Category: Attributes of God

Outside the Box

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“I pray that you . . . may have power . . . to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” – Ephesians 3:17-18

“He measured the city with the rod and found it to be . . . as wide and high as it is long . . . I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” – Revelation 21:16,22

A simple square
Of length and width,
So distinct, and very clear.

If it is raised
And given height,
A cube it now becomes.

In three dimensions,
Volume calculated
By length times width times height.

I can determine
The amount of space
My cube occupies.

Multiply, I will
The length by width by height.

My basic math procedures
Will not suffice, however,
To measure the amount of love
My God has for me.

Little cubes
In the three space dimensions I know
Have capacity determined
By how long and wide and high.

But the love of God,
In dimensions unknown,
Has magnitude unbelievable!

Paul prayed
That we would have the power to grasp
How long and wide and high and deep
Is the love of Christ.

Four dimensions to the expanse of God’s love!
Exceeding all I know in this world alone,
Defying my calculations,
His love goes a dimension deeper.

Oh, Lord,
We need your love
To be as long as our lives endure,
As wide as our unfaithfulness,
As high as Heaven can take us,
And as deep as human misery goes.

Oh, Lord,
Your love’s volume
Covers all I know,
And all I don’t know.

We read of your love’s dimensions
In the vision you gave to John.

He saw the New Jerusalem
Come down from Heaven,
Measuring as long as it is wide as it is high –
A perfect cube.

And then He saw,
In that glorious city
Of length and width and height,
No temple did abide.

For the fourth dimension –
The depth of that city –
Is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb.

Beyond all comprehension,
Deeper than any physical glory could ever be,
Stands the love of God in Jesus,
The Lamb slain for you and me.

So when tempted to think
All is lost –
That we could have possibly exhausted
The length and width and height of
The love we grasp,

Remember the added dimension –
The depth –
The unfathomable depth –
That passes our understanding –
The depth of the love of Christ.

How long, how wide, how high
And – gloriously –
How deep
Is the love that makes me think
“Outside the box.”

The Weakness of God

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The God of the Bible is both all-powerful and unchanging. He is not, therefore, weak. Having created the universe and every system within it, He upholds the same universe. Our God is strong, for sure. Why then does the apostle Paul clearly say, “The weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength”? (I Corinthians 1:25, NIV)

Beginning at verse sixteen of the same passage, Paul begins to tell us the world system simply could not understand the death of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. While the Greeks saw the message of a god dying on a cross as foolishness, the Jews saw it as weakness. The Jews – as Paul points out – demanded miraculous signs, as they wanted their Messiah to come in power and take over the governments of the world to set His people free in the here and now. Therefore, Jesus was a “stumbling block to Jews” because they had their eyes fixed on an earthly ruler. While running after that kind of a deliverer, they tripped over the real Jesus who came the first time to earth to pay for our sins. The full redemption of the universe is yet to come. Priority at the first advent of Christ was His sacrifice for our sins, without which we are eternally lost. This mission was painful beyond imagination and was viewed by many as weakness, but – in reality – it was the most powerful thing ever done. Perfect God takes on human flesh to provide the way out of sin’s curse for people. Eternal deliverance for those formerly hopeless is brought to the forefront; that is power!

Let us go back to that beautiful phrase, “The weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” God is not weak – not even close. However, His power appeared as weakness to the world. The crucifixion did not make sense to the masses of unbelievers. Even today, we are largely taught to work it out for ourselves, to work hard, to be self-sufficient, and to get all we can. Antithetical to the selfish mind is this concept of a God who purposefully allows Himself to take on flesh and die for the sake of the world. Also antithetical to the sinful mind is the idea that we as humans can be truly forgiven and released from our sins because of God’s payment instead of our efforts. This kind of thinking – this amazing plan – appears to the world system as frailty. It is not – in fact – weakness, though many view it that way. It is – in reality – the ultimate power of a God both loving and holy.

What appears to be God’s inadequacy is actually the thing that saves us! In other words, God’s “weakness” is actually more powerful than the greatest strength of humans. People can accomplish many things, and our greatest efforts do contribute to the course of life. However, when it comes to the most essential areas of reality, our greatest strengths mean nothing. No person can save himself from sin. No person can overcome sin’s power in her life. No person can escape the curse of sin. No person can overcome death. We are doomed – despite our greatest accomplishments – unless the “weakness” of God rushes in. What appeared to make no sense – the crucifixion of Jesus Christ – powerfully pays for our sin!

The weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. May we also remember this in everyday moments of life. Metaphorically speaking, God has more strength in His pinky finger than all the collective power of every human being who has ever lived. I need not worry about my life if He is my Lord. Furthermore, whatever part of God’s plan appears powerless or foolish is actually stronger than anything I can imagine. What God is currently “up to” in my life may not make sense to me, but at the times He seems to make the least sense, He is up to something incomprehensibly effectual! “The weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”

When your strength seems gone, remember that the veritable weakness of God is more than enough for you. God works in paradoxes; He takes pleasure in turning things inside-out. The greatest story He has written is that of our salvation, and though it has often been interpreted as foolishness and weakness; it is the supreme work of an all-powerful God.

How will He now work when you feel weak and confused? We can only imagine!

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” – I Corinthians 1:25 (NIV)

Inaccessibly High Over “Indestructible” Anxiety

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I begin with a quote of Robert J. Samuelson in a December 2010 issue of Newsweek: “From CEOs to ordinary families, we are a nation that is more cautious, more fearful, and more risk averse. This widespread and – so far – indestructible anxiety has hobbled the [economic] recovery. . .”

“Indestructible anxiety.” Wow. Perhaps those words do not really need time to sink in to your mind, because the force behind them is already there. Our world is tumultuous and burdensome. The economy has gotten the best of many otherwise stable people and companies. The relentless pressure to do more and have more has catapulted otherwise content people to the brink of insanity. From anxiety over an unhealthy body type to concern for retirement years, people are restless; citizens are panicked.

May I remind Christians of their status? We are genuine citizens of another realm. The administration of our affairs currently takes place in a domain that is transcendent. Do not take lightly the truth of Philippians 3:20 (NIV), “But our citizenship is in heaven.”

Indeed, God superintends my life from the heavenly realm. Anxiety is not indestructible, for my Lord directs the moments of my life from the throne of His indisputable authority. No stock market crash, illness, unforeseen circumstance, or injustice can thwart the plan of the God who made the universe (Genesis 1:1), owns the world (Psalm 24:1), and drives all circumstances to serve His ultimate purpose (Ephesians 1:11).

Let us make this uncannily personal. Proverbs 18:10 (NIV) proclaims, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” It is true that our culture gives us much about which to be concerned. Samuelson (2010) posits, “There is a wall of worry whose cause transcends the recession’s severity. We now fear not only what we know but also what we don’t.” However, the Lord’s own name – His glory – is a strong tower to which the Lord’s children can run.

When we run, we are safe. The Hebrew term here used for “safe” means “inaccessibly high.” In other words, we run to the Lord, and He lifts us up so that we stand insurmountably above that which might destroy us! The tower of His glory is unavailable to the enemy. I picture in my mind all the worries of life reaching their icy fingers to snatch me, but they are unsuccessful because my life looms far above their grasp in the tower of God’s glory.

The key is to run to that tower. When someone runs, they are making a bold statement to all observers. A runner makes clear the necessity of his destination. When seemingly indestructible anxiety moves in on me, I cannot hesitate. I need to sprint to God’s tower without wavering. I cannot ponder other possibilities; there is no other safe place. Only God makes me inaccessibly high as He simultaneously and sovereignly rules both the universe and the intricate details of my life from His heavenly, transcendent throne.

God above is the Administrator of my affairs – not the national debt, the unemployment rate, the political landscape, the doctor’s report, the rising incidence of depression, the unjust boss, or any other entity.

We stand inaccessibly high over “indestructible” anxiety.

Reference:

Samuelson, Robert, J. (2010, December 20). The flight from risk: recession’s legacy stymies recovery. Newsweek, 20.

Cure for the Common Christmas Verse

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Oh, the careless treatment we often give the common “Christmas verse,” Matthew 1:21. Regularly presented to us in the month of December, the powerful words are frequently taken for granted, “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Since these are the words of the angel of the Lord to Joseph concerning the Son of God and His amazing placement by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, we rightly consider these words momentous. Here stands the announcement that our infinite God has chosen to put on human flesh! And why? The angel proclaims plainly the motivation right at the inauguration of this unbelievable, sacrificial season of God’s plan. The reason is so that we can be saved from our sins.

Notice God did not say, “He will save His people from their low self-esteem” or “from their lack of purpose” or “from their depressive hopelessness” or “from their illness” or “from their loneliness” or “from their economic hardship.” No, God sounds forth the real answer for the human dilemma – salvation from sin.

