God is Unlimited
God knows everything, is present everywhere, and is sovereign over everything and everybody all the time. God accomplishes everything He wishes. He is holy, incomprehensible, majestic. He is eternal, from everlasting to everlasting. He deserves our adoration, our worship.
All things are possible with God. (Mark 10:27)
Nothing will be impossible with God. (Luke 1:37)
[God] works all things after the counsel of His will. (Ephesians 1:11)
Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. (Psalm 115:3)
His understanding is infinite. (Psalm 147:5)
The Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. (1 Chronicles 28:9)
There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:13)
The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good. (Proverbs 15:3)
Awesome and Terrifying
For those who have received Christ as Lord and Savior, those whom the Father has adopted as His children, these truths are awesome and comforting. Our Father can do anything and everything. His promises to His children are guaranteed. We can rely on Him. We can trust Him to work everything for good. We have assurance that He will bring us safety home, to Him for eternity.
For those who do not believe in Christ Jesus, the unlimited God should be terrifying. God knows every thought and deed. It is not possible to hide or escape Him. And judgment is coming. (Hebrews 9:27)
~~~
Praise our unlimited God. God who is holy and infinite in all His attributes and actions. God who is infinitely beyond our ability to comprehend. God who is totally other than us. And who has chosen to save those who believe in Christ Jesus, giving us eternal life.
Help us trust You, our unlimited God. Help us worship You with all we are. Help us be living sacrifices to You, the only God, the only one deserving of adoration.
~~~
I highly recommend The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer
Pray for Your Country
Godly Daniel, exiled to Babylon, prayed for Israel. He knew the time of exile for his country was nearing the end and fervently prayed for his country.
His prayer gives us a template for us to use in praying for our own country. This is a template for all of us, wherever we live.
Determine to seek Him
Daniel gave his attention to the Lord God, and sought Him with prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. (Daniel 9:3)
We should likewise take prayer seriously.
Daniel prepared for prayer with fasting and dressed to show his repentance. What should we do?
Praise Him
Daniel started his prayer with praise for the great and awesome Yahweh and “reminded” God that He keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments. (Daniel 9:4)
We should regularly praise our God. How do you want to praise Him?
Confess
Daniel’s confessed that we have sinned. His confession was personal, including himself as part of his country’s sins.
Each of us can see unrighteousness and evil in our country. We, personally, have not directly participated in all those sins, but, we have sinned in other ways. Perhaps we have not prayed about it, perhaps we haven’t tried to intervene, perhaps… We have responsibility.
Daniel was specific. What specific sins of your country should you confess?
Praise in the midst of confession
Daniel interposed praise throughout his confession, and contrasted God’s character and actions with Israel’s sins.
For example: Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord … Open shame belongs to us, O Lord … because we have sinned against You. (Daniel 9:7–8)
Keep praising God.
Confess that God is righteous in His actions
Daniel confessed that God was justified in bringing great calamity on Israel.
Therefore the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice. (Daniel 9:14)
Do you believe your county deserves God’s judgment? What should you say to God about your country’s sins (using “we”) and what you believe is God’s righteous response?
Pray for mercy
Daniel reminded God of His previous actions towards Israel, that He had brought them out of Egypt and made them a name for Himself.
How can you thank God for His work in your country?
Daniel’s prayer: O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away … listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine … O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations … for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay … (Daniel 9:16–19)
Let’s pray
NASA.gov. Earthrise from moon. Dec 24, 1968
God Has a Plan
The world is in a mess. You may feel you are in a mess. Or you may feel you ARE a mess …
God has a plan and is working His plan.
He has a plan for the world. He has a plan for you and me.
He will accomplish everything He plans. God is working everything (including you and me) according to His glorious plan.
