A Personal God

   

 It's one thing to get a gift from someone you care about and someone who cares about you. After all who does not like gifts? 

    However some gifts mean more to us then others do. For instance its one thing to get a Walmart gift card. Yet it means something more when someone intentionally gives you a gift card to one of your favorite shops. Its one thing to get a box of candy, but something else to get a box of your favorite candy. You see it is one thing to get a gift, but it means a whole lot more when you know someone wanted to personalize it. It means more when you know someone did not just get you just any gift, but they thought about what gift you would actually enjoy. 

    Personalized gifts mean more because you know the individual really thought about you. They mean more because you know that the individual knows you well enough to know what you really like. The person is able to personalize it because they know you personally. 

    When we think about God we need to remember that God relates to us personally as well. Each of us are different, special and unique. Not one of us is absolutely the same and God deals with us personally. 

    There are some people who think that God is this impersonal, supernatural being that resides somewhere in the cosmos. That God is unconcerned and disinterested in you and I. There are some who profess to be Christians who hold to this idea. Their view is that God just created this universe and all that is in it and then simply ignores us and leaves us to our own devices. Like a clock maker who took the time to make the gears and sprockets, who built the clock and then wound it up only to live it alone and let it just wind down. 

    There are some who might not say they believe this, but for all practical purposes they really do. They may not say out loud that they think God is uninterested in our lives. They refrain from asking God for anything. They feel as if they should not bother God with there needs or wants. 

    Yet as we study the scriptures we find that while God is the creator of the entire Universe. While He is all powerful, all wise, and all knowing. He is also very interested in you and I. He cares for us. He is concerned about us. The bible tells us that he has numbered the hairs on our head. The bible commands us to pray to Him with our needs and wants. To bring our requests to Him. There is no need or want to great that God can not provide and there is no need or want to small that He does not want to be bothered by. God's word tells us to cast our cares upon Him. The bible never tells us what kind of cares. It never specifies what cares qualify as important enough or big enough. The bible just tells us to cast our cares on Him. 

    As we read the bible you will find story after story showing us how God is a personal God. One who cares for what we are going through. One who we can pray to in our time in need. We see God's relationship with Adam in the Garden of Eden. We see God speaking to Noah warning Him and calling him to build an Ark. We see God calling to Moses in the burning bush calling him to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt.

    There are many other examples though out scripture how God relates to various individuals in a personal way. In everyone of these examples we find that God related to each one of them differently. Sometimes God spoke to them audibly. Sometimes God spoke to them through dreams and visions. At other times God spoke through supernatural events like when He spoke to Moses through a burning bush. There were times when God sent Angelic messengers to deliver a message, like He did when He sent the archangel Gabriel to deliver a message to Mary the mother of Jesus. God spoke many times through prophets of God, and through God's word. 

    God is a personal God who relates to each of us personally, listen to what the Psalmist said about the personal relationship he has with the Lord. 

I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.- (Psa 116:1-2)

     The Psalmist writes "He heard my voice and my supplications". God hears our prayers and he hears our cries. God relates to us and we are able to come to him and speak to Him. He desire for us to come to Him and seek Him. 

    The God of all Creation. The God of all power and authority. This same God who spoke to Adam, Abraham, Moses, Mary and Joseph, speaks to you today and desires for you to speak to Him too. 

    So this week take some time to listen to and speak with our Lord God Almighty. 

    Take sometime to listen to this quick little message about the personal God who can change your life. 

God is the Real Deal

  Go down the cereal isle this week and you will find several different boxes of cereal that look similar. The color scheme is similar, the nutritional information is similar, and the overall taste many times is similar. Sometimes the generic brands are just as good and there is little to no diffrence to the taste. (Except for Oreo's! I don't know what they put in those cookies to make them taste the way they do, but the generic chocolate sandwich cookies just are not the same. But I digress.) You see for the most part there is very little diffrence between the cereals except one might say "Honey Nut Cheerios" and the other might say "Honey Nut Scooters".  That's because one of the cereal's is name brand and the other is generic. 

    Now the generic brands tend to design their product after the name brand product they are mimicking. They are trying to entice you to try there product that they are claiming is just as good as the other only its not as expensive. 

    Now for the most part when it comes to groceries getting the name brand items is not that big of a deal.  However there are things in life that you don't want to get the cheep imitation. Sometimes its worth paying the extra money to get a superior product. For instance a cubic zirconia sparkles just like a diamond, but heaven help you if you bought a cubic zirconia engagement ring trying to pass it off as a genuine diamond. (Not that I am speaking from experience.)  Somethings are just worth getting the real thing. 

