Showing posts with label Pastor Mark Worden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pastor Mark Worden. Show all posts
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Links to the Knowing God Devotionals on the Theme: God Is!
My theme for these devotionals is from Hebrews 11:6, “But without
faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him. “
My goal is to write 52 devotionals – 1 for every week of the year!
I hope you will be blessed and built up in your desire to know God by reading the devotionals and meditating on the Scriptures listed after each devotional.
© January, 2013
Devotional 1: Seeking Idols or God in the New Year
My goal is to write 52 devotionals – 1 for every week of the year!
I hope you will be blessed and built up in your desire to know God by reading the devotionals and meditating on the Scriptures listed after each devotional.
Knowing God Devotionals on the Theme: God Is!
by Pastor Mark Worden – email: worden.mark@gmail.com© January, 2013
Devotional 1: Seeking Idols or God in the New Year
Devotional 2: God Is!
Devotional 3: God is Light!
Devotional 4: God Is Beyond Us!
Devotional 5: God Is Knowable!
Devotional 6: God Is Near!
Devotional 7: God Is Merciful!
Devotional 8: God Is Holy!
Devotional 9: God Is Perfect in Justice!
Devotional 10: God is Righteous!
Devotional 11: God is Judge!
Devotional 12: God Is The Lawgiver!
Devotional 13: God Is King!
Devotional 14: God Is Sovereign!
Devotional 15: God is Good!
Devotional 16: God is Faithful!
Devotional 17: God Is True – part 1
Devotional 18: God is True – part 2
Devotional 19: God is Wise!
Devotional 20: God is Powerful!
Devotional 21: God is Spirit!
Devotional 22: God Is our Father!
Devotional 23: God is our Shield! I Know!
Devotional 24: God is Witness!
Devotional 25: God Is Unchanging!
Devotional 26: God is One!
Devotional 27: God is Eternal!
Devotional 28: God Is the Giver of Life!
Devotional 29: God is the Creator!
Devotional 30: God is our Guide!
Devotional 31: God is Our Shepherd
Devotional 32: God is Jealous
Devotional 33: God is Angry!
Devotional 34: God is Forbearing!
Devotional 35: God is Patient!
Devotional 36: God is Kind
Devotional 37: God is Not Partial
Devotional 38: God is Gracious
Devotional 39: God is Omniscient (all knowing)
Devotional 40: God is our Physician!
Devotional 41: God is All-Present (Omnipresent)
Devotional 42: God is Infinite
Devotional 43: God is Provider – Jehovahjireh
Devotional 44: God is Peace – Jehovahshalom
Devotional 45: God is our Banner – Jehovahnissi
Devotional 46: God is our Comfort
Devotional 47: God is a Consuming Fire
Devotional 47: God is a Consuming Fire
Fire has a way of getting our attention. It is rather
fascinating. Around the campfire as a boy I played with fire. It burns fingers, shoes, and toes. Fire hurts! Fire burned down my uncle’s house when I was
9 years old. I learned young that fire destroys. Subsequently, I came to respect fire from an
early age but also enjoyed and appreciated its warmth and beauty around a
campfire on a cold evening. Shockingly, possibly to some, the Bible reveals God
as a “consuming fire” in both the Old and New Testaments.
What is God teaching us about Himself when Scripture
says in Deuteronomy 4:24 and Hebrews 12:29 that “God is a consuming fire”? By
meditating on the Scriptural contexts of this somewhat puzzling “God is”
statement, we can begin to grasp its meaning.
You could pause and read the chapters that form the context of this
phrase several times in order to do so. In Deuteronomy 4 God is reminding the children
of Israel of how He had
spoken his commandments “out of the midst of the fire” on Mount Horeb. He is warning them to obey, follow, and
worship only Him and receive His blessing or His judgment and chastening if they
forget and choose to disobey. God’s
pillar of fire had given them light by night in the wilderness and He had
spoken to them from the fiery mount, but He also would bring a fire of judgment
upon them if they turned from following Him to worship idols. In time they did turn from their LORD and God
sent stern warnings of His just judgment of fire:
Jeremiah 5:14, Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts: "Because you have
spoken this word, behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and
this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.
