Is God Too Far Away?

If God is so high and lofty, is he too far away for the everyday guy to know Him?

"For this is what the high and lofty One says- he who lives forever, whose name is holy; 'I live in a high and holy place but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.'"  Isaiah 57:15, NIV.

THE PROBLEM
God is high, eternal, holy, and lives in a high and lofty place. Essentially, God is beyond reach in every sense.

• He is beyond reach in status since He is the high and lofty one.
• He is beyond time since he lives forever.
• He is beyond sinners because he is holy. 
• He is beyond the physical world because he lives in a high and holy place.

We can't get to him who is so far above us.

BUT GOD
There is hope for God to say, "but also with him..." God is far above us, yet He chooses to live with the contrite and lowly in spirit.  We cannot reach up to Him, so He reaches down to us.

CONTRITE
To be contrite is to be worn out by our sins; it suggests repentance, remorse, and it confesses we are unworthy.  It is based on the truth that we are needy sinners before a holy God.

LOWLY
The "lowly in spirit" refers to the inability to overcome one's needs.  We can't lift ourselves up above the effects of sin.  We recognize we are lower than God, and because of our sin, we forfeit any and all rights before Holy God and must bear the punishment.

WOW!
The Almighty lives with lowly people who turn from sin.  Intellectuals, Nobel Prize winners, millionaires, or the famous, alone do not qualify for God;  He lives with the down and out, the forgotten little people, who flunked out, and the people of social poverty who live on the edge of despair.

He just doesn't visit; He moves in, He has the master bedroom, the keys, and His name is on the mortgage. He lives here!

REVIVE
To "revive" is to breathe life into the dead. Jesus called it "Born Again."*  God desires to revive our spirits and our hearts; though our hearts are broken through sorrow or loss, and our spirit is crushed, God wants to revive us.

We are dead in our sins, but when we humble ourselves and accept God's salvation, He comes to live with us, and He continues to revive us day by day. There are times when the trials of this life overwhelm us, but we can know God lives with the contrite and lowly, and we find He is there to revive us.

To learn more about salvation and having a new life, follow this link: Salvation.

* John 3:3
(c) Adron 6/8/13

Isaiah 57:15 Illustration. 
I live in a high and holy place
but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit...

How to Find Happiness

We all want happiness but few know where to find it, or where it is not found.

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night." Psalm 1:1-2, NIV.

BACKGROUND
The first word of God's holy hymn book, the book of Psalms, is the word, "Blessed." What a great start and a powerful message! We all want a blessing, so, we should head the teaching of this scripture.

WALK
Recognize the influence people have on us. We should not, "walk in the counsel of the wicked. To walk is the idea of daily going down the road of life side by side. Counsel is advice or direction; it is the practical application of one person's ideas in the life of another person. Let's not take their advice or follow their patterns.

STAND
To "stand in the way," makes one think of identifying with a group, being part of a community: to stand requires a decision. Also, the "in the way," is to associate with people. We all want to belong but we are better off alone than with the wrong people.

SIT
To sit is to become comfortable, resting, and relaxing. Let's not get comfortable with people who are bad for us. To sit in their seat is to take their place, or to become a "mocker" too. We must not take their attitudes to heart and copy them. How surprising to find the word "mockers" in this list. What is wrong with a few jokes? Words are powerful; so we should be aware of, and cautious around persons who ridicule God, His Word, and His people.

These verses do not teach avoiding people like a hermit, and Jesus taught we are in the world but not of the world, (see john 17:16).

FILL YOUR SPIRIT WITH THE POSITIVE
The great "but" of this verse is that we should "delight in God's law," The Bible.   Who of us does that? To delight in God's law is to...

• Spend time with it.
• Read it every day.
• Share it whenever possible.
• Treasure it.
• Meditate on it.
• Memorize it.
• Obey it.
• Put it in the decisions we do.

We should meditate on it "day and night." We should begin and end our day with God's Word and be wrapped up in it all through the day.

The Psalm promises for those who do these things; "He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers."  verse 3.

If you want to learn more about finding eternal happiness see my other post, follow this link: Click Here.

