To the Praise of His Glory

"You visit the earth and cause it to overflow; You greatly enrich it; The stream of God is full of water; You prepare their grain, for thus You prepare the earth. You water its furrows abundantly, You soften it with showers, You bless its growth.
You have crowned the year with Your bounty, And Your paths drip with fatness. The pastures of the wilderness drip, And the hills gird themselves with rejoicing. The meadows are covered with flocks And the valleys are covered with grain; They shout for joy, yes, they sing.    Psalm 65:9-13


I love this time of year. I love it when the trees are still hinting at their greenery, not yet fully displayed. For with that hint, it reminds me of God's faithfulness. Even in nature we hear the Lord telling us that He loves us, cares for us, when we hear the beauty of the birds or see the violets bloom in all their regal splendor. He cared enough to make that birdsong for us, He cared enough to let our eyes feast on the beauteous colors displayed  through gentle blossoms every new spring.

I turned off the computer early last night. No rest or peace came through the worldwide web so I searched through some of the books in my library to aid me in Bible study. I happened upon one I bought years ago but never took the time to read.

This old volume was penned by Lewis Sperry Chafer, the founder of Dallas Theological Seminary, and entitled Major Bible Themes. First published in 1926, it contains chapters of all the basic tenets of our theology, followed with questions to sum up the points made in each chapter. Chafer reminded me that when things around me don't appear to make sense, I must trust beyond what I see with my physical eyes and see instead with the eyes of faith. My existence at this time of human history is not about me, what I can accomplish or even having a great family. We are all part of something much bigger than that. He writes what the purpose of the Bible is:

We understand from the written Word of God that there is one supreme purpose which actuates God in all that He has done or will do from the beginning of creation to the farthest reaches of eternity whether it is in Heaven or on earth. For this one purpose angels were created; so, also, the material universe and man, and though hidden behind an inscrutable mystery, we know that even sin was permitted and redemption was provided with a view to the realization of this supreme purpose. This supreme purpose is the Glory of God.

 Ahh, even the bad things will somehow be shown one day that they were allowed in a plan that would eventually end up redounding to His praise. For He even tells us in Psalm 76:10: "For the wrath of man shall praise You..." Unless I know the attributes of God, that nothing evil could ever come from Him, I know that I would stumble by reading this verse. How can He make even bad things work for His praise? Chafer continues:

That God should bring all things to pass that He might be glorified would seem self-seeking to an infinite degree, from a mere human viewpoint; but this theme cannot be limited to the range of human conceptions. In the light of Scripture revelation, we conclude that because God is infinite in His being, His perfections, and His blessedness He is worthy of infinite glory, and it would be an injustice of infinite proportions should His creation withhold from Him that honor and glory which are rightfully His.

(Quotes from Major Bible Themes, pages 15-16. Published 1926, 1953 by Dallas Theological Seminary, written by Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer.)

Knowing it is all about His glory alone gives me a reason to want to continue growing in His grace and in the knowledge of Him with the rest of the days allotted to me. None of us knows when God will call us home, but while I have my breath I can still pursue the knowledge of this wonderful, benevolent God who left the glory of heaven to redeem me to Himself. If I keep my heart fixed on that, life is bearable.  We can trust that God is still in control, even when it appears that things are out of His control.As the Apostle Paul tells us emphatically states:

Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable are His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)

 He will be glorified, whether I live agreeing with that or not, so why make it hard on myself? Today I agree with You God, You are worthy of my love and praise. You are the only One who brings my heart peace, and one day soon, all created beings, even Your enemies, will end up giving praise and glory to You, Amen.

 

100 Things to be Thankful For- Part One

Today marks my 100th blog post here and I would llke to celebrate by naming 100 things I am thankful for. It is my hope that you will find that you can be thankful for them too. Today I will list the first 50 of them, and the next posting will list the remaining 50 things. This list only tips the unfathomable number of blessings we can thank God for each and every day.

(When I went to publish this, I realized that some of my posts were mere drafts, but that is not any reason not to find 100 things to be thankful for! Actually there are 90 postings, but I will still list 100 anyway, for there are actually an incalculable number of things we will praise Christ for, coming one Day soon.)