[He] works all things after the counsel of His will. (Ephesians 1:11)
[Be] fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. (Romans 4:21)
My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure. (Isaiah 46:10)
God is working His plan for the world
The Bible shows He is present and active, accomplishing all He wishes. All of God’s attributes are active all the time, but here are two:
The Bible tells us He is being patient, not wanting any to perish. (2 Peter 3:9)
We also know that His wrath is being revealed against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (and nations). (Romans 1:18)
God is working His plan for those who believe in Christ
God … is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)
God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)
We are being conformed to the image of His Son. (Romans 8:29)
We are still responsible for our thoughts, words, and deeds, but don’t forget that God has a plan that results in our walking more and more in His ways.
One day
One day He will make all things new.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. (Revelation 21:1)
One day Christ will present us to the Father, holy and blameless and beyond reproach. (Colossians 1:22)
So that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:7)
We will be to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:12)
Overwhelming.
What to Do
Hope!
Trust God!
Pray!
Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:10)
Give Thanks for God’s Love
God so loved the world … [But only those who believe in Jesus Christ] shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
We have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. (1 Timothy 4:10)
God causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:45)
Common Grace
We all know unbelievers who prosper. They may have loving, wonderful families, ample resources, good health, sleep well, have adventures, have fun, help others, contribute to their communities.
This is “common grace.”
And God is compassionate and patient, not wanting any to perish.
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
God loves the world and demonstrates this love through common grace, compassion, warning us of the consequences of sin, and inviting all to come to belief in Christ.
Overwhelming love for believers
For those who believe and have received Christ as Lord and Savior, there is infinite, unqualified, limitless, complete, full, forever, permanent love. (Learning about God’s love for us is a great Bible study, and one to repeat!)
God, please help understand Your love for us, and help us walk in the assurance of Your love.
~~~
God—Father, Son, Holy Spirit—I am so grateful that You are patient, not wanting any to perish, but for them to come to repentance. I am so grateful that You provide common grace to all. I tremble at Your incredible blessing to me and all believers, giving us eternal life. Help us, this Thanksgiving Day and every day, to give You thanks for Your great gift.
Thanksgiving Day Series
Praise the Trinity
Our God—our one God—is three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
No, I don’t understand this either, but it is true. Why should I expect, as a human being, to comprehend the eternal, infinite God?
One God
Jesus: “The foremost [commandment] is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord.” (Mark 12:29)
Here is God, Jesus, who prayed to God the Father, who spoke of God the Holy Spirit, declaring God is one.
See Praise the One God.
Three Persons
There are many verses in the New Testament that refer to the Trinity. For example:
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name [one name, singular] of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14)
According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure. (1 Peter 1:2)
Paul’s prayer, and mine for myself and for you:
I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:14–21)
~~~
Almighty, Triune God, we praise You. You are beyond our understanding, and yet You have chosen to reveal some of Yourself to us. We praise You for showing Yourself to us in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, helping us grasp some of Your majesty. Please help us worship You in spirit and in truth.
It Can Happen to You
Job was blameless, upright, feared God, and turned away from evil. (Job 1:1)
Job lost his children, his wealth and his health.
His “friends” condemned Job for hidden sins that caused his calamity.
His “friends” believed they themselves were righteous and that no ill would happen to them.
Job said to them: He who is at ease holds calamity in contempt, as prepared for those whose feet slip. (Job 12:5)
Basically, Job said: “It can happen to you.”
A couple of examples:
The rich can experience devastating reversals, losing their assets. Jesus spoke about the deceitfulness of wealth. (Matthew 13:22)
Jesus also told the parable of the rich man who built bigger barns and believed he would have ease for many years. But God said: “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?” (Luke 12:20)
Those who are very physically fit, follow excellent nutrition, and exercise, can develop a terminal illness.
Presumption
We can become presumptuous, believing our own actions guarantee the results we want.
We can look to ourselves rather than to God.
Being rich is not wrong. The love of wealth is wrong. Believing your wealth assures comfort throughout life is confidence in yourself.
Taking care of yourself physically is good. Believing this guarantees long- term good health is presumption.
This post isn’t meant to scare you, but to encourage you to look to God rather than to yourself.
