All Powerful God

"Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you." (Jeremiah 32:17)

The Day After

My Christmas was a good mixture of busy and relaxing this year. Thankfully, I did not have to travel any farther than across town yesterday, but I know plenty of people who have trekked many hundreds of miles to spend time with their families this holiday season.

I hope that your Christmas was filled with many blessings. I am among the oh-so-lucky people who get to return to work today. Many of my co-workers have taken today off, so I anticipate a quiet day and will probably get a lot done with few interruptions.

In honor of those of you who are worn out from celebrating Christmas, here's a good reminder from one of my favorite books of the Bible, Isaiah:


Do you not know?


Have you not heard?


The LORD is the everlasting God,


the Creator of the ends of the earth.


He will not grow tired or weary,


and his understanding no one can fathom.



He gives strength to the weary


and increases the power of the weak. (Isaiah 40:28, 29)

A Child Is Born

For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17)

May you feel God's grace and peace to you this Christmas!

The Psalms

If for some reason I could only have one particular book of the Bible with me for the rest of my life, I'd have to choose the book of Psalms. Not to say that it is more important than any other book, but it is definitely one of my "favorites".

The Psalms just resonate with me. They run the gamut of human emotion, from anguish and despair to humility and appreciation to praise and adoration--sometimes all within the same Psalm. Sometimes the Psalmist seeks protection from and revenge on his enemies. Sometimes he seeks mercy and blessings. Sometimes he simply seeks the face of God.

I love the honesty of the Psalms. Although written by men (including King David), the Psalms, like every other book of the Bible, were inspired by God--and if it's included in the Bible, then it's only because God wanted it in there. That's why it's so encouraging to me to read the gut-level honesty of these Psalms, particularly the ones that are filled with hurt and sorrow and even anger, and to realize that these are not turn-offs to God. We can be honest with Him in our own prayers. We can admit that we're afraid that He's not listening or that He won't come through for us. We can tell Him our deepest desires and not be afraid of His rejection or scorn.

As I spent time in prayer tonight, I found myself expressing a jumble of emotions--confusion, fear, overwhelming love, appreciation, humility. I am so thankful that God can not only handle whatever we throw at Him, but that He welcomes that honesty. It is through this honesty that we deepen our intimacy with Him. Just as honesty in a human relationship breeds trust and a bond, so does honesty with God.

How grateful I am for His inclusion of the Psalms in His Word. They remind me to not be afraid to be "real" in my prayers, and to acknowlege the awesomeness of God at work in my life.

Challenging Verse

There are countless verses in Scripture that I quickly turn to when I need encouragement, strength, and cheer. Then there are other verses that deeply challenge me, verses that, quite honestly, I would sometimes rather skip over because they challenge me at the core of my being.

Romans 12:1 is one of those challenging verses:

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?

When Paul pleads with us to give our bodies to God, he doesn't just mean our physical bodies, although that is part of the sacrifice. He means our entire beings. And that, I will admit, is a hard thing to turn over to God. It means that every part of me, inside and out, every attitude and thought and behavior, belong to Him. My pride. My eating and exercise habits. My television and movie watching habits. My sexual purity. My desire to gossip or slander. My time. My finances. My job. My relationships.

I have heard it said that the problem with a living sacrifice is that it keeps crawling off the altar. How true. Time after time, I find myself re-dedicating my life to Christ, repositioning myself upon that altar.

Standing on its own, Romans 12:1 is quite an intimidating verse. However, let's look at it in context with the previous verses:

Oh, what a wonderful God we have! How great are his riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his methods! For who can know what the Lord is thinking? Who knows enough to be his counselor? And who could ever give him so much that he would have to pay it back? For everything comes from him; everything exists by his power and is intended for his glory. To him be glory evermore. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)

Perhaps some of my inward struggle to give everything over to God is not fully trusting Him to know what He's doing with it. But as Paul states, His wisdom and knowledge are far beyond our understanding. When I recall that He knows far better than I do what is best for my life, I am able to relax my feeble grip on my life. My life is much better off on His altar, in His hands, than in mine.

What verse(s) really challenge you?

Teachable Moment #2: Choosing Wisely

I went to lunch with one of my co-workers today. A couple of years ago, I made a commitment to change my eating habits and to adopt a healthier lifestyle. That means being more choosy about where and what I eat. Today we decided that Ruby Tuesday's would be a relatively healthy place to chow down.

After surveying the menu and passing over the most tempting but no doubt fattening selections, I decided to order a veggie burger. Sounds healthy, right? For good measure, I even substituted broccoli on the side in place of french fries.

When I got back to the office, I decided to do some online investigating into the RT menu. I was appalled to discover that my so-called "healthy" choice weighed in a whopping 943 calories!! The burger was huge and I only ate half, but still, it was shocking to see how many calories I'd consumed thinking that I was eating healthy! Needless to say, the RT veggie burger is officially off my list of healthy meal choices!

So, where's the teachable moment in all this, you wonder? I had good intentions. I wanted to order the "right" thing. I wanted to live healthy. And I chose something that sounded healthy. But I chose poorly. Just because something is labled as "veggie" or "healthy" or "lite" does not make it so.

