Does God ever think about YOU--meaning you singular as an individual? 

        Why should He?  Who are you that the eternal God Creator of heaven and earth and all that therein is should pay attention and be concerned about you—YOU as an individual, singular, one person in all this vast universe and well-populated world? 

        Good question, don’t you agree!  Who art thou?  Who am I that God should be concerned about me?   But He is.  That’s what MANY scriptures tell us.  You must find the answer in His character, in His grace, not in our alleged goodness or assumed importance. 

        But we don’t get lost in the vastness of the universe and the crowded cities of this world because  God is absolutely infinite!  so He has “unlimited time” for each one of us as an individual.  And, just as important, He cares for you.    “Casting all your care on Him for He careth for you.”  He does so with a double meaning—caring about and caring for, as in Psalm 23.    

        We are not alone!  People ask me sometimes if it’s difficult for me to “live alone” after being married for 54 years  to such a wonderful wife.   And I tell them, “I’m never alone.”  And that is literally true.  And I know it and I feel it.  And a lot of the time I just talk aloud to the Lord –and sometimes double check to be sure no one else is listening.  (^-^)  “ But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.  Psalm 40.17   but the Lord takes thought for me. esv 

           The Hebrew word translated thinketh is also interesting.  It’s Strong’s #2803   The root is interpenetrate or weave.  Interpenetrate reminds you of Heb. 4.13  And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. esv   And the second root weave. takes us to Philippians 1.6  “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” niv  But also listen to the various synonyms given in the lexicon:  think, regard, value, make account of, conceive, consider, esteem, find out, forecast, imagine, impute, purpose, regard. 

             God thinks about us and His thoughts are much deeper and much more thorough and penetrating and purposeful than ours.  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.    For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isa. 55.8-9 esv 

             For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jer. 29.11 esv

January 13, 2013

The Wonder and Mystery of our God-directed Lives

        Today is the 3^rd Anniversary of Minnie's Homegoing to be with the Lord. She is with Him now and “in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Psalm 16:11; 17:15

         Minnie never lost her sense of wonder at the goodness of God and the intriguing fascination of God's works in Creation. She herself was one of God's glorious works. She lived life with a sense of expectancy and joy. And at the end [though it was not the End, but the Beginning] she told Jeannine and me, “I feel that God has given me so much happiness in life! One of her favorite verses that she shared with me often was Ephesians 3:20 “He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. . . .”

         One of the books she delighted in was Ravi Zacharias, Recapture the Wonder—which Minnie never lost! She was always so delighted in babies and little children and their enthusiasm, which she shared. She loved to do things for them and with them. And she laughed a lot as she took pleasure in life. She told one of our granddaughters that even with cancer she tried to take pleasure in the good of that day and enjoy the company of whoever was with her that day.

          Ravi points out that to maintain our sense of wonder we need a thankful spirit guided by truth. And that truth is personal; it is personified in Jesus Himself who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. One of the marvelous names given to Jesus 700 years before He was born was “Wonder” ! It comes from that marvelous Christmas passage in Isaiah 9:6

^“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

        All those names mean so much. This child who was to be born for us, sent from God Himself, is Wonder.” In Hebrew the word is a noun instead of an adjective, adding even additional strength to the meaning. Isaiah uses the same Hebrew word used to describe the marvelous wonders that God did in bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt. Implied is not only marvel but mystery. It is a personal relationship with the God of Wonder Himself that gives meaning, excitement, and joy to our lives. He is the “Emmanuel,” God Himself with us in the person of Jesus, the Sent One, the Messiah from God the Father.

       “Great God of wonders! All thy ways are worthy of thyself—divine.

And the bright glories of thy grace Among thine other wonders shine.

Who is a pard'ning God like thee? Or who has grace so rich and free?”

         It is in communion with God that we find that sense of wonder, rejoicing in the works of God and always aware of the mystery of knowing Him, “whom to know aright is life eternal.” “Enchantment in life can never be realized in some thing; it must ultimately culminate in a person.” “Just as gratitude requires someone to whom we can be grateful, truth requires someone because of whom truth is possible. In both instances personhood is indispensable to wonder.” p. 104 Ravi Zacharias

       An essential part of wonder is to understand and experience love. And that happens in our relationship with Jesus. Love is “the quiet confidence of belonging to someone other than oneself; a commitment to a cause greater than oneself; a relationship that makes choices apart from the self; it is the root of unending sacrifice. When that love is found, wonder is sustained even in moments of great fear. But the how and why of such a love is a challenge.”

         ^“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the [atoning sacrifice] for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” 1 John 4:10-11

                                                                         --Bill Burnside