All other difficulties are secondary to the root cause, which is sinfulness. Please cease looking primarily for Jesus to build your self-esteem or give you purpose or make you hopeful or heal your body or grant relationships or make you wealthy.

Please, please, please . . . run to Jesus for the very reason He entered the bloody womb of a woman and grew to shed His own blood and sacrifice His life – to deliver you from sin.

At its putrid core, sin is selfishness. When I trust Jesus to deliver me from my self-centered plans and desires, I realize I now want what He wants. All other circumstances aside, I can now truly live, because my sin had been killing me.

Here is the clincher. He did not come to save us despite our sins, but from our sins. The Greek root is clear; Jesus came to separate us from our sin nature. He destroys that wicked union. The moment I run to Him, He obliterates the damning attachment of sin to my soul. His ultimate aim in the new world He prepares is to place an infinite distance of space and time between us and all sin’s destructive and debilitating effects.

Are we currently living to be free from sin? Are we as hard-nosed about the mission as Jesus is? I think we suffer so much discontent not because of dismal situations, but because separation from sin – the goal of God – is not our goal.

The most humane thing in the entire world is for a person created by God to have his or her union with sinfulness obliterated. Fear not other maladies, save this: a clinging to sin.

Live for that for which our Savior lives: detachment from sin and attachment to God. All other solutions naturally follow – whether today, tomorrow, or in the place Jesus is preparing.

What determination Jesus had to exit glory and enter this broken world to save us from our sins!

What determination will we have to refuse to gossip, to sacrifice that hour of time, to give that hard-earned money, to smile at that one who hurt us, to choose not to retaliate, to enter a sweet hour of prayer, to turn off the iPod and open up the Bible, to purposefully make Jesus the topic of dinner conversation, to put ourselves on the backburner tomorrow afternoon, to confess wrongdoing and ask forgiveness of a friend, or to distance ourselves from sin in any number of ways?

“Jesus came to save us from our sins,” said the angel of the Lord.

Fear of God Is Freeing

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Fear of God is not a negative; it is the most positive thing in the cosmos. As a culture, we have largely lost the fitting view of the transcendent God. We have become all too familiar with Him, treating Him as if He existed for our pleasure. To the dismay of many, the facts stand quite the opposite. We exist for His pleasure. The reason I breathe is to bring glory to Him. This is in no way a restrictive concept, but one that catapults me into the mystery of unbounded hope.

When a person does not view God as the grandest and deserving of all dedication, that person will be in turmoil. Nothing aligns properly under the dominion of self. Why? Self is a false sovereignty, and operation on a false premise leads to a false conclusion. God is the only self-existent one. He made all things and all people. He has right of ownership, and the owned ones find their peace in His purpose. The designer knows how the design must operate in order to be what it was meant to be.

Proverbs 15:16 (NASB) makes clear, “Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and turmoil with it.” Shattering the misconceptions of the self-absorbed, we come to terms with the fact that very little material gain in this world is far superior to much treasure accompanied by the unrest of minds that refuse to accept the sovereignty of God.

God must be revered for peace to flood into the human heart. God made me. I will answer to Him for the following: the life He gave me, the body He gave me, the moments He gave me, the heart He gave me, the mind He gave me, the influence He gave me, and every single breath He brings. He is to be feared because He demands an answer for my life. He demands payment for my sin. He superintends my destiny and prescribes my eternity. I ought to be in awe of Him. He alone is holy.

When my heart properly fears this sovereign God, tumult flees my soul. For, He is in His proper place – at the helm. My reverence for Him drives me to His saving grace, where Jesus stands as my righteousness. My awe of Him hastens me to love Him more and seek to understand whatever mysteries of Him He graces me to know. My respect for who He actually is compels me to yield my life to His cause.

Yes, I can live vibrantly with very little because fear of God is in my heart. The accumulation of earthly goods and distractions do not deliver what the human soul desperately needs. We do not need more; we need to rightly direct all we do have. We need to direct the entire realm of our lives to the One to Whom we owe everything. Whether I have little or much is no matter; the state of my heart in relation to God determines my level of peace.

Put off no longer the pursuit of God because He demands to be feared. Reverence for the sovereign God is the only way to live without distress. The reality is that He made you, and you will answer to Him. This should place you in a state of awe – not awe that leads to nervousness, but awe that leads to deliverance. We are free when we worship the One we ought to rightly revere. We were made for it.