Likewise, something that is labeled "Christian" is not necessarily so. Part of being a disciple is actively pursuing the truth. Satan himself is described as being a liar, deceitful, deceptive. So much of what Satan uses to tempt us is not something that is in direct opposition to God, but rather something that is counterfeit. It may look and sound "Christian", but it could be far from it.

I've heard that when bankers and tellers are trained to look for counterfeit bills, they don't study counterfeits. They study authentic currency--the look, the feel, the weight and dimensions of it. By studying the legitimate bills so carefully, they can more readily spot a fake.

By spending time studying God's Word, we will have a deeper knowledge of His truth, and will be able to more easily recognize the lies and deception that Satan brings against us.

The Importance of Meditation on the Word of God

The primary business I must attend to every day is to fellowship with the Lord. The first concern is not how much I might serve the Lord, but how my inner man might be nourished. I may share the truth with the unconverted; I may try to encourage believers; I may relieve the distressed; or I may, in other ways, seek to behave as a child of God; yet, not being happy in the Lord and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, may result in this work being done in a wrong spirit.

The most important thing I had to do was to read the Word of God and meditate on it. Thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, and instructed.

Formerly, when I rose, I began to pray as soon as possible. But I often spent a quarter of an hour to an hour on my knees struggling to pray while my mind wandered. Now I rarely have this problem. As my heart is nourished by the truth of the Word, I am brought into true fellowship with God. I speak to my Father and my Friend (although I am unworthy) about the things that He has brought before me in His precious Word.

It often astonishes me that I did not see the importance of meditation upon Scripture earlier in my Christian life. As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time unless he eats, so it is with the inner man. What is the food for the inner man? Not prayer, but the Word of God--not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe. No, we must consider what we read, ponder over it, and apply it to our hearts.

When we pray, we speak to God. This exercise of the soul can be best performed after the inner man has been nourished by meditation on the Word of God. Through His Word, our Father speaks to us, encourages us, comforts us, instructs us, humbles us, and reproves us. We may profitably meditate, with God's blessing, although we are spiritually weak. The weaker we are, the more meditation we need to strengthen our inner man. Meditation on God's Word has given me the help and strength to pass peacefully through deep trials. What a difference there is when the soul is refreshed in fellowship with God early in the morning! Without spiritual preparation, the service, the trials, and the temptations of the day can be overwhelming.

(The Autobiography of George Muller, pps. 138-140)

Comfort

Feeling down, needed some comfort. This is one of my favorite Psalms, especially verse 18.


Psalm 34

1 I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.

2 My soul will boast in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

3 Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together.

4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.

5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.

6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.

8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

9 Fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing.

10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

11 Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,

13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.

14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry;

16 the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.

18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

19 A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all;

20 he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.

21 Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.

22 The LORD redeems his servants;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.

Power Verses

There are many verses in the Bible that inspire, encourage and astound me. The following passage is one in particular that knocks my socks off every time I read it:

I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 1:19-20)

Just think, the very same power that resurrected Jesus is available to work on our behalf!

How different would our lives be if we lived every day with the confidence of truly believing in those verses?

Convicted by a Verse

I try to spend some time every morning reading my Bible. There are days when I just don't do it (particularly on Saturdays), and then there are some days when I read through with a mentality of "Let's get this done so I can move on to my next project of the day." Some days I have a stellar quiet time and walk away feeling refreshed and encouraged, and other days I feel like I've just gone through the motions and ten minutes later probably couldn't tell you what I'd read.

This morning, before I turned to my reading, I prayed that my heart and mind would be receptive to whatever God wanted me to learn today. I've prayed that prayer many times before but for whatever reason it had been a while. I wanted to read until God told me to "stop", no matter how long or how short that was.

Well, it didn't take long for God to speak to me. I began reading the 25th Psalm, and was stopped short in verse one:

"To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;" (Psalm 25:1)

The word "you" is what stood out to me, as if written in letters ten inches high. I began to ask myself, how often have I looked elsewhere besides the Lord to minister to my soul? So often when I'm hurting or need to vent or just want someone to talk to, my inclination is to pick up the phone and call a friend. While God can and certainly does use other people in my life to minister to me, He wants me to turn to Him first.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've found my prayers getting a little shorter and a little more formal. For quite a while there I was "letting it all hang out", pouring out my heart to God about everything. I'm not sure why, but lately I've been holding back and doing more sharing of my heart with friends than with God. Today's verse convicted me that I need to first and foremost put my trust in God and be more open with Him once again.

Amazing what one little verse can do to your heart...

Day to Day

Some days I am filled with confidence and hope in knowing that God is working in me and preparing to do powerful things with my life.

Other days, I struggle to have that sense of hope. Intellectually, I know that God is at work, but my heart longs to see tangible evidence of His plans.

Quite honestly, on really bad days, I can't see how I'll get through another week or month without falling apart, and I have to tell myself that I only have to make it through one more day.

How thankful I am for God's Word that encourages my soul on the darkest of days.


Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the highest heavens. You have done such wonderful things. Who can compare with you, O God?

You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again and lift me up from the depths of the earth.

You will restore me to even greater honor and comfort me once again.
(Psalm 71:19-21)