The Almighty God
When I was a little girl I didn’t know God. He was near, but I didn’t know I could go to Him for help and comfort. I grew up in Los Angeles during the days of the first successful heart transplant and hoped that by the time I grew up and got old they could transplant everything so I wouldn’t have to die.
One summer my cousin, Deloris, came from Iowa for a visit. She dragged our whole family to church. That was the beginning. What we found is beyond amazing. “I give to them eternal life, they will never perish, neither will any man pluck them out of my hand (John 10:28)."
“Can any hide himself in secret places that I will not see him? asks the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth (Jeremiah 23:24)?” Research from the Hubble Space telescope estimates 125 billion galaxies. The distance between galaxies is trillions of miles. Since God fills heaven and earth and the human eye can only see the distance of several miles, God is, therefore, too big to be seen by the naked human eye. However, evidence of His existence abounds all around us.
Imagine a little boy standing beside his father watching the launch of the space shuttle. He grips his father’s hand tightly; his eyes are huge as the rockets ignite, roar to life, and lift the space shuttle from the launching pad. When it has disappeared upward into the vastness of the blue sky the little boy turns his huge eyes up to his father. “Wow, who made that?” he asked.
“Nobody son, it just sort of happened,” the father answered.
“But somebody had to make it,” the child objects.
The father shakes his head as he reads the youngster’s thoughts. “You see, first there were the wires, and then the circuit boards, then control panels, then the seats, and somehow, the fire just roars out the back end, and whoosh, off it goes.”
Absurd? Yes. Ridiculous? Yes. Yet a far more intricate design exists in the world around us than in a space shuttle. The basic elements from which all matter has been formed (atoms, DNA) have a complexity of design that baffles the smartest and bravest minds. The order and design of the things around us demand the existence of a designer, a Creator. Creation is therefore the proof of the Creator. “For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse (Romans 1:20).”
Let’s imagine taking the Creation vs. Evolution issue into a court of law. In the courts of our country today, only one credible witness is needed to win a case. On the side of Creation, as exhibits A, B, C etc. are the sun, the moon, the stars, the weather systems, the plants, the animals, the sea life, and then the whole parade of mankind is presented. Each unique, amazing individual that God created in His own image is presented as evidence. All these systems and entities function at such high levels of performance and integration that man is still trying to understand them. They are marvels of amazing genius.
Then, imagine the case for the ‘Theory’ of Evolution. The lawyers present some unusual ideas, some well-stated treatises on the similarities between the species. Then they bring in the bones. The bones have been enshrined as proof of the ‘theory’ of evolution. Yet those who believe the ‘theory’ of evolution have disproved their own beliefs. A book called Bones of Contention, by Marvin Lubenow thoroughly exposes the fraud of the bones. Scientists that believe the theory of evolution, through the latest scientific methods, have themselves exposed what each of those famous bones really is and where it really came from. The sham is an embarrassment to science. The bones prove nothing.
So, on the side of Creation there is so much living, breathing evidence that it can’t all be presented and on the side of evolution you have the few papers, a few books, and fraudulent bones. You are the jury, you decide. Your eternal future depends upon it.
No one can adequately define the wonder that makes all living things alive: that energy, that force which awakens and sustains all life. Man, in his explosion of discovery and invention of the twentieth century, has done many things. However, even cloning is just a ‘high tech copy’ of the original. Man has not come close to originating anything similar to that which abounds all around us. These are the proof that God exists. Life itself is the proof that God exists.
Look in the mirror and you will see a unique, absolutely one-of-a-kind masterpiece. There is no one like you, there never has been and never will be again. You did not design yourself. Your parents did not design you.
God designed you in his own image--arms, legs, hands, face, mind--but unique: no other person just like you. Look in the mirror--You are the proof.
2 God is Beautiful
God’s throne is sapphire. Just imagine that!
In 595 BC, when Ezekiel saw visions of God, he saw living creatures that were nothing of this world. And above the heads of those living creatures he saw a throne.
“And above the space that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone (Ezekiel 1:26).” A sapphire stone! Not ivory and gold like Solomon’s throne. Not encrusted with little sapphire stones, but a sapphire stone—singular. No king of this earth has ever sat on such a throne—the throne of the universe—the throne of the Almighty God.
“And upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness of the appearance of a man above upon it (Ezekiel 1:26b).” Ezekiel tells us that God is shaped like man. He has a body. He has a head and neck. He has shoulders, arms, torso, legs and feet. Have you heard those declarations that God is a woman? Well, Ezekiel says that he saw the form of a man. And what does this form of a man look like?
The Holy Scriptures tells us that God is beautiful. Psalm 27:4 says, “Behold the beauty of the Lord.” Psalm 45:2 tells us that He is “more beautiful than all the sons of men.” Today millions of posters are sold of the latest celebrities. If we took all the gorgeous people of all ages and combined their beauty, we would still fall short of accurately portraying the beauty of God. God is more beautiful than all of them combined. He is more beautiful than ‘all the sons of men.’ Song of Solomon 5:16 tells us that ‘He is altogether lovely.’ That statement says to us that there is not one unlovely or imperfect thing about God.
Here’s what Ezekiel saw:
“And I saw the color of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of His loins downward, (Ezekiel 1:27).”
Have you heard those pronouncements that God is black, or white? Ezekiel tells us that His color is not black or white but amber, fiery amber. How many of us like watch fire? We stare into the flame of a candle or the flames of a fireplace fascinated by the mystery of it. (How much money is spent on the pursuit of beauty, beauty for our appearance, beauty for our homes, beauty for our eyes to feast upon?)
“I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had a brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, this was the appearance of the brightness round about (Ezekiel 1:18).” The brightness that Ezekiel saw had light like a rainbow shining from it. Rainbows have a transcendent beauty that causes us to stop in awe each time we see one. That is the very same brightness that shines out from the person of the Almighty God.
The apostle John saw a similar vision of God when he was in exile on the island of Patmos. He saw a throne, “And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone (red carnelian): and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like an emerald (Revelation 4:3).”
Think about this for a minute. The beauty of God transcends what man has seen. The beauty of God transcends what man can imagine. No wonder God forbid His people to make any images or likenesses of Him (Exodus 20:4). They would all be wrong. Man cannot create the beauty that is God. We must combine the beauty of fire and rainbow and all the personal physical beauty of all the people of history before we can begin to imagine the beauty of God.
“This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke (Ezekiel 1:28).” God’s beauty is so breathtaking that it would make us gasp and never breathe again.
“And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead (Revelation 1:17).” “His appearance was as the sun shines in his strength (Revelation 1:16).”
John saw a form of man that appeared like a jasper and sardine stone. Men of all centuries have treasured gemstones. They have collected them, shaped them, and polished them so they would cast forth just tiny bits of light like this vision of the Almighty God. Men have saved all their substance for gemstones, stolen them, and even killed for them. Yet all the gemstones of the ages are as nothing when compared to this living, breathing gemstone, the visible representation of the infinite, invisible, Almighty God.
Far more wonderful than the physical appearance of God are the things inside of Him. He is infinite and eternal genius, righteousness, power, love, goodness, imagination, creativity, and life. This list could go on indefinitely because every good thing that can be, God is, to the degree of infinity and eternity. Each part of His essence goes on and on from every point in every direction without end.
A person is best known by what he does. “You will know them by their fruits (Matthew 7:16).” We know God’s genius and power by looking around us. He created all the majesty and wonder of our world and the universe. “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead (Romans 1:20).”
“Understand that I am He, before me there was no God formed, neither will there be after me (Isaiah 43:10).”
“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God (Psalm 90:2).”
3 God is All-Powerful
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).” Heaven and earth—all that we have ever known is within the boundaries of these two places. God is the source of it all.
The word ‘created’ in Genesis 1:1 is the Hebrew word ‘bara.’ It means to make something out of nothing. If I bake a cake I use eggs, flour, sugar, milk etc. If man builds a bridge he uses timber and rope or iron and steel. Only God can make something out of nothing. God made a universe from absolutely nothing. And He did it by speaking.” “Let there be light…!” “Let there be space in the midst of the waters…!” “Let the waters under heaven be gathered together…!” "He spoke and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast," says Psalm 33:6, 9. That's how powerful our God is.
“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God…(Hebrews 11:3).” “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead (Romans 1:20).” “God has spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongs to God (Psalm 62:11).”
“Trust in the LORD forever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength (Isaiah 26:4).”
“For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens (Psalm 96:5).”
“Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders (Exodus 15:11)?”
“O Lord GOD, You have begun to show you servant Your greatness, and Your mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to Your works, and according to Your might (Deuteronomy 3:24)?”
“O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like You (Psalm 89:8)?”
“Who does great things and unsearchable; marvelous things without number (Job 5:9).”
“Who does great things past finding out; yes, and wonders without number (Job 9:10).”
4 God is Light
Imagine absolute darkness: darkness so thick that there is not one single ray of light. Without light we could not see the rich hues of a garden or the luminescent blue/green spots on a peacocks tail: we could not see the stripes on the zebra or the fluff of a dandelion drifting through the air. Without light we could not see the spots on a giraffe, or rainbows rising from the churning foam at the base of a waterfall. Imagine never seeing a sunrise or a sunset. Imagine never seeing the sky, trees, grass, birds, cats or squirrels. Imagine never seeing the faces of your loved ones. Imagine never seeing. Anything.
How beautiful light can be shimmering off leaves that dance in the wind or splashing a silvery, golden pathway across the crashing ocean waves at sunset. Without light there would be no life at all because plants cannot grow without light. People and animals can’t live without food. Imagine!
If there were no light there would be nothing.
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light (Genesis 1:3).”
“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things (Isaiah 45:7).”
“… God is light, and in him is no darkness at all (1John 1:5). "
“Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path (Psalm119:105)."
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid (Psalm 27:1)?”
“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8:12).”
“For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from those that walk uprightly (Psalm 84:11)."
