this Glory as you picture His Sacrifice. Let it work in your soul, and let Jesus take your guilt away by being the Atonement for your soul. Yes, put yourself in His hands and let this Work be known to others through your actions and deeds of humility. He heals your wounds. THIS is the answer to EVERY question, Christian! Isn't it?
..........
The point of this post, is that the most revealing thing about a human being is the personal vision they have of what they think about God.
We can't let our prosperity ( all we all have prosperity, compared to 3rd world countries ) lull us into a mindset of being "casual" in the things of God, and in the way we worship Him. The human worship of God surely seems to have less and less impact on the daily routine of life. Going to church ends up being a tradition or a habit, while the persons' individual life continues to remain the same, year after year. Yes, the humans only walk of faith is in their claim to be a Christian.
Is your life distinguishable from the world around you, from the different people you know OUTSIDE of your familiar church family?
This post declares, "The ultimate value of a human being is NOT his or her self-concept or personal achievements, but actually how that individual person conceives God to be like.
In other words, isn't EXACTLY what we think of God the clearest and most-profound condition of what our spiritual future will BE like? Affirming the existence of God to ourselves, or our church family, does not automatically imply that we have an actual contact with Him. The urgency and relevance of JUST Who God is, will describe a person's need for God. And if we do not address God's Holiness, all other questions and investigations into God surely, surely fall short, don't you think?? LOOK at the Bible closely and SEE the mystery of how God affected people in their lives. LOOK at those you know personally to SEE how they were DIRECTLY affected by God's Presence. How were they changed? How were YOU changed?
And even the angels hid their faces when God entered the temple which Isaiah viewed in his vision (Ch.6:2).
What should THIS remind us of? The angels were sinless and THEY shrunk from viewing God's Face !! Shouldn't THIS get our attention of His Holiness, and how we should attempt approaching God in our minds? Shouldn't THIS quell our many questions and doubts about God's Presence in our daily lives?
Shouldn't it?
Thinking about God in Heaven is great. Don't get me wrong. But us humans REALLY need to remember that "knowing God", means that we CAN and SHOULD live with many unanswered questions.
You see, when we DO have questions we can, if we choose to, remember what God said to Job (38:4) after all of Job's affliction and loss. In all of Job's doubts about how he could now possibly live on, AFTER all his loss of earthly possessions: God asks him, "Where were YOU when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding." What I think God was really saying here, in this question of Job, considering ALL of the questions Job had about God, and ALL the calamity which had come upon his life, wasn't God asking Job, "Hey, Job, how do you think things could have been different, considering ALL which I have created for you and everyone else here on Earth? Could YOU have done better, Job? Yes, Job, how is YOUR life so much more important than all of THIS, which I have made??"
You see, we all draw our conclusions as to what we think the actions of God in the world are all about. "Why did this or that happen?", we ask. Yes, why the world wide destruction of cities and their inhabitants? Why all the disease and famine and casualties of war? Why God? What IS the purpose of all this?
But, my Friends, the world is not about us. Life is not about what we think or know, or even about the people in our lives and what they think about us. Job's friends judged him by what was happening in his life. People around you judge you by how you look and dress, and what kind of car you drive or house you live in. And YOU do the same yourself, right?
..........
Dear Lord, thank You for giving us Your Perfect Word to go by. Thank You for giving us a Way for us to come DIRECTLY to You, Oh Father! Yes, it is YOUR Word which always brings us and our world to focus on ONE Man, ONE idea and ONE Savior! The ONLY Savior. Show us daily, God, remind us that our consuming interest on self CAN be re-directed to You, THROUGH the Bible. Help us enter Your Word, for THERE is YOUR entrance into OUR World and OUR lives! In Jesus Name we thank You. Amen.
..........
The Bible is SURELY trying to get us, like God did with Job, to face a life and a world with HIM in it. Yes, God's Word want us to MAKE that change in our life, by allowing God to lift us up beyond ourselves, so that you and I can be consumed by the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God, INSTEAD of ourselves! Do you see this? I am sure you can.
Let us re-direct our passion by desiring to be brought back to our feet, to FACE our Father God! How else can we catch a glimpse of His Glory and receive deliverance, my Friends? From our jobs or our bank accounts, or our own image in the mirror, or what others think of us? Can we stop talking to ourselves all the time and start focusing on God more often?
Our self-consuming prattle of what we are to do next in our lives, will not bring us back to our repentance. Rather, let us SEEK the evidence of our repentance, let us LOOK for how we are turning around in our lives! Only THAT will bring you back to God. And please don't try so much to understand God, but try to repent by looking at your worship. Can you do that? People only end up imploding upon themselves when all they do is question God and His motives. Let JESUS bring you closer to knowledge of the Father and how you worship Him.
..........
Thank You, God, for revealing Yourself to us. Release us from our bondage of self, Father, please. Help me let You touch me at the core of my greatest need, so that I will never be the same again! You have made yourself visible through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And please, at the times of my greatest failures, help me feel my lostness without You. Thank You, Dear God. Tommy
.........
And John tells us about those who only glorify themselves, instead of glorifying only their Father in Heaven and our Lord Jesus Christ, ".... for they (the Pharisees) loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God." (John 12:43).
Let God fill you with His Word. LET Jesus' Cross show you His Holiness. Then let yourself tremble in this Glory as you picture His Sacrifice. Let it work in your soul, and let Jesus take your guilt away by being the Atonement for your soul. Yes, put yourself in His hands and let this Work be known to others through your actions and deeds of humility. He heals your wounds. THIS is the answer to EVERY question, Christian! Isn't it?
..........
The point of this post, is that the most revealing thing about a human being is the personal vision they have of what they think about God.
We can't let our prosperity ( all we all have prosperity, compared to 3rd world countries ) lull us into a mindset of being "casual" in the things of God, and in the way we worship Him. The human worship of God surely seems to have less and less impact on the daily routine of life. Going to church ends up being a tradition or a habit, while the persons' individual life continues to remain the same, year after year. Yes, the humans only walk of faith is in their claim to be a Christian.
Is your life distinguishable from the world around you, from the different people you know OUTSIDE of your familiar church family?
This post declares, "The ultimate value of a human being is NOT his or her self-concept or personal achievements, but actually how that individual person conceives God to be like.
In other words, isn't EXACTLY what we think of God the clearest and most-profound condition of what our spiritual future will BE like? Affirming the existence of God to ourselves, or our church family, does not automatically imply that we have an actual contact with Him. The urgency and relevance of JUST Who God is, will describe a person's need for God. And if we do not address God's Holiness, all other questions and investigations into God surely, surely fall short, don't you think?? LOOK at the Bible closely and SEE the mystery of how God affected people in their lives. LOOK at those you know personally to SEE how they were DIRECTLY affected by God's Presence. How were they changed? How were YOU changed?
And even the angels hid their faces when God entered the temple which Isaiah viewed in his vision (Ch.6:2).
What should THIS remind us of? The angels were sinless and THEY shrunk from viewing God's Face !! Shouldn't THIS get our attention of His Holiness, and how we should attempt approaching God in our minds? Shouldn't THIS quell our many questions and doubts about God's Presence in our daily lives?
Shouldn't it?
tommy