A Stirring Compliment

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Recently I received a compliment that moved me deeply. I had the honor of speaking to Christian school teachers and administrators at a convention in Washington, D.C., given by the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). I presented a seminar about a Biblical approach to classroom management. The seminar was presented over a period of two days, during four sessions, spanning a total of five and one-half hours; and my accompanying PowerPoint presentation contained ninety-two slides.

The fact that a seminar on classroom management can be so filled with moments of inspiration by God’s Holy Spirit is a topic for another day. Let me just say that the attendees’ hearts were ready to receive God’s Word; and any topic of discussion can and should be driven toward its Creator. Classroom management becomes a lively subject when viewed through the lens of God’s Word. Jesus is the Master Teacher and the Maker of all students. Learning is His wonderful idea in the first place, and He has something to say about it being done effectively and joyfully!

Now we go back to the pivotal input I was blessed to receive. The last half-hour of the final session was going very well, when I realized I had twenty-five minutes to finish presenting the material so that we could all culminate our study with prayer. Part of the last session involved me darting to various parts of the ballroom in which I was presenting as I demonstrated the importance of spending time in each quadrant of a classroom and the vital nature of a “change in scenery” for students in order to keep everyone just a little off balance for an active learning environment. This final stretch of the seminar was definitely as active as the first few moments had been the day before. My energy level was high, and the audience was engaged.

Things were going so well that we hardly noticed that a few other seminars had already ended – ended early I might mention. The last session was to finish at 3:00 pm. However, some attendees of other seminars began heading to the lobby of the hotel as early as 2:40 pm. As a presenter, my intent was to provide instruction until the very end. The delegates had paid money to attend the convention, and many were receiving continuing education credit for the instructional hours of my seminar.

Finally, I began the closing prayer, which – apparently – was put forth with much passion. For, no sooner had I said, “Amen,” than the regional associate director for ACSI approached me right before he quickly began to disassemble the equipment as he prepared for his own departure. As someone who has known and worked with me for quite a few years, his words went something like this: “Well, Shelli, I would have expected no less from you! You kept teaching right up to the end . . . and with such vigor. Even the closing prayer was so ‘right on.’ Thank you for being faithful.”

No one could have wiped the smile from my face in that moment. Even as people in the hallways scurried off, some of my students lingered to talk and ponder God’s work together. And I had received an invaluable commendation; I had been faithful, reflecting the heart of God.

Paul tells us in Hebrews 10:23 (NASB), “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Yes, we can depend upon our God; He is faithful!

Moreover, the reason we humans can hold onto the Christian faith without wavering is precisely because the One who makes His promise to us is faithful. It is not because of me that I can persevere; it is because of the One who promised His goodness to me. When the apostle admonishes us to keep going in our faith – to endure – to persist – he is sure to tell us why we can do so: He who promised is faithful.

God finishes what He starts. God always keeps His Word. God does not grow weary and desert the cause. God does not wear down when things get difficult. God does not lose interest. God is faithful to the end.

Hebrews 12:2 tells us that He is both the Author and the Finisher of our faith. Philippians 1:6 says that He who began a good work in us will complete it. With our Lord, we “get our money’s worth”! He does not stick with us only half-heartedly; He stays with us completely and vigorously.

When I think about the analogy to my classroom management seminar, I think of it this way. The last ten minutes of my last session were as strong as the first ten minutes of my first session. The content and passion remained unchanged. And so it is with life. During the last few moments of our earthly life, God will be as true to us as He was when He formed us in the womb. Amazingly, though, His faithfulness extends to the next world. Forever and ever He will remain our strength – even in the glory of Heaven. Though my seminar had an ending point, the goodness of God has no limit; it continues into the next life without end. Remember Psalm 36:5? “Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.”

Thank you, Dr. Hegedus, for a compliment that stirs my heart. When we are faithful to the end, we reflect the heart of our Savior.

I pray today that you and I will be faithful to the end in every endeavor – big or small – and even as we cross that chasm between this life and the next. We can if we remember that “He who promised is faithful.”

The Mercy Seat of An Infinite God

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A Commentary on Isaiah 66:1

“Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool.” – Isaiah 66:1a (NKJV)

Listen to what God says, for what man says is of no consequence unless it aligns with the Almighty’s revelation. Quite vital to remember is that God has spoken, and His Word is distinct and above all else (Psalm 138:2). Set God’s Word at the forefront, or we risk succumbing to the relentless temptation to believe the prevalent, mundane thought that God is small and weak and not altogether different from us. “Thus says the LORD” is a phrase meant to shake our paradigm, as we are so apt to focus on anything or anyone other than the Creator from whom all things derive.