5 God is Infinite Genius
Imagine when God made earth. Imagine the thundering of His majestic voice and a mass of elements so vast that we cannot comprehend began rearranging themselves into the components of earth. Saltwater condensed in gigantic swirling masses alongside enormous mountains of various types of rock and earth, metal and precious stone. Tremendous tonnages of granite, obsidian, quartzite, marble, sandstone, shale, limestone sprinkled with feldspars, silicates and other minerals as well—gold, bronze, diamond, sapphire, emerald were weighed, layered, and shaped by the hands of the Almighty into the marvel called Earth. (New minerals are being discovered yearly to add to the three thousand that have already been categorized.) Imagine the architecture of an enormous living ball circling in space, more water than land covering a core of fire. Imagine the mountains, valleys, caverns, hills, ravines, grottos, plateaus, pools, lakes, waterfalls, rivers, and oceans. “Of old You have laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of your hands (Psalm 102:25).”
How much genius does it take to make a blade of grass? I can’t do it? Can you?
“And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so (Genesis 1:11).”
Do you know how many kinds of grasses there are? When God spoke all obeyed. Grasses, bushes, shrubs, herbs, trees. Apple trees, orange trees, pineapple and banana, pine trees, olive trees, spruce and juniper all came forth at a word. Aspen, oak, birch and gum trees, mangrove, palm, larch and cypress trees came into being with beauty to delight the eyes, smells to delight the nose, and taste to caress the tongue. Man has categorized ten thousand varieties of ferns alone, in our day of ecological peril. So think what there must have been when the planet was fresh and new, direct from the hand of the Almighty.
“And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth: and it was so (Genesis 1:12).” Each time I squeeze a lemon into a glass of water I get seeds. Each time I eat an orange I get seeds. Watermelon, I get seeds. It’s annoying! Yet what a tiny miracle, what utter genius is contained within the tiny plain wrapper of a seed. Each little seed that we pass by or toss away has mighty potential. Just add soil, sun, water, and time. It can sprout into a towering majestic giant providing shelter and shade for birds and man along with fruit to feed many. How much genius does it take?
How much genius does it take to make shrimp, or a whale?
“Let the waters swarm with abundance of living creatures, and birds fly across the face of the heavens! So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to its kind, and every winged bird according to its kind (Genesis 1:20,21).” Myriads of species of fish and birds came into being at His word: vast in their uniqueness, abounding in their proliferation, from God’s infinite genius and power.
Through film, oceanographers display for our viewing the world under the sea; the mystery and majesty God’s boundless genius in a world of watery darkness: creatures of delightful, transparent beauty and deadly poison, creatures of mammoth size and startling gentleness. Man has just begun to explore the wonders of God in the depths of the oceans that are wrapped around the earth. Are there more fish in the sea than birds in the air?
From the tiny bee hummingbird of Cuba to the eight-foot tall ostrich, 8,600 species of bird are alive on our planet today. Some larger varieties of birds are now extinct. The elephant bird of Madagascar reached ten feet tall and the Teratornis incredibilis had an estimated wingspan of sixteen and a half feet. Birds of every size, color, temperament, and song have amused, delighted, and awed man since creation. Who among us hasn’t wished that we, like them, could spread wings and lift from the earth to soar across the face of the heavens on a whim, floating here and there, touching down only when we wished.
How many planets there are in the universe? What wonders are there? How many stars?
“My hand also has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spanned the heavens: when I call to them, they stand up together (Isaiah 48:13).” A span is the width of an outstretched hand. Imagine the universe (125 billion galaxies each 9.5 trillion miles apart) stretched within the size of God’s hand.
“The LORD by wisdom has founded the earth; by understanding has he established the heavens (Proverbs 3:19).” “He stretches out the north over the empty place, and hangs the earth upon nothing (Job 26:7).” “Do you know how to balance the clouds, the wondrous works of Him that is perfect in knowledge (Job 37:16)?” “By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew (Proverbs 3:20).”
“He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and has stretched out the heaven by his understanding (Jeremiah 51:15).”
“To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endures forever (Psalm 136:5).” God’s genius is awesome beyond our ability to comprehend: infinite imagination and limitless creativity.
“He counts the number of the stars. He calls them all by name (Psalm 147:4).”
“O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom you have made them all: the earth is full of your riches (Psalm 104:24)."
6 God is Good
“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day (Genesis 1:31).”
The world is full of good things to see. The beauties and wonders of earth and life astound the imagination. So much so that man is continually discovering and documenting new wonders.
How many good things do we taste in a day? Most of us don’t eat things that don’t taste good. How many good things do we smell in a day? How many good things do we feel? A breeze? The sun on our face? Warm hugs? Love?
What God planned for man is good. He made man in His very own likeness: made him ruler of all earth. And then put him in a beautiful paradise with a beautiful naked woman (Genesis 2).
The land that God gave His people, Israel, was the best place on earth at that time. Men are still fighting over it today.
“For the LORD your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills (Deuteronomy 8:7).”
“In the day that I lifted up my hand to them, to bring them forth from the land of Egypt into a land that I had saw for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands (Ezekiel 20:6).”
The bad things started when man disobeyed God.
“Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way (Psalm 25:8).”
Even when man sinned and disobeyed God, God was good. God didn’t destroy man but made a way for man to return to God because God is the only source of life and blessing. He promised to send a Savior to deliver man from His sin. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).” “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).”
God gave man troubles designed to humble man’s heart so that man would return to His Maker, the Source of blessing.
“Therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken (Genesis 3:23).” Solomon in Ecclesiastes searched out by wisdom all things under heaven, “this sore travail God has given the sons of man to humbled by (Ecclesiastes 1:13).” Only in humility does man enjoy the blessings of his Maker.
"And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of
thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers (Deuteronomy 31:9)."
"For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up (Jeremiah 24:6)."
Even discipline is for our good. “For whom the Lord loves he disciplines, and scourges every son whom he receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father does not correct? But if you are without correction, of which all are partakers, then are you bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh that corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live (Hebrews 12:6-9)?”
God is so amazing that He even turns bad things into good. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28)."
“For he is good; for his mercy endures forever (2Chronicles 5:13).”
7 God Knows Everything
Imagine that tomorrow when you get up you are given the job of balancing the clouds! Not many of us would have a clue as to where to begin. We do not have the power or the knowledge to do such things. Yet we look up and there are often clouds, beautiful clouds or dark rumbling thunderheads that drench us with rain. We are fools if we think that these things just happen perfectly and consistently by chance. Someone has the power to do these things, someone has the consistency, and someone has the knowledge. “Do you know how to balance the clouds, the wondrous works of Him that is perfect (complete) in knowledge (Job 37:16).”
And how many things are there to know? Men spend lifetimes and fortunes in pursuit of knowledge. Scientists have been busy throughout the ages and haven’t begun to scratch the surface of the things to know in this universe. Even cloning is nothing original, just a high tech copy of the infinitely amazing design by another. And man is just one being on one planet in the universe so vast that man can merely guess at its actual size.
“Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out (Romans 11:33)!”
“Known to God are all his works from the beginning of the world (Acts 15:18).” God knows all His works before He began any of them.
The knowledge of the physical properties, systems, and structures of the universe is as infinite as the universe itself. However, that is just a small amount of God’s knowledge. God fully knows each being that He created—each animal, each angel, and each person. He knows everything in every heart.
“And he (Jesus) said to them, You are those who justify yourselves before men; but God knows your hearts…(Luke 16:15).”
“O LORD, you have searched me, and known me (Psalm 139:1).” “And God, who knows the hearts, bore them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did to us (Acts 15:8).”
“For I know their works and their thoughts: it will come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they will come, and see my glory (Isaiah 66:18).”
“Will not God search this out? For he knows the secrets of the heart (Psalm 44:21)."
“Do not talk so exceeding proudly any more; do not let arrogance come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed (1Samuel 2:3).” Metals are weighed for their value. The heavier the metal the more value it has. God weighs our actions to see if they are of any value.
God knows all about each man: “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered (Matthew 10:30).” “God is greater than our heart, and knows all things (1John 3:2)."
Not only does God know all things, He has told us: “However when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he will not speak of himself; but whatever he hears, that he will speak: and he will show you things to come (John 16:13).”
“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel will stand, and I will do all my pleasure (Isaiah 46:10).” “I have, from the beginning declared it to you; before it came to pass I showed it to you: so you could not say, My idol has done it, and my carved image, and my melted image, has commanded it (Isaiah 48:5).”
"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it (Psalm 139:6)."
8 God Provides
“God that made the world and all things in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed anything, since he gives to all life, and breath, and all things (Acts 17:24, 25).”
He gives to all life, and breath, and all things.
I didn’t make this world; you didn’t make this world. I didn’t make myself; you didn’t make yourself. I didn’t make apples and carrots, chicken and beef. You didn’t either. I don’t keep the planet rotating and the sun shining. I don’t keep the plants growing. I do get hungry, thirsty, and tired every day. If we didn’t breathe, drink, eat, and rest we wouldn’t be alive very long. He gives to all life, and breath, and all things.
When the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness and had nothing to eat, God rained bread on them from heaven. “And when the dew that lay was gone, behold, on the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, What is it? for they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, This is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat (Exodus 16:14).” This ‘manna’ is what angels eat. “Man ate angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full (Psalm 78:25).”
When the people complained that they had no meat to eat God caused a wind to bring quail from the sea. “And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, three feet high on the face of the earth (Numbers 11:31).” A day’s journey on foot was 20 miles so the meat that God provided was a pile of quail three feet deep and 20 miles wide around the camp of over 2 million people.
In Exodus 15 the water was bitter so God had Moses put a certain tree in it that turned the water sweet so the people could drink. In Exodus 17 there was no water for the people to drink. God brought water out of a rock for them.
“He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring food out of the earth (Psalm 104:14).” “You open hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing (Psalm 145:16).”
When it came time for Abraham’s love for God to be tested, God also provided for this. “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together… And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son (Genesis 22:8,13).”
