Friday, February 21, 2020

"He gives power to those who are weak.” Isaiah 40:28-29 (NIRV)

There is a God who is above all creation and His name is Yahweh!  He is all-powerful, and He reigns forever.  He made everything that we encounter each day, and there is nothing that escapes His touch.

We often comment “how God could allow something to happen,” when an incident challenges our sensibilities and which may seem contradictory to His nature of love, whether it be suffering or even death.  We must realize that “all things” pass through God’s hands, and there is nothing that escapes His purview.  

Nothing passes by without God’s deep concern for our well being, God sheds many tears when we are suffering, for it was never His intention that we experience suffering in this life, but suffering does have its purpose and that is to be a catalyst for us to trust Him through our pain.  

Job was faithful to the Lord, but suffering came to him and proved to be his greatest virtue

“Sing, all you who remain faithful!  Pour out your hearts to the Eternal with praise and melodies; let grateful music fill the air and bless His name.  His wrath, you see, is fleeting, but His grace lasts a lifetime.  The deepest pains may linger through the night, but joy greets the soul with the smile of morning.”  Psalm 30:4-5 (VOICE)

Jobs’ comforters were not much comfort at all, for they missed the higher purpose of suffering, which is to instill confidence in Lord Himself and not trust in our understanding.  

God never becomes tired or worn out with our situations, as we might tend to do. He is always attentive and able to bring us relief when we need it most.

“Now the Lord is not slow about enacting His promise—slow is how some people want to characterize it—no, He is not slow but patient and merciful to you, not wanting anyone to be destroyed, but wanting everyone to turn away from following his own path and to turn toward God’s.”  2 Peter 3:9 (VOICE)

The Lord is everywhere at once (omnipresent), and He responds to each person individually according to their needs, that is where I get lost concerning the wonder of our God.  It is too much to grasp with the human mind that a being which created us exists outside the boundaries of space and time.

In a small way, it is like Dr. Manhattan of the Watchmen D.C. comic series; he can exist in many places at once, but still, be a sentient corporeal being. These comic strips help to define difficult concepts like omnipresence in ways that make it understandable.  However, our God is not a comic strip in any way, and some real-world enemies are fighting against our God and His chosen imagers (which are us) to bring His plan to ruin.   

These enemy combatants are the principalities and powers that were initially set in place by our God as placeholders until God’s plan for humankind could be once again be restored as imagers through Jesus.  

Even though notice has been given through the sacrifice of Jesus that these principalities have been defeated and dethroned, and their rule is hereby ended, these principalities do not want to relinquish their power or influence. They have chosen to rebel against the God of Heaven who put them in place to begin with, and they are against God's chosen plan for His imagers to rule in their stead.

God’s understanding of us and this world He has created is so far beyond what we can comprehend, Isaiah says “no one will ever know how great His understanding is,” it would be like trying to grasp the whole of perfection with an imperfect mind, even a little of God’s understanding would be enough to drive a person to madness, which is why we trust by faith alone.  

I do understand why no one can see God and live, the overwhelming beauty and majesty of His presence is so great that it overcomes the senses to such a degree that the human body cannot contain it, receive it, or reflect it, which is why we must be transformed into a new man.

Moses only saw the Lord pass by him when he hid in the cleft of a rock, admittedly he was only exposed to the Lord’s backside, the result was the glory of the Lord shone from Moses’s face to such a degree that children of Israel could not look upon his face without him wearing a veil to hide the glory emanating from the face of Moses. 
 
“I am at peace and even take pleasure in any weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and afflictions for the sake of the Anointed because when I am at my weakest, He makes me strong.”  
2 Corinthians 12:10 (VOICE)

Herein lies the beauty of serving the Lord, we can rest in the full assurance that even in our weaknesses, it is His glory (presence) which is alive within us to make us strong.  Even when we are tired or aged, His promise stands firm, and His strength comes alive within us.

“You are my strength and my shield from every danger. When I fully trust in you, help is on the way.  I jump for joy and burst forth with ecstatic, passionate praise!  I will sing songs of what you mean to me!” Psalm 28:7 (TPT)

Our God is so worthy of our praise!
Be Blessed;
Stephen Barnett

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