Wednesday, July 27, 2011

One day we will all approve of God's performance!

       While scanning articles on CNN this morning I came across an article entitled, "Only 52% Approve of God's Job Performance."  After reading the short article I was saddened as I think about how flippant, and I would argue defiant, our culture has become towards the God of the universe.  How has the view of God, even among professing believers, become so small that we would tolerate the idea that we have the right and ability to judge God's performance.  Just like most things in American culture God has been set-up in such a way that it is expected that His sole purpose is to meet our every desire.  When something happens in our life that we don't like, we are quick to blame God and complain about it, we question his love and his goodness, and many people some day expect to stand before God and bring up their laundry list of all the "injustices" that have happened to them.
       We have lost sight of the magnitude of God.  We have done so many things to place God on our level that we no longer understand the transcendence of God.  We have come to the place where the creation feels comfortable to say to the creator, who do you think you are?  You can't do that?  I don't like that?  That was not my plan?  I want it this way?  We have the audacity to say to the one who created us, "YOU CAN'T DO THAT."  We need to get back to a place where we realize that God is God.  Let me remind all of us that some day when this life is over and we stand before God, no one will have the audacity to say, "You didn't do your job very well God.  I disapprove of you."  Instead our response will fall in line with what is revealed in Scripture.
In Isaiah's vision of God here was His response...
"Woe to me!  I cried.  "I am ruined!  For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty."  Isaiah 6:4
Peter, after being commanded by Jesus to put their nets down on the other side of the boat, and realizing who Jesus was responded by saying,
"Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man."  Luke 5:8
       One day when we stand before God we will respond with absolute awe, reverence, and amazement and fear.  We will never, ever, ever stand before God and tell him if we approved us His job.  As we stand before God His in all His magnitude,  and awesomeness, and Holiness, and Greatness, we will see God for who He truly is!  That day will either be most terrifying day a person will experience as their sins are laid bare before the God of the universe and eternal separation from God is pronounced, or it will be the most amazing, exhilarating moment a person will ever experience as the perfect righteousness of Jesus covers us, as sinners, and we will spend eternity in the presence of God who is so magnificent that we can't even begin  to comprehend.
       Praying for you and for me to gain a better perspective on who God is.  May we not find ourselves amongst those who believe that we have any right, and any basis, on which to disapprove of God's performance.  Instead may we daily strive to understand the greatness of God in all of life, and as a result live a life that reflects and demonstrates God's greatness to a watching world!  I recommend reading Job 38-41 today to remind us of the magnitude of who God is!!!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

A toad, a lawnmower, and God's grace!

toad3.GIF.gif


              Last night as I was mowing our lawn a little toad jumped out in front of me and quickly darted out of the way of the blades.  For the next several passes through that area the toad continually seemed to find itself in the exact place where I was trying to go.  As this was going on I reflected on how easily I could kill this Toad, and the Toad could do absolutely nothing to stop it from happening.  Don't worry, the toad is still alive and most likely happily jumping through my back yard as I write this!  After I moved beyond morbid thoughts of my ability to kill this Toad, my mind moved on to think about the grace of God. 
       I imagine that compared to God in his infinite power, glory, strength, greatness, and on and on, we kind of seem like Toads. God at any point could destroy us, and there is absolutely nothing we could do to stop God from doing that!  The verse that came to mind was Psalm 8:3-4.  "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars which you have ordained: what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for Him."  When you think of the magnitude of God it is amazing that God is mindful of us, and that God cares about us!  
       As amazing as that is, it becomes even more amazing when we realize that the same amazing God, who is mindful of us, is also the God that you and I sin against on consistent basis.  Back to the Toad!  Let's pretend that the Toad was able to bite and annoy me like a mosquito!  If that were the case, that Toad would have been chopped up and sent sailing by the blades of my lawn mower in an instant!  Yet, even though compared to God we are like Toads (in reality an ant would create even a better picture) and even though we being so tiny continually sin against God, God did something absolutely amazing.  Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates his own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  AMAZING!  
       Even though compared to God we are nothing, and even though in our nothingness we continually sin against God, God loved us so much that He sent his Son Jesus to die for us!  That is AMAZING!!!!!!  May you let that sink in today!  May you begin to comprehend how amazing and incredible God's love and grace for you is!