Tag Archives: God’s Presence

Jan 13 – Why Bother?

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Job 35-37

Have you ever wondered why you bother being a Christian? I mean, you go to church every Sunday, maybe even teach a SS class, give sacrificially with every pay check. You don’t drink or swear. You’re honest and kind.

Then you go to the doctor and hear the “C” word. Or you lose your job when the company down-sizes. Your neighbor, who makes fun of your Christianity drives a new BMW, and your clunker needs new tires.

You might think about making choices to give in to temptation, to get drunk, have an affair, sleep in on Sunday. There, God. Take that.

Elihu, in Job 35 asks: if you sin, do you take anything away from God? And if you are righteous, do you add something to God?

We’ve got to remember God is above us, God never changes, and most of the time God’s ways are not our ways. Your obedience doesn’t make God stronger or wiser or better. And your disobedience doesn’t make Him weaker. Satan would have us look at circumstances, or our neighbor. Satan would have us envy what we do not have, and blame God for our not having it.

If you serve God in order to get what you want – don’t bother. You’re not going to change God with your obedience or disobedience. But God can – and wants to – change you. Maybe not your circumstance. You.

And that’s why I bother to be a Christian. I like the way God has changed me. As a Christian I have a relationship with this unchanging, all powerful, ever present God of mine. I can live my life with confidence that whatever happens, I have the God of Creation right here living in me. And this awesome God wants to bless me with Himself every minute of every day.

Let my neighbor have his BMW. Give me Jesus.

Jan 9 – Longing

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Job 21-23

What do you long for? Is it love? Or health? Or more money, fame? A career? Or something else?

Job longed to talk to God. Chapter 23 tells us Job wishes he knew where to find God, to learn from God, to be heard of God, and to be defended by God. Job says no matter where he goes, forward or backward, left or right, God just isn’t there. Then he says, “But…”

But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. (23:10, I added the bold)

We might not understand why things are like they are in our lives. Job certainly didn’t understand his circumstances. But we can find great comfort in knowing God knows! He cares, and He is present even if we can’t see Him.

It’s funny, Job longs to see God, to face God. And yet, in verse 15 he says: What am I thinking? I’d have a heart attack if I actually got what I want. God scares me!

Be careful what you wish for.

Maybe the longing in our hearts isn’t really about finding love in a spouse, or having all that money. Maybe it’s about having complete confidence in the One who loves you to death.

We are privileged to be able to read God’s heart right here in black and white, in the pages of His Holy Word. We can know for certain what Job only longed for.

And God can fulfill every longing of your heart when He fills you with Himself through the precious blood of Jesus.

Dear God, we long. We dream, and wish, and hope. And sometimes we hurt. But I thank You for the reminder that it’s You we ultimately long for. It’s Your Presence that is most important. It’s Your fellowship that’s sweeter than any human fellowship. Thank you for knowing what we do not know, for wanting what’s best for us even if it’s not what we think we want. Thank you that we can know the longing of our hearts when we repent of sin, and accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord. Thank You for You.

Jan 6 – I Will Trust God

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Job 10-13

Job is hurting. He’s at his wit’s end and doesn’t know how to make things better. He doesn’t even know why his life has turned out like it has. He feels alone, ridiculed, misunderstood. He wants to ask God some questions. He even says he’s ready to argue with God. And he can’t figure out why God is treating him like an enemy.

Sound familiar? Have you ever found yourself crying out to a silent God? Do you have the “why” questions that are not being answered? Does it feel like God has turned on you?

Job doesn’t know what we know: that his losses are of Satan, not God. He doesn’t have the privilege of opening God’s Word and reading God’s heart.

But we do.

The answers you are looking for aren’t found within you, or in some self-help book, or in Oprah. The answers are found in the pages of God’s Word.

I like Job’s point of view. He said, even if God kills me, I will trust Him.

There’s the answer you are looking for.

A mother tells her young son not to play in the street. Why? “Because I said so.” A father insists his teenage daughter be home by 11. “Trust me,” he says when she asks why.

Often, when we mature, we realize the answers to our “why” questions. And maturity comes from studying God’s Word, by getting to know God’s heart, and by trusting Him in every circumstance, allowing Him to prove He can be trusted.

Somehow, when our relationship with God is mature, the questions we have just don’t seem all that important. God replaces our uncertainty with Himself.

Then, with Job, we can say that no matter what comes, “I will trust God.”

Dear Father, I like being your child. But sometimes my curiosity, or my hurt finds me asking, “why?”. God, I want to trust you, even if I never have the answers I think I need this side of heaven. May I not let my questions get in my way of a close relationship with You. Because, Dear Lord, nothing is more important than the sweet fellowship I enjoy as your child.

Jan 4 -Don’t Blame God

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Job 1-5

My chronological reading plan takes a break from Genesis and has me reading in the book of Job today. I hope you take time to read these five chapters, too.

God is sovereign. That means nothing that happens happens without his ok. Satan never slips one past God. But God allows life to happen.