God cannot be contained, nor can He be measured; incalculable is His nature (I Kings 8:27). Yet in daily thoughts and actions, we reason that we understand how God has worked, or is working, or will work in various situations of life. With Heaven as His throne and Earth as His footstool, God’s infinite nature staggers the imagination. The visible heavens, the innumerable parts of the universe we are still completely unable to access, and the very abode of God Almighty exist as His throne. God is infinitely greater than all the heavens, able to encapsulate and harness each part for His purposes. Our Creator is the one who “works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11b). His unfathomable power unceasingly pulls all aspects of life – physical, emotional, and spiritual – toward His ultimate will. The Maker of all that exists will irrefutably have the final word over all that exists!

Stunning is the truth that earth is God’s footstool. We humans have not yet explored all the depths of any particular ocean, we have barely begun the first leg of the journey into any miniscule portion of the vastness of space, and we have not yet plunged into all the depths of the mystery of the molecular; still God refers to the earth as His footstool. He means for us to know that His magnificence cannot be calculated. Metaphorically, that upon which He rests His feet is immensely more than that with which we can even commence to grapple. Therefore, it would be ridiculous for us to grow hopeless concerning circumstances of the earth, for God says of this place, “That is simply my footstool.”

How would it be to know that the God who created everything from nothing and rightfully boasts Heaven as His throne is willing to be with us? To talk with us? To hear our heart and stay with us? To carry our burdens? To share His presence in real relationship? We can know this joy because the specific footstool of God in the Old Testament is the Ark of the Covenant (I Chronicles 28:2) Our Creator desires to rest with us – to “put His feet up” if you will – that we may have a genuine relationship with Him.

This relationship seems impossible, though, given the eternal nature of God, His unfathomable power, and His holiness. This seeming impossibility steps back and disappears into the shadow of the Ark of the Covenant and its treasured mercy seat. The mercy seat marked the separation between the Law and God’s manifest presence. In the ark, below the mercy seat – or atonement cover – rested the tablets of the Law. Above the mercy seat – between the gold cherubim – God’s glorious presence came. Although every person ever born on earth ultimately longs to be in God’s presence where all is right and joyous, most try to imagine the longings and emptiness of life could be satisfied in some other manner. Hence, Isaiah 53:6 proclaims, “Each of us has turned to his own way.” Still, the only way to right and hope and peace and ultimate, coveted fulfillment is to be in God’s presence – to rest with Him.

We ask, “How will I get to God, for I am constantly dragged down by this law below?” Each time we attempt to rise up and rest with our Creator between those cherubim, the tablets full of commandments we cannot keep pull us back down beneath the atonement cover. We feel as Paul did in Romans 7 asking how he could possibly be delivered from his failure to do what he knows to be right. Do we also feel the victory Paul knew as communicated in Romans 8:3, “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.” God forbid we ever forget the mercy seat lies between the law and God’s presence as a clear delineation of our hope. For, on that mercy seat, was the blood of the sacrifice applied. Symbolically – via the animal sacrifice – the blood of Jesus was sprinkled on that cover to settle the matter and forever absorb our inability to fulfill God’s law. Through the blood of Jesus, we can rise above hopelessness and enter God’s safety despite our own sinfulness. Quite literally, we rise from being pitiful creatures condemned by the law to being God’s own children, with access to His blessed presence. How does this happen? The blood of Jesus on the mercy seat opens up the way and we rise to God through the blood of His own Son.

The thought of Jesus’ blood opening up the way for sinful man to gain relationship with a holy God breeds yet another thought: there is nothing stronger than the blood of Jesus. No sin, no failure, no amount of inadequacy can stop Jesus from giving to us access to God. That mercy seat of the Old Testament was made of pure gold. Metaphorically speaking, our spirits rise from the lower compartment of the condemnation of the law to the upper space of freedom and joy, ever watched by the cherubim that long to know this miracle of salvation. How do we rise since the atonement cover of pure gold lies between the law and God’s presence? We can rise because the apostle tells us in I Peter 1:18-19 that we are “not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold …but with the precious blood of Christ…” Gold, though highly treasured and often tried by fire, is yet corruptible – a substance that ultimately succumbs to disintegration. Not so the blood of Jesus! Precious, incorruptible, just like our heavenly inheritance. That timeless, infinitely powerful blood blasts through any obstacle that hinders us from reaching God!

