Listen!

The book of Job is a tremendous read.  Not only is it a story of a man who suffers more than any person I’ve ever known, but there are some incredible verses of God’s discourse with Job near the end of the book.  The book encourages the reader in the magnificent power and control of the Lord, and how we (even in the middle of great sorrow and pain) can find peace in this truth.

Job 37: At this my heart pounds and leaps from its place. Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth. He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth. After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back. God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.

Have you ever stopped in the middle of a thunderstorm, one with lightning darting across the sky, to listen to God roar in his majestic voice?  It might be that you stand amazed at the lightning zigzags, or sit in awe at the thunderous echo.  Or maybe storms only frighten you, because you’ve been caught in one before and devastation occurred.

We have flash floods in Central Texas, where I live, and we just had a few this past month, where homes were flooded, lives were lost, and people were afraid.  The lightning and thunder was not majestic, nor marvelous to behold to those who were affected.

These verses are a great personification of God to demonstrate his power.  However, even in the middle of real, tangible, storms in our lives God’s voice resounds above all of the fear, the panic, and the destruction.  He can put our lives back together like no other construction worker can.  He can put us at ease like no cloudless day can offer.  And he can create beauty from rubble like no sculptor can imagine.

Hear his voice today, even if your sky is stormy…or clear.  He does great things...for you.

Walking About

Psalm 119 says I will walk about in freedom,for I have sought out your precepts.

It's funny.  So many times I've heard people say that God's word imposes boundaries on us, that it inhibits our fun, and that it's a list of a bunch "do not" phrases.

But the word of God actually does the opposite of this. It sets us free to "walk about" freely, it does protect us and hem us in but it's in order to protect us from evil, and it enhances our pleasure in life with a bunch of "do" phrases!

Do love the Lord with all your heart.
Do love your neighbor as yourself.
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you.
Do give cheerfully.
Do pray for one another so that you may be healed.

Seeking God's word through reading it and doing what it says is the best way to experience life at its fullest, in complete freedom, and reap the benefits that come from living a life where we gain everything that is good, lasting, and true.  

Are you walking about in freedom?

Set Free

I saw a quote on a movie poster that said something like,

Maybe we shouldn't ask so much why we were imprisoned,
but why it is that we are set free.

I thought that was an interesting quote, and it made me think about our lives as Christians.  Many of us spend our lives wondering why God "allowed" all of the bad things that happened to us and trying to figure it all out, instead of looking forward and giving thanks for our freedom and finding out what why it is that we are now free.

God has freed us from sin, from our past, and from all that chained us...so it would be a good thing to move on now and consider what to do with our freedom.

We can pray for those still enslaved.
We can do something to help free those that we can.
We teach others how to keep from being chained down in fear.

Luke 4 says it like this:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,to set the oppressed free..."

Momentary Afflictions

Heard my son-in-law speak tonight on our "momentary afflictions" and he read part of James 1.  He talked about how we often question God when he says to count it all joy in trials - say what!?

But he went on to explain how we fail to remember who God is, his character, and his fatherly love towards us, even in our afflictions.  And he, our creator, is at work perfecting his image in us.  Part of that perfection takes place when we are going through trials, so that the glory we now experience from knowing him grows into this huge glory from experiencing him in hard times.

God himself is acquainted with our afflictions. Remember, he gave up the thing he loved the most - his son - for our sins.  Wow.

We were also reminded that our life on this earth is a moment in time, on the spectrum of an eternal timeline.

Are you in the middle of what seems an eternity of pain?  Be encouraged and have hope.  God is with you, at work, loving you through your worst pain, perfecting something far greater in you that you can ever imagine.  He loves you fiercely, too much to let you stay stagnant and unchanged.

He's Perfect

Deuteronomy 32: I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

If you’re thinking God has wronged you, let you down, or been completely absent from your life, you’re believing a lie.

God is faithful.  Period.

He cannot do anything imperfect, because he is perfect.  Therefore, when we see all sorts of imperfections in our lives, while following him, we can trust and believe (have faith) that he is working towards perfection.  He wants us to be like him, and he will complete the work.

He cannot tolerate injustice, because he is just.  When we see all sorts of evil in the world and people experience all sorts of horrible abuse, we can trust and believe (have faith) that he is incensed about it, and wants to heal the hurting.  He wants the unloved to feel loved. And our faith can help that be accomplished.

He cannot do wrong, he is incapable of it because he is upright.  He is all that is right.  So when we see something wrong in our lives, a weakness, a flaw, a constant thorn in the flesh, we can rest assured that he is righting all wrongs. And he won’t stop until we are conformed into his image.

Proclaim the name of the Lord and his greatness, and do it with every ounce of faith in your being.  He is your Rock.  Stand on this truth in faith. 

God's Character

Exodus 34: Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. 

I’m convinced that sons and daughters want to be like their fathers.  From a very early age, they start mimicking every move and every step their fathers take.  Babies start nodding their heads and blinking their eyes when their fathers nod and blink at them.  When toddlers can walk, they follow behind their fathers and pick up tools, climb on ladders, and follow in their footsteps.

God the Father appeared to Moses.  He passed in front of him declaring who he is, his character, his compassion, his love…and his faithfulness…his sustaining, lovely, faithfulness.

Faithful fathers produce children who respond (even if they walk away for a season) in like faith back to their fathers.

God is a faithful Father, and when we realize his faithfulness in our lives to show grace when we sin, forgive us for all wrongdoing, and restore our relationship with him, we want to follow and mimic that faithfulness right back to him.

He is faithful.  And when we see it and experience it, we are faithful, as well...  Because we’re his children who follow in the footsteps of our father.

Walking Faithfully

Genesis 5: When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

These verses contain the first mention of the word “faith” in the bible.  Enoch walked faithfully with God. And did you know Enoch was the father of the oldest man mentioned in the bible – Methuselah? A bit of interesting trivia!

This guy Enoch experienced something I wish I and all those I love could experience – that of not suffering death through illness or tragedy – but rather through God just taking us away.

I find it also quite interesting that in a long list of names and years lived, Genesis 5 throws in this extra bit of commentary about Enoch, that he walked faithfully with God.

It IS possible to walk faithfully with the Lord.  And that’s because he breathed faith into our being, the ability to trust him and obey him, believe in him and see him, with our innermost being. 

And that faith will translate us into another world, and produce offspring that live long, healthy lives.