A Shepherd’s Musings Devotional – Week 34-35 – God is . . .
In our last devotional we focused on the truth that God is the giver of life. Let’s broaden our perspective and consider that God is also the Creator of everything! The first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, states this as fact, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” In thinking of God the Creator let’s consider two questions: what does this reveal about Him and how should this truth affect us?
1. God alone is sovereign over our lives; therefore, He is worthy of our respectful fear. He determines when we are born and when we die. We should acknowledge and take comfort in His powerful sovereignty over life. A person’s birth and death is no accident with God! Psalm 104:29-31 says, “When you [God] take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground. May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works.” Furthermore, the “Time Poem” of Ecclesiastes explicitly states that there is a “time to be born and a time to die.” Then the writer draws an appropriate conclusion and application in Ecclesiastes 3:14, “I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.” Do you have a healthy fear of God your Creator? Jesus explained it this way, “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him” (Luke 12:4-5)!
2. God is supremely wise in all He does; therefore, He is worthy of our trust: A healthy view that God is our sovereign and wise Creator helps us to trust Him. This is true especially when we don’t understand the trials and difficulties of life that He purposefully designs for our good. This is what God through the prophet Jeremiah beautifully portrays by analogy for the children of Israel, “The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ‘Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.’ So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Then the word of the LORD came to me: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? Declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel’” (Jeremiah 18:1-6). The Apostle Peter encourages followers of Christ with these words, “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good” (1 Peter 4:19). Is there a difficulty or trial in your life in which you need to trust your faithful Creator? He deserves your trust.
3. God is gloriously powerful; therefore, He is worthy of our worship! Revelation 4:11 says, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
Sometimes we may be tempted to question God because of the circumstances of life, but as we wait upon Him in fear, trust and worship, He will surely help! Isaiah’s words are a challenging comfort, “Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God’ Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:27-31).
With Prayer, Mark
© August, 2011 Scripture quoted: ESV – Emphasis added
Verses for our meditation: God Is the Creator
Hebrews 11:3, By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
Psalm 33:6, By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
Psalm 102:18, Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD:
Isaiah 42:5, Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:
Isaiah 40:28, Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
Isaiah 43:1, But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
Isaiah 45:8, “Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout; I the LORD have created it. Isaiah 45:12, I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. Isaiah 45:18, For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the LORD, and there is no other.
Mark 13:19, For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be.
Colossians 1:15-17, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Romans 1:25, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
1 Peter 4:19, Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
John 1:1-3, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Hebrews 11:2-3, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
Revelation 4:11, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
Monday, August 29, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
God Is the Giver of Life!
In the creation account of Genesis, God is the giver of life. Genesis 2:7 says, “Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” Life is a gift from God, for God gives life! How interesting that people have the audacity to deny the existence of the very person who gives them their next breath! I can not speak for others but I know the reason I did so was because I strongly desired to be in control of my life. I didn’t want God messing with it. The irony in my former thinking is that the very life I did not want God messing with was in reality a gift from Him. Various Scriptures, such as Romans 3, teach that mankind is born with a rebellious heart toward His Creator. However, the desire or our Life-giver is to reconcile us to Himself. This is clear in many passages throughout the Bible. One of my favorites is from Paul’s messages to the intellectuals in Athens from Acts 17:24-28:
Human life is still a gift from God. We are still made in His image, although that image has been marred by the fall of the first man (Adam) into sin (Genesis 3). Albeit, we still should be in awe of the gift of life. My daughter recently gave birth to her third child, a precious little girl named Cecilia Lyn, who caused some to marvel at the gift of life. Even the doctor said, “How can anyone not believe in God after witnessing the birth of a child?” Each newborn I hold causes me to give thanks to the Giver of life and wonder about this powerful God who desires for us to seek Him and know Him. This adventure of learning to know God begins with faith, a believing trust in a Creator God. Hebrews 11:3 says, “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” And then Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
Are you believing in Him and seeking Him as you should? Remember that “In Him we live and move and have our being.” I encourage you to spend some time meditating on the following verses for your consideration about the Bible’s teaching that God is the giver of life and the giver of eternal life!
With Prayer, Mark
© August, 2011 Scripture quoted: ESV – Emphasis added
Deuteronomy 30:19-20, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
I Kings 17:21-24, Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.”
Job 24:22, Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life.
Job 27:8, For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off, when God takes away his life?
Job 33:4, The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Psalm 30:2-3, O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. O LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.
Psalm 42:8, By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
Psalm 54:4, Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.
Ecclesiastes 5:18, Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.
Ecclesiastes 8:15, And I commend joy, for man has no good thing under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
Isaiah 38:5, “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
John 6:32-33, Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
1 Timothy 6:13, I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession,
1 John 5:16, If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life–to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that.
John 3:14-21, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
John 5:24, Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 6:35-40, Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
John 10:25-30, Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
John 12:23-26, And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
John 17:1-3, When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
John 20:24-31, Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
Human life is still a gift from God. We are still made in His image, although that image has been marred by the fall of the first man (Adam) into sin (Genesis 3). Albeit, we still should be in awe of the gift of life. My daughter recently gave birth to her third child, a precious little girl named Cecilia Lyn, who caused some to marvel at the gift of life. Even the doctor said, “How can anyone not believe in God after witnessing the birth of a child?” Each newborn I hold causes me to give thanks to the Giver of life and wonder about this powerful God who desires for us to seek Him and know Him. This adventure of learning to know God begins with faith, a believing trust in a Creator God. Hebrews 11:3 says, “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” And then Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”Are you believing in Him and seeking Him as you should? Remember that “In Him we live and move and have our being.” I encourage you to spend some time meditating on the following verses for your consideration about the Bible’s teaching that God is the giver of life and the giver of eternal life!
With Prayer, Mark
© August, 2011 Scripture quoted: ESV – Emphasis added
Verses for your meditation: God Is the Giver of Life
I Kings 17:21-24, Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.”
Job 24:22, Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life.
Job 27:8, For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off, when God takes away his life?
Job 33:4, The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Psalm 30:2-3, O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. O LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.
Psalm 42:8, By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
Psalm 54:4, Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.
Ecclesiastes 5:18, Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.
Ecclesiastes 8:15, And I commend joy, for man has no good thing under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
Isaiah 38:5, “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
John 6:32-33, Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
1 Timothy 6:13, I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession,
1 John 5:16, If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life–to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that.
Verses for Your Meditation: God is the giver of Eternal Life
John 5:24, Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 6:35-40, Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
John 10:25-30, Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
John 12:23-26, And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
John 17:1-3, When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
John 20:24-31, Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
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