Our God is all-powerful, loves His children, and has a glorious plan. His plan includes some degree of trouble for each of us, which results in our spiritual growth, making us more like Christ. His plan includes big-league trouble for some of us.
What to do
Examine yourself. Are you relying on yourself in some area, rather than on God? If you are presumptuous, confess it and repent.
Remind yourself who God is; remind yourself that He is sovereign, and that He loves His children, those who have received Christ as Lord and Savior.
Trust Him.
Be grateful.
Press on.
Think of a pink elephant.
~~~
Now … do not think about a pink elephant.
~~~
Did your thoughts linger on the pink elephant even after told not to?
The “trick” is to substitute another thought for the pink elephant. Then you are thinking the new thought, rather than thinking about the pink elephant.
That tips helps when you are trying to change. Suppose you want to lose weight and keep thinking about some “treat.” It helps when you think instead about new clothes in a smaller size.
Or suppose you are afraid about some (possible) event in the future. Consciously substitute thoughts about your loving sovereign God. Consciously determine to trust Him.
The new thought should be consciously in line with who God is and your God-given goals.
Try it.
Are you in a very hard spot? Is your situation something you can work to change? Pray about what to do, of course.
Regardless whether you have some discretion about your predicament, or whether you have to endure it, look beyond your circumstances to God.
Look Beyond
Jesus … for the joy set before Him endured the cross. (Hebrews 12:2)
Abraham by faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise … for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. (Hebrews 11:9–10)
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. (Hebrews 11:24–26)
Whatever your trial, look beyond it to see your loving, powerful God and His promises.
This gives you strength to endure, courage to act, and confidence in your situation.
God doesn’t leave us helpless, but provides His power and His love.
Remember
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (Romans 8:28–30)
Press on
I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus … I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12–14)
All Paths Lead to God
It is frequently said: “All paths lead to God.”
That is true.
All humans die and then face judgment.
It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment. (Hebrews 9:27)
But only one path leads to eternal life.
Whoever believes in [Christ Jesus] shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. (John 8:24)
We are surrounded by people on the path to destruction. Let’s demonstrate Christ by our behavior and speak to them as the Holy Spirit prompts.
Press on!
nasa.gov
Praise our Savior!
We—believers in Christ who have received Him as our Lord and Savior—have been saved.
Saved from sin’s penalty
We are saved from eternal death, saved from being thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15)
Saved from sin’s power
We are saved from being slaves to sin. (Romans 6:6)
We are learning to walk by the Spirit. (Galatians 5:16)
We are being made into the image of Christ. (Romans 8:29).
[and more!]
Saved from sin’s presence in the future
We are saved for eternal life. (Romans 6:22)
We will be glorified. (Romans 8:30)
We will be holy and blameless. (Ephesians 1:4)
Breathtaking
Our salvation is infinitely awe-inspiring, beyond comprehension, breathtaking, humbling.
Take a moment and praise God for salvation.
~~~
God—Father, Son, Holy Spirit—is our Savior.
God the Father sent Christ to save us.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
The Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. (1 John 4:14)
Even when we were dead in our transgressions, [God] made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). (Ephesians 2:5)
Christ saved us by living a perfect life and dying on the cross as a perfect sacrifice.
For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11)
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12)
And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
The Holy Spirit is saving us.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. (Romans 8:2)
We have received…the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God. (1 Corinthians 2:12)
~~~
God—Father, Son, Holy Spirit—we praise You for our eternal salvation. We praise You for saving us from the penalty of sin. We praise You that You are working in us to make us more like Christ. We praise You that we will be with You for eternity. Help us humbly know this is Your work, that we do not deserve Your love and favor. Help us honor You with all we are, think, and do.
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When Storms Come: Will You Be Ready?
When Storms Come: Will You Be Ready? helps Christians not fear bad news, shows them how to handle current trouble, and helps them emerge stronger on the other side.
About me
I'm a Christian, wife, retiree, and author.
I love studying and putting knowledge into action. I'll share what I'm learning, encourage you, and urge all of us to press on to become more like Christ.
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