(c)Adron Dozat

Can God Live With Man?

Obed-Edom

What would happen if God lived in the guest room of my house? Would I have to make allowances for him or would he even be welcome at all?


"The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house for three months, and the Lord blessed his household and everything he had." 1 Chronicles 13:14. NIV. *


WHY WAS THE ARK AT THE HOUSE OF OBED-EDOM?
The ark was supposed to be carried by the Levites but they put it on a cart instead. The oxen stumbled and a man reached out his hand to keep the ark from falling. Since the ark was holy God struck the man dead, and in fear the people of Israel took the ark to the house of Obed-Edom.


The point in this verse is clear. Obed-Edom received the ark and while it was with him the Lord blessed him. We do not have the ark today, but instead...

     * We have the Holy Spirit,
     * We have the promises of the Lord to be with us,
     * We have the Father holding us in His hand.

You might say we have something better than the Ark!

RECEIVED
Obed-Edom received the ark; it was a decision. He could have said "No, that is dangerous. I don't want it around my kids." Instead, he received the representation of the Lord and he was blessed.

The ark remained, with them. In the same way, we must allow Gods spirit to be welcome, maybe we have pushed him out the window while we do a little "sin." or we say to God, "You can live in my house on these days but on others, you stay in the garage," Or we say," You can come in but I keep the keys." Such attitudes are not allowing God to be welcome.

1 Chronicles 13:14

FAMILY
The ark was with the "family of Obed-Edom." We need to make the Lord part of our family. Serving God was a family affair for Obed-Edom. It wasn't just Dad's priest job. We should remind family members that God is with us and to behave in a respectful way.

A DOUBLE BLESSING
The blessing was double, it was "his household and everything he had." Who would not want God's double blessing? Obed-edom had it easy, he only needed to allow the ark into his family's home and make sure no one used it for a coffee table. We have God's Spirit living in us; a living relationship that needs attention, respect, communion, and basically a lot of work. If Obed-edom was doubly blessed in that distant time, how much more will God Bless us if we allow Him to come all the way in and stay unconditionally?


* To read other translations of this verse follow this link: 1 chronicles 13:14.

© Adron 11/19/12

What Does God Want In Our Prayers? Psalm 62:8

Often our prayers are unsatisfying to ourselves and we wonder if they please God. We need more than answered petitions; we sense there is an intimacy with God available but it is somewhere beyond our reach.

"Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." Psalm 62: 8. NIV.*

TRUST
Of course we should trust in him, but what does it meant "at all times?" We trust Him for the gift of salvation, when we put our soul in his hands once and for all; but at all times suggest an everyday practice of trust, we must trust God today for our need. There is no vacation when it comes to trusting God. We may have had a recent victory, or miracle, but we don't put trust on the shelf for the next upcoming event. We must trust him in good times, bad times and the boring every day times.

POUR
To "pour out your hearts to him," is a picture of a container being emptied of its contents, like a can that is tipped over and what is inside dumps out without control. Often our prayers are "Quickies" where we list our needs, and then trot off. There is nothing wrong with quickies, but God longs for us to go deeper; we need to tell him ALL ABOUT IT. We might say, "God, I need a new job," but instead we should pray, "God, I have trouble at work, I haven't gotten advancement though others have, I feel belittled, I feel trapped, my family is stressed out with bills, I feel like a failure, that I am wasting my gifts here. I wanted to do something more creative..." etc. in other words, empty your heart, or, dump it all out.

We tell God the details, not just the big facts, we tell God what we are feeling and why, not because he doesn't know but because we need to say it, and he blesses intimacy with him. This takes time, time away from TV and Hobbies. This could change one's walk with God; it will change of our view of God, and change in our heart.

REFUGE
A refuge is a place of safety in times of danger. When we trust God we begin to experience him and we find that he is a refuge. He accepts our broken dreams and heartaches, our disappointments, and failures. We can hide our heart in God, and trust Him with all our feelings; we know He is gentle and caring, patient and understanding with our heart.

Whatever frustrations, trials, or hurts you have may you find refuge in pouring out your heart to God.