Ezekiel 22:30-31, And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and
stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I
found none. Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have
consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon
their heads, declares the Lord GOD.
In Hebrews 12 the message is also one of
warning: look to Jesus so you don’t faint in your faith, receive God’s fatherly
correction, don’t fail of God’s grace, and listen to His voice. The chapter
closes with an application and statement of who God is, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a
kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship,
with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” Is this the
kind of respect you give God? Is you
worship acceptable? The fact that God is
a consuming fire should strike a healthy fear in our hearts. Every person will have to stand before God’s
judgment seat! The works of believers in
Christ will be judged by fire to determine reward, “for the Day will disclose
it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of
work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation
survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will
suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (I
Corinthians 3:13-15). Furthermore, the works of those who reject God and his
mercy will be judged (Revelation 20:12-15). They will receive their just
retribution and receive the fiery judgment of God in Christ as 2Thesalonians
1:6-10 reveals, “since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction
those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as
to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in
flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on
those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the
punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from
the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his
saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our
testimony to you was believed.” Have you
believed the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets? It is a matter of fiery importance and eternity!
With Prayer, Mark
With Prayer, Mark
© January, 2013
Scripture quoted: ESV –
Emphasis added
Verses
for our meditation: God Is a Consuming
Fire
Leviticus 9:22-24, Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the
people and blessed them, and he came down from offering the sin offering and
the burnt offering and the peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the
tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory
of the LORD appeared to all the people. And fire came out from before the
LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar,
and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.
Deuteronomy 4:23-24, Take care, lest you forget the covenant of
the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of
anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you. For the LORD your God is
a consuming fire, a jealous God.
Deuteronomy 9:1-4, "Hear, O Israel: you are to
cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and
mightier than yourselves, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people
great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have
heard it said, 'Who can stand before the sons of Anak?' Know therefore today
that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the LORD your God.
He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out
and make them perish quickly, as the LORD has promised you. "Do not say in
your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, 'It is
because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this
land,' whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD
is driving them out before you.
1 Kings 18:22-24, Then Elijah said to the people, "I, even I only, am left a prophet
of the LORD, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. Let two bulls be given to us, and
let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the
wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on
the wood and put no fire to it. And you call upon the name of your god, and I
will call upon the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, he is
God." And all the people answered, "It is well spoken."
Ezekiel 22:28-31, And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions
and divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD has
not spoken. The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery.
They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner
without justice. And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall
and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it,
but I found none. Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I
have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way
upon their heads, declares the Lord GOD."
Amos 7:4-6, This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, the Lord GOD was calling
for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up
the land. Then I said, "O Lord GOD, please cease! How can Jacob stand? He
is so small!" The LORD relented concerning this: "This also shall not
be," said the Lord GOD.
Zechariah 13:9, And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one
refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name,
and I will answer them. I will say, 'They are my people'; and they will say,
'The LORD is my God.'"
1 Corinthians 3:10-15,
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder
I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take
care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that
which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation
with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw-- each one's work will
become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed
by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a
reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he
himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
2Thesalonians 1:5-10, This is evidence of the righteous judgment
of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you
are also suffering-- since indeed God considers it just to repay with
affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted
as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his
mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not
know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will
suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the
Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified
in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our
testimony to you was believed.
Hebrews 12:25-29, See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not
escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape
if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth,
but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth
but also the heavens." This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates
the removal of things that are shaken--that is, things that have been made--in
order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be
grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer
to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a
consuming fire.
2 Peter 3:9-12, The Lord is not slow to fulfill
his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that
any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the
Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar,
and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the
works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to
be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and
godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because
of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies
will melt as they burn!
