1338AFC092013 – Isn’t He Wonderful!
Read it online here, please.
Psalm 111:4 – He does amazing things so that we will remember that the Lord is kind and merciful.
Aloha nui loa, Beloved! I am excited to start this message because it begins with a wonderful traditional Gospel chorus. I’ve been singing this little ditty all week, and it just makes me happy every time I hear it. It’s called Isn’t He Wonderful. You can listen to it here and see the lyrics.
You’ve probably heard Rich Mullin’s contemporary gospel hymn, Our God is an Awesome God. I can’t think of anyone I know who hasn’t experienced God’s awesomeness first-hand. We see the beauty of the Earth, the wonders of the Universe, or the power of his Love. There is a huge part of history and geography attesting to the quest to know the mind of God. What does he want? Why does he want it? How can we give, or be, what he wants? Beloved, do you ever ask those questions? Yes? Great! Because God will answer those questions. But, if you said, “No, I don’t,” then you should begin.
What does God want? Look at Deuteronomy 10:12-14, Deuteronomy 30:19-20, and (my favorite) Micah 6:8 and you will see God wants us to know him, to honor him, to love him, and obey him. And to trust him, to serve him, to worship him, and to seek him, we need to know, honor, love, and obey him. But how do we know God? He’s … well, AWESOME! AND HE IS GREAT, BREATHTAKING, WONDERFUL, OVERWHELMING, TREMENDOUS, STUPENDOUS, MAGNIFICENT, MAJESTIC, OMNIPOTENT, OMNIPRESENT, OMNISCIENT, SUPERLATIVE, ETERNAL, FEARSOME, AND KIND, LOVING, FORGIVING, GENTLE, SAVING, A PROTECTOR, A LEADER, A REFUGE, AND ABSOLUTELY DIVINE BECAUSE HE IS LORD-ALMIGHTY-GOD! And he is Spirit and Truth and for most of us that means he is invisible. That is a stumbling block for many. If they do not see God, they cannot be sure he is real. Paul addressed that issue when writing to the Romans. In Romans 1:20 he says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.“
He does amazing things so that we will remember that the Lord is kind and merciful.
Now, if you put those two thoughts together, you have a good start on the answer to “How can we know God?” Do you remember this Axiom? WHAT WE DO SAYS WHO WE ARE. ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS. He does amazing things so that we will remember that the Lord is kind and merciful. Those amazing things – God’s actions – are how we know him. God is Spirit, and so we know him in spirit. God is Truth, and so we know him in truth. God is light, and so we know him in light. Everything that God has put into is there us so that we will know him, for God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; …” We see his actions around us everywhere we look, and we know his presence within us every time we inspect our hearts. That is especially true if we have let Jesus into our hearts. (You really want to listen to that one!)
God does all the wonderful things he does so that we can know him. And believe me, to know him is to love him because (of course) he is Love, and his Love gave us Jesus, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. Jesus is God. Jesus is God. Jesus is wonder-full. I expect to see him someday. On that day, my spirit will see him as a spiritual actuality – for I will be spirit and waiting for Resurrection Day – and I will rejoice exceedingly and praise God endlessly. All this occurs because he made himself known to me by observation and natural reason, by revelation in Scripture, and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Isn’t he wonderful! That’s not a question, it’s an exclamation!!
My directions today were to keep this shorter than usual so that I can ask you to do this, please:
Click here to read Psalm 8 and click here to read Psalm 148. Read them inside your heart so that God’s own wisdom will fill your heart. Paraphrasing Psalm 111:10 – A deep reverence toward the LORD is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever!
Share-A-Prayer: Pray with compassion for all the people who have suffered so greatly in the past several weeks from floods, fires, wars, famine, disease, sorrow, disasters of all kinds, and even death. Selah.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved.
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1338AFC092013 – Isn’t He Wonderful!
Read it online here, please.
Psalm 111:4 – He does amazing things so that we will remember that the Lord is kind and merciful.
Aloha nui loa, Beloved! I am excited to start this message because it begins with a wonderful traditional Gospel chorus. I’ve been singing this little ditty all week, and it just makes me happy every time I hear it. It’s called Isn’t He Wonderful. You can listen to it here and see the lyrics.
You’ve probably heard Rich Mullin’s contemporary gospel hymn, Our God is an Awesome God. I can’t think of anyone I know who hasn’t experienced God’s awesomeness first-hand. We see the beauty of the Earth, the wonders of the Universe, or the power of his Love. There is a huge part of history and geography attesting to the quest to know the mind of God. What does he want? Why does he want it? How can we give, or be, what he wants? Beloved, do you ever ask those questions? Yes? Great! Because God will answer those questions. But, if you said, “No, I don’t,” then you should begin.
What does God want? Look at Deuteronomy 10:12-14, Deuteronomy 30:19-20, and (my favorite) Micah 6:8 and you will see God wants us to know him, to honor him, to love him, and obey him. And to trust him, to serve him, to worship him, and to seek him, we need to know, honor, love, and obey him. But how do we know God? He’s … well, AWESOME! AND HE IS GREAT, BREATHTAKING, WONDERFUL, OVERWHELMING, TREMENDOUS, STUPENDOUS, MAGNIFICENT, MAJESTIC, OMNIPOTENT, OMNIPRESENT, OMNISCIENT, SUPERLATIVE, ETERNAL, FEARSOME, AND KIND, LOVING, FORGIVING, GENTLE, SAVING, A PROTECTOR, A LEADER, A REFUGE, AND ABSOLUTELY DIVINE BECAUSE HE IS LORD-ALMIGHTY-GOD! And he is Spirit and Truth and for most of us that means he is invisible. That is a stumbling block for many. If they do not see God, they cannot be sure he is real. Paul addressed that issue when writing to the Romans. In Romans 1:20 he says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.“
He does amazing things so that we will remember that the Lord is kind and merciful.
Now, if you put those two thoughts together, you have a good start on the answer to “How can we know God?” Do you remember this Axiom? WHAT WE DO SAYS WHO WE ARE. ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS. He does amazing things so that we will remember that the Lord is kind and merciful. Those amazing things – God’s actions – are how we know him. God is Spirit, and so we know him in spirit. God is Truth, and so we know him in truth. God is light, and so we know him in light. Everything that God has put into is there us so that we will know him, for God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; …” We see his actions around us everywhere we look, and we know his presence within us every time we inspect our hearts. That is especially true if we have let Jesus into our hearts. (You really want to listen to that one!)
God does all the wonderful things he does so that we can know him. And believe me, to know him is to love him because (of course) he is Love, and his Love gave us Jesus, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. Jesus is God. Jesus is God. Jesus is wonder-full. I expect to see him someday. On that day, my spirit will see him as a spiritual actuality – for I will be spirit and waiting for Resurrection Day – and I will rejoice exceedingly and praise God endlessly. All this occurs because he made himself known to me by observation and natural reason, by revelation in Scripture, and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Isn’t he wonderful! That’s not a question, it’s an exclamation!!
My directions today were to keep this shorter than usual so that I can ask you to do this, please:
Click here to read Psalm 8 and click here to read Psalm 148. Read them inside your heart so that God’s own wisdom will fill your heart. Paraphrasing Psalm 111:10 – A deep reverence toward the LORD is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever!
Share-A-Prayer: Pray with compassion for all the people who have suffered so greatly in the past several weeks from floods, fires, wars, famine, disease, sorrow, disasters of all kinds, and even death. Selah.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved.
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About Chick Todd
American Roman Catholic reared as a "Baptiterian" in Denver Colorado. Now living on Kauaʻi. USAF Vet. Married for over 50 years. Scripture study has been my passion ever since my first "Bible talk" at age 6 in VBS.