    I think this is true about God as well. We live in a world where there are a lot of cheep imitation knock off gods. All in all there are about 10,000 distinct religions world wide. To put it another way, there are 9,999 cheep imitation god's, and 1 genuine real living GOD. 

    When it comes to knowing God you and I should not want to follow these other cheep imitations. We should desire to have a real relationship with the real and living God of the bible. 

   One of the things we see time and time again throughout scripture is that there is only one God. While there are plenty of counterfeits out there there is one One God. 

Listen to what Moses had to say to the people of Israel as they prepared to enter into the promise land. 

"Listen, Israel: The Lord our God the Lord is ONE""- Deut 6:4

Listen what Paul told the church in Corinth:

 “We know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is no God but one” (I Cor 8:4) 

Here is another passage found in the book of Hosea; 

But I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior.- (Hos 13:4)

These verses are just a few of the 28 passages that are found throughout scripture that say specifically that God is God alone and there are no other gods. This truth is found time and time again. The bible warns us of following the cheep imitations. The bible encourages us to worship the one true and living God, the God of the bible. 

    So lets take some time this week and spend time with the one true God. Lets talk with him in prayer. When your traveling in your car turn on a Christian song, or just start singing one of your favorite hymn, and give God some of your worship.

    Oh and one more thing! Do you know what people do when they have the real deal. When they have the real diamond ring, or a authentic Rolex watch? You show it off, you wear it around and you tell others about it. 

    So once you have spent some time with the one true God, don't be scared to share Him with others. Let them know all that God has done in your life. Share a word that God gave you this week. Encourage others to spend time with God. 

After all they too can have a real relationship with the One true and living God. Why would you want them running around believing in a cheep imitation god? 

 

The Comfort and Conviction of God's Presence

   There was this atheist professor who had quite a reputation around campus for challenging new students who seemed to be religious. He often relished the idea of challenging there faith and making them look foolish around their peers. 

    Well it was the first day of the fall semester and a brand new group of freshmen had arrived. One of these new freshmen just so happened to sit in the very front row of this professors class room and He unashamedly had his bible sitting in front of him on his desk.  

    As class began the professor gleefully smiled at the young man like a cat ready to pounce on its prey. The professor towered over the student as he asked this young man if he believed in a God. 

    The boy, a bit taken back, responded with a simple "Yes sir I do". The way the young man spoke the professor could tell he had grown up in a rural area and the professor thought that this would be far easier than he first thought. 

    The the professor picked up this young man's bible for the entire class to see and said "Young man, I will give you an "A" in this course if you can tell me where God is" 

    A hush fell on the entire classroom and everyone's eyes were on this young man. Quietly the young man got up and it would seem like the young man was heading out of the class room. However just as the professor thought that he had won, the young man stopped. He turned toward the teacher's desk and picked up teachers text book on biology. He lifted it up for the entire class to see and looked at the teacher as he said "Professor, I will gladly take an F in your class if you can show me in this book where God is not!" 

    That young man was on to something quite profound. He may not have had the degrees, or the knowledge of that professor. However He knew that God was not limited to one place. That young man understood that God is everywhere. He knew that there is not one place where you cannot find God. 

    As your reading this know that God is right there and at the same exact time God is with me wherever I happen to be. God is there when we are sleeping and at the same time He is on the other side of the globe where people are working. In the very depths of the ocean where no light can penetrate God is there. In the far reaches of universe and beyond God is there too.  God is not limited to one place or one location. In theology we say that God is Omnipresent which means that God is always present, wherever you go He is there. 

    There are several passages of scriptures that talk about the omnipresence of God.  Here are a just a few;

 “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good”- (Prov 15;3)

“where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven you are there. If I make my bed in the Grave, look you are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea. Even there your had will lead me and your right hand will lay hold of me.” – (Psalms 139:7-10)  

   This aspect of God's character should lead us to two positions. First it should cause us to be more aware of the things that we are doing in our lives. Secondly it should bring us comfort and security.

You might have heard it said "when the cat's away the mice will play". This has been played out time and time again. When the boss has taken a day off, that is typically the time the job performance starts to drop. When a substitute teacher is called in to teach a class, the students predominantly start to misbehave and do very little in way of actual learning. 

    When we fail to take into account that everywhere we go and everything we do God is right there it can cause us to be a little relaxed on how we live our lives. Some Christians can live this way. On Sunday they live one way, they try to portray themselves as godly individuals. Yet come Monday morning they are living a completely different way. What they fail to realize is the God that they worshiped on Sunday, is right there with them in the factory. 