Revelation 20:12-15, And
I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books
were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead
were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had
done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the
dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to
what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not
found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Devotional 46: God is our Comfort
Have you ever experienced having the wind knocked out
of your lungs? If you have, you will likely
never forget that frightening experience. Sometimes life brings blows that figuratively
knock the wind out of us—emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Can you remember a time when you were without
strength, hope, and the will to go on as you sat “gasping for breath”? A situation where everything seemed to be
tumbling down upon your head and you felt so very weak? Where
did you find comfort in your time of distress and need? Often God uses others to point us to Himself
when they have previously experienced God’s comfort.
The Psalmist of Psalm 71 testifies that focusing
on who God is during trying times brings comfort to those who trust in who He
is. After dwelling on the righteousness
and mighty deeds of God the Psalmist says in verse 21-22a, “You will increase
my greatness and comfort me again. I
will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God.” Hope and comfort came as the Psalmist remembered
God’s character! Comfort was also
something that he expected to experience “again”. Once you find your comfort in God you realize
that none other gives such comfort as He gives.
Again the Psalmist shows that meditating on
God’s faithfulness to His word brings comfort as Psalm 119:48-52 reveals, “I will lift up my hands toward your
commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes. Remember your
word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort
in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. The insolent utterly
deride me, but I do not turn away from your law. When I think of your rules
from of old, I take comfort, O LORD.”
Comfort
is something that you really don’t understand until you have been comforted in
God, because truly He is the “God of all comfort” as 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 makes
absolutely clear:
Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of
all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able
to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with
which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in
Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are
comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently
endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we
know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our
comfort.
I would encourage you to list out the times and ways
in which God has comforted you. Then ask
God to help you share His comfort with others.
There is more than enough comfort in our great God to spread around to a
world in need of His comfort.
May the Lord help us to live out the Apostle
Paul’s admonishment in 2 Thessalonians
2:15-17, “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you
were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. Now may our Lord
Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal
comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in
every good work and word.
With Prayer,
Mark © January 2013 Scripture quoted: ESV –
Emphasis added
Verses
for our meditation: God is our Comfort
Psalm 71:19-21, Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done
great things, O God, who is like you?
You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me
again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. You will
increase my greatness and comfort me again.
Psalm 86:15-17, But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and
abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Turn to me and be gracious to me;
give your strength to your servant, and save the son of your maidservant. Show
me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because
you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.
Isaiah 40:1-2, Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her
that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received
from the LORD's hand double for all her sins.
Isaiah 49:13, Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains,
into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have
compassion on his afflicted.
Isaiah 52:9, Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem,
for the LORD has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem.
Isaiah 66:12-13, For thus says the LORD:
"Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the
nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried
upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforts,
so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 31:12-13, They shall come and sing aloud
on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the
herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no
more. Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and
the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort
them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
Act 9:31, So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And
walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit,
it multiplied.
2 Corinthians 1:3-7, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction,
so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with
the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share
abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in
comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and
if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you
patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is
unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also
share in our comfort.
2 Corinthians 7:5-7, For even when we came into Macedonia, our
bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and
fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of
Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was
comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for
me, so that I rejoiced still more.
2 Thessalonians 2:15-17, “So then,
brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us,
either by our spoken word or by our letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ
himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and
good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good
work and word. Sunday, December 30, 2012
New Year Devotional: Seeking Idols or God in the New Year
Listen to a 4 minute audio version:
Download: http://pastormarkworden.sermon.net/da/1199923943
Playback: http://pastormarkworden.sermon.net/da/1199923943/play
May the Lord grant you a blessed New Year! As I typed the previous
greeting, my mind wondered, “What would make this coming year more
blessed for me and those whom I’m writing?” How we answer that question
will reveal what is really important to us. Our answer will reflect
whether we think of blessings in God’s terms or our terms. If we seek
the blessings of life without seeking the Giver of blessings, we make
the blessings an idol that comes before God. We must guard our hearts
from seeking some possession, position, or person that we think is
necessary to bring blessing and happiness. Anything or anyone that we
put before God becomes an idol. We would do well to start the year out
in self-examination by asking this question: “Is there something or
someone in my life that is more important than God?” Whatever it is is
your idol!
