February 14, 2011 … Our Response To God’s Power

Passage of the Day: Isaiah 40: 31 … but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

My Journal for Today: Today’s verse is one of the classic scriptures documenting the strength that can be available to the believer who has complete trust and hope in an all-powerful, omnipotent God. So, if we desire to …“soar on [His] wings like eagles …,” what must be our (my) response to an omnipotent God? And I’m going to list the factors of pursuit which my devotional Shepherd, Dr. MacArthur, lists; … and if you’re following along, get your Bibles out – or maybe your PC or smart phone with a Bible App - and be ready to seek out the biblical support for each point.

>>> Well, in MacArthur’s devotional for this date in Strength for Today, the first element in my capturing God’s power is to recognize that I am God’s workmanship and that I live for His glory (see Eph. 2: 10).
>>> Next, I must place ALL my hope in the One Who can do far more than I could ever imagine to shape me into a reflection of Christlikeness (see Eph. 3: 20 and Phil. 1: 6).
>>> Thirdly, I must recognize that I am only strong in Christ (see Phil. 4: 13), not in myself; and He makes me strong even when I am weak because of the grace I have available to me in Christ (you guessed it – I hope! … 2nd Cor. 12: 9).
>>> Next, I should rest assured in the comfort of God’s power (see Ps. 121: 1 – 2) and be uplifted by His glory (as in today’s verse).
>>> Fifthly, I must be surrendered to recognize that I have found victory over my flesh (see Eph. 6: 10), over sin through His Word (see Ps. 119: 9), and over the world with a power in my heart that is greater than my spiritual enemies (see 1st John 4: 4).
>>> And finally, being humbled by God’s majesty and holiness (see Prov. 3: 34), I must know that I’m nothing without my God (John 15: 5); … but with Him, I am everything that is declared in today’s verse.

And so, I hope you either know all those biblical support references by heart or you’ve looked them up to check me out; and having meditated on these truths, you’ve been lifted up to capture God’s strength and power for your life. It is a wondrous thing for the believer, humbled and surrendered to God, to realize, as my salvation verse (i.e., Phil. 4: 13) proclaims, that I truly can do all things in Christ, Who gives me His strength. And then, realizing that power is in me, I can let God’s power be the wind beneath my wings.

And this morning, in an attempt to be lifted up by God’s strength in my spirit, I was led – by God’s Spirit, I believe – to remember a song, performed by one of my favorite singers, Josh Groban, which expresses most, if not all, of what I’m trying to share today. Therefore, to close out my time with God, having gone to this song on my Ipod, let me link you to a You Tube version (by clicking on this link). I hope (and pray) that you’ll be lifted high enough, by God’s Spirit and this song at this time, to soar like eagles above the wind and storms of circumstances, given the power of God’s wind beneath your wings.

My Prayer Today: Lord, with YOUR POWER I am an eagle soaring in the heavens. Amen

February 13, 2011 … Evidence of God’s Power

Passage of the Day: Ephesians 1: 18 – 19 … 18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and His incomparably great power for us who believe.

My Journal for Today: How does one grasp the awesome power of God? In an abstract way, my mind will never be able to fully comprehend God’s omnipotence. However, in a personal way I can build an appreciation for God’s power into my faith.

First there is creation. I just look around and will always marvel at what God spoke into reality with no effort … merely a word (see Psalm 33: 6) …

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 33: 6 … By the Word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth.

Further, I think of how God, the Son, has preserved all that He created; and all He created is for the glory of His Father. [Hebrews 1: 3] …

SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 1: 3 … The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.

Then my appreciation for God’s wondrous power gets very personal as I contemplate the Cross, where all mankind, including yours truly, were redeemed for eternity, … where sin/death were defeated, and where the Gospel becomes the power of God to salvation for all who believe in Christ’s omnipotent power to save. (see Romans 1: 16 – look this one up for yourself and meditate on it … and, if convicted, memorize it!)

This is God’s power, which I have experienced personally; so, I know it’s real … the power to bring me from my old bondage in sin to a new life when His power allows me to walk more and more in His likeness.

Not too long ago, in an online blog, I was challenged by a rather cynical atheist to prove there was a "god" by giving him evidence. I related to him that the only evidence I needed to KNOW that there was a very personal God was my own life and the change which God has wrought in my life. So, I gave him my testimony. ... I didn’t really think my witness was going to convince this hardened non-believer; and it didn’t. But the important thing – for me – was that I am convinced. I pray that you are too.

Read and meditate on 2nd Cor. 5: 17 and Phil. 1: 6; and you should know that God’s power is awesome … and that He can take one such as I was (before my conversion) and bring me to the place where I am as I write this.

SCRIPTURE: 2nd Cor. 5: 17 … Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
SCRIPTURE: Phil. 1: 6 … being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

The very power that God used to speak the universe into existence, … the very power He used to sustain it all for His glory, … the very power that God’s Son loosed in love to save mankind on the cross, … the very power that raised our Lord from His grave, … is the power which, when applied to my life, has brought about a total transformation of my soul and henceforth, my choices, habits, and living. So, with that realized and said, I declare that I have no trouble believing in and worshipping the awesome, omnipotent power of my God. And to think … all that power I have in my relationship with my Savior, Jesus Christ.

My Prayer Today: All power is mine in You, Lord. Amen

February 12, 2011 … God Has Unlimited Power

Passage of the Day: 1st Chronicles 29: 11 … [David’s prayer] … Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is Yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; You are exalted as head over all.

