Devotional 5 – God Is Knowable!

In devotional 4 we focused on the truth that God is transcendent or beyond us.  Now,  let’s consider the intriguing truth that although God is transcendent He is knowable.  From Deuteronomy 29:29 we can also discern that this is only possible because God reveals Himself to us: “the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever.”  Do you stand amazed at the eternality of this revelation of knowledge from God? What a gift, privilege, honor, and hope to experience knowing God forever!

The Psalmist of Psalm 100 gives us a good example of a proper response to knowledge of God:

“Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”

First, let’s list the awesome truths about God acknowledged in this brief song of praise:

1. He is “LORD”  Yahweh – the eternal self-existent one
2. He is knowable – “come into his presence . . . Know that the LORD, He is God!”
3. He is the Creator – “It is He who made us.”
4. He is in relationship with his creatures – “we are His; we are his people, and the sheep of His pastor.”
5. He is good – “For the LORD is good”
6. He is loving eternally – “His steadfast love endures forever”
7. He is faithful – “and His faithfulness to all generations.”

Second, let’s list the response called for in the Psalm to the knowledge of God:

1. Joyful noise
2. Service
3. Coming into His presence
4. Singing
5. Assurance in knowing God
6. Peace that we are His people
7. Thanksgiving
8. Praise
9. Blessing His name

How have you recently responded to the knowledge of God?  I encourage you to meditate on the selected verses on knowing God.  May the Lord help us to respond to the revelation of Himself in a more profound and meaningful ways this week!   May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

With Prayer, Mark                                                                                         © January, 2011

Selected Passages on Knowing God

(Quotations are from the ESV – Emphasis Added)

Proverbs 2:1-5  My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

What are the conditions required in these verse to find the knowledge of God?  Do you meet them?

Isaiah 43:10-11,  “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior.

Ezekiel 20:18-20,  “And I said to their children in the wilderness, Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules, nor defile yourselves with their idols. I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules, and keep my Sabbaths holy that they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.

Dan 11:32,  The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.

2 Corinthians 4:5-7,  For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

Colossians 1:9-12,  And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

1 John 5:20-21,  And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

2 Peter 1:2,  May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Devotional 4 – God Is Beyond Us

Passages for Meditation: Deuteronomy 29 and 32; See selected verses on God’s transcendence

I have heard people say that they won’t believe in God because He doesn’t make any sense to them.  I have even heard some go a step further in question and even judgment of God by saying, “How could a good and loving God allow this travesty to happen!”  Certainly bad things happen in this world! Honestly, I must admit that there are a lot of things that I do not comprehend about God and His ways. However, that does not bring consternation to me; it brings comfort.

Here are my reasons for taking comfort in a God that I cannot fully comprehend. 1) The knowledge and power that would be required to create this world and universe certainly would be beyond my scope of comprehension and would require a Being worthy of my admiration, subjection, and worship.  2) If I could completely comprehend this Creator-God it would make me equal with Him. That is a scary thought because I know myself—limited, deceitful, selfish, thoughtless, wicked—well, you get the point.  I don’t want God to be like me!  If He was, He would not be worthy of my respect and worship.  3. What I can comprehend about God is a gift and blessing from Him that reveals His love, grace, and care for me, His creature. So, I take great comfort in the knowledge that God is transcendent or beyond me. I need to accept the truths about Him as He reveals them through His creation and written word.

I marvel at what Moses was inspired to says about God in two very revelatory passages:

1) Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”  I must accept that there are some things in this life that God keeps from me for my own good. The things he does reveal are for my children and me that we might obey His good will for our lives.

2) Deuteronomy 32:3-4, “For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God! The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He.”  From these two verses we can learn much about the God who is:

1. His name is worth talking about as well as being excited about,
2. His greatness is recognizable in an expanding and ever-growing way,
3. He is the Rock signifying His stability and protective power,
4. He is perfect, therefore He does not err or make mistakes,
5. He is just, therefore He will always be fair with us and hold us rightly accountable,
6. He is faithful, therefore He will never let us down even though we may not understand the hardship He brings our way,
7. He is sinless, therefore He will never treat anyone in a wrong way,
8. He is upright, therefore He will deal with us in every appropriate and best way.

I encourage you to take some time and meditate on these three verses and what they reveal about the God who is.  Let’s respond in awe and worship of our great Creator and Lord!

 

With Prayer, Mark                                                                                         © January, 2011

 

Selected Verses on the Transcendence of God

ESV Translation

Exodus 33:14-23, And [God] said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And [Moses] said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” And the LORD said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” Moses said, “Please show me your glory.”  And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”  And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”

Isaiah 55:6-11, Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;  let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.  For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

Psalm 97:9, For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.

Psalm 108:3-5, I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!

Jeremiah 23:23-24,  Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.

Rom 11:33-36,  Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”  For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Ephesians 4:4, There is one body and one Spirit–just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Hebrews 1:1-4, Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,

but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

 

 

Devotional 3 – God is Light!

Key passages for your meditation:  Genesis 1; John 1; 1 John 1; Psalm 119:105-112 (Click for outline)

In devotional one I made the statement that the Bible is replete with verses telling us clearly who God is. Some of these statements refer specifically to God’s nature and others to His mighty works.