I believe that having lives truly blessed of God will require us to acknowledge our idols, pull them down, and cast them out of our hearts. Then we need a growing and deepening knowledge of our God by seeking Him diligently through His natural revelation (His creation) and His special revelation (the Scriptures). Paul’s prayer for the believers at Ephesus reveals our need for knowing God:
For the past few years I have been seeking to know God better by searching the Scriptures and writing on the theme “God Is”. The Bible is replete with verses and passages that tell us about who God is and how we can relate with Him. My theme verse for the devotionals is Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (emphasis added).
May this coming year be filled with adventure in diligently seeking to know God! Will you join me in a quest to know God more fully and intimately as you seek Him? We can find our greatest satisfaction, pleasure, and fulfillment in Him and Him alone! May “grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord” (2 Peter 1:2).
Blessing to you in this New Year!
Sincerely in Christ,
Mark
Selected Bible Verses to End and Start the Year
Revelation 4:11, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
Revelation 5:11-13, “And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.”
Isaiah 40:25-31, “To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.”
“Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Matthew 9:36-38, “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”
Download: http://pastormarkworden.sermon.net/da/1199923943
Playback: http://pastormarkworden.sermon.net/da/1199923943/play
I believe that having lives truly blessed of God will require us to acknowledge our idols, pull them down, and cast them out of our hearts. Then we need a growing and deepening knowledge of our God by seeking Him diligently through His natural revelation (His creation) and His special revelation (the Scriptures). Paul’s prayer for the believers at Ephesus reveals our need for knowing God:
Eph 1:16-21, “I do not cease to give
thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know
what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his
glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable
greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working
of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the
dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above
all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that
is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come” (emphasis added).
Will you pray this prayer for yourself and others? Can we really go
another year without becoming more serious about seeking God? We have
not because we ask not!For the past few years I have been seeking to know God better by searching the Scriptures and writing on the theme “God Is”. The Bible is replete with verses and passages that tell us about who God is and how we can relate with Him. My theme verse for the devotionals is Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (emphasis added).
May this coming year be filled with adventure in diligently seeking to know God! Will you join me in a quest to know God more fully and intimately as you seek Him? We can find our greatest satisfaction, pleasure, and fulfillment in Him and Him alone! May “grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord” (2 Peter 1:2).
Blessing to you in this New Year!
Sincerely in Christ,
Mark
Selected Bible Verses to End and Start the Year
Revelation 4:11, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
Revelation 5:11-13, “And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.”
Isaiah 40:25-31, “To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.”
“Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Matthew 9:36-38, “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Devotional 42: God is Infinite
Many doctrinal statements and creeds refer to God as
being infinite. According to Noah
Webster’s 1828 dictionary the word infinite means, “Without limits; unbounded;
boundless; not circumscribed.” He
mentions that the word can be “applied to time, space and qualities.” Then he says, “God is infinite in duration,
having neither beginning nor end of existence. He is also infinite in presence,
or omnipresent, and his perfections are infinite.” Clearly, the man who gave us our first
American English dictionary had a high and reverent view of God. No doubt, he came to have this understanding
of God through the Scriptures. How do
you view God? Do you see Him more
clearly through your Bible reading? Do
you think of him as beyond measure and without limits in His Being and Nature?
Having covered many of God’s attributes in these
devotionals, we can sense that they all seem to have this infinite quality of being
without limits and boundless. However,
there appears to be only one verse in the KJV
that directly uses the word infinite in relation to God. It is in reference to His understanding. Psalm147:5 says, “Great is our Lord,
and of great power: his understanding is
infinite.” The ESV translates the
verse this way, “His understanding is beyond
measure” which clearly gives the meaning of being infinite. Logically, for God to be infinite in
understanding He would also have to be infinite in knowledge (omniscience), infinite
in location (omnipresent), and also infinite in time (eternal). Furthermore, God’s
infinite understanding makes His love, grace, mercy, kindness, and judgment
without measure as well. Truly our God is infinite or without limits in all of
His attributes!