God, who is infinite and has spoken all things into existence with just His breath, can accurately say that this realm – this terrain – on which we live out our limited days, is so small and powerless compared to Him that He boasts it as the place to rest His feet. This same God is sure to remind us that of all the locations on this planet on which He focused for His resting place it is the Ark of the Covenant. Why? Because the personal rest and relationship all humanity needs with the God who created us can only be found completely where the blood is applied and opens up the way for sinful people to commune with holy God. The funnel representing God’s rest and communion with us narrows down to one point – the place where the blood is applied.

The Day the Earth Runs

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When a person is most sure of his conclusion, we may hear him say, “I’m as sure as the ground I’m standin’ on.” To which I might reply, “Really? Because the ground we are all standing on is not as secure as you might think!”

Despite its relative smallness when compared to the vastness of the known universe, earth is a pretty big deal to us. It is our planet. The terrain feels solid beneath our feet. The power of its natural laws keeps our activity within God-ordained boundaries. We have a well-deserved respect for earth, such a mysterious place. And though this orb may seem tiny compared to billions of galaxies, it is quite overwhelming to the countless humans residing here.

However, the earth will one day have to flee. Revelation 20:11 makes clear, “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.” Amazingly, this earth and the heavens surrounding are incredibly unstable when compared to their Maker. When God steps to the throne as Judge, not even this miraculous sphere will survive His magnificence. Earth and sky are suffering the same conundrum that sinners are; they are on the path of ruination because of sin. They must flee until the time of their remaking. All things must be perfected for the people God has saved.

To be sure, the Great Architect – God Almighty – will perfect the earth and heavens in keeping with His promise of a home of righteousness for His people (II Peter 3:12-13). The new Earth and New Heavens will function properly: no disasters, no obstacles to harvest or discoveries, no killer species, no deadly or damaging virus, and no decay.

The remaking will happen after the earth infused with sin has flown appropriately from its Holy Judge. God will deal with the old earth in His time. Therefore, I put no stock in this firm ground beneath my feet. As the old hymn rings out, “On Christ the Solid Rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.” Or, shall we say, “Fleeing turf”?

Do not trust in anything but the Holy Judge who will ultimately destroy what is wrong and rebuild to make right. Earth seems dependable, but it will answer to God in the end. Put not your trust in what you see, but in the God who is unseen and infinitely greater than what He has made.

The question remains, how will I stand on that day when even the earth has to run? I will stand because – unlike earth and sky – I have already been remade! II Corinthians 5:17 boldly declares, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” The old earth flees, but I am already new in my heart!

Take heart. The Bible says, “If anyone is in Christ. . .” Choose to be found in Christ today. Then – and only then – will your footing be sure.

Against All Odds

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For various reasons, it can be difficult at times for people to keep their word. Additionally, people sometimes refuse to keep their word even though they could. Our culture has grown a generation of people who barely know what it means to be a “person of your word.” It seems the days are gone when a simple handshake insures a promise kept.

Despite the instability of human nature, I assure you that God keeps His Word. Given the nature of His being, it is impossible for God to change or go back on His Word. For God to be God, He must be perfect. For Him to change His mind or go back on His Word would mean He could somehow possibly improve through a change. God cannot improve. He is infinite and holy. If you posit anything other than a perfect God, you no longer have God. You have someone or something less than our true, self-sustaining, perfect God.

The God of the Bible keeps His Word. We observe that He has kept His Word against all odds throughout history to date. Namely, Jesus has already fulfilled approximately three hundred prophecies concerning Him. I will give just two examples. As I describe the examples, bear in mind that the Bible is not really one book. It is, in fact, a collection of sixty-six books written over a period of 1,500 years by more than forty human authors on three continents and in three languages. This is a vital fact to remember when we discuss fulfilled prophecy.

Micah, the prophet, wrote circa 700 B.C. He prophesied that the Messiah would be born in the obscure town of Bethlehem (chapter five, verse 2). Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the first century A.D. (Matthew 2:1-7). This prophetic detail proved accurate, though the span of time between prediction and fulfillment was 750 or more years.

David prophesied in Psalm 22:16 that the Messiah would be crucified. Though crucifixion did not yet exist at the time of David’s writing (circa 1000 B.C.), the prophecy was fulfilled more than one thousand years later!