When it came time for the sins of the world to be paid for, God provided again. “The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).” “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).”
God provided again, but it was Himself that He provided for the most hideous, unthinkable task in history. “… God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them; and has committed to us the word of reconciliation (2Corinthians 5:19).”
“Who holds our soul in life, and does not allow our feet to be moved (Psalm 66:9).” He provides our stability. “In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind (Job 12:10).” He holds all our souls and breath in His hand.
“But my God will supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).” “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen (Romans 11:36).”
He provides all things for us, even His Holy Spirit as our helper. “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him (Luke 11:13)?” “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly (Psalm 84:11).”
9 God Counsels
Abraham and Sarah desperately wanted a child. Sarah had a bright idea to give her servant to her husband and get a child by her. Surrogate parenting is not new. Sarah gave Abraham her Egyptian servant girl, Hagar, as a wife. The girl became pregnant and was proud of it. She despised Sarah. And Sarah treated her so harshly that she ran away.
Hagar was pregnant and alone and on the run when God came to her to give her advice. “And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, Where have you come from? And where will you go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.
“And the angel of the LORD said to her, return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands. And the angel of the LORD said to her, I will multiply your seed greatly, so that it cannot be counted for multitude. And the angel of the LORD said to her, Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son, and will call his name Ishmael; because the LORD has heard your affliction (Genesis 16:7-11).”
God gave advice to Cain when he was about to kill his brother Abel. “And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of its fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering: But Cain and his offering he did not respect. And Cain was filled with wrath, and his countenance fell. And the LORD said to Cain, Why are you filled with wrath? And why is your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not well, sin lies at the door. His desire will be toward you and you will rule over him. (Genesis 4:4-7).”
In Genesis 3 God had made coats of skins to cover the nakedness of the man and woman because they had fallen natures because they chose to disobey God. Coats of skins showed that they believed God’s promise of Genesis 3:15. God had waved the death penalty and promised the solution. Again, God provided what was needed. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).”
Cain’s offering, like the fig leaves of Adam and Eve, was not adequate. Our own good works are not enough to make us acceptable in the presence of our awesome and holy God. God spoke to Cain, telling him the solution. And warned him not to give in to the sinful nature or the whispers of evil.
God’s advice is the very best. If Adam had listened to God in Eden we would not have sinful natures. There would be no unhappiness, envy, greed, hate, sickness, or war in the world today.
God’s advice is always available. He is as close as a prayer and His full counsel to mankind is written in His word, The Holy Bible. By stories and direct statements God has made clear His best advice for every situation that we will face in life. God tests us to see who we will listen to. In a way, each day, each one of us eats from the Tree of Life or the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
If we follow the counsel of God He will bring us through times of testing to a place of abundance and service to Him. “Blessed is the man that does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also will not wither; and whatever he does will prosper (Psalm 1:1).”
“Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heaven and the earth by your great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for you: You show loving kindness to thousands, and recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts is his name. Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for Your eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings (Jeremiah 32:17-19).” How amazing to think that God’s eyes are on each person, giving to us each day according to our ways.
“There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that will stand (Proverbs 19:21).”
God counsels nations as well as individual people.
“Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he has taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock will draw them out: surely he will make their dwelling desolate with them (Jeremiah 50:45).”
“Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD that he has taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman (Jeremiah 49:20).”
God warns against other counsel besides His. Remember He alone made the heavens and earth and all things (Genesis 1). He alone knows all things (1 John 3:20). So, are we going to listen to advice from the One who knows everything or from some inferior being who knows just a few things?
“Woe to the rebellious children, says the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin (Isaiah 30:1).”
“But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither do they understand his counsel: for he will gather them as the sheaves to the floor (Micah 4:12).”
“My people ask counsel at their stocks (carved idols), and their staff declares to them: for the spirit of whoring has caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God (Hosea 4:12).
Not only is God the best counselor but He also destroys bad counsel.
“The LORD brings the counsel of the heathen to nothing: he makes the devices of the people of none effect (Psalm 33:10).” “There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD (Proverbs 21:30).” “My counsel will stand, and I will do all my pleasure (Isaiah 46:10).”
God wants the best for all mankind. “I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich; and white clothing, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness does not appear (remember the fig leaves and coats of skins?); and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see (Revelation 3:18).”
He wants us to know the unchangeable quality of His counsel. “In which God, willing more abundantly to show to the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath (Hebrews 6:17).” “… the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working (Isaiah 28:29).”“I will bless the LORD, who has given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons (Psalm 16:7).”
“The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations (Psalm 33:11).” “You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory (Psalm 73:24).”
10 God Gives Peace
One starry spring night at the very turning point of history shepherds were in the fields watching over their flocks. The Angel of the Lord came to them to announce the world’s greatest event, the arrival of the infinite God of the universe in human form, Jesus Christ, come to save mankind. The heavens filled with angels that said “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men (Luke 2:14).”
Then, when Jesus was about to leave this earth He told His disciples, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world gives, give I to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27).” Jesus came to bring us peace. He left His peace with us. He intends peace for us. He provided peace at the infinitely high price of His own life.
Is there peace on earth? In the 6,000 years of recorded history of mankind the nations of earth have known only 200 years when there was not a war somewhere.
Are our hearts ever troubled? Are we ever afraid? Do we ever have turmoil or confusion in our thoughts? How many sleepless nights are spent because of the racing of our thoughts? How many sleeping pills, tranquilizers, and gallons of alcohol are consumed in an attempt to quiet the minds of man? Even children today are being medicated so that their minds can focus in school. Some teachers use chanting and meditation to quiet and focus their students. Yet God wants us to have peace, His peace, a peace that surpasses what can be produced by medication or meditation. “And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep/guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).”
What is this peace of God that is beyond our understanding and how can we get it and keep it?
Peace is more than the absence of war or conflict between people, nations, or even inside our own minds. Peace is first peace with the God who made us in His image. We didn’t make this universe, this world, or ourselves. We are God’s guests in this life. Are we appreciative? Do we respect our host and His wishes? Or do we ignore Him and take what He has given as though we deserve it? Do we steal honor that belongs to God by giving credit for life to mother nature? Do we claim honor for our achievements as though we ourselves made the abilities that made those achievements possible?
Can there be peace between man and His Creator who he is dishonoring? No! Our hearts need to be right with our Maker first for us to have peace in our lives and on earth. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1).”
“And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven (Colossians 1:20).” “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government will be on his shoulder: and his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).” “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).
When we accept God’s gift of His Son’s death for our sins and receive eternal life we have peace with God through our faith in Him.
God’s peace is calm serenity that has no anxiety or disturbance whatsoever: serenity and calm that remains undisturbed in all circumstances. This is possible because of who it is that gives this peace. The one who gives us this peace is the One who holds all the power of the universe: the One who can do all things. There is nothing you will ever need that God cannot provide.
“Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Do they not come from here, even of your lusts that war in your members? You lust, and do not have: you kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: you fight and war, yet you do not have, because you do not ask (James 1:1-2).”
Most wars start because people need or want things and they do not ask God. God has no shortages. He can provide whatever is needed, whenever it is needed.
What if we ask God for what we need but He doesn’t answer? What stops God’s provision of the answer to our needs?
“You ask, and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that the friend of the world is enemy of God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do you think that the scripture says for no reason, The spirit that dwells in us lusts to envy (James 4:3-5)?”
That is the great truth. We have a fallen nature inside us that convinces us that will be happy if we only have this or that. This fallen nature tries to leave God out of everything and become itself the center of everything. That’s pride. What right do we have to be the center of anything? We didn’t make this universe. We didn’t make ourselves.
“But he gives more grace. Therefore he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).”
How do we avoid the path of evil pride?
“Acquaint now yourself with him, and be at peace: by this, good will come to you (Job 22:21).” We learn of God and follow Him rather than following that voice inside us that leaves God out. If we don’t know God through the Bible, then we don’t know Him, what He expects; we don’t know how not to offend Him or what to do about it when we do offend Him. By not knowing Him we cut ourselves off from His total provision for every need of life. By not getting to know Him through His word, we cut ourselves off from His perfect peace.
“I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace to his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly (Psalm 85:8)." “Great peace have they who love your law: and nothing will offend them (Psalm 119:165).” “There is no peace, says the LORD, to the wicked (Isaiah 48:22).”
“What shall we then say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31)?" “For you will be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you (Job 5:23).” Get that! Imagine walking in the jungle through a pride of lions or pit of snakes and remaining unharmed. “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for You, LORD, only make me dwell in safety (Psalm 4:8).” “The LORD will give strength to his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace (Psalm 29:11).”
“O that you had listened to my commandments! Then had your peace been as a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea (Isaiah 48:18).” “But the meek will inherit the earth; and will delight themselves in the abundance of peace (Psalm 37:11).” “He has delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me. (Psalm 55:18).” “He makes peace in your borders, and fills you with the finest of the wheat (Psalm 147:14).”
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end (Jeremiah 29:11).” “When a man’s ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him (Proverbs 16:7).”
“For the mountains will depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness will not depart from you, neither will the covenant of my peace be removed, says the LORD that has mercy on you (Isaiah 54:10)."
“And all your children will be taught of the LORD; and great will be the peace of your children (Isaiah 54:13).”
“For you will go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills will break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands (Is. 55:12).” “I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, says the LORD; and I will heal him (Isaiah 57:19)."
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1Thessalonians 5:23).”
11 God Helps
Imagine that you are a king and that a large army of foreign invaders has surrounded your city to capture it for themselves. This happened to King Hezekiah in 725 BC. At that time Hezekiah said of the invaders, “With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles (2 Chronicles 32:8).” The Lord destroyed the 185,000 Assyrian troops surrounding Jerusalem without a single arrow being shot.
When David faced a giant in full armor while he wore shepherd's clothes and used just a rock in a slingshot, he said to the nine foot tall warrior, “You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand; and I will strike you, and take your head from you; and I will give the carcasses of the army of the Philistines this day to the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’s (1Samuel 17:45-47).”