So then, how can the truth about God being beyond
measure affect our daily lives? I find
it instructive that the Bible specifically says that God’s “understanding is
infinite” because each day we, His creatures, need to understand. We
will never have true understanding in this world until we acknowledge God!
First, we must live our lives knowing and acting upon
the truth that understanding is a gift from God:
Exodus
31:3, And I have filled [Bezaleel the son of Uri]
with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in
understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, To
devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, And in
cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all
manner of workmanship.
It then should not be surprising that Scriptures
tells us “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is
understanding” (Proverbs 9:10). Can
you see how understanding becomes synonymous with knowing God?
Secondly, we must avoid the daily temptation to lean
upon our own understanding by remaining humble and dependently trusting of God:
Proverbs 3:5-6, Trust
in the LORD with all your heart, and do
not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Thirdly, we must call upon the Lord for wisdom and
understanding as Scripture exhorts us to do:
James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him
ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”
Knowing God, whose understanding is infinite, is awe-inspiring! Let’s worship Him together!
With
Prayer, Mark © October, 2012 Scripture quoted without
reference: ESV –
Emphasis added
Verses
for our meditation: God Is Infinite in Understanding
Job 12:13,
With God are wisdom and might; he has
counsel and understanding.
Psalm 147:1-7, Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is
pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting. The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number
of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and
abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. The LORD lifts
up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground. Sing to the LORD with
thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre!
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.
1 Chronicles
22:11-13, [David
speaking to Solomon, said,] Now, my son, the LORD be with you, so that you may
succeed in building the house of the LORD your God, as he has spoken concerning
you. Only, may the LORD grant you discretion and understanding, that
when he gives you charge over Israel
you may keep the law of the LORD your God. Then you will prosper if you are
careful to observe the statutes and the rules that the LORD commanded Moses for
Israel.
Be strong and courageous. Fear not; do not be dismayed.
1 Kings 3:7-12, [Solomon prayed,] “And now, O LORD my God,
you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but
a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in
the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be
numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding
mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who
is able to govern this your great people?" It pleased the Lord that
Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, "Because you have asked this,
and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your
enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold,
I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning
mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise
after you.
1 Kings 4:29-31 And God
gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind
like the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of
all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than
all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the
sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations.
Daniel 1:17,
As for these four youths [Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego], God gave them learning and skill in all
literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding
in all visions and dreams.
Colossians 2:1-3, For I want you to know how
great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have
not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit
together in love, to reach all the riches of
full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is
Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
1 John 5:20, And we
know that the Son of God has come and has
given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in
him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
Monday, December 26, 2011
God is Patient
God is Patient!
“God Is” Devotional # 35In the last devotional we meditated on the forbearance of God. Now, we will consider a paralleling attribute—His Patience! While forbearance refers primarily to God’s withholding of righteous wrath and judgment, God’s patience includes the attitude He keeps and the work He does while restraining His judgment.
The Apostle Peter encourages believers to “count the patience of our Lord as salvation” (1 Peter 3:16). Noah Webster lists one of the connotations of patience as “perseverance; constancy in labor or exertion.” God in patient perseverance and loving consistency has been working His plan to redeem mankind and justly deliver repentant individuals from the consequences of sin. Therefore, God’s patience with us includes His plan of salvation for us by sending His Son into this world to complete His redemptive work on the cross. Jesus was born to die upon Calvary! All this reveals God’s persevering patience with us.
While sharing his own salvation testimony, Paul clearly says that in Jesus Christ we see the perfection of patience:
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life (1 Timothy 1:15-16).
We have also sinned against God. I shamefully remember ridiculing Christians before I came to Christ in humility. If God could forgive Paul, He can also forgive me in Jesus Christ. How about you? Have you felt that your sins are so bad that God would certainly never forgive you? Then find comfort in Christ’s perfect example of patience with Paul. God is not a respecter of persons and will certainly be patient with you as well. God is love! Out of His Love comes patience! I Corinthians 13:4 says, “Love is patient”.
