Verse

I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14

Monday, October 25, 2010

(Part 1 of First Things First) - An Amazing God

This year I have had the privilege of speaking at two different women’s retreats.
I am not a natural "speaker". Nonetheless, the Holy Spirit has been leading me to share with other women the truths of God’s Word.
I will post over the next few weeks what I have been sharing as a foundation for our walk in Christ. The posts may seem a bit choppy because I am typing them from my notes.

Focal Scripture:
Matt. 6:33- “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Matthew 22:36-38 – “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment.”

Watch the video before you read any further…please.



Taken from Crazy Love by Francis Chan

Speechless? Amazed? Humbled?

When I first watched those images I was completely humbled to the point I said to myself …”Who do I think I am?”

It’s wild to think that most of these galaxies have been discovered only in the past few years. They’ve been in the universe for thousands of years without humans even knowing about them. They were not created for us. They were created for God’s glory.

R.C. Sproul writes, “Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God.”

Have you ever thought about how diverse and creative God is?

He didn’t have to put 3,000 different species of trees within one square mile in the Amazon jungle, but He did. How about the way plants defy gravity by drawing water upward from the ground into their stems and veins? Did you know that when you get goose bumps, the hair in your follicles is actually helping you stay warmer by trapping body heat? I could go on and on and have a science class but I will stop with those very few examples.

Whatever God’s reason for such diversity, creativity and sophistication in the universe, on earth and in our own bodies, the point of it all is HIS glory not ours. He didn’t even really create it for us. We are privileged enough to be a part of it.

“The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.

3 There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.

4 Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,”

No matter how many pictures we see of His glory in the galaxies and His creation... No matter how many sunsets we see... We still forget. How awe struck we should be of the Creator. We are suffering from amnesia: loss of a large block of interrelated memories; complete or partial loss of memory.

I need to let you know of a spiritual amnesia that is going around and none of us are immune to it and it is caused by our own human and sinful nature and the enemy.

Most of us know that we should to love and fear God; that we should read our Bibles and pray so that we can get to know Him better; that we should worship Him with our lives. But actually living it out is challenging. I think the biggest problem is not remembering whose we are.

This is where keeping First Things First comes into play. I am convinced only because it is in God’s Word that if we focus on the First Things in God’s Word will we truly experience all God has for us.

You know what? It is hard to keep that in focus. It confuses us when loving God is hard. Shouldn’t it be easy to love a God so wonderful? When we love God because we feel we should love Him, instead of genuinely loving Him out of our true selves, we have forgotten who God really is. Our amnesia is flaring up again and we need a cure.

We have to intentionally and consistently remind ourselves of Him.

We are programmed to focus on what we don’t have, instead of being content with what we do have. We are bombarded multiple times throughout the day with what we need to buy that will make us feel happier or more at peace. This dissatisfaction transfers over to our thinking about God. If we are a follower of Christ and have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior then we already have everything we need in Him. We just forget that.

We absolutely must entertain the magnitude of God’s grandness and greatness on a regularly basis because it will fuel how we act, speak and respond to the ones around us and to Him.

The first question to ask is...How Big is God to me?

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