Joseph was hated by his brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt, “But the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand (Genesis 39:2, 3).”
Then when Joseph’s boss’s wife failed to seduce him, she lied and had him thrown in prison, “But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison (Genesis 39:2).” Joseph was miraculously delivered from prison some years later and made Prime Minister of Egypt because of God’s help.
Moses named one of his children Eliezer, “for the God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh (Exodus 18:4).”
Daniel and his friends were about to be executed because King Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed a dream that upset him, he couldn’t remember it, and his ‘wise men’ couldn’t figure it out. “And the decree went forth that the wise men should be killed; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be killed (Daniel 2:13).” “Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then was the secret revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven (Daniel 2:17-19).”
“Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changes the times and the seasons: he removes kings, and sets up kings: he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He reveals the deep and secret things: he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. I thank you, and praise you, O God of my fathers, who has given me wisdom and might, and has made known to me now what we desired of you: for you have now made known to us the king’s matter (Daniel 2:20-23).” Daniel went to the king, revealed the forgotten dream and its meaning to the king. He gave God the credit and saved himself, his friends, and the wise men. “There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides on the heaven in your help (Deuteronomy 33:26).”
God alone in the universe holds all the power.
“Happy are you, O Israel: who is like you, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of your help, and who is the sword of his excellency (Deuteronomy 33:29)!”
“And Asa cried to the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with you to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: (2Chronicles 14:11).”
“If, when evil comes upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine … and we cry to you in our affliction, then you will hear and help (2Chronicles 20:9).”
What God has done for others He will do for us. We know this because God is no respecter of persons. “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. But in every nation he that fears him, and works righteousness, is accepted with him (Acts 10:34, 35).”
The Bible was written so that we could know God and what He has done for us. “Now all these things happened to them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the world has come (1Corinthians 10:11).”
“Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know (Jeremiah 33:3).” “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).” “The LORD upholds all that fall, and raises up all those that are bowed down (Psalm 145:14).”
God doesn’t help evil. “Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers (Job 8:20).”
“Our soul waits for the LORD: he is our help and our shield (Psalm 33:20).” “Behold, God is my helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul (Psalm 54:4).” “For he will deliver the needy when he cries; the poor also, and him that has no helper (Psalm 72:12).” “So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me (Hebrews 13:6).’
“Fear not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God: I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness (Isaiah 41:10).”
“I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks upon me: You are my help and my deliverer (Psalm 40:17).” “Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man (Psalm 60:11).” “Because you have been my help, therefore in the shadow of your wings will I rejoice (Psalm 63:7).”
“My help comes from the LORD, which made heaven and earth (Psalm 121:2).” “Happy is he that has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God (Psalm 146:5).” “Thus says the LORD that made you, and formed you from the womb, who will help you; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and you, Jesurun, whom I have chosen (Isaiah 44:2).”
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).”
12 God Sees
An Egyptian slave girl had been given to her master as a bride to produce an heir for the master. She had no choice. However, when she became pregnant, she also became proud, rude, and disobedient to her mistress. Her mistress abused her and sent her off alone with nothing. But God saw it all and intervened. He gave her great promises just like He had given to her master.
“And she called the name of the LORD that spoke to her, You God see me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that sees me (Genesis 16:13)?”
Nothing happens that God does not know about. He sees everything. “The LORD looks from heaven; he beholds all the sons of men (Psalm 33:13).”
“The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry (Psalm 34:15).” “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him (2Chronicles 16:9).” “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil (1Peter 3:12).”
It is important for us to know that we cannot do anything wrong that God does not know about. “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good (Proverbs. 15:3).” “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his goings (Proverbs 5:21).” Imagine that! God thinks about, He ponders, what we are doing.
God sees nations as well as people.
“Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says the LORD (Amos 9:8).” “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? says the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the LORD (Jeremiah 23:24).”
“The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids test the children of men (Psalm 11:4).” God tests all men. He made man in His image. No other creature is so greatly honored as to be created in the image of the Almighty God, maker of heaven and earth.
God sees secret things.
“That your deeds of compassion may be in secret: and your Father which sees in secret himself will reward you openly (Matthew 6:4).”
God sees all creatures: “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened to the eyes of him with whom we have to do (Hebrews 4:13).”
God doesn’t see things as man does. God sees man’s heart, his thoughts, his true self: “But the LORD said to Samuel, Do not look on his face, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart (1Samuel 16:7).”
God even sees hell: “Hell is naked before him, and destruction has no covering (Job 26:6).
13 God Tests Man
“And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat of it dying, you will die (Genesis 2:15-17).”
In the beginning there was only one commandment; therefore there was only one way for man to honor God by obedience or dishonor God by disobedience. God made man in His own image and provided all that man needed. God only asked one thing of the man and it was so simple that it was ridiculous—do not eat from this one tree. Man failed (Genesis 3). Man has been failing God horribly since that time. One sin became many sins until many of those made in the image of God even refuse to acknowledge their Maker at all.
“The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids test, the children of men (Psalm 11:4).” “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his goings (Proverbs 5:21).” The word ponders means to roll flat, weigh, or prepare. “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weighs the spirits (Proverbs 16:2).”
Why does God weigh our hearts or prepare our thoughts?
“Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God tries (tests, investigates) the hearts and emotions (Psalm 7:9).” God sees who will be just and bow before their Maker and who will not. God ends wickedness.
“The LORD tests the righteous: but the wicked and him that loves violence his soul hates (Psalm 11:5).” “The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD tests the hearts (Proverbs 17:3).” The refining pot had a fire under it that caused metal to heat so that the impurities rose to the top to be removed. In this same way God allows troubles in our lives to test each man’s heart and remove impurities from our thoughts and therefore from our lives.
“I know also, my God, that you test the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness (1Chronicles 29:17).” It is a pleasure to God when people think and behave rightly. “But, O LORD of hosts, that judge righteously, that test the emotions and the heart (Jeremiah 11:20)…” God’s judgment is right.
“And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts: if you seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever (1Chronicles 28:9).”
14 God is Great
How great is God? Do you know anyone smart enough and powerful enough to create and sustain a universe? Do you know anyone smart enough to create a planet or a star, an eagle, an ostrich, a giraffe, an elephant, a lion or a man? Do you know anyone smart enough and powerful enough to create a just a human hand or a human eye or even a blade of grass?
“The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure in them (Psalm 111:2).”
“O Lord GOD, you have begun to show your servant your greatness, and your mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth that can do according to your works, and according to your might (Deuteronomy 3:24)?”
Isaiah told the people to look up into the night sky to see how great God is. “Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who has created these things, that brings out their host by number: he calls them all by names by the greatness of his might, because he is strong in power; not one fails (Isaiah 40:26).” God’s power holds all of the universe on a perfect course. If one planet or star was off course by a fraction catastrophe would occur.
“He counts the number of the stars; he calls them all by their names (Psalm 147:4).” Man does not know the number of stars in the universe much less their names. We cannot count the stars or the wonders found on earth. “Who does great things past finding out; yes, and wonders without number (Job 9:10).”
“O LORD, how great are your works! And your thoughts are very deep (Psalm 92:5).” We see the depths of God’s thoughts when we try to understand our salvation. Why would such a marvelous being as God even think about man much less send His Son to die for their sins? “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have ordained; what is man, that you are mindful of him? And the son of man, that you visit him? For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and have crowned him with glory and honor. You made him to have dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet (Psalm 8:3-6).” Why?
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).” “But God demonstrated his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).” “For you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain life received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (1 Peter 1:18, 19).”
“Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all (1Chronicles 29:11).”
“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable (Psalm 145:3).”
15 God Protects
What if an army was chasing you and suddenly you were trapped with no way out. How would you like God to descend in a pillar of fire and stand between you and that army to protect you? “And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one did not come near the other all the night (Exodus 14:19-20).”
“The angel of the LORD camps around them that fear him, and delivers them (Psalm 34:7).” If God is camping around you is anything going to get through to hurt you? If you have to deliver something in a rough area of the city at night, “But You, O LORD, are a shield for me… (Psalm 3:3).”
“He will not allow your foot to be moved: he that guards you will not sleep…The LORD will preserve your going out and your coming in from this time on, and forevermore (Psalm 121:3, 8).”
“As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from now on even forever (Psalm 125:2)."
“He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High (fellowship with God) will abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him I will trust. Surely he will deliver you from the trap of the hunter, and from the deadly epidemic.
He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will trust: his truth will be your shield and wall of protection. You will not be afraid for the terror by night; Or for the arrow that flies by day; Or for the plague that stalks in darkness; or for the destruction that lays waste at noon.
A thousand will fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you. Only with your eyes will you watch and see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, your dwelling place; There will no evil befall you, neither will any plague come near your dwelling: For he will give his angels charge over you, to guard you in all your ways.
They will lift you up in their hands so that you do not strike your foot against a stone. You will walk on the lion and cobra: the young lion and the serpent you will trample under feet. Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he has known my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation (Psalm 91).”
"For I will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the
glory in the midst of her, says the Lord (Zechariah 2:5)."
16 God Judges Evil
In the beginning God made everything good, good, and very good (Genesis 1,2). Man and woman defied their Maker and chose evil by eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 3). So, “To the woman God said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in sorrow you will bring forth children; and your desire will be to your husband, and he will rule over you.
“And to Adam he said, Because you listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, Do not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow you will eat of it all the days of your life; Thorns also and thistles it will bring forth to you; and you will eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of your face you will eat food, until you return to the ground; for out of it you were taken: for dust you are, and to dust you will return (Genesis 3:16-19).”
Does that seem a bit much? Was God being harsh or vindictive by this? “So by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned (Romans 5:12).” God made life; man chose evil and by it brought death on all mankind. “Know therefore that God exacts of you less than your iniquity deserves (Job 11:6).”