Let’s consider a fundamental statement about God’s very personhood:  God is Light (1 John 1:5). This three word statement says volumes about who God is.  As light, God exposes or reveals falsehood and truth, sin and righteousness.  As light, God warms the heart like the sun warms the body on a cool spring day.  As light, God is skillfully powerful like a laser beam used to remove cancer or correct vision loss.  Today, we can rejoice because of God’s light! “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

God as light reveals our dependence on Him. In the same way that we are dependent on light in our physical world, we are correspondingly dependent on God as light in the spiritual realm.  Light is necessary for life.  Absence of light equals the absence of life—physically as well as spiritually.  Psalm 36:9 says, “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.”  Therefore, we are not surprised that Jesus as Immanuel (God with us ) would say, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12).

Furthermore, we are dependent upon light for physical sight as well as spiritual sight. Jesus said,  “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.” (John 12:46). I have had the privilege of knowing a blind man who cannot see physical light with his eyes because they were damaged at birth. He lives in physical darkness.  In like manner, every person is born with damaged spiritual vision. We live in spiritual darkness until God so works in our lives that we respond to His light. Paul’s self-righteous eyes were opened as he responded to Christ’s appearance to him as light on the Damascus road. Years later while giving testimony to a human king, he quotes Christ’s commission to preach the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles. He was sent “to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in [Jesus Christ]” (Acts 26:18).

Have you seen God’s light?  Have you put your trust in the God who is light?  There is always more light for us to see. Let’s seek help for our spiritual vision by praying David’s prayer in Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.”  Here is a verse to get us started: Isaiah 60:19, “The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.”  Let’s keep thinking about the fact that God is our everlasting light and glory!

With prayer, Mark

© January, 2011

 

 

Devotional 2: God IS!

 God Is!  Passages for Meditation: Genesis 1; Psalm 19; Psalm 139; see selected verses

As a teenager I tried to convince myself that there was no God and was very willing to embrace evolution as an explanation for the origins of life. However to be honest deep in my being or God-given soul, I knew that an all-powerful Creator-God existed, and I was accountable to Him. I tried to suppress that truth because I wanted to do my own thing and call the shots of my own life. John 3:19 certainly applied to me, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”  Thankfully, God worked in marvelous ways and brought me to the point when I believed that He is!  That is where people have to start with God, as Hebrews 11:6 indicates: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”  Have you come to the point in your life that you believe that God is?  If so, you will appreciate the Scriptures that reveal the God who is.

In Genesis chapter one we are introduced to God as the Creator who spoke and light was made as well as everything else.  Interestingly, no proofs for God’s existence are offered in the chapter besides the creation itself. The inherent design in this world begs for the conclusion that an all-powerful and all-knowing Designer-Creator exists.  You would think me crazy if I told you that the painting on the wall did not have a painter. The fact of the painting presupposes the fact of the painter.  Much like the artist’s signature on a painting, God has left his unique signature all over His creation.  Sadly, those who have chosen not to believe in God refuse to recognize His verifying signature. Paul makes this clear when he wrote: “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Romans 1:19-20).  David announces his conclusion in Psalm 19, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”  The existence of God is a safe and right supposition to make when you look at His creation with an open heart and mind rather than a heart and mind closed to God.

Furthermore, when thinking about God we don’t have to complete the phrase “God is”.  God is the eternally self-existing one.  He has always existed and will always exist. He is eternal and never came into being or was created. He is the Creator and Sustainer of everyone and everything!   Paul reveals this person as none other than Jesus Christ in Colossians 1:15-17,  “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”  We should not be surprised that God revealed Himself to Moses as “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14), Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58), and the book of Revelation calls Jesus “the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8).  Will you join me in worship and awe of the God who is?

With prayer, Mark

© January, 2011

 

Selected Verses on the Supposition GOD IS
ESV – emphasis added

Exodus 3:6, 13-15,  And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God . . . Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”  God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

Psalm 90:1-2,  A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Isaiah 44:6,  Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”

Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Matthew 28:18-20,  And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

John 8:54-59,  Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’  But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Hebrews 13:8, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Revelation 1:4-8,  John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.  ”I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Will You Seek God or Idols in this New Year?

May the Lord grant you a blessed New Year!  As I typed the previous greeting, my mind wondered, “What would make this coming year more blessed for me and those whom I’m writing?”  How we answer that question will reveal what is really important to us.  Our answer will reflect whether we think of blessings in God’s terms or our terms.  If we seek the blessings of life without seeking the Giver of blessings, we make the blessings an idol that comes before God.  We must guard our hearts from seeking some possession, position, or person that we think is necessary to bring blessing and happiness.  Anything or anyone that we put before God becomes an idol.  We would do well to start the year out in self-examination by asking this question: “Is there something or someone in my life that is more important than God?”  Whatever it is is your idol!

I believe that having lives truly blessed of God will require us to acknowledge our idols, pull them down, and cast them out of our hearts.  Then we need a growing and deepening knowledge of our God by seeking Him diligently through His natural revelation (His creation) and His special revelation (the Scriptures). Paul’s prayer for the believers at Ephesus reveals our need for knowing God:

Eph 1:16-21, “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,  and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come” (emphasis added).

Will you pray this prayer for yourself and others? Can we really go another year without becoming more serious about seeking God?  We have not because we ask not!

This year I would like to add another devotional  each week to this blog on knowing who God is.  The Bible is replete with verses and passages that tell us about who God is and how we can relate with Him.  My theme verse for these meditations will be Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (emphasis added).

May the year 2012 be filled with adventure in diligently seeking to know God! Will you join me in a quest to know God more fully and intimately as you seek Him?  We can find our greatest satisfaction, pleasure, and fulfillment in Him and Him alone!  May “grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord” (2 Peter 1:2).   Blessing to you in 2011!

Sincerely in Christ,

Mark Worden,