Transcendent Praise

Genesis 22:15-18 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed because you have obeyed me.”

Abram became a friend of God not because he volunteered initially but because God called him into relationship. Abram in turn learned to walk with God by listening for his voice and obeying his instructions. (Genesis 12:1-5). This did not mean his life was easy or simple. He had challenges along the way – real life circumstances – such as having to engage in physical battle with neighboring kings to recover his nephew lot, his family and their possessions.

Then in what I consider to be one of Abram’s most vulnerable moments God spoke to him again. In my mind’s eye I see Abram in a quiet moment reflecting on his life and circumstances, realizing he had left his homeland behind dragging his family with him. He was in a strange land, years had passed and he still had no children despite the wonderful promises God had made to him. But suddenly, as if God was eavesdropping on his thoughts, he has a vision and God says: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield and your very great reward.”  (Genesis 15:1). In the conversation that ensued God gave Abram a very specific and detailed blueprint of how things will proceed even after his death. It is in this encounter that Abram recognized God’s sovereignty and believed everything he had been told. And Scripture records that “Abram believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6). It became a covenant relationship.

The Lord appeared to him once again when he was 99 years old and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”  (Genesis 17: 1-2) God also renamed him “Abraham” to signify his new identity as the father of nations and seal the covenant as everlasting. The promised son Isaac was born a year later. This is the son Abraham was later willing to sacrifice when God required him to do so.  But obedience is better than sacrifice and God intervened to save Isaac’s life. The reward for obedience is blessings, but God himself, his presence throughout your life, is your exceeding great reward.

2 Timothy 2: 12 – 13 “If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful for he cannot disown himself.”

Faithfulness is a characteristic of God. How can you know if you are the beneficiary of God’s faithfulness? There are many lenses through which you can look at this question. One is most basic: “He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45). Or look at one of God’s earliest promises to mankind in Genesis 8: 22 “As long as the earth endures seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” Could we orchestrate any of this by ourselves? I think not.

Then God takes his faithfulness to a whole other level. Having made provision for our salvation and restoration to fellowship with himself through the gift of his Son Jesus, he then promises that when we sin, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9).

We get an opportunity to prove God’s faithfulness in the practical areas of our lives as well. Begin to think of God as your Father, your only source – focus on your relationship with him above all else. And a good father provides, doesn’t he?  What do you need to see change in your circumstances? Ask God to do it for you or empower you to change it. Do not surrender your will or sense of purpose to be dominated by others. The workplace is a good example where such pressures come to bear. If you hold a job that is snuffing the life out of you, refresh your skills and knowledge and ask God to open up new opportunities for you.

Never be afraid to start over with God. Each day is an opportunity for a new beginning. God desires to manifest himself in you so that you have a sense of “wholeness” not a panicked and confused existence trying to please everybody and end up pleasing no one. “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” (Psalm 37: 5 – 6). When you experience his faithfulness, be careful to give him the credit and the praise he deserves.

But God’s faithfulness doesn’t end: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20b). Finally, to the faithful he promised: “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First ad the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (Revelation 22:12 – 13).

Zephaniah 2:3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.

The book of Zephaniah is a mere three chapters and should be read in one sitting. It is scary to read, to say the least. It warns the Jewish people (Judah and Jerusalem) of God’s impending judgment because they have turned their backs from following the Lord and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him. Judgment is also pronounced on the surrounding nations for their pride and for insulting and mocking the people of the Lord Almighty. The Jews are God’s chosen people so it begs the question: If God would judge his own people, what makes the rest of us so smug that we daily ignore him? Zephaniah does hold out hope for the preservation, deliverance, and restoration of the remnant of God’s people: “But I will leave within you the meek and humble who trust in the name of the Lord.” (Chapter 3)

God sees us today in our rebellion and he has made provision in Christ for our salvation and restoration to fellowship with himself. Rejection of his incredible love leaves us wide open for judgment. This is what the Holy Spirit said to me following my reading of Zephaniah:

“For when I have set my love upon my people, it follows that I shall always bring them out of their captivity again and again. I punish them for their wickedness but it does not mean that I do not love them. It is so that they will live holy. I demand righteous living. I cannot afford for my name to be constantly blasphemed by the impurity of their lives. I am a God of holiness. My people must live in a way that honors my name. They cannot live like everyone else. Because of my holiness I am compelled to bring them into judgment so they will repent.”

1 Corinthians 11: 23 – 24  For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body,  which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

This passage of Scripture ministered to me once in a way I was not expecting. It is recited by clergy during the observance of Holy Communion or the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper in most churches. The observance which consists of the breaking of bread and sharing of wine or grape juice takes place in direct obedience to the Lord Jesus’ instruction to “do this in remembrance of me” as a way of honoring his death till he comes again.

