Inspirational Thoughts

We are to be God’s Advertisement

April 13, 2014

I Peter 2:9 (Amplified):

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood,
a dedicated nation, God’s own purchased,
special people, that you may set forth the
wonderful deeds and display the virtues and
perfections of Him Who called you out of
darkness into His marvelous light.

As God’s own purchased, special people in Christ, we have the distinguished purpose of setting forth and displaying the wonderful virtues, perfections, and qualities of our God. The words “set forth” in the Greek mean: to bring the word out, to proclaim everywhere, to give out intelligence, to tell forth, and to make widely known. In modern vernacular, it could mean “to advertise.” This word also has the idea of declaring things that are unknown. This is the only place where this Greek word is used in the entire New Testament, but it is used 10 times in the book of Psalms in the Septuagint(the Greek Translation of the Old Testament), where in each usage the psalmist is proclaiming the magnificent excellencies of God.

The Greek word for “virtues and perfections” means: any quality where one stands out as excellent; the ability to perform heroic deeds; the demonstration of virtue by excellence in life; living up to one’s potential, and fulfilling one’s purpose with excellence. It is a tapestry of excellence and courage and denotes the courage to excel in life. It is goodness in action that produces something excellent.

God called us out of darkness into His marvelous light and earnestly desires for us to proclaim and make widely known to the world all of His excellent qualities, all of His powerful works, and all of His heroic deeds. God is the true hero of mankind. God has been absolutely heroic in His efforts to accomplish the redemption of mankind from the sin of Adam. God is the excellent one in all of His words and deeds. God has the courage of a mighty warrior, the strength of a thousand armies, the heart of a tender lover, the wisdom of a million minds, the righteousness of a thousand judges, the faithfulness of a million shepherds, the holiness of ten thousand sacrifices, and the power of a million universes. Nothing in heaven or earth compares to the splendid majesty of God Almighty.

We are to advertise to the world the glorious character of our God. This knowledge about the true goodness and nature of God is unknown or dimly seen by many people all over the earth. People see through a glass darkly when it comes to knowing the attributes and qualities of their Creator. We live in an age where it is often vital to national security to get accurate intelligence about a subject, nation, or movement. How much more important is it to have accurate intelligence about the Creator of the heavens and earth? How much more important is it to know the true nature and character of God. We are involved in the greatest advertising campaign ever! We are to advertise the truth about God’s goodness, which is the sum total of all of His excellent qualities, to every person who God brings across our paths.

We advertise to the world the glory of our God in two primary ways. The first way is to simply tell people about the wonderful qualities of God and the great things He has done. We hold forth the words of Life contained in the Bible; we proclaim the heroic deeds that God has accomplished in our lives and in the lives of others; we tell people about our wonderful Jesus and His victory at Calvary, and we share the awesome promises of deliverance and hope from the heart of God. The Lord knew how important this advertisement campaign was and exhorted the Apostle Paul to speak the good news and not to be silent.

Acts 18:9 (NIV):

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in
a vision: Do not be afraid; keep on
speaking, do not be silent. For I am
with you, and no one is going to
attack and harm you because I have
many people in this city. So Paul
stayed for a year and a half, teaching
them the word of God.

We must not be afraid; we cannot be silent. We must keep on speaking because God has many people in our cities and communities who desperately need to hear the gospel and heroic deeds and qualities of our awesome God.

The second way we advertise to the world the glory of our God is to live in such a way that people will be able to see the excellence and virtues of God in our lives. Our words, our actions, our thoughts, and our works should brilliantly reflect the marvelous qualities of our Heavenly Father and be stamped with His excellence. Good works that come from our living union with Jesus Christ shine forth his excellence and display to the world the good, loving, kind, merciful, tender, faithful, and caring nature of our God. We are a living advertisement of the glorious character, the fathomless love, and the tender mercies of the only true God. This is the dignity and special honor of the Christian life:that we can manifest to the world how great our God is and always will be.