To learn more about trusting God for salvation follow this link: Click Here.

To read this verse in other translations follow this link:
Online Parallel Bible.

(c)Adron Dozat

____________________________

Thank you for visiting and reading my blog. I sincerely hope this post is helpful and an encouragement.
For more like this see the most popular post in the left sidebar, or use the search box above.

Adron

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How To Be a Positive Influence. Proverbs 10:17

What does the Bible say about influencing people for good? If we knew this it would help us get the best for our lives and the lives of those around us?

"He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray." Proverbs 10:17.*  NIV.

When we trust Jesus as Savior we come into a family where God is our Father. We become a blessing to our families and friends because our relationship with God is like the engine on a train, if things are moving ahead with God things will be moving ahead with other people in our lives; but to be that blessing we often need to change in some way and change often requires God's loving discipline.

Discipline is not pleasant but it is beneficial. Discipline is...

• For our good.
• Enables us to serve Him effectively.
• Brings us in agreement with His purpose.
• Leads us to happier lives.
• Removes sin's practice from our experience.
• Corrects our character.
• The list goes on, and on.

God may use circumstances, events and trials to discipline us and bring about good in our character and lives. When we go through these trials in a positive way we become better people, wiser, more compassionate, and many more good things. If we pay attention to discipline the Father will direct our lives and we will be a positive influence to others around us.

To ignore God's correction is folly! We may even louse fellowship with the Father, and hurt the loved ones around us. We will fail to grow as people.

The real challenge is the effect our response to discipline has in the lives of other people. If we pay attention we will be a living example of the way of life to our kids, spouse, co-workers, dear friends, and others. If we "ignore correction" we will actually be "leading others astray." As Christians we are wearing a sign that says, "This is what God is all about," or, "This is what Jesus is," and everybody is reading that sign!

If we ignore God's discipline, we are a message that Jesus is sloppy, lazy, angry, foul mouthed, etc. If we pay attention to discipline we are saying Jesus is about growth, forgiveness, maturity, and many other good things.

We need to pay attention to what God is doing in our lives through trials and circumstances. We must be in tune with the engine; anything else will wreck the train.

To learn more about how to have God in your life follow this link: Click Here.

* To read this verse in different translations follow this link: Proverbs 10:17.

(c)Adron Dozat

____________________________

Thank you for visiting and reading my blog. I sincerely hope this post is helpful and an encouragement.
For more like this see the most popular post in the left sidebar, or use the search box above.

Adron

Use the share buttons below to save and share this post to your social networks. 

Is Zeal For God Enough to Go To Heaven?

Some people observe every religious rule and regulation of dogma hoping that strict observance of religious discipline will earn them a place in heaven, but is it enough to get us in heaven?

"For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." Romans 10: 2-4, NIV.

ZEAL
The Bible passage above speaks of a particular people but the point applies to all. These people were famous for their strict observance of the teaching of Moses and the Prophets, interpreting the scriptures with such strictness to guarantee that they did not fail to keep all the hundreds of laws they perceived.

RIGHTEOUSNESS
They knew they needed righteousness as the grounds upon which they may stand before a holy and just God to have his acceptance, favor, and entrance into heaven.

RELATIONAL KNOWLEDGE
Paul the Apostle points out that their zeal was without knowledge. On the surface, this looks backward since they knew the hundreds of laws and interpretations of those laws. The knowledge Paul referred to is not head knowledge of religion and traditions but heart knowledge that comes from knowing and experiencing God. This second type of knowledge is superior since it is the knowledge that comes from a relationship with God. Without a relationship with God, the only other option is to establish righteousness based on strict observation of rules. This man-made righteousness is not sufficient to cover sins.

The problem with having zeal without knowledge is that you may miss the point. In this case a relationship with God and our hope of salvation, it is a big point. How tragic to spend a life observing every little rule and discovering God had something else in mind- something better.

THE SOURCE

Righteousness given by God

The point of the laws and teachings of the scriptures is not the laws and teachings for if righteousness could be earned there would not have been a need for Christ; it is the person of Christ who alone fulfilled all God's requirements. Instead of earning righteousness, we may receive righteousness as a gift.

