Why do we limit God when He is capable of accomplishing more than we can ever think or imagine? This is a God who created the universe, everything we see, everything that is known and unknown to us in just 7 days! The God who is able to perfectly design the human body so that every organ serves a specific purpose and functions so perfectly in sync with the others that if you or I tried to do it ourselves, we would fail miserably. This is a God, who in a planet of over 7 billion people, did not create any two people exactly alike! Even identical twins have their own unique features! He took the time not only to create the big things about us, but also to design the intricate patterns on our retinas and the loops and swirls of our fingerprints... this is a God who has thought about YOU and cares deeply about you, a God who didn't just throw us all together like mass quantities of a product made in a factory, but carefully planned and thought about each one of us. It absolutely blows my mind that anyone could be capable of this, but when I think of who I am talking about, when I remind myself that this is GOD, I know that the things I am amazed by are only such a small glimpse of what such an awesome God is capable of.
Something that I've been tested with lately, though, is do I actually believe that this awesome and mighty God is able to meet my needs? After everything that I just said about him, I would hope so. How could the very God who created me not be able to supply me with everything I need? But time and time again, I doubt His promises and provision for my life.
The Bible says in Philippians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ
Jesus." Not only does this promise that my needs will be met, but it says according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus! The provider of my needs is God and God alone, and the creator of my needs is the best and only one that is able to satisfy them. When I read that Christ's riches are the ones that will satisfy me, I think of how Christ is eternal! I will be eternally satisfied if He is who I choose to be satisfied by. I will have eternal satisfaction in Christ. Not only will he just quench my needs for the time being, he will go above and beyond and supply my needs not with things of this world that will just satisfy temporarily or rot and rust, but with HIS glorious riches that can satisfy and will last for an eternity! How blessed I am to stand as a victor with my Lord who has conquered all things and who can supply all things!
When I doubt if God will provide for me, I need to look at the cross where God made the ultimate provision for my sins. If God would provide a means to redeem my sinful soul, how could He not provide all else? If God would put my penalty, the penalty of an unrighteous person on His own Son, how will He not also meet me for the small things? The answer to these questions is that He will and He has! We have been paid for by the blood of Christ and God has met us where we're at so that we can bask in the promise of an eternity with Him! When you're doubting God's goodness or provision, take comfort in Jesus Christ, God's ultimate provision to meet all of our needs.
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Galatians 2:20
"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Hebrews 12:2
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Holocene
We are always told that God is actively pursuing us. Every second. Every hour. Every moment of every day and into eternity. But what does our pursuit of God look like? For some, it's a few seconds of prayer here and there, for others it's flipping through a Bible or devotional, and for some, we have no idea how to even begin to pursue God.
As I was listening to some music a few moments ago, this crazy idea of us pursuing God finally clicked for me. In the particular music video I was watching (bear with me on this one), this little boy sees a bird and scrambles to climb to the top of a mountain just so he can be a little bit closer to this bird, who is so much higher than him. The boy dropping everything and hastily climbing excited me because I could see how, in that moment, nothing but the bird mattered. It didn't matter that the bird was completely out of his reach and it didn't matter that the mountain he had to climb was extremely tall. His sole ambition was to be close to it.
What if this is how we pursued God? When, just catching a glimpse of His glory, we couldn't help but drop everything to chase after Him! What if our Christian walk was not just a slow aimless walk or the dragging of our feet, but instead was defined by chasing and pursuing! What if our sole ambition was to be close to Him?
This idea of us chasing after God excites me because He is definitely someone to be chased after. When you experience God, when you experience just a small amount of His glory, it should be enough to make you go into an all out sprint to experience more. After encountering our God, how could you still be complacent with the same slow-paced walk you've been doing your whole life? And if you are, the issue could be that you really don't fully understand his breath-taking, life-changing, majesty, or that your eyes are fixed on something else (something other than God) that doesn't make you feel like changing your pace.
As I examine my heart after seeing this incredible example of pursuit, I think of how many "mountains" have stopped me from actively pursuing something so glorious. When we are faced with obstacles, it is not for discouragement, but so that we would rely on the Lord for His strength! The Bible makes it so clear that our own strength will constantly fail us, but that the strength of the Lord is forever.
"Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty" (Zechariah 4:6).
I pray that we would be child-like in our pursuit of the Lord, not fearing the unknown but instead trusting, and I mean really trusting, the promises that we DO know.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWcyIpul8OE
As I was listening to some music a few moments ago, this crazy idea of us pursuing God finally clicked for me. In the particular music video I was watching (bear with me on this one), this little boy sees a bird and scrambles to climb to the top of a mountain just so he can be a little bit closer to this bird, who is so much higher than him. The boy dropping everything and hastily climbing excited me because I could see how, in that moment, nothing but the bird mattered. It didn't matter that the bird was completely out of his reach and it didn't matter that the mountain he had to climb was extremely tall. His sole ambition was to be close to it.
What if this is how we pursued God? When, just catching a glimpse of His glory, we couldn't help but drop everything to chase after Him! What if our Christian walk was not just a slow aimless walk or the dragging of our feet, but instead was defined by chasing and pursuing! What if our sole ambition was to be close to Him?
This idea of us chasing after God excites me because He is definitely someone to be chased after. When you experience God, when you experience just a small amount of His glory, it should be enough to make you go into an all out sprint to experience more. After encountering our God, how could you still be complacent with the same slow-paced walk you've been doing your whole life? And if you are, the issue could be that you really don't fully understand his breath-taking, life-changing, majesty, or that your eyes are fixed on something else (something other than God) that doesn't make you feel like changing your pace.
As I examine my heart after seeing this incredible example of pursuit, I think of how many "mountains" have stopped me from actively pursuing something so glorious. When we are faced with obstacles, it is not for discouragement, but so that we would rely on the Lord for His strength! The Bible makes it so clear that our own strength will constantly fail us, but that the strength of the Lord is forever.
"Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty" (Zechariah 4:6).
I pray that we would be child-like in our pursuit of the Lord, not fearing the unknown but instead trusting, and I mean really trusting, the promises that we DO know.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWcyIpul8OE
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