    You see because God is everywhere at all times, you and I cannot get away with anything. He sees and knows all the sins we do. All the wicked things we say when no one else is around. He knows all the things we have done that if it was broadcast to the world we would be greatly ashamed. Now that can be a bit unsettling, and should cause us to be a little more concerned about how we are living our lives. 

    Yet there is an aspect of the omnipresence of God that can be comforting as well. To know that he is always there can be something that can bring encouragement to you and I as well.

    I remember one time when I was in grade school I had a bully who was always picking on me. I had tried to get him to stop but he just would not stop. So one day I decided enough was enough and I fought this kid who was two grades above me. As I was fighting him the group of kids was cheering me on. But all of a sudden the cheers stopped. I looked up and it was my father who had been watching all that time just making sure that I was ok. That gave me a great comfort. I knew that my father was there watching me, just in case I needed to be rescued.

    That is the kind of comfort that God gives us when we realize that he is right there with us. He is standing right beside us when everyone else in our lives have left us. He is there ready to help, ready to hear our prayers, ready to provide for our needs. When disappointment in our lives comes, He is right there with us ready to comfort us and mend our wounds. 

    So when we think about the Omnipresence of God, I hope you will be both comforted and convicted. Comforted when you feel alone, and convicted knowing you are never alone. May it be a opportunity for us to begin to watch more circumspectly how we live our lives and encourage us in those melancholy moments of abandonment and solitude. 

Knowing who God is

    I believe we all have something that we are proud of.  It might be some accomplishment or some reward we received at one time in our life.  It might be a talent or a skill that we have. It might be the accomplishments of our children, or grandchildren.  

    No matter what it might be we all have something that we are proud of.  One of the ways you can tell what someone is proud of is by seeing what they love to talk about. People often love to share the things they are most proud of with others. Parents who are beaming with pride with the accomplishments of their children share posts on Facebook. Individuals who are proud of their scholastic accomplishments post the pictures of there degrees and awards. When we have a great recipe for some great dessert we have found we share it with others. We share what we are proud of, and what we are proud of is what we like to share.  

Capt. Edward John Smith

    The bible often warns against us having pride in our lives. There are great problems that come from pride. The bible tells us that pride comes before a fall, something we have seen played out time and time again. We have seen individuals who have pridefully boasted about one thing or another only to be made to look foolish later. It was said that Capt. Edward John Smith had said once referring to the Titanic, "Even God himself couldn't sink this ship. That Capt. history records had went down with the ship on that fateful day the Titanic ship sunk to its ice grave.

    While pride is something we need to be on guard against. There are certainly things that you and I can and should be proud of. We should take a certain pride in our work. We should be proud of our children and grandchildren's accomplishments and achievements.

    In fact the bible not only tells us to be on guard against pride. It also tells us that there is one thing that we should be proud of. It is this one thing that  should help us put all of the other things we can be proud of in the right perspective and priority. It can help us avoid the kind of pride in our lives the bible tells us to guard against. That one thing you and I should be proud of is that you "understand and know God".

 Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”- (Jer 9:23-24)

    We need to get this. God is telling us to not boast or be prideful because we are rich or wealthy. We are not to be prideful because we have some great ability or power. We are not to be prideful of our knowledgeable or skill. Any success, achievement, and even the achievements of others that might make us beam with pride is something we should not boast about alone. 

    God tells that instead of pridefully sharing these accomplishments you should boast that God knows you and you know God.  God is tell us that this is the one thing that we should be proud of above anything and everything. It is this one thing that that should put everything else in it's proper perspective. 

    You see when you know God. When you know His steadfast love for you. When you understand His justice and righteousness. In short when you have a real relationship with God through Jesus Christ, you are better able to see things in your life with the right perspective. You are then able to understand that those kids and grandkids you are so very proud of, are first and foremost God's blessings to you. You realize that your strength, your wealth, your skill, your achievements or any thing that might make   you prideful, all come from the Lord above. 

    There are many people in this world who do not know God. They don't understand His Goodness or His great love for them. They have no relationship with Jesus Christ. So when they boast, when they proudly share some accomplishment, or some wonderful thing about there family. They fail to put the Lord into the equation. They fail to see that these things they proudly boast of, are in fact blessing's from the God who they do not know and refuse to acknowledge.  

    So when we have something in our lives that we are proud of lets makes sure we don't forget where our blessings come from. When we share with others our blessings, or our accomplishments, lets make sure we first and foremost share the source of our blessings and accomplishments. Lets make sure we point others to Christ. Lets make sure others know that nothing we have been given in this life is a product of our own two hands, but instead come from the very hands of God. 

    After all, God tells us in (Jer 9:23-24) that "For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."