1. For salvation as a free gift courtesy of Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 2: 8-9)
2. For being born in a time when we see the soon return of our Lord Jesus Christ, since Israel was reborn as a nation in 1948, as Jesus promised that generation would not pass away until we saw the fulfillment of end time prophecy.(Matt. 24: 3-4)
3. For my salvation is nearer now than when I first believed. (Romans 13:11)
4. My name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and yours can be too by faith in Jesus Christ.(Rev 21: 12)
5. That I have been adopted into the family of God forever, and you can be too. (Ephesians 1:5)
6. That God is entirely good. (Psalm 119:68)
7. In God there dwells no darkness at all! (I John 1:5)
8. That if any man wills to do His will, he will know of the doctrine. (John 7: 17)
9. That Jesus Christ (only) is the Light of the world. (John 1: 1-9)
10. That He has numbered every hair upon my head, such is His ultimate knowledge and care for me.(Matthew 10:30)
11. That Jesus Christ fulfilled the law perfectly, thus satisfying God's justice for all those who would believe in Him.(II Corinthians 5: 19-21)
12. That God counts every star, and calls each one by name. (Psalm 147:4)
13. That nothing is impossible for God. (Matthew 19: 26)
14. One Day there will never, ever be a curse again.(Revelation 22:3)
15. That there is no guile or deceit in Christ. (I Peter 2: 22)
16. Christ took my own sins upon His body on the tree of Calvary. (I Peter 2: 24)
17. That my sins which were as bright as crimson are now white like wool. (Isaiah 1: 18)
18. Christ is able to keep me from stumbling. (Jude 24)
19. That no one can take me, or any believer, out of the Father's hand, and He is greater than all. (John 10: 28-9)
20. That He willingly was pierced in the house of His friends. (Zechariah 13: 6, John 19: 34)
21. The thief on the cross didn't have to get his life in order before he was allowed to enter Paradise with Christ, but he entered only through one act of faith in Christ.(Luke 23: 39-43)
22. That all of mankind's sins were collected as it were in Job's bag and placed on Christ. (Job 14:17)
23. Then Christ took all of our transgressions, and they were nailed to the tree and taken out of the way, thereby opening access to the Father to anyone who believes. (Colossians 2: 14)
24. That the last time the Father saw my sins was when He put them on Christ, and now they remain behind His back. (Isaiah 38:17)
25. I have been made a princess raised up from the dust and ash heap. (Psalm 113: 7)
26. Jesus Christ is my Shepherd. (Psalm 23:1)
27. The Lord will make me to stand. (Romans 14: 4)
28. The Lord was the One who knit me together in my mother's womb. (Psalm 139: 13)
29. We all are fearfully and wonderfully made by a Creator. We didn't evolve from an amoeba! (Psalm 139: 14)
30. That it is never too late to come back to God if you have strayed, or come the first time if you have rejected Him for many years, for Today is the day of salvation! (II Corinthians 6: 2)
31. That God is/was faithful to the nation of Israel, and we can count on the fact that He will be faithful to His church too! (Romans 11:11)
32. Israel's branch was temporarily broken off so the Gentile nations could be grafted in! (Romans 11: 17-19)
33. That in Christ we are not of any racial or gender status, but all believers are all one in Christ. (Galatians 3: 28)
34. Believers have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Ephesians 1: 3)
35. God is not far from any of us. (Acts 17: 27)
36. All that call upon the name of the LORD will be saved. (Romans 10: 13)
37. Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness for all that believe. (Romans 10:4)
38. If we love His Word, we can have great peace. (Psalm 119: 165)
39. The person that loves God's Word will not stumble. (Psalm 119: 165)
40. I do not have to grope for His Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119: 105)
41. Christ will never, no never forsake me or any of His children. (Hebrews 13: 5)
42. God had a plan to save mankind in eternity past. (Revelation 13: 8)
43. Jesus is a friend of sinners. (Luke 5: 30-32)
44. There is a remnant according to grace even at this present time. (Romans 11: 5)
45. My sinful nature was crucified with Christ. (Romans 6:6)
46. I no longer have to be a slave of sin. (Romans 6:6)
47. I have peace with God because of Christ. (Romans 5:1)
48. One day every knee will bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Might as well be among them now!!) Philippians 2: 10-11)
49. In our weakness, we can be strong (in Him!) (II Corinthians 12:9)
50. If one is honest when looking upon creation, it testifies to every man's heart of the true Creator. (Romans 1: 20)