In his last few days on earth Jesus had been careful to prepare his disciples mentally for the events which were going to take place. He would be arrested, tried, condemned and crucified; they would be scattered and persecuted. He had told Peter, one of his most beloved that even he would deny him. He revealed to Judas that he knew what was going on in his head and heart, how he would be the one to betray the Son of God. He taught them about the Holy Spirit who would come to comfort and be with them after he was gone. And he had prayed for them.

In his last private gathering with his disciples Jesus shared in the breaking of bread with them. John paints the picture for us: “…Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.” (John 13:1). Jesus got up from the meal and stooped down and washed his disciples’ feet. He was demonstrating to them and us that it is okay to be humble. Not only that, we should expect to be humbled and when that happens, we have his example to follow.

The night of that last supper with them was also the night of his betrayal and arrest. No more opportunity for any of them to have a private moment with him. I got to thinking about that in the context of forgiveness. “That is a flying leap” you say. Yes, I know. But the Holy Spirit doesn’t isolate Scripture into little morsels like we do. He will interrupt your thought pattern and insert his truth. So who has betrayed you and what have you done about it? What if this is your last opportunity to make things right? Jesus humbled himself in front of his disciples, he washed their feet! Do what you must. As a child of God, you have been given a ministry of reconciliation.

Ezekiel 47:12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.

Families are invaded by grief all the time. Sometimes it is an untimely death and sometimes the passage of time takes its toll and loved ones transition to eternity. I can think of one such family right now. A husband and father has gone home and scores of relatives and friends will grieve with the family. I was going to write about how God is touched by our grief and that His Spirit brings the comfort we need. Yes, all true. But there is more.

Let’s read Ezekiel 47: 1 – 12. If you are grieving today, please know that the love of God for you is like the river pictured here. His love flows directly from his throne. It is more than enough, not limited in any way. You can have as much as you need to float in. Notice I said “float”, not swim. Swimming takes effort. I know very well that when one is consumed by grief, there is no energy to swim. So let his love and grace wash over you and move you along until you regain strength.  And you will. When that happens, you will then become one with the river of grace to overflow to others.

“I am the Almighty God and I long for my children to understand that I am a fountain of living water. All that they need is in me. I flow for their salvation, healing and deliverance. If they will just jump in with no reservations only heaven can know how intense my blessings can be. My love overflows, bursting out of my being to save, restore and bless those who are mine. There are no limits to my love and bounty. There is no reason for my children to be impoverished. I am a God who loves so intensely that there are no words in your vocabulary to explain it. I am everything the human heart could desire and more. Money does not begin to address the need of your souls. I long to immerse you in my goodness, my presence, and so overwhelm you with love, that you cannot contain it. Thus my love will flow through you to the world around you who so desperately need me in their lives. Become a captive to my love.”

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

This was a word from the Lord through Jeremiah to the people of Israel who had been taken captive to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. It was a promise which God would keep after they completed seventy years in captivity. That is a lifetime to wait for anything and some will surely have died before the time came.

In your relationship with God, there will be times when you have to wait. Sometimes your prayers will not be answered in the way you expect or in the time-frame which you desire, but if you have confidence in the Lord as the One in charge of your future, you will become more patient and a lot wiser as time goes by.

I actually prefer the phraseology at the end of the verse in the King James Version: “to give you an expected end.”  I take this very personally – not just a hope and a future but a God-ordained future and end specific to me. I am his child after all, and I have learned that there is nothing I can plan or orchestrate for my future that could be better than what the God who knows the end from the beginning can design. It takes discipline and sensitivity to not insist on your own way when the Holy Spirit asks you to take a detour from your plans, but I find it takes a tremendous load off when I listen and obey. The result is a life full of surprises which polishes you for God’s glory. “…To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15:22)

“Yes, the future of my children is predetermined. I need only that they walk before me in sincerity, following my lead as they go, opening up their hearts to hear my commands and following them to the letter.”

Matthew 16:13 Who do people say the Son of Man is?

Jesus alone bears this title. He takes ownership of it and then demands to know who men think he is. We can only begin to understand this aspect of Jesus’ identity by realizing that it speaks both to his humanity and divinity at the same time. He was born a human being but long before that he was part of the “us” in Genesis 1:26 and later identified as the Word who was with God in the beginning (John 1:1 – 2). That Word then became flesh and lived among us. (John 1:14).

While on earth he demonstrated some aspects of his divinity in taking power over sin, diseases and demons alike.  “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” Seeing the faith of the friends who brought the paralytic man to him Jesus said to the man “Son, your sins are forgiven”… “I tell you, get up take up your mat and go home.”  (See Mark 2:5, 10 -11)  The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19:10).  He accomplished this by his death on the cross. And because he suffered he is able to identify with us when we suffer. But the Son of Man did not stay on the cross or in the grave. He rose triumphantly and ascended back to his Father. In that transition we see him revert to his rightful place at the right hand of God the Father.