With it comes good times and bad, success and failure. We see Job, a godly man who had everything he could have ever wanted. Maybe his neighbors looked at Job and said – God sure has blessed that guy.

But when God allowed Satan to throw some devastating tests at Job, people blamed God. His servant assumed the fire that consumed the sheep and servants came from God. His own wife told Job to curse God and die. And Job’s friend, Eliphaz said, “According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble harvest it. By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they come to an end.” (4:8-9)

But is that what we see here? Are the things that happened to Job a result of sin in his life, or maybe God’s anger toward him? Is God’s permission given to Satan to inflict harm the same as God causing harm?

I look around and realize we’re no different today. God doesn’t always get credit when good things happen. But He sure gets blamed when things go south. No matter if it’s a tornado, an epidemic, a mass shooting, or even a red light when we’re late for work, people often point a finger at God and ask, Why did you do that, God? Or they get angry with Him. Or they cut Him out of their lives.

But is it God or Satan we should curse?

Our Sovereign God is allowing Satan to have some freedom here. But He also is offering Himself in the midst of any trouble Satan throws our way. In fact, the gift of choice He gave us at creation enables us to choose Him no matter what.

There are those who will say that God orchestrates everything that happens in this life. But I see a different lesson here in Job. The difference is between God’s permission and His actions. (This is not to say that He never intervenes. There are times when bad things do happen as a direct consequence of our sin. That is another lesson.)

I know that, when my dear nephew died in an automobile accident in 2012 God’s strength and Presence was exactly what we needed to put one foot in front of the other. What Satan meant for evil, God used to encourage us and draw us closer to Him.

So my prayer for you is that you will take God up on His offer to stand with you, too, when bad things happen. Don’t waste time blaming or being angry with God. He is eager to bless you even in the darkest hours of your life.

Our Loving Heavenly Father, I pray that you will reveal Yourself to us as we read the account of Job. You are sovereign. You are good. You love us and Your one desire is to fellowship with us. May we put aside blame and just rest in Your Presence today, no matter what circumstances we are facing.

Does That Warm Your Heart?

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Ezekiel saw a vision of the Lord. I love his description in chapter 2: colorful light, blazing fire, a throne like sapphire, an appearance like a rainbow on a rainy day. Ezekiel SAW the glory of the Lord!!

And it was beautiful.

The writer of Hebrews tells us that in the past God spoke to us through prophets like Ezekiel, but in these last days God speaks to us through His Son. The writer calls Jesus, “the brightness of (God’s) glory and the express image of His person”. (chapter 1)

Ezekiel witnessed that brightness! And we can, too. What is that “warm” feeling you get when you fellowship with God from a repentant heart? What is that “lightbulb” that turns on when God reveals a truth through His Word?

It’s the same Jesus Ezekiel saw in his vision. It’s like the warmth and light from a fire. It’s the Spirit of God, Jesus in the flesh. It’s tangible evidence that God is real, He’s alive, and present with each of us today, this minute.

This morning I am overwhelmed by the lengths to which God goes to reveal Himself to us. From the strength of a hurricane, to an “aha” moment reading His Word, from the birth of a baby, to the heartbeat-skipping experience of asking for – and receiving – forgiveness through the blood of Jesus.

Our hearts are warmed when we see the love of God demonstrated by Jesus on the cross, knowing He did that for each of us. We experience the warmth from the fire Ezekiel saw in his vision. We look at the world differently when we allow God to teach us what He wants us to know. We experience the light Ezekiel witnessed. And we can walk in that light, the Light of the world.

My hope is that the next time your heart is warmed by someone or something, you will recognize it as from God. Or the next time you become aware that the path before you is bathed in light, you’ll know that light is from God.

Don’t miss out on the blessed realization that those “feelings” are God’s embrace. It’s Jesus!

If that doesn’t warm your heart…

Today

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This is the day the Lord has made. (I) will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24)

Even when the circumstances of life weigh heavy. Even when Satan is at the door and my resolve is weak. Even when, because of unconfessed sin, God seems far away. I am reminded that He has given me another day.

It’s a day in which He wants to walk with me, to bless me, to use me. It’s a day He wants to reveal Himself through the singing of birds, the colorful leaves, the vast ocean or an ant hill, the warmth of the sun or a clap of thunder. He wants me to see Him in the innocence of a child or the shaky smile of an elderly saint.

He wants me to lay the circumstances of life aside and experience the joy of sins forgiven, the privilege of fellowshipping with the God of Creation, the intimacy of loving His Son.

The Lord has made this day for He and I to experience together. I’m glad about that.

Choose Me, He says.

And I do.

Listen For The Whisper

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Job, in chapter 26, tries to say how big, how powerful, how awe-inspiring is God. God is supreme over death and hell. He is supreme over creation: “He hangs the earth on nothing.” And God is supreme over heaven.

Job tells us that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It’s just what we can know of God. God is greater, more powerful than we can even imagine!

Then in verse 14 he says, “…and how small a whisper we hear of him…”

What we see around us, what we experience in life is such a small part of WHO God really is. Our human minds can’t comprehend his reality.

A whisper is something you can only hear close up. That’s what spoke to me in this verse today. This immense God leans in so we can hear him. As mighty as he is, as awesome, and as enormous his reach, he is also personal, wanting us to know him.

He whispers to us through his Word, through the birth of a baby, through struggles and joys, through a budding rose, and a summer rain. “Here I am,” he says to us. “I love you. I died for you. I want to walk with you today.”

Listen for the whisper!

Completely Loved

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I’m not married. And sometimes when I read about Ruth’s declaration of love, I get jealous. I have never been loved like that. I believe I have the capacity to love like Ruth loved. But I haven’t had the privilege of being loved so completely.

Then, in the midst of my pity party I almost hear God say, “What about Me?”

I read in Luke 19 where Jesus, surrounded by screaming fans, wept over Jerusalem. He wanted to protect them from what was ahead. But he loved them so completely he continued into their midst, knowing it meant his death.

I am reminded Jesus loves me like that. As beautiful as is Ruth’s declaration of love for Naomi, Jesus’ declaration of love for me is even more so. And every time I see a cross I am reminded of that declaration of love, a love that sent Jesus to Calvary. There is no greater love.

My response?

Don’t ask me to leave you, God. Where you go, I’ll go. Your people are my people. I’ll live and die with you. And, in death, I’ll continue to be at your side.

Ingratitude

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Ingratitude. That’s what Hiram expressed when King Solomon gave him twenty cities. (I Kings 9) Sure, Hiram had worked hard for Solomon for twenty years building the Temple and the Palace. But Solomon also made Hiram a rich man in the process. And gave him twenty cities on top of it. Hiram just wasn’t happy with the particular cities he was given. He thought he was entitled to something else.

Does ingratitude ever express itself in our own lives? God gives us life, we want health. God gives us forgiveness, we want happiness. God gives us eternal life, we want a successful career. God gives us Himself, we want a Ferrari.

Have you grasped exactly what it is that God has given you? What it cost him? What it means? If you know Jesus as your Savior, you have God Himself living in you! You have the promise of eternity in paradise, You have help for today, and hope for tomorrow. You are forgiven, washed clean, pure. You are loved.

Let’s never take any of this for granted or be ungrateful for God’s blessings. We already have more than we deserve.

Dear God, “thank you” just doesn’t seem sufficient to express what I am feeling this morning. I can’t fully comprehend the extent of your blessings to me, a sinner. Forgive me when I seem ungrateful, when I whine to you about insignificant things, when I pout if I don’t get what I think I need. I know you want me to bring my desires to you in prayer, and I thank you for the times you have answered those prayers. But, God, help me to really grasp what it is I have in YOU. May I live my life out of a grateful heart, cherishing every blessing I have because you are my God. You are all I need. You are all I desire.

Can You Hear Me? Can You Hear Me Now?

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I thought that ad for a cellular company several years ago was a clever one. That phrase was everywhere for a while.

Who of us has never picked up a microphone and said, “Testing. Testing”?

The Bible speaks a lot about testing. Joseph tested his brothers before revealing himself to them in Egypt. (Gen 43-45) Jesus told Peter to get out of the boat and walk to him, testing Peter’s faith. (Matt 14) Psalm 11 tells us God’s “eyelids test the sons of men. The Lord tests the righteous…”

Why so much testing? (I sound like an Ohio public school teacher… and I was) Does God depend on the results of his tests to know where we stand with him?

That’s ridiculous. God already knows our hearts.

Testing, for us, has become about the test-giver. Results tell the DMV who is ready to drive a car. A math test is given so the teacher can assign a grade. But more than that, testing reveals to the test-taker what they know and how much more they can learn.

When God tests the righteous, it’s so we can know where we stand, we can identify our weaknesses, go to him and confess sin.

Do you feel you are undergoing a test from God himself? Maybe God is showing you a strength you didn’t know you had, or a weakness he’s able to strengthen, or a sin you need to confess. Maybe he wants you to know that you really do have faith in him, that you can do all things through Jesus, that you are more than a conqueror, that his promises are true.

No testing is pleasant. But the results can be life changing. Joseph discovered his brothers had truly changed in the years since they sold him into slavery. His brothers learned that they really could be faithful to their father. All of Jacob’s family learned that God can bring about good from anything Satan tries to use for evil. Peter learned he did have faith in Jesus and could walk on water in a storm. He also learned his faith wasn’t perfect.

So, what have you learned through your own times of testing?

Father, I hate tests. I hated taking tests and, as the person in charge of state testing in the middle school where I worked, I hated giving tests. So it feels kind of weird to thank you for the tests you throw my way. May I accept each test as a gift from you to encourage me, to prompt me to action, to learn more about you and walk closer to you. And, yes, may I thank you for testing me so I can know where I stand. May I use the results of those test to allow you to mold me into the woman you would have me be.