The Lord preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless His holy name forever and forever.
(Verses 20-21)
"Behold! I am the Lord, the God of all flesh! Is there anything too hard for me?"
Jeremiah 32:27
It is really an impossible thought that the God Who hovered over the atmosphere even before there was primordial slime or even the slightest glimmer of a star would deign to step onto a tiny planet that exists in obscurity among the billions and billions of galaxies that He imagined before He placed a tiny dot into nothingness and it blew up into the observable and unobservable universe. God is so big that He stands apart from time and space and looks down onto the massive creation that spans millions of light years. And God is watching. What is He looking for? Those who will love Him.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil (1 Peter 3:12). God is watching us. But not to do us harm. He is the Father of all who have given their hearts to Jesus. That's the only thing that makes us righteous. The omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God of All is making sure I'm okay today. Nothing in my life is too hard for Him to straighten out; nothing going on that my Father can't see. And my God promises to preserve me.
My mom used to make preserves. Strawberry was my favorite. She'd wash the fruit then slice each strawberry into several pieces. Into boiling water they'd go where they simmered for several minutes, filling the house with their scent. Then she added lemon juice and sugar and make the pot boil until the strawberry mixture was thick and bubbly. After the jam cooled, Mother scraped off the film that formed on the top and poured the syrupy red goo into mason jars and sealed their lids tightly. And that is what made them preserves. They were set aside and kept for later.
Because I love my God, He is keeping me, preserving my current life and saving me for later. I can't get the picture out of my mind that my Father has put His hand on my head and guided me to a position behind His back, like an earthly father would when he is protecting a child from a dangerous dog or approaching traffic. It's a protective stance. Let Daddy deal with this. Only this Abba is in control of everything, everywhere and has the power to do extraordinarily more than I can ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). Because God is goodness, is holiness, is justice, the wicked need to watch out! Those who continually set their faces against Him will know God's wrath. That's fair. For those who rail against God for being mean, I have a question: Would you prefer justice or mercy? We are all pretty self-centered and prideful. We all screw up. Fall down. Make messes. Do we want God to give us what we deserve for the things we do wrong, or would we rather have Him give us the grace to get up and try again? If we reject Jesus, the miraculous provision for our entry into God's family, we don't have anything left. God gave us the ultimate, out-of-the-box, nothing-is-too-hard-for-Me answer to our deepest need. Born to a virgin in a stable in Bethlehem. Come from eternity into time and space to wear flesh and bare it to His executioners. Preserved in the grave, the Spirit Who was the force behind creation called Jesus up from death to return to eternal life. If the story sounds far fetched, it is. But so is the big bang. The very stars we gaze upon every night blasted out into what was nothing, the spontaneous combustion of a dot smaller than a period. That God can do whatever. Whenever. Forever. Parting the Red Sea. Raining manna from heaven. Healing a man born blind. Raising a dead child from his funeral bier. Telling the lame to get up and walk. Purchasing my forgiveness with His own death. God thinks out of the box! If you doubt the truth of the story the Bible tells, your thoughts are way too small.
One day the Lord will destroy wickedness forever. For now we live with it, but don't have to succumb to its perversions. All flesh, everything with a beating heart, is precious to God. It is precious to me that my Father is looking for those who will to love Him. Why would anyone say no? Choose even the mundane, forget the wicked, over a relationship with the most powerful and loving force anywhere? For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him (2 Chronicles 16:9). I want my Father's eyes to rest on me today. He's looking for us so that He can be our strength. I will bless His name forever and forever. I love you, Abba.
(Verses 20-21)
"Behold! I am the Lord, the God of all flesh! Is there anything too hard for me?"
Jeremiah 32:27
It is really an impossible thought that the God Who hovered over the atmosphere even before there was primordial slime or even the slightest glimmer of a star would deign to step onto a tiny planet that exists in obscurity among the billions and billions of galaxies that He imagined before He placed a tiny dot into nothingness and it blew up into the observable and unobservable universe. God is so big that He stands apart from time and space and looks down onto the massive creation that spans millions of light years. And God is watching. What is He looking for? Those who will love Him.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil (1 Peter 3:12). God is watching us. But not to do us harm. He is the Father of all who have given their hearts to Jesus. That's the only thing that makes us righteous. The omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God of All is making sure I'm okay today. Nothing in my life is too hard for Him to straighten out; nothing going on that my Father can't see. And my God promises to preserve me.
My mom used to make preserves. Strawberry was my favorite. She'd wash the fruit then slice each strawberry into several pieces. Into boiling water they'd go where they simmered for several minutes, filling the house with their scent. Then she added lemon juice and sugar and make the pot boil until the strawberry mixture was thick and bubbly. After the jam cooled, Mother scraped off the film that formed on the top and poured the syrupy red goo into mason jars and sealed their lids tightly. And that is what made them preserves. They were set aside and kept for later.
Because I love my God, He is keeping me, preserving my current life and saving me for later. I can't get the picture out of my mind that my Father has put His hand on my head and guided me to a position behind His back, like an earthly father would when he is protecting a child from a dangerous dog or approaching traffic. It's a protective stance. Let Daddy deal with this. Only this Abba is in control of everything, everywhere and has the power to do extraordinarily more than I can ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). Because God is goodness, is holiness, is justice, the wicked need to watch out! Those who continually set their faces against Him will know God's wrath. That's fair. For those who rail against God for being mean, I have a question: Would you prefer justice or mercy? We are all pretty self-centered and prideful. We all screw up. Fall down. Make messes. Do we want God to give us what we deserve for the things we do wrong, or would we rather have Him give us the grace to get up and try again? If we reject Jesus, the miraculous provision for our entry into God's family, we don't have anything left. God gave us the ultimate, out-of-the-box, nothing-is-too-hard-for-Me answer to our deepest need. Born to a virgin in a stable in Bethlehem. Come from eternity into time and space to wear flesh and bare it to His executioners. Preserved in the grave, the Spirit Who was the force behind creation called Jesus up from death to return to eternal life. If the story sounds far fetched, it is. But so is the big bang. The very stars we gaze upon every night blasted out into what was nothing, the spontaneous combustion of a dot smaller than a period. That God can do whatever. Whenever. Forever. Parting the Red Sea. Raining manna from heaven. Healing a man born blind. Raising a dead child from his funeral bier. Telling the lame to get up and walk. Purchasing my forgiveness with His own death. God thinks out of the box! If you doubt the truth of the story the Bible tells, your thoughts are way too small.
One day the Lord will destroy wickedness forever. For now we live with it, but don't have to succumb to its perversions. All flesh, everything with a beating heart, is precious to God. It is precious to me that my Father is looking for those who will to love Him. Why would anyone say no? Choose even the mundane, forget the wicked, over a relationship with the most powerful and loving force anywhere? For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him (2 Chronicles 16:9). I want my Father's eyes to rest on me today. He's looking for us so that He can be our strength. I will bless His name forever and forever. I love you, Abba.
No comments:
Post a Comment