Jesus is the righteousness of God and God offers the righteousness of Jesus to us.

THE CATCH
God asks only that we believe. No one is successful at keeping all laws but we may have righteousness with God because of what Jesus did. Instead of doing works we believe and thereby receive his righteousness on our behalf.

© Adron 6/7/12

Can We Ever Know What God is Thinking? Amos 4:13

God seems hidden, mysterious, and certainly wonderful. Though we can see his handiwork in creation, can we know His thoughts?

“He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth- the Lord God Almighty is his name.” Amos 4:13, NIV.

God created mountains, whole ranges of them, some of which span continents and ascend a mile into the sky. He created wind, even hurricanes that can destroy cities. He changed the dark to dawn and daylight to night. He treads the high places of the earth where man dare not go as if they were the grit on the floor. He is awesome in every detail and dimension.

The list of His wonders includes the surprise that God “reveals his thoughts to man!” You would think the catalog would continue with God setting stars in orbit, scooping out the depths of the seas, or God being more powerful than millions of atomic bombs, but included with the wonders of God is that He “reveals His thoughts to man.” It becomes equal to the others. For God to honor us so is part of His glory.

The word “Reveal” suggests something hidden that is uncovered. Many truths about God are obvious to the average man, such as His mighty power, but there is more to God. He wants to reveal His thoughts to us; He could withhold them, and it would be to His glory to do so, but it is more glorious of God to reveal His thoughts to us.

But why man? No scripture says that God shares His thoughts with angels or any other beings, yet to rebellious mankind, God deigns to share His thoughts. Only mankind is in the image of God, and so only mankind can begin to understand and share intimacy with the Lord God Almighty. We were made to hear His thoughts.

God is a communicator and has communication for us.
• He speaks through the creation.
• He speaks in the human conscience.
• He has spoken through his Son, Jesus.
• And he speaks through the written Word.
• And he speaks to us in our personal communion of prayer.
• If we wait in the silence of prayer, we may hear Him communicate in the prompting of our hearts.

I want to know the thoughts of the Lord God Almighty. Thoughts are not just communication. They are the expression of the heart, plans, loves, wisdom, longings, and hurts. To think He “Reveals his thoughts to man,” makes me say WOW!

(c) Adron 4/30/10

Ancient Advice for Stress. Exodus 14: 14, NIV

How do we handle all the modern stress of these difficult times?

We face many pressures and troubles these days. We have trials, difficulties, illness, and loss that add to the struggles of modern living. Is there one way to cope with it all?

“The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still.” Exodus 14: 14, NIV.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND

The Israelites escaped slavery and were pursued by the Egyptian army. They were desperate and faced death. We often have situations where we feel just like those ancient Israelites and at the brink of disaster.

LET GO

We make plans, we call experts and Google the problem; we run to and fro to try to solve our dilemma, but God is saying “be still,” He will be our deliverer. Sometimes He is our helper and sometimes He is our deliverer. In both situations, you have to “let go and let God.”

RELATIONSHIP
The Christian life is a relationship with Christ. In our analytical age, we try to make everything into a formula with twelve steps and an outline, but what relationship flourishes that way? In the crisis, focus on Jesus and work on your relationship with him.

During these moments remember a few basic truths of our relationship with God.
     * Look to him.
     * Pray through it.
     * Search His Word for instruction.
     * Associate with others who love God.
     * Wait expectantly.
     * Accept his results.
     * Remember what you have learned of the Lord.
     * Worship.

WE NEED
These verses end with “You need only be still.” We need this attitude in our daily lives. We need to practice trust, and, faith and stillness. We need to sometimes sit down and allow God to work. Sometimes we need to just get alone and get quiet before the Lord and wait for Him to speak in our hearts. He gives comfort and he gives peace. He is the victory.

To learn more about how to have God in your life read my other blog.

Thank you for visiting and reading my blog. I sincerely hope this post is helpful and encouraging.  For more like this see the most popular post in the left sidebar, or use the search box above.

(c) Adron 2/12/10