Will you worship the Lord with me today and praise Him for His patience and then go the next step and pray for His grace to be patient with others as you wait for His coming? James 5:7 says, “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.” Romans 12:12, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”
With Prayer, Mark |
© December, 2011 Scripture quoted: ESV – Emphasis added
Verses for our meditation: God Is Patient!
Romans 2:2-5, We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man–you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself–that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
1 Timothy 1:15-17, The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
1 Corinthians 13:4, Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
1 Peter 3:18-20, For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.
2 Peter 3:4-9, They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
2 Peter 3:13-15a, But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation.
James 5:7-11, Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
Romans 12:10-21, Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Lastest "Knowing God" Devotionals
What a blessing to write for the Glory of God!
Devotional 34: God is Forbearing!
Devotional 35: God is Patient!
Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year in Christ!
With prayer. Pastor Mark
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Thankful for all God has taught me this year!
Knowing God Devotionals!
My goal this year has been to write a devotional a week. Well, I have not reached my goal but have studied and written more than if I had not had such a goal. My revised goal is to keep writing on the theme of “God Is,” as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, until I have a devotional for each week of the year – 52.The Lord encouraged me this morning in my Bible reading from this powerful passage:
1 Peter 4:10-11, As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies–in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Knowing God Devotionals on the Theme: God Is!
Devotional 1: Seeking Idols or God in 2011
Devotional 2: God Is!
Devotional 3: God is Light!
Devotional 4: God Is Beyond Us!
Devotional 5: God Is Knowable!
Devotional 6: God Is Near!
Devotional 7: God Is Merciful!
Devotional 8: God Is Holy!
Devotional 9: God Is Perfect in Justice!
Devotional 10: God is Righteous!
Devotional 11: God is Judge!
Devotional 12: God Is The Lawgiver!
Devotional 13: God Is King!
Devotional 14: God Is Sovereign!
Devotional 15: God is Good!
Devotional 16: God is Faithful!
Devotional 17: God Is True – part 1
Devotional 18: God is True – part 2
Devotional 19: God is Wise!
Devotional 20: God is Powerful!
Devotional 21: God is Spirit!
Devotional 22: God Is our Father!
Devotional 23: God is our Shield! I Know!
Devotional 24: God is Witness!
Devotional 25: God Is Unchanging!
Devotional 26: God is One!
Devotional 27: God is Eternal!
Devotional 28: God Is the Giver of Life!
Devotional 29: God is the Creator!
Devotional 30: God is our Guide!
Devotional 31: God is Our Shepherd
Devotional 32: God is Jealous
Devotional 33: God is Angry!
Monday, September 5, 2011
God is our Guide!
One of my favorite quotations from the Old Testament is from Abraham’s servant when he had returned to Abraham’s homeland to take a wife for Isaac. After experiencing God’s guidance in answer to prayer he said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the LORD has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen” (Genesis 24:27). Can you look back in your life and see how God has led you “in the way”? You might want to list them out on a piece of paper or a journal. After making your list, praise and bless God for His guidance that Abraham’s servant attributed to God’s “steadfast love” and “faithfulness”! God certainly leads us in His love and faithfulness for He is a good guide.
One situation that I would have to put on my list of times in which God led me in the way would be when we followed the Lord’s direction in joining a certain mission board to go to Brazil as missionaries. We had just finished their required seminar classes in Ohio and needed to travel back across the country to Washington to start deputation in the Western states. We only had $150.00. We prayed for God’s guidance and provision for the trip. God led us to look up a friend in Minnesota, whose father offered me a temporary job on the spot. He needed someone to be the hands for his plumber who had just broken three fingers. So, I learned how to clean drains and sewer pipes, a skill which God would use in Brazil as I maintained mission property. God’s leading also opened up a door to witness to the plumber for three weeks. Having had opportunity to serve others, we were back on the road and heading west. On a Sunday we came to a small town in eastern Montana that bears my family name—Worden. God directed our timing to have arrived about the time that evening church services would be starting. We found a church with open doors and sensed God’s peace about attending. We met and had great fellowship with the pastor and congregation. Without any solicitation, the pastor took up a love offering after the service to help us on the way. I give God thanks and praise for He provided for us and led us while we were in the way.