The examples above are just two of more than three hundred that could be mentioned. Keep in mind how difficult it is to predict details of the distant future. If I were to predict rain tomorrow and you actually encountered raindrops, you might not think me too amazing. However, if I were to predict rain on the afternoon of April 12 in the year 2053 and it actually happened, you might say, “Wow! Shelli is amazing!” But what if I correctly predicted rain on April 12, 2053, in a 12.5 mile radius of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, at exactly 4:09 in the afternoon for seven minutes and thirty-two seconds? Then you might proclaim, “That Shelli has supernatural ability!” In other words, the more details I add and the longer the time frame spanned, the more difficult – against the odds – the correct prediction of the future becomes.

The God of the Bible has made more than three hundred detailed prophecies concerning His Son, Jesus Christ, which have already come true. Lee Strobel has nicely outlined in his book, The Case for Christ (Student Edition), the findings of Dr. Peter Stoner. Dr. Stoner and some of his students worked to calculate the mathematical probability of fulfilled prophecy. It has been estimated that the probability of Jesus fulfilling in His earthly lifetime just eight of the Biblical prophecies about Him is one in 10 to the seventeeth power. That is a chance of one in one hundred million billion! To better visualize these astronomical odds, picture the following scenario.

Pretend that we cover the surface of the entire earth with 1.5 inch square tiles. We cover not just the state of Wyoming in these small tiles – not just the land surface of North America – but we coat every inch of land on the entire planet. We decide at the outset to mark the underside of just one of these tiles with a gold star. Then, much to his chagrin, we send a young man out to roam the seven continents for the rest of life. As he nears one hundred years old, we ask him to bend over – wherever he now happens to be located – and pick up one of the tiles. The chance of him selecting the only tile marked with a gold star is one in one hundred million billion!

As you begin to grasp by the above example, the chance of Jesus fulfilling just eight of the prophecies about Him defies all odds. Consider that the chance of him fulfilling forty-eight prophecies grows to a staggering one in 10 to the power of 157! This would be like choosing one particular electron out of all the known electrons in all the known mass of the universe! God certainly keeps His Word against all odds.

As if all of this is not exciting enough, we now use God’s track record to remind ourselves that He will continue to keep His Word against all odds. Despite the daily routine of life and all its problems, despite the fact that so many people cannot possibly believe it’s true, and despite the fact that even many Christians do not consider it a vital part of everyday thinking; God will keep His Word on the second coming of Jesus just as He has kept His Word on Jesus’ first coming to earth. The three hundred prophecies that have already been fulfilled by Jesus’ first invasion into space and time inspire us to know that He is coming back again to fulfill all the Bible’s truth!

Here is one thing God has told us about Jesus that we are yet to see: “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (I Thessalonians 4:16-17, NIV). Can you even imagine this scene? Thank God for the day when we will rise with new, glorified bodies to be with our Lord in the New Heavens and New Earth! Does this sound too good to be true? Remember, God fulfills His Word though it seems impossible.

Or how about the fact that God has promised the following historical event? “Look, he [Jesus] is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. I [Jesus] am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty’” (Revelation 1:7-8).

If God has kept His Word against all odds – and if He is perfect and immutable (changeless) – then certainly He will keep His Word now and in the future. I trust today the God who said in the first century A.D., “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5b).

Do you believe in the God of the Bible? Pour over Isaiah chapter forty. Refresh your confidence in God’s unchanging and holy nature. If He is truly God, then He can do nothing other than keep His Word. History and mathematics demonstrate His ability beyond the natural realm to be faithful to His promises.

Trust Him for today and tomorrow, for He has a proven track record!

Never

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I have been let down
In, oh, so many ways.
Family, friend, and foe
Have slain my heart.

The reasons are quite clear,
Though the pain is just as great;
One cause is that same curse
I see in the mirror.

As I wrestle with myself
In the continued struggle with my flesh,
Disappointment does abound,
Crushing you and crushing me.

And even when we try
To stop hurting those around,
The nature of our being
prevents ultimate attainment.

We want to cure,
But we can’t heal.
We want to be there, but are prevented
By obligations and constraints.

We want to listen,
But we can only hear one person at a time.
We want to follow through,
But we grow ill and weary.

We want to promise,
But we have no control.
We want to stay,
But we all die.

Thank you, great God!
Sinless, you are;
And truly unlimited.

You can heal.
You can be there.
You can listen,
And follow through.
You can promise,
And you can stay.

You are the One –
The only One –
Who keeps His Word.

Yes, I have been let down
In, oh, so many ways.
And I have let down others
Times beyond number.

But never
Will my God let me down.