In our good works, we take on the character and excellent qualities of our God. It is not just a simple good work, but it is who we are, transformed by a living, vital union with our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ. We are a witness to life as God intended it to be from the beginning. Our lives radiate joy, peace, patience, faith, goodness, kindness, love, and strength. We maybe the only Bible the world ever reads. We maybe the only Jesus the world ever sees. What a testimony we have! At one time we were held captive by the power of darkness, but God called us out of the darkness and gave us complete deliverance from all of the oppression, depression, fear, and hopelessness that dwell in that darkness. God Almighty called us into His marvelous light, and we became the light-bearers to the world.

The Breathtaking Power of Prayer

March 14, 2014

One night, John Paton, and his wife-a missionary couple in the New Hebrides Islands-were awakened by chants outside their mission station. Looking out, they saw that scores of hostile islanders had surrounded the station with torches, intent on burning the place down and killing the missionary couple. The Patons go down on their knees and prayed throughout the night, asking God to deliver them. The tense, dark hours passed, yet the islanders kept their distance. Finally around daybreak, the Patons looked out the window-and the hostile tribesmen were gone. John Patton was baffled. There seemed to be nothing preventing the islanders from attacking, yet no attack came. Paton didn’t find out why the islanders left so mysteriously until a year later, when the chief of the tribe was won to Christ. Remembering the night long siege of a year before, John Paton asked the newly converted chief why the tribesmen had departed instead of burning the mission station to the ground. “We were afraid of the men who were with you,” the chief replied. “What men?” asked Paton. “There were a hundred tall men around the mission house that night,” said the chief. “Their clothing shone with light, and they had swords in their hands. We knew they would never let us harm you, so we went back to our village.”

O how we have underestimated the power of prayer!!

God has provided us a defense and power that will enable us to stand against the schemes and flaming arrows of our enemy-the Prayer of faith.

Eric Ludy-Prayer is not some bb gun that God has given us to try to shoo away raccoons in the night. Prayer is nuclear power, world renovating in its epic strength. When used according to the pattern of Scripture, prayer alters history, alters the natural world, and alters the human soul. The Sword of the Spirit is too heavy for a mere man to carry, but prayer enables us to lift it, swing it, and transform the world around us with it. Prayer is the catalyst behind everything Godly taking place in the earth.

It is said that the pen is mightier than the sword but prayer is mightier than them all. Prayer opens the heavens: Luke 3:21,22: When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as He was praying, Heaven was opened…Prayer transforms: Luke 9:28,29: Jesus took Peter, John, and James with Him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became as a bright flash of lightening. Prayer gets resounding results and shakes the status quo: Acts 4:31: After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken, And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

Could it be we need more prayer? Ephesians 6:18: Pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayer and requests. Luke 18:1: Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them they always pray and not give up. Romans 1:10: Constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times. I Samuel 12:23: As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to prayer for you…I Thessalonians 5:17: Pray continually. Colossians 4:2 tells us to “Devote ourselves to prayer.”

Without prayer we can accomplish nothing for the Lord. Prayer is your lifeline to the Heavenly Father. We need to have fervent prayer daily. Pray keeps us strong and in an intimate communion with our God in the toughest of times. Prayer must be accompanied by an unwavering trust in the faithfulness of our God and His promises. Prayer and a bold faith in our God go hand and hand. Prayer allows God to be the rock of our soul, our deliverer, our refuge and our foundation. Prayer calls God into action into our lives.

What would happen if you make prayer your daily job description? What would happen if prayer was the number one most important thing you do every day and it would take priority over everything else? What would happen if we spent the same energy on praying as we do on our marriage, our family, our job, our finances, our recreation, our entertainment and our ministry? I will tell you what would happen: a spiritual revolution of world shattering proportions in our lives and so many people in the world which has rarely been seen in the archives of history. Are you ready to make a difference by becoming a lionhearted prayer warrior for God?

Our idea of prayer is like spiritual sounding chitter-chatter. God’s idea of prayer was something wholly different, something majestic, epic and grand like picking up a massive sword and swinging it with all the fire and ferocity of a desperately crazed warrior. God’s version of prayer takes territory. It heads off into enemy territory to fight. Samson picked up a jawbone of an ass and single-handedly slew a thousand Philistines and we are suppose to pick up the jawbone of prayer and wreak untold spiritual havoc upon the devil’s kingdom.