God’s guidance may not always be so obvious. However, He is always directing those who trust Him and look to Him even in the mundane routines of daily life. God leads us daily by giving us wisdom and truth. He even gives His Spirit to believers to guide them into all truth as Jesus told His disciples, saying, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:13). We still have the truth that the Spirit of God revealed through the Prophets and Apostles in the Word of God which is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105). God guides us through His Word.
Many of the Psalms contain examples of how to call upon God for guidance and praise Him for this gift:
In a previous devotion—God is Eternal, I listed out God’s eternal gifts. Well, we need to add one more. Psalm 48:12-14 indicates that God’s guidance is eternal, “Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels, that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.”
Will you wait for God’s guidance as you are in the way? He will surely guide you if you call upon Him and seek truth and wisdom from His Word—the Bible.
With Prayer, Mark
© September, 2011 Scripture quoted: ESV – Emphasis added
Verses for our meditation: God Is Guide
Exodus 13:21, And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
Psalm 5:8, Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.
Psalm 25:5, Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
Psalm 27:11-14, Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!
Psalm 31:3-4, For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me; you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge.
Psalm 37:23-24, The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. KJV
Psalm 43:3-5, Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God. Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
Psalm 48:12-14, Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels, that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.
Psalm 73:24-25, You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
John 16:13, When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
James 1:2-8, Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
One situation that I would have to put on my list of times in which God led me in the way would be when we followed the Lord’s direction in joining a certain mission board to go to Brazil as missionaries. We had just finished their required seminar classes in Ohio and needed to travel back across the country to Washington to start deputation in the Western states. We only had $150.00. We prayed for God’s guidance and provision for the trip. God led us to look up a friend in Minnesota, whose father offered me a temporary job on the spot. He needed someone to be the hands for his plumber who had just broken three fingers. So, I learned how to clean drains and sewer pipes, a skill which God would use in Brazil as I maintained mission property. God’s leading also opened up a door to witness to the plumber for three weeks. Having had opportunity to serve others, we were back on the road and heading west. On a Sunday we came to a small town in eastern Montana that bears my family name—Worden. God directed our timing to have arrived about the time that evening church services would be starting. We found a church with open doors and sensed God’s peace about attending. We met and had great fellowship with the pastor and congregation. Without any solicitation, the pastor took up a love offering after the service to help us on the way. I give God thanks and praise for He provided for us and led us while we were in the way.
God’s guidance may not always be so obvious. However, He is always directing those who trust Him and look to Him even in the mundane routines of daily life. God leads us daily by giving us wisdom and truth. He even gives His Spirit to believers to guide them into all truth as Jesus told His disciples, saying, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:13). We still have the truth that the Spirit of God revealed through the Prophets and Apostles in the Word of God which is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105). God guides us through His Word.
Many of the Psalms contain examples of how to call upon God for guidance and praise Him for this gift:
Psalm 5:8, Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.
Psalm 25:5, Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
Will you wait for God’s guidance as you are in the way? He will surely guide you if you call upon Him and seek truth and wisdom from His Word—the Bible.
With Prayer, Mark
© September, 2011 Scripture quoted: ESV – Emphasis added
Verses for our meditation: God Is Guide
Exodus 13:21, And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
Psalm 5:8, Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.
Psalm 25:5, Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
Psalm 27:11-14, Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!
Psalm 31:3-4, For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me; you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge.
Psalm 37:23-24, The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. KJV
Psalm 43:3-5, Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God. Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
Psalm 48:12-14, Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels, that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.
Psalm 73:24-25, You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
John 16:13, When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
James 1:2-8, Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
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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