“ And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, so he not put out his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: Therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden, to till the ground from where he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way of the tree of life (Genesis 3:22-24).”
God gave man a promise and a way back and guarded man from eating of the Tree of Life until man was cleansed from his sin. That’s love and grace that we do not deserve because it cost the death of His perfect son to cleanse man from sin. “Forasmuch as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your empty way of life received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (1 Peter 1:18, 19)
Fifteen centuries later:
“ And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5).” Evil brings death. God gives life.
“And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for I repent that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD (Genesis 6:6-8).
“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth (Genesis 6:11-13).”
“ And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth will die. But with you I will establish my covenant (Genesis 6:17, 18).” God warned earth for 120 years before He sent the flood.
Four centuries after that:
“Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground (Genesis 19:24, 25).” Remember God’s conversation with Abraham before the judgment of Sodom? “And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
“And Abraham drew near, and said, Will you also destroy the righteous with the wicked? That be far from you to do after this manner, to kill the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from you: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right (Genesis 18:23, 25)?
“And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous in the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes (Genesis 18:26).” That is mercy. Abraham bartered God down to ten. God said He would spare the whole city if ten righteous people could be found. The next morning God’s angels led Lot, his wife, and two daughters out of the city before the destruction. Not even ten righteous people could be found. Righteous in God’s view are those who righteous by faith, not sinless, but trusting in His promised Savior.
Much of the writings of the prophets in Isaiah through Malachi contain judgments that God forewarned and executed on nations when His warnings were ignored. God is impartial. He judged His own people just like other nations. He warned His people repeatedly for 861 years before He allowed their nation and the false things they trusted in to be destroyed.
“But, O LORD of hosts, that judges righteously, that tries the reins and the heart…(Jeremiah 11:20).” “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he (Deuteronomy 32:4).” God cannot do wrong. All that He does is just and right. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any perish, but that all come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).”
“Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it: then all the trees of the wood will rejoice before the LORD: for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth: he will judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth (Psalm 96:12, 13).”
Life is an open book test. We’ve been given the book with all the answers—the Bible, God’s Word. God gives us His power to do His will. And His Son paid for all sin. There is no excuse for any of us to fail. We fail by choice alone.
“When the Son of man will come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then will he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him will be gathered all nations: and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats: And he will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:31-34).” Back to beyond perfection, a kingdom prepared by our Maker who made all things good, good, and very good.
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for them that love him (1 Corinthians 2:9).
“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15).”
Not one person needs to fall under the judgment of God. It is our choice to follow evil unto death rather than to follow God into life.
17 God is Just
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your King comes to you: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass (Zechariah 9:9).” This scripture was fulfilled the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey that Palm Sunday before He was crucified. Jesus is God. He proved who He is by the things that He did. No other person in history has multiple, documented eyewitness accounts of supernatural control over all the elements of nature. From walking on water to feeding 5000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish, from healing those blind from birth to raising the dead, Jesus did it all in front of rational people who wrote about it and would not retract their statements on penalty of death. The miracles of Jesus have credible eyewitness testimony that would still hold up in any unbiased court of law.
“God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:1-3).” “For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9).” “That is, God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself (2Corinthians 5:19).” “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not (John 1:10).”
Jesus is God and He is just.
People read of the great and terrible judgments in the Bible and say, “How could a loving God do that?” If the record is read carefully, each passage shows why He did what He did and that it was more than right, fair and just. It was loving and merciful.
First, He gave His people just rules to live by that were fair to all. “You came down also on mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments (Nehemiah 9:13).” “For the ways of the LORD are right, and the just will walk in them: but the transgressors will fall in them (Hosea 14:9).” “That which is altogether just you are to follow, that you may live, and inherit the land which the LORD your God gives you (Deuteronomy 16:20).” “But you will have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure you will have: that your days may be lengthened in the land that the LORD your God gives you (Deuteronomy 25:15).” “Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good (Romans 7:12).”
He commanded that the leaders of the people be just.
“Judges and officers you will set in all your gates that the LORD your God gives you, throughout your tribes: and they will judge the people with just judgment (Deuteronomy 16:18).” “The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, He that rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God (2Samuel 23:3).”
“A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight (Proverbs 11:1).” God delights in just weights or fair business practices.
“The just LORD is in the midst of it; he will not do iniquity: every morning he brings his judgment to light, he does not fail; but the unjust know no shame. (Zephaniah 3:5).”
“He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he (Deuteronomy 32:4).”
God is just in all the judgments He brings on the mankind.
“I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings (Jeremiah 17:10). He only gives us according to what we have done. “Therefore all things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets (Matthew 7:12).” “However, you are just in all that is brought upon us; for you have done right, but we have done wickedly (Nehemiah 9:33).”
“… there is no other God beside me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside me (Isaiah 45:21).”
Even when Jesus was being judged in our place, the testimony was that He is just. “When he (Pilate) was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, You have nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him (Matthew 27:19).” “When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a uproar was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: you see to it (Matthew 27:24).”
God is just. Furthermore, God is just in declaring just those who accept Christ’s payment for their sins. “To declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of those who believe in Jesus (Romans 3:26).”
Murder, kidnapping, rape, adultery, worshipping false gods are capital crimes in the court of heaven. All God’s laws required death as the penalty because God is holy. God’s ways bring man to life. Evil brings man to eternal death. However, God, loving man, knowing that man is weak and sinful, took that full death penalty for man.
“For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit (1Peter 3:18)” Those who have believed that Christ died in their place for their sins will live forever with God as though they had never sinned. God has credited the perfect life of His Son, Jesus, to their account. We will live forever as beloved children of the Almighty God. That is way beyond justice. That is unimaginable love.
“Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are your ways, King of saints (Revelation 15:3).”
18 God Sustains
As children in school we learned that all things are made of basic elements called atoms. We saw diagrams of cells and atoms that the cells of our body have been made of. The cells and atoms are too small for the human eye to observe. But powerful microscopes have made viewing them possible. The diagrams showed a center called the nucleus and then protons and electrons whirling around the center like planets spinning around the sun in little mini galaxies. It has since been discovered that there are facets of creation much smaller than even the cells and atoms (DNA etc). Man produces nuclear energy by disrupting the perfect precision of these tiny little galaxies so that the protons and electrons burst inward or outward of their invisible little orbits.
Colossians 1:17 says that Jesus Christ is the one who holds all the tiny little parts of matter together as well as the entire universe. “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist (Colossians 1:17).” That word consist means ‘are held together.’ Imagine the power that it takes to hold all things together. The universe is estimated to be 125 billion galaxies that are 9.5 trillion miles apart. The power of God is therefore infinite and infinitely precise because the stars and planets as well as the atoms are held perfectly on course.
The author of the book of Hebrews expands this thought when he tells us how Jesus holds all things together. “Who being the brightness of his (God's) glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3).”
Remember that in Genesis 1 as well as Psalm 33:6 and 9 we are told that God created all things by speaking. “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast (Psalm 33:6).”
Think about that for a minute. Not only does God provide food that sustains our physical bodies, He holds the cells of our bodies together by the word of His power. (And think about that regarding Satan and the fallen angels, God’s enemies. They don’t hold themselves together. He holds them together. If they could destroy God as they intend, they wouldn’t become lord of all in His place but they would cease to exist.)
The immensity of God’s power would be a terrifying thought if God’s love and tenderness were not as infinite as His power. “I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me (Psalm 3:5).” He sustains us while we sleep. “The LORD upholds all that fall, and raises up all those that are bowed down (Psalm 145:14).”
“You have also given me the shield of your salvation: and your right hand has held me up, and your gentleness has made me great (Psalm 18:35).”
19 God Loves Us
What does your mind focus on when it isn’t busy with what must be done? What does your mind return to most frequently throughout the day? What is your favorite thing to think about? THAT is what you love.
“But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks upon me (Psalm 40:17).” “But he knows the way that I take: when he has tried me, I will come forth as gold (Job 23:10).” “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his goings (Proverbs 5:21).
We are what God thinks about. He never takes His mind off of us. His love is deep, total, and unique beyond imagining. “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered (Matthew 10:30).”
“Surely he has borne our grief, and carried our sorrows (Isaiah 53:4).” “In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old (Isaiah 63:9).” Whenever you have problems remember that God carries you—He carries your problems for you. When we are afflicted, He is afflicted. He hurts when we hurt. You have never been alone; you will never be alone. The indescribable Maker of the Universe is with you. He loves you with the greatest love that exists. He loves us enough to die for us.
“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).”
“Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but you, in love to my soul. have delivered it from the pit of corruption: for you have cast all my sins behind your back (Isaiah 38:17).” “But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).” “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).”
‘… the LORD will command his loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night his song will be with me (Psalm 42:8).” “Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips will praise you (Psalm 63:3).”
“The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you (Jeremiah 31:3).” “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us …(Ephesians 2:4).” “Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which has loved us, and has given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace (2Thessalonians 2:16).”
“Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God (1John 3:1).”
“By this we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us (1John 3:16).” “…in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:37-39)”.
20 God, Our Father
“You are the children of the LORD your God (Deuteronomy 14:1).” “I will be his father, and he will be my son (2Samuel 7:14).” “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him (1Corinthians 8:6).” “For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26).” Those who have believed in Jesus Christ are children of the Most High God, Maker of heaven and earth.
No matter what kind of an earthly father you had, you now have better than the best. Your heavenly Father is beyond your wildest imaginings. Children sometimes argue saying, My Dad’s bigger than your Dad. Well, your heavenly father is infinite. He is everywhere. He is all powerful. He knows everything. He is always right. “Look at what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God (1 John 3:1).”
“… to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called (Jude 1:1).” Our heavenly Father sanctified us; that means that He set us apart as special. And He is bringing us to a special place.
“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also (John 14:2, 3).”
“Of his own will he begat us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures (James 1:18).” It was God’s will to become our Father. He did it with the word of truth. That is the same way that He created all things, by His word. He is so powerful that He just spoke and it is done. “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast (Psalm 33:6).”