From MESSY to GLORY

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We are familiar with the beauty of the adult monarch butterfly. The orange and black pattern of the delicate wings reminds us of life’s small miracles. We know the butterfly was once a caterpillar. The crawling insect became a thing of grace that sails in the air around us.

Do you realize the caterpillar started as a tiny egg about the size of the period at the end of a sentence? And do you further realize that the bright little caterpillar shed its final layer of skin to become a chrysalis? The green chrysalis is not a cocoon, but rather the actual body of the monarch caterpillar.

Truly amazing is what happens to the chrysalis while hanging on a silk pad. The caterpillar body’s own digestive juices eat away the caterpillar tissue. The whole thing breaks down into a rich culture medium, or – put simply – mush! Then a miraculous process takes place in that mysterious liquid as imaginal cells begin to form the parts of the new, butterfly body! Cells in that mush direct what used to be a caterpillar to now grow wings!

Soon the fluid media begins to transform into a butterfly. What a process! The caterpillar turns to liquid in the chrysalis, and the liquid turns to butterfly.

Now, if we were to interrupt the process and try to peek inside the chrysalis too soon, we would see what appears to be a gooey mess. In fact, a first grade class at my school saw this when a caterpillar bit a hole in a chrysalis. The liquid came out of the chrysalis, and the soon-to-be butterfly was destroyed. Sure, the process is somewhat messy when the chrysalis is young, but the splendor is just around the corner.

When it comes time for the monarch butterfly to emerge with its newly transformed body, the chrysalis undergoes a stunning change – it becomes clear. The green turns translucent when the gorgeous butterfly is about to appear.

God is demonstrating glorious truths in the metamorphosis of the monarch butterfly. First, the work of the Lord in a person’s life can at times appear messy. The goo of the chrysalis may not seem attractive, but God works miracles in that goo! The cells he has placed in the liquid are working their way into a butterfly. In the same way, our lives –and the lives of fellow Christians – may not always seem as they ought. But, God is working miracles in the mess!

Second, there exists a certain mystery to who we truly are in Christ. For now, we struggle with sin in a broken world, and the truth of our being may not be clear at all times. Just like the green of the chrysalis in the beginning stages, God is yet working His plan in this age of grace. However, when Jesus comes back, we will appear with Him in glory! The real me will then be seen. The heart that has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus will be truly set free to be as He is in that New Heavens and New Earth. Just as the glory of Jesus is not completely revealed until the splendor of His Second Coming, so the glory of His followers is not yet visible. It will be, though. Without a doubt, when Jesus appears in all His glory, we will appear as we ought!

Do not give up, do not be discouraged, and do not give in. Let the goo of the chrysalis remind you of the beauty of the butterfly. We will be free!

“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory.” – Colossians 3:3-4

With a Single Breath

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A pesky cold, a serious disease, an overheated engine, a family crisis, a preparation oversight, someone else’s mistake, my own failure, a selfish plot, a jealous scheme, even death – all of these are just some of the things that can thwart the best of human plans. In an instant, the best of intentions can be brought to nothing.

How diametrically different are the eternal plans of God Almighty! Not one iota of a single plan of God can ever be stopped. Not one. For God, there are no unexpected illnesses, no mechanical failures, no tragedies, no storms, no lack of preparation, no episodes of exhaustion, no encounters with death, and no human sins that could ever challenge His power. With a single breath, He can blow any circumstance in the direction that fulfills His plan.

Amazingly, the man we most often identify as one who suffered the widest range of human tragedy, Job, said of His Lord, “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2, NASB)

For those of us who posit the existence of the God of the Bible, we must also acknowledge His ability to accomplish exactly what He wills; for the God of the Bible is all-powerful, present everywhere, and all-knowing. As the Creator, He stands infinitely far above His creation. Commanding natural things do His bidding without question, not even willful, human rebellion against Him ever stood a chance; for, God Himself came down to earth and suffered His own wrath as the cure for sin.

God can do all things. Hear those words, “God can do all things.” He can take every single moment of time – and every single circumstance of the combined lives of all people – and command these moments and these circumstances to stand at attention and accomplish His ultimate design.

So, let them come. Let the surprising, disappointing, maddening, ridiculous, heartbreaking, and gravely annoying circumstances of life come. No plan of God’s will be thwarted.

My responsibility is to be sure – unmistakably sure – that my plans are wrapped in the plans of God. “Lord, let me think your thoughts, abide by your Word, have your heart, renounce all pride, and keep my eyes fixed on You; for anything I plan outside of You will be stopped. But, Your plans go on into eternity completely unscathed. Amen.”