I believe it is this glorified Son of Man whom Daniel describes for us in chapter 7 as coming with the clouds of heaven, the same Son of Man who John encounters in his vision in chapter 1 of the Book of Revelation. He is the Christ, one with the Father, the beginning and the ending:

“All power is given to me in heaven and earth. It is so ordained and nothing shall change it. I am the Alpha and the Omega, before me there was no one and after me shall be no one. I reign from time to eternity. I am now and ever shall be the only God.”

Psalm 47: 1 – 2 Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy; How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth!

What a difference it would make in our lives if we would break out in worship to Almighty God every day. If we would just bow down to him now and give thanks for this great earth he has created, he would break in upon us in a way we could not contain.

There is something about praise that brings release which is not of earth. No wonder the Bible says “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24).  It is the Holy Spirit within you that communicates with God and this is especially in evidence when you reach the end of your ability to form words to express the adoration in your heart. The Holy Spirit will give you a language of praise that even though your mind will not always comprehend what you are saying, you know it is worship because it is flowing from your innermost being. Hallelujah! That, by the way, is a word from heaven which has no equal and needs no translation, no matter what your native tongue is.

“Sing praise to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise. God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne. The nobles of nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; he is greatly exalted.” (Psalm 47: 6-9). All praise my soul to the King of heaven! Rejoice believers and let your praise rise.

Matthew 8: 26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

In this 8^th chapter of Matthew several miracles are described. In the case of a man with leprosy,     Jesus reached out and touched and healed him. In the case of the centurion, Jesus commended him for his great faith then spoke a word of healing for the centurion’s servant: “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” Wow! Then in verse 16 it reads “When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.”

Later on a boat with his disciples Jesus was fast asleep. They were caught in a furious storm and his disciples woke him in a panic: “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” This makes me smile because I can identify with the disciples. But the Bible says “Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.” Again, in my humanity, I exclaim with the disciples “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” This is the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, he has authority over everything. And the Holy Spirit dictates this to me:

“The word of God is creative, powerful and above all it is authoritative. When God speaks he takes no account of personalities or situations that seem unchangeable. He is in charge of change of every kind. He moves in, commands and it is done. Take note in these accounts that he speaks and things happen. It is in this same manner that he spoke the creation into being. Men have questioned and devised their own fables as to how things came to be, but I tell you, that in the beginning I created all things. Today I still have control over it all and I will do with it as I please and no one can stop my hand. However, it is also my prerogative that I choose from time to time to show mercy to mankind and grant pardon and deliverance from what would surely be total disaster. It is so that men may know that I am the Eternal God who controls all things and can speak my word to hold back the elements and let new life spring forth both in humans and my created world.  It is my Word that gives life.”

Luke 1: 35 – 37 The angel answered, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.

God would not be God if he couldn’t do what we call impossible. God created the heavens and the earth. That alone qualifies him as God of the impossible. But he has through time intervened in the affairs of men to bring about his ordained will. Throughout the Old Testament we read that God moved to deliver his people by defeating various opposing kings and their armies. In the New Testament we read of instances when angels brought messages to ordinary people, e.g. Zechariah and Mary, to change the course of human history. God set aside the “normal” child-bearing age for Elizabeth and gave her a son. And the virgin girl Mary became the mother of Jesus because “nothing is impossible with God.” Jesus in his turn walked the earth and healed and delivered people from illness and other circumstances to change their lives for the better. In John 11: 1 – 44 it is recorded that Jesus even raised Lazarus from death. How was that possible? Hebrews 1:3 tells us that “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his power.” Like Father, like Son!

In our day, God moves by his Spirit in the lives of individuals to change them and to call people by the millions to turn to him and do his bidding. He still heals and delivers and changes circumstances to bring about his ordained will. He pulls down kingdoms and sets up new ones and we are left in awe and wonder. All power belongs to God and he still rules, even if you do not agree.

I am sitting at my dining table in early spring while I write this and it is raining outside. There was a flash of light just now and before I realized it was lightening, it was followed by the roar of thunder. Hadn’t heard that for a while! I thought, “yes Lord, you do remind us every so often who is in charge!” Dear friend, no one can do the things that God can. Hand him the situations you call ‘impossible’ and back away.

            “I show up when all hope in the abilities of men have been exhausted so that no one can take my glory. This is where my divinity separates me from mortal man. It will never be that I appear to compete with men. The things I do can only be done by me. So test every circumstance when you try to determine if an event is my work or not. My work defies comparison with that of a mere man.”