Eric Ludy: Spiritual sounding chitter-chatter tends to be self-centric in its banter, begging for comforts to be protected, deadlines to be met, surgeon’s hands to be guided, tests to be passed and food to be blessed. And whereas there is nothing wrong with praying about our personal needs, prayer-real life historic prayer is otherworldly and built upon the notion of the forgotten self. It is aggressive, growling, attacking, commanding, preserving, passionate, and feverishly unrelenting-its battlefield firing, as if every utterance is chipping away at enemy strongholds and every petition is moving God’s indomitable purposes forward in the natural realm.

A. W. Tozer portrayed a praying Christian as a constant threat to the stability of Satan’s government writing that…The Christian is a holy rebel loose in the world with access to the throne of God

Since prayer is detrimental to the evil one’s purposes, Satan and his minions do their utmost to interfere when we pray especially opposing us when we try to take time for prayer because the enemy knows better than most Christian’s the power of persistent prayer! In any posture, in any attire, at any time, in any place, and under any circumstance prayer is appropriate. Prayer is to be a total way of life, an open and constant communion with God.

Bona fide, heaven-inspired prayer-the kind that moves mountains and calms storms-is not something the modern church is use to. Prayer in our modern day has been diminished, and as a direct result, the power of the church of Jesus Christ has seemingly vanished. We are not a triumphant lot anymore, but rather a weak, sin-stained, defeated one. We lost our strength, our confidence, our absolute assurance that God is with us in battle. So many amongst our ranks are literally scared to fight because they honestly don’t know if they are going to win if they do.

Lion-hearted prayer warriors are rare these days. Men and women with wild and holy abandon are so few nowadays as to be confused with being non-existent. Could it be you are the stuff of prayer legends and God is saying to you right now, “Its time my son or daughter. Rise up and live this life like you mean it!!” Will you be a part of a legendary generation of prayer heroes? Do you want a greater cause, a greater purpose, a greater destiny to fill your life? Then become a lionhearted prayer warrior for God.

EM Bounds- Our praying needs to be pressed and pursued with an energy that never tires, a persistency which will not be denied and a courage that never fails.

Make prayer the number one priority of your life and see how God moves and how God acts in every circumstance. We must live in the atmosphere of prayer and it must be as natural to us as breathing. True prayer demands more of our lives than most are willing to give and therefore few ever taste of its power and delights. You need to be radical in your prayer life.

The Lord is With You Always

March 9th, 2014

Revelation 21:2-5 (Amplified):

And I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem,
descending out of heaven from God, all arrayed
like a bride beautified and adorned for her
husband.

Then I heard a mighty voice from the throne
and I perceived its distinct words, saying, See!
the abode of God is with men and He will live
(encamp, tent) among them; and they shall be
His people and God shall personally be with
them and be their God.

God will wipe every their from their eyes; and
death shall be no more, neither shall there be
anguish (sorrow and mourning) nor grief nor
pain anymore. For the old conditions and former
order of things has passed away.

And He Who is seated on the throne said, See!

I make all things new. Also He said, Record this,
for these sayings are faithful (accurate, incorruptible
and trustworthy) and true (genuine).

The future of the believer is branded by the presence of God in such a degree and in such fullness that the mind can hardly comprehend it. Our future is as bright as the promises of God, and He promises to be our Yahweh-Shammah (the Lord is there) throughout all eternity. No tear, no death, no anguish, no sorrow, no grief, no pain, and no mourning will exist in the new heavens and earth. Everything that ever brought a person into physical, mental, or spiritual bondage will melt away in the glorious presence of the Lord. But we do not need to wait until Christ’s return to experience and enjoy the benefits of the presence of the Lord. How comforting it is to know that the Lord is there. The Lord is not preoccupied or too busy for you. The Lord is not on an extended vacation or isolated behind a golden palace door. The Lord is there always, in tough times and good times. He will never leave us alone, never turn his back on us, and never walk away from us. He is our best friend, our loving companion, our strong protector, and our constant encourager