My Journal for Today: Have you ever heard anyone ask, “Why would God do that?” Well, I’ve thought it, even if I can’t remember saying it to someone; and I have certainly heard it said. Today, King David, in a prayer psalm, makes a declaration that we must honor as truth; … or we declare ourselves to be non-believers.

Why? Because David’s prayer is true! God is OMNIPOTENT; and David’s declaration is in God’s word; and His word is truth. all of it; not just some of it. Therefore, If we can’t believe the truth of 2nd Tim. 3: 16a, then we can’t believe any of the assertions of the Bible; and our faith crumbles.

SCRIPTURE: 2nd Tim. 3: 16a … All Scripture [i.e., Old and New Testaments] is inspired by God … [NASB]

The God to whom David is praying is “El Shaddai,” which, from the Hebrew, is translated “God Almighty!” And our God is either almighty [i.e., omnipotent and all powerful and in total control]; or He is not. Therefore, anyone who asks, “Why God [?],” when circumstances make God’s actions incredulous, is basically saying that God doesn’t have the right to be in control; … or he’s saying that God’s control is not just or loving. Or, finally, he could be saying, “God is not in control.”

What about you? What is your opinion about God’s control?

Ps. 115: 3 says, “Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him.” And we must accept that El Shaddai would never allow anything to happen or do anything that was not totally in accord with all of His attributes as well as His own will.; and omnipotence is one of those attributes.

Therefore, when Paul writes (in Rom. 8: 28), “… all things work together for the good for those who love God ...;” we must accept, by faith, that bad circumstances don’t mean that God is out of control or has lost His edge of power or that He’s quit loving us. We either believe Ps. 145: 17 or we do not, which says, “The Lord is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.” The Apostle Paul again, as he did in Rom. 8: 28, challenges believers to get on board with their faith. Read Rom. 9: 20 – 21 where Paul quotes questions by quoting from Isaiah …

SCRIPTURE: Rom. 9: 20-21 ... 20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' "[IS. 29: 16; 45: 9] 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?

Yes, when we see over 150,000 people die in a horrible tsunami; and we see the city of New Orleans engulfed and almost destroyed by a hurricane, we are tempted to say, “Why, God?!” But we must not! Rather, we must be asking god, “What must we do to understand You, Lord?” It’s time for all of us, who call ourselves Christian, to recognize that God is in control. We need to put up (our faith) AND shut up (our doubts). We need to do what Christ has commanded us to do in Luke 9: 23 … to deny self, to take up [His] cross daily and to follow [Him].

My Prayer Today: You are in control, Lord; and I’m am blessed by Your power in my life. Amen

2010 – Mar. 12 – Depreciating An Incredible God

Study from God’s Word… Josh 9: 1 – 27; Josh 10: 1 – 43; Josh 11: 1 – 23 [14: 15b]; Josh 12: 1 - 24; … Passage for Reflection: Joshua 6: 4 … NIV 13 So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar.
The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. 14 There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel!

My Journal for Today: As I was led to read about the conquests God provided for Joshua and His people over the many tribes and people of that day, … as God delivered the Promised Land into the hands of the Israelites, we come across a remarkable story about an even more remarkable historical event. In pursuit of one of his enemies, Joshua sings out a prayer from an old Song Book in Israel in today’s focus passage, and God stops the sun in the sky, allowing God’s forces to pursue and defeat the enemies of Joshua.

And, … what’s up with this, we might ask? You mean we can pray for something so extraordinary as a sun-stopping even and expect God to suspend the laws of nature to give us what we desire? Have you ever wished you had more time to carry out some task in life? Well, why didn’t you just pray that God stop the day; and give you the time you need to get your task accomplished? … No, we don’t pray that way, because, even though we believe in a wondrous and miraculous God, we, as Christians should – and most of us do – know that God, though He can do what He did for Joshua, even stopping the sun, will do what He, God, wants to do to accomplish for His good purposes.

We have a tendency to put God is a box, which is just as big as our knowledge and experience provides for our understanding. And we also have a tendency to want our God to carve out a future for us which fits in with our desires and focuses on our personal needs. But we need to revisit a truth from God’s word [see Isaiah 55: 8-9 - linked], upon which I often have to meditate to remind me that God is God, and I am not! And I also need to remember the truth evolving out of my interaction with God, as I pray for what I perceive to be my needs/desires.

My friend, we know from both the OT [see Ps. 37: 4] and the NT [see John 15: 7] that God will – in fact – give us the desires of our hearts, when – but only when – we are couching our pursuits within the center of God’s will and purposes. But we must also remember that we serve a God, Who is powerful enough to suspend the very laws of nature for His purposes. That’s how Jesus walked on the water and raised His friend Lazarus from the dead. And we, as born-again, Spirit-filled Christians, have the same power in us; but it is a power which is tempered and controlled by the same God who has and still exercises that power for His good will.

What we need to do is believe in the wondrous sun-stopping power of our God, the same power which raised Jesus from the dead to life eternal. And then, we need to seek to do His will and conform to His good purposes; because when we do this, we will be able to see God’s mighty hand lift us up (see Isaiah 41: 10) and to show us where we need to go in life to be used for His glory. As Pastor Smith says in my devotional for today, … we should avoid being ”… desensitized into thinking that, just because [we’ve] never seen the sun stand still, God either CAN’T or DOESN’T work in [our lives].”

My Prayer for Today: Creator God, my mind is too small; and I try to shape You into a form to fit my life. Help me to conform to Your will as You shape me for Your glory. Amen