Everything We Need
Posted: Friday, April 17, 2009
by Jean Purcell
OpineBooks.com
" Thou art God, and there is no other ." So writes the psalmist. He writes by experience of God. He writes of what he has learned by trusting God in lots of tight situations.
What is the chief attribute of God? God is love . And in His love is everything we need. " Give thanks to the LORD, " writes the psalmist, " for he is good; his love endures for ever." "In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free. The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? The LORD is with me; he is my helper. "
On the past Easter Sunday, my daughter and I went together to the third service. Around us were people of different races, styles of dress, personalities, and family situations from single, divorced with children, married with multiple children, grand- and great-grandchildren.
"Who can ever think that Christians are like zombies made from the same mold?" I thought, looking around before the service began. It was thrilling to see little girls dressed simply, with hair flying all over the place and little girls all dressed up down to pretty, wide-bonnet hats. It was thrilling to know that all of us together displayed the varieties of expression that God allows or puts into us!
When Carole and I entered the church, we had in recent weeks experienced again so much of God's help and strength. To describe all of it adequately would be impossible. Her grandmother, Helen, was improving and only the family in our home with her knew all the answers to prayers for Helen and for ourselves, that we would have the strength we needed to help her.
The church where our local family is a part has somewhat formal services. But in the service readings of the programs we get on arrival, there is sometimes an "Amen" in all caps. That "AMEN" is for the congregation in unison and the caps mean "Say loudly!"
There was such an AMEN at the end of the service. I wanted to shout it ten times louder than the usual loudness. I wanted to lift my hands in praise. I'm sorry I didn't, worried I'd shock or disturb someone! It would not disturb God! It would surely honor Him.
In God who is love are mighty actions and we respond with mighty thanks: " Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous; The LORD's right hand has done mighty things! The LORD's right hand is lifted high; the LORD's right hand has done mighty things! "
In God who is love is divine success: " The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. "
In God who is love is rejoicing and gladness today: " This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. "
" The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. You are my God, and I will give thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. "
The lines speaking of God's right hand refer to Jesus. He was with God at the beginning and came to this earth, to walk upon it and to live among people of the earth to fulfill a mission of God. Through Him we have all we need for life and godliness , and it has been so from the beginning, revealed at the appointed time.
God called Peter to follow Jesus and to know Jesus as the Christ of God. Afraid, Peter once denied the Lord and soon repented. Later, the apostle Paul, who had once persecuted the Lord's people, chastised Peter for discriminating against uncircumcised Gentile Christians when Jewish Christians were present. Peter later advised the church to pay attention to Paul's words, although "some of the things he writes are hard."
Dear Peter, with whom many Christians identify, wrote: " Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. "
This he followed with: " His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness ."!
Think of the equally amazing words that followed:
"Through these (God's glory and goodness in Christ) he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."
The God who is Spirit, and who is Love, has given us his very great and precious promises ! Through His Son, people of living faith in the living Lord may participate in the divine nature ! By the very great and precious promises of God, we may escape the corruption in the world !
Amazement over the truth expresses itself through a big "WOW!" Truth astounds, and to take in the God of truth face to face in His full glory would blow the mind, for the reality of God is a wondrous, staggering reality. Discernment into the truths of God is hidden from the unbelieving. By faith in Him, Jesus allows us to glimpse the truths of God! And even the slightest glimpse reminds us of Moses, and why God covered Moses's face, for to see the glory of God would have been too much, too amazing, too mind-blowing, too staggering for a man!
We desire to respond to this great God, the All-Powerful Spirit of love, power, mercy, and final justice over the earth: "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound!" and "Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father. Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness! Morning by morning, new mercies I see; All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!"
Everything we need for life and godliness! Everything! God has already given these to us through His Son! Praise God!
Note: The psalm quoted from is Psalm 118-NIV translation
The words of Peter are from 2 Peter 1: 2-4-NIV
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