This Father who created all things loves us. “For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God (John 16:27).”
And He corrects us. “Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh that corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live (Hebrews 12:9)?” God will correct us when we are wrong as a loving father corrects His children for their future good. This correction will bring us into abundant life.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy has fathered us again to a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1Peter 1:3).” Your heavenly Father raises the dead. You never have to fear death.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning (James 1:17).” Every good thing in our lives is from God. We need to be grateful daily and tell Him so.
His plan for your life is better than any plan you might have. His plan for you is beyond this world and beyond imagining. “Grace and peace to you from Him who was and is and is to come and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and has made us kings and priests to God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever (Revelation 1:5,6).” Jesus has made us kings and priests to God the Father.
Until that time when we are physically present with God our Father as kings and priests, God has made wonderful provision for us. In John 14:23 Jesus said to him, “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him.” “Truly, truly, I say to you, Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name: ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full (John 16:23, 24).”
21 God is
Righteous
Righteous means to be right. That’s all. There is right and there is wrong. The Maker of all things sets the standard. He knows what is right and what is wrong.
“And I heard the angel of the waters say, You are righteous, O Lord, which are, and were, and will be (Revelation16:5).” “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right (Genesis 18:25)?” “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he (Deuteronomy 32:4).” It is impossible for God to make a mistake or do something wrong.
God’s ways are the best ways because they are the right ways. “The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes (Psalm 19:8).” “Your righteousness also, O God, is very high, who has done great things: O God, who is like You (Psalm 71:19)!” “For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth (Psalm 33:4).”
God leads us in right ways. He cannot lead in wrong or false paths. “He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake (Psalm 23:3).”
Some follow their own hearts instead of God. “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God (Romans 10:3).” “For this reason the LORD has watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works that he does: for we did not obey his voice (Daniel 9:14).” “Who is wise and will understand these things? prudent, and know them? For the ways of the LORD are right, and the just will walk in them: but the transgressors will fall in them (Hosea 14:9).”
We are lifted up in God’s righteousness rather than our own. “In Your name they will rejoice all the day: and in Your righteousness they will be exalted (Psalm 89:16).” “They will abundantly utter the memory of Your great goodness, and will sing of Your righteousness (Psalm 145:7).” “His work is honorable and glorious: and his righteousness endures forever (Psalm 111:3).” “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever: the scepter of Your kingdom is a right scepter (Psalm 45:6).
“Fear not; for I am with You: Do not be dismayed; for I am Your God: I will strengthen You; yes, I will help You; yeas, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness (Isaiah 41:10).
22
God Seeks Man
God made the world good, good, and very good. He gave man the great honor of being made in His own likeness. He gave man abundance. He made man ruler over the world and put man in His special paradise garden to live. Then, when man ruined it all by following the voice of evil, God came to man. “And the LORD God called to Adam, and said to him, Where are you (Genesis 3:9)?” Man hid from God but God called out to man.
“The mighty God, even the LORD, has spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down of it (Psalm 50:1).” The sun is always rising somewhere and going down somewhere. That means that God is always calling out to mankind. God seeks man to give man great blessings. God gave amazing blessings to Abraham.
“Now the LORD had said to Abram, Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you: And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you will be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless you, and curse him that curses you: and in you all families of the earth will be blessed. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken to him (Genesis 12:1-4).”
“And Jacob dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac: the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your seed; And your seed will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in you and in your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with you, and will guard you in all places where you go, and will bring your again to this land; for I will not leave you, until I have done what I have spoken to you (Genesis 28:12-15).
“God that made the world and all things in it, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, since he gives to all life, and breath, and all things; And has made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined the times before appointed, and the boundaries of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 17:24-28).” God did all this that man might seek Him. God seeks man so intensely that He was willing to give His perfect and eternal Son to die for the sins of the world that sinful man might live with his holy God forever.
When the LORD God had delivered His people from slavery in Egypt He said, “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them (Exodus 25:8).” God seeks people because He wants to be with them. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me (Revelation 3:20).”
“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:17-19).”
23 God is Truth
If I hold an apple in my hand and tell you that it is an orange, I’m not telling the truth. If I say it is an apple. That is the truth. Moses wanted to see God so God put Moses in the crack of a rock and covered him with His hand and then passed by. “And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth (Exodus 34:6).” Abundant in goodness and truth!
God cannot lie. “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began (Titus 1:2).” “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he (Deuteronomy 32:4).” “All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies (Psalm 25:10).” All His paths are truth. All His works are done in truth. “For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth (Psalm 33:4).”
God, the Maker of heaven and earth, is the God of truth. “Into your hand I commit my spirit: you have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth (Psalm 25:10)”.
His truth is high above us. “For your mercy is great unto the heavens, and your truth unto the clouds (Psalm 57:10, Psalm 108:4).” “Justice and judgment are the habitation of your throne: mercy and truth will go before your face (Psalm 89:14).”
God’s truth is for all. “For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations (Psalm 100:5).” God makes His truth available to all throughout all generations and forever. “For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD (Psalm 117:2).”
The law that God gave Moses was the truth. “Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your law is the truth (Psalm 119:142).” Even more than that, all His commandments are truth. “You are near, O LORD; and all your commandments are truth (Psalm 119:151).” “…Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth (Isaiah 25:1).”
To build our life based on lies is foolish. It wastes God’s precious gift of life. “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house on a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it did not fall: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does not do them, will be likened to a foolish man that built his house on the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it (Matthew 7:24-27).”
Most of what we are told in this world today is not the truth. We find truth in the words of God. The words of God are recorded in the Bible. Jesus prayed to the Father, “Sanctify them through your truth: Your word is truth (John 17:17).” The world’s biggest lies are the lies that are told in the name of God. The world is full of impostors: gods that did not create the universe. God tells us, “Don’t be deceived (Luke 21:8).”
Words are just words until proof is shown to back up the words, to validate or prove that those words are true. Jesus Christ proved that He was the Son of God by the miracles that He did. The power of God the Father backed up the words of Jesus. His miracles displayed power over nature, illness, deformity, blindness, demons, and even death. He showed that He controls everything. None of the other ‘great’ men of the religions of the world compare to Jesus; none of them had the power to back up their words. Don’t be deceived.
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth (John 1:14).” “Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me (John 1:14).”
In Jesus' final earthly prayer, He said to His Father, "Thy Word is truth" (John 17:17).
“But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth will tremble, and the nations will not be able to abide his indignation (Jeremiah 10:10).” “For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens (Psalm 96:5).”
24
God is the LORD
The title LORD is used when speaking of Almighty God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit 7,800 times in the Bible with two meanings. The first and most used term, Jehovah, means self-existent. God alone exists unsustained by anyone or anything. All else need things to sustain them like air, water, food, and God’s energy. The other term, Adonai, and its intensified form means sovereign controller. What this means is that above all, throughout the whole universe, the whole of everything that exists everywhere, God is in charge. He has all the power. He has the final say.
God’s control of the physical universe was demonstrated as He spoke creation into being. “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast (Psalm 33:6, 9)." John chapter 1 says that God the Father did this through Jesus Christ. “Without Him was not anything made that was made (John 1:3).” The miracles of Jesus throughout Matthew, Mark, Luke and John show this same control over all nature.
Beyond this, throughout Holy Scripture we see God controlling nations and kings while allowing them their freewill. He made Nebuchadnezzar like an ox eating grass until Nebuchadnezzar realized that He, God, was in charge. “And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; until he knew that the most high God rules in the kingdom and that he appoints over it whomever he will (Daniel 5:21).” “And he changes the times and the seasons: he removes kings, and sets up kings: he gives wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding (Daniel 2:21).”
Many of the judgments pronounced against nations were designed to show the people of that nation, and the world, who was the LORD and who were the liars, the false gods. In 1 Kings 18 Elijah challenged the false prophets to a contest between the deities. All day long the false prophets called to their gods and nothing happened. But when evening came, Elijah made an altar, put a sacrifice on it, dug a trench around it and drenched it all with water so that the trench was full of water, and then called out to God, the Lord. God answered immediately from heaven with a blast of fire that consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones of the altar and the water in the trench. He controls everything.
“Unto you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him (Deuteronomy 4:35).” “Know therefore this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and on the earth beneath: there is none else (Deuteronomy 4:39)."
God reveals and he conceals. “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to babes (Matthew 11:25).”
“Know that the LORD he is God: it is he that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture (Psalm 100:3).”
25 God Heals
Imagine being blind or having a withered, useless arm or legs that will never walk again. Imagine being leprous with your flesh rotting away more each day. Imagine living day after day, year after year with such an affliction and having no hope. Then, instantly, by a word or a touch, being made whole, restored completely. It would be like an impossibly wonderful dream that you couldn’t quite grasp, but the proof would continue to be there as you see through eyes once blind, walk on legs made perfect, use that once withered hand, or touch others with flesh as fresh as a child.
“And Jesus said to him, What do you want me to do for you? The blind man said to him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said to him, Go your way; your faith has made you whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way (Mark 10:51-52).”
“And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand…And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, Stretch forth your hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other (Mark 3:1, 5).”
“And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said to them, Go show yourselves to the priests. And it happened as they went, they were cleansed (Luke 17:12-14).”
“But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from there: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all (Matthew 12:15).” “ And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all (Luke 6:19).”
“And said, If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and will do what is right in his sight, and will give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon you that I have brought on the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that heals you (Exodus 15:26).” “Who forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases (Psalm 103:3).”
A broken heart can be more painful than a broken body. “He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds (Psalm 147:3).” “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes/wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).
26 God Gives Joy
Joy is more than happiness or delight or fun. Joy is exceedingly great happiness. Joy is bursting with delight. Joy is tranquil ecstasy. “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full,” said Jesus Christ in John 15:11. He wants us to be full of joy, His joy. He gave us His word to make that possible. “Your words were found, and I did eat them; and your word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by your name, O LORD God of hosts (Jeremiah 15:16).”
“…for the LORD had made them joyful (Ezra 6:22).” “Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off (Nehemiah 12:43).” “And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness (Psalm 105:43).”
“For God gives to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God (Ecclesiastes 2:26).” “Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. (Jeremiah 31:13).”
“But let all those that put their trust in you rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because you defend them: let them also that love your name be joyful in You. (Psalm 5:11).”
God not only gives joy, He is the main reason for our joy. “The meek also will increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 29:19).” We have the Maker and Sustainer of heaven and earth for our defender, our protector and provider. “Until now have you asked nothing in my name: ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full (John 16:24).”
“Then he said to them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy to our Lord: neither be sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength (Nehemiah. 8:10).”
Joy from God will last forever. “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things: enter into the joy of your lord (Matthew 25:23).” “For your shame you will have double; and for confusion they will rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they will possess the double: everlasting joy will be unto them (Isaiah 61:7).”
“For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17).” “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost (Romans 15:13).” “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith (Galatians 5:22)…”
“The LORD your God in the midst of you is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over you with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).” God is going to joy over you…with singing! Imagine the voice of the One who made all voices, singing over you because He delights in you.
“You will show me the path of life: in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Psalm 16:11).”
27 God is Holy
In the Sinai Desert at the burning bush God said to Moses, “Do not come near here: take your shoes off your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground (Exodus 3:5).” The place was holy because God was there. Holy means belonging to a divine being or power, morally and spiritually perfect, unique, evoking reverence: separated from all that is sinful, impure or imperfect. God is infinitely high above man in all that He is; He is infinitely pure, infinitely flawless, every part of Him. His knowledge is infinite, total, perfect and without flaw. He does not lack even one single part of a fact about one single thing. His power is infinite, total, precise and without flaw. His beauty, His creativity, His goodness, His love are infinite, total, and without even a tiny speck of a flaw.
“Who is like to You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders (Exodus 15:11)?” No other ‘god’ throughout history has parted the sea for His people to walk through on dry ground or rained food out of heaven for His people to eat or given them water to drink out of a rock. God is unique; He is holy, evoking reverence.
“Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy (Psalm 99:5).” “There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside You: neither is there any rock like our God (1Samuel 2:2).”
“God reigns over the heathen: God sits on the throne of his holiness (Psalm 47:8).” “The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works (Psalm 145:17).” "I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King (Isaiah 43:15).”
“Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory (Isaiah 6:3).”
“For this says the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones (Isaiah” 57:15).”
“For he that is mighty has done to me great things; and holy is his name (Luke 1:49).”
“Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You only are holy: for all nations will come and worship before You (Revelation 15:4)."
28 God is Faithful
Unfaithfulness is rampant in the world today— student’s cheat on tests, people betray their friends, employees cheat their employers and employers cheat their employees. Spouses break their marriage vows. Unfaithfulness is so common that the honest act or faithful person is thought to be odd, suspect or weird. But the truth is that unfaithfulness hurts. Stolen goods up the prices and hurt everyone. The student who cheats on a test hurts himself and others who did their work. The unfaithful spouse devastates whole families. However, God has never broken a promise, been late or forgotten us; He has never once been unfaithful to anyone.
“And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had spoken (Genesis 21:1).” God gave aged and impotent Abraham and Sarah the desire of their heart, a son.
“And, behold, I am with you, and will keep you in all places where you go, and will bring you again into this land; for I will not leave you, until I have done what I have spoken to you of (Genesis 28:15).” This promise was spoken to an unfaithful person, Jacob, who had just cheated his brother.
“And David stayed in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand (1Samuel 23:14).” David was at the top of the nations most wanted list. The king of Israel searched for David every day to kill him, but God did not allow it, God protected David.
God is faithful to us in every way. He faithfully keeps His many promises to us. He faithfully guards and guides us safely through our lives. He protects us from all enemies.
God remains faithful when we are unfaithful to Him. The nation of Israel had been given much by God. He delivered them from Egyptian slavery and gave them the most beautiful land on earth (Ezekiel 20:6, Deuteronomy 8:7, 8). But the people were often unfaithful to God. Yet in His faithfulness He disciplined them in ways that would cause them to return to Him. “And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the LORD (Leviticus. 26:44, 45).”
“And it will come to pass, when all these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations, where the LORD your God has driven you, and return to the LORD your God, and obey his voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with all your heart, and with all your soul; Then the LORD your God will turn your captivity, and have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the nations, where the LORD your God has scattered you (Deuteronomy 30:1-3).” That is beyond faithfulness. “Nevertheless my loving kindness I will not utterly take from him, nor allow my faithfulness to fail (Psalm 89:33).”
“Know therefore that the LORD your God, he is God, the faithful God, which keeps covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations (Deuteronomy 7:9).” “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever: with my mouth will I make known your faithfulness to all generations (Psalm 89:1).” “Therefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as to a faithful Creator (1Peter 4:19).”
“For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it has pleased the LORD to make you his people (1Samuel 12:22).” “And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keeps covenant and mercy with your servants that walk before you with all their heart (1Kings 8:23).” “Blessed be the LORD, that has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant (1Kings 8:56).”
“Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds (Psalm 36:5).
29 God is Most High
Stand on you tiptoes and see how high you can reach. How high is the tallest tree that you’ve seen? How high are the clouds? How high are the stars? “For such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens (Hebrews 7:26)” “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth (Genesis 14:18, 19).”
The USA space program has spent trillions of dollars and enormous scientific effort to lift off from earth and probe into our tiny galaxy. God knows what is in the farthest reaches of the universe that is estimated to be 125 billion galaxies with the galaxies each being 10 trillion kilometers apart. God made it all and possesses it all. That’s high!
A judgment came upon king Nebuchadnezzar for his pride because he didn’t accept that the Most High God rules over earth: “They will drive you from men, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field, and they will make you eat grass as oxen, and they will wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven years will pass over you, until you know that the most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whoever he will (Daniel 4:25).” “And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honored him that lives for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation (Daniel 4:34).”
“As the fire burns a forest, and as the flame sets the mountains on fire: So persecute them with your tempest, and make them afraid with your storm; so that men may know that You, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, are the most high over all the earth (Psalm 83:14, 15, 18).”
If men do not know who is the Most High God and worship the wrong god they will miss the best things in life and burn in hell forever. “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and will be tormented day and night for ever and ever (Rev. 20:10).” “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death (Revelation 20:14).” “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15).”
But “He that dwells in the secret place of the most High will abide under the shadow of the Almighty (Psalm 91:1).”
So that we are not confused about who this Most High God is: “What have I to do with you, Jesus, You Son of the most high God? I adjure you by God, that you not torment me (Mark 5:7).” The God who sent Jesus is the Most High God.
And that God was inside Jesus while He lived on earth and died for our sins. “For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9).” “That is, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them; and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation (2Corinthians 5:19).”
“It is a good thing to give thanks to the LORD, and to sing praises to your name, O most High (Psalm 92:1).”
“But you, LORD, are most high for evermore (Psalm 92:8).
30 God is near
“Do not be far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help (Psalm 22:11).” How many kinds of trouble are there? Relationship trouble? Financial trouble? Physical trouble? Mental trouble? Social trouble? Every situation has the potential for trouble. Imagine a whole army camped against you personally? Samson faced that one. The army of his own people who he was helping deliver from the Philistines surrounded him to turn him over to the Philistines.
“Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What is this that you have done to us? And he said to them, As they did to me, so have I done to them. And they said to him, We have come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines (Judges 15:13).”
“Though an army camp against me, my heart will not fear: though war rise against me, in this I will be confident (Psalm 27:3).” “And when he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that was burned with fire, and his bands loosened from off his hands. And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put out his hand, and took it, and killed a thousand men with it (Judges 15:14, 15).”
“You are near, O LORD; and all your commandments are truth (Psalm 119:151).” “God that made the world and all things in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth does not live in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, since he gives to all life, and breath, and all things; And has made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined the times before appointed, and the boundaries of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might feel after him, and find him, though he is not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 17:24).”
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you (James 4:8).”
“Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know (Jeremiah 33:3).”
31 God is Wonderful
Isn’t it wonderful that God created all things from nothing just by speaking? “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast (Psalm 33:6)?”
Is it not wonderful that God took an old, childless man and made him the father of many nations (Genesis 12-20)? Is it not wonderful that He made a similar promise to an outcast slave girl regarding her son (Genesis 21)? “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34).” Wonderful!
Is it not wonderful that God delivered His people from slavery and then brought them to inherit the best land on earth? “In the day that I lifted up my hand to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land that I had seen for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands (Ezekiel 20:6)?”
Imagine being promoted from prison to Prime Minister in one day. It happened to Joseph in BC 1718 (Genesis 41).
Imagine walking out of the most powerful nation on earth carrying all of their riches with you. Then imagine being trapped by their army between two mountains and the sea when God opens the sea for you to walk through on dry land (Exodus 21).
Imagine being God’s spokesman on earth. Imagine that The Almighty sent you to the king ,and the king didn’t like God’s message, so he sent a squad of soldiers to find and kill you. Then imagine calling fire from down heaven so that the squad of soldiers ends up dead instead of you. It happened to Elijah in BC 896 (2 Kings 1). Imagine The Almighty going to war ahead of you against giants and having not one casualty. Imagine the Lord Himself commanding your troops and writing your battle plans (Joshua 5).
Imagine being able feed thousands of hungry people with just a little boy’s lunch (John 6). Imagine being able to heal any wound, deformity, or illness with just a touch or a word (Matthew 8). Isn’t that full of wonder?
Imagine walking on water (Matthew 14).
Imagine raising the dead (John 11). Jesus proved who He was by what He did. No other god of any religion did any of these things.
Imagine the Creator of all things being on call for you every moment of your life. “Call on me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, and you will glorify me (Psalm 50:15).”
Imagine your loneliness being cured by the presence of God Himself.“ Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will feast with him, and he with me (Revelation 3:20).” “Let your way of life be without covetousness; and be content with such things as you have: for he has said, I will never leave you, or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).”
Imagine being on death row of the universe for crimes against our holy Maker and the Almighty God loving you so much that He sent His own precious Son to die in your place. “Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live to righteousness: by whose wounds you were healed (1Peter 2:24).”
Imagine not only being saved from the death penalty that you deserve but just the opposite—receiving all the desires of your heart! “Delight yourself also in the LORD; and he will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4).
“Many, O LORD my God, are your wonderful works that you have done, and your thoughts that are toward us: they cannot be counted in order unto you: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered (Psalm 40:5).”
“Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men (Psalm 107:8)!”
“O LORD, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will praise your name; for You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth (Isaiah 25:1).”
32 He
is Our Prince
A prince, the son of the reigning King, is the one who will be king. Almighty God, Maker of heaven and earth, infinite and eternal King of everything forever had a son who is exactly like Himself. They were always together until He, the Almighty God, gave that Son to us as a gift of His love. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government will be on his shoulder: and his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).” God’s love for us is so huge that He gave us His most precious possession—His Son, Jesus.
The world is searching for someone to come along to fix the mess that man has made of everything. Every area of life needs fixing: The family, education, law enforcement, the economy, the environment, entertainment. Can one less than the Maker of it, fix it? God made everything through Jesus (John 1). “Him (Jesus) has God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins (Acts 5:31).” Jesus is the one. He is the Prince who will fix it all. He will fix the mess man has made in all areas. He begins by fixing man’s heart.
Man will never be happy no matter the outer circumstances until he faces himself honestly and finds the solution to the darkness and emptiness inside his own heart. That begins with realizing that we are not sufficient of ourselves. We did not create the universe and life; we cannot sustain the universe or our own life. We have all greatly offended the One who did create the universe, life, and us. When we accept God’s forgiveness for our offences through the blood of Jesus Christ we become new beings in Him.
The hardest part is over. The sins of mankind have been cleansed away by the death of Christ on the cross. Our sins killed the Prince of Life. “And killed the Prince of life, whom God has raised from the dead (Acts 3:15).” Now God waits for all of humanity to live their lives and make their free choice to accept or reject God’s marvelous gift. Then God will send Jesus back to earth to root out evil and establish a kingdom where things will be done right. No crime or starvation or war or suffering will exist— just peace, health and happiness with each physical lifespan of nearly 1,000 years.
God gave king Nebuchadnezzar dreams of the empires on earth that would rule the whole world. At the end of the first dream was the ‘stone cut out of the mountain without hands:’ “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed and the kingdom will not be left to other people, but will break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms (Daniel 2:44).”
“I watched until the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days sat, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire…I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before Him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom will not be destroyed (Daniel 7:9, 13, 14).”
“I will declare the decree: the LORD has said to me, You are my Son; this day have I begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession (Psalm 2:7).”
“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he came from God, and went to God (John 13:3).” “Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool (Hebrews 1:13).”
“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and has made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:5, 6).”
33 King of Kings
A king is a man who rules as a monarch. Monarch means one ruler. God’s rule over the universe is not a democracy. We can make our requests known through prayer, but He alone decides. “The LORD reigns, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, with which he has girded himself (Psalm 93:1).” “And he changes the times and the seasons: he removes kings, and sets up kings: he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He reveals the deep and secret things: he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him (Daniel 2:21, 22).” “For the LORD most high is awesome; he is a great King over all the earth (Psalm 47:2).” “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders (Exodus 15:11)?”
The right to rule over all belongs to God first because He created everything and it all belongs to Him. “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:3).”
The right to rule over all belongs to Him by right of redemption. When creation fell into evil Christ purchased it to back to the Father with His own blood. “Forasmuch as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your empty way of life received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (1Peter 1:18,19).” “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself: by him, whether things in earth, or things in heaven (Colossians 1:20).”
“For you, LORD, are high above all the earth: you are exalted— far—above— all gods (Psalm 97:9).” Our Lord doesn’t just reign over earth but He reigns over all of the universe. “Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; neither are there any works like your works (Psalm 86:8).”
“God stands in the congregation of the mighty; he judges among the gods (Psalm 82:1).” “For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods (Psalm 95:3).”
The final right to rule over all will belong to Him by right of conquest as the victor over evil.
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war (against evil). His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a garment dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nations: and he will rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he has on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS (Revelation 19:11-16).”
“And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigns (Revelation 19:6).”
“Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all (1Chronicles 29:11).”
34 Why?
Why doesn’t God do something? We cannot look at the world without seeing trouble on every side and wonder, if God is so powerful and so wonderful, why doesn’t He do something about all of these problems? The answer to this question is that He is doing something.
Often the trouble that we look at is what He is doing to fix it and make it better. God has set up infinitely perfect systems of life throughout all creation. Going against those systems has adverse effects. Gravity is an example. Walking, running, dancing, or rolling on the ground is in harmony with what God has created. Jumping off a rooftop will cause injury or death. Loving our Maker and others is in harmony with God’s creation. Hating and causing harm to others is in violation with the harmony of God and brings about adverse circumstances.
Examples illustrating are given in Psalm 107. First, the very basic problems of thirst, hunger, and homelessness is addressed: “They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them by the right way that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness (Psalm 107:4-9).”
Next, Psalm 107 tells of God’s work for those afflicted and imprisoned. We are first told why God allowed the affliction and imprisonment and then God’s solution. “Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; Because they rebelled against the words of God, and despised the counsel of the most High: Therefore he brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their chain apart. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he has broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder (Psalm 107:10-16).” They were in affliction and in prison because they despised God’s words. He is life. He gave us life. To turn from Him is to choose evil and death. This work of God in the lives of the proud saves them from both physical death and eternal death. Notice that they must call out to God to ask for help in all cases.
God doesn’t cause sickness. Man’s choices cause the problem but God uses the adverse reactions man brings on himself to bring people back to good paths of life when they live contrary to God’s ways. "Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhors all kinds of food; and they draw near to the gates of death. Then they cry to the LORD in their trouble, and he saves them out of their distresses. He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing (Psalm 107:17-22).”
God uses natural disasters to bring men onto paths of life. “They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. For he commands, and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up its waves. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. Then they cry to the LORD in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses. He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still. Then are they glad because they are quiet; so he brings them unto their desired haven (Psalm 107:23-30).”
The Book of Habakkuk explains God’s workings with nations in injustice and national disasters like war. It says, “Are you not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? We will not die. O LORD, You have ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, you have established them for correction (Habakkuk 1:12). “Whoever is wise, and will observe these things, they will understand the loving kindness of the LORD (Psalm 107:43).”
35 God Rewards
“Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm will rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him (Isaiah 40:10).”
“For the Son of man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he will reward every man according to his works (Matthew 16:27).” Notice that He rewards according to our works, not according to what someone else thinks or does. God rewards righteousness or doing what is right.
“So that a man will say, Truly there is a reward for the righteous: truly He is a God that judges in the earth (Psalm 58:11).” “The wicked work a deceitful work: but to him that sows righteousness will be a sure reward (Proverbs 11:18).”
Keeping God’s words, commandments, statutes and precepts is rewarded greatly. “Moreover by them is your servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward (Psalm 19:11).”
Those who are persecuted for God and His work in this earth are rewarded greatly. “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you (Matt. 5:12).”
Even small works are rewarded. “And whoever will give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he will in no way lose his reward (Matthew 10:42)”
Rewards are greater than deserved. “He that receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward (Matthew 10:41).” Just for receiving the prophet in the name of a prophet a prophet’s reward is received.
God rewards those who diligently seek Him. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6).”
Rewards can be lost if we do acts of compassion with a wrong motive. “Give serious attention that you do not do your acts of compassion before men, to be seen of them: otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when you do your alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward (Matthew 6:1).”
“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward will be great, and you will be the children of the Highest: for he is kind to the unthankful and to the evil (Luke 6:35).”
So exactly what are these rewards?
There are many things. There are four types of crowns (James 1:12, 2 Timothy 4:8, 1 Peter 5:4, Revelation 2:10, 3:11); There are rulerships over cities (Luke 19:17). Some will sit with Jesus on His throne (Revelation 3:21). Some will inherit all things (Revelation 21:7).
All of these things are far more than most of us ever deserve or hope to have in this life. And they are forever! In view of this it would be wise to rethink all priorities and pursuits. Seek God, His kingdom, His righteousness, and His rewards.
“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work will be (Revelation 22:12).”
36 The King is Coming
In the beginning God made everything good, good, and very good. Man ruined it by choosing evil. God promised man from the beginning that He would send a Savior to save man from sin and the ruin man had caused (Genesis 3:15). Jesus Christ fulfilled in perfect detail every prophecy in scripture about that Savior. There are five times as many prophecies about the Second Coming of Christ than the first.
“For the day of the LORD is near on all the nations: as you have done, it will be done to you: your reward will return upon your own head (Obadiah 1:15).” The Book of Revelation reveals the horror of the just judgment man has brought on the earth and the wonder of the new beginning that follows after evil has been judged. Nothing is more certain for the future of earth than the Second Coming of Christ, earth’s Creator and Savior.
“And when he had spoken these things, while they watched, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel that said, You men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way you have seen him go into heaven (Acts 1:9-11).” No wings, no spaceship! Jesus ascended, like invisible hands were lifting him into heaven.
“For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even unto the west; so will also the coming of the Son of man be (Matthew 24:27)." “And his feet will stand in that day on the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives will split in the middle toward the east and toward the west, and there will be a very great valley; and half of the mountain will move toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And you will flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azal: yes, you will flee, like you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God will come, and all the saints with you (Zechariah 14:4, 5).”
“When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. And before him will be gathered all nations: and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats: And he will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:31-34).”
“He that testifies these things says, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20).”
“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is thirsty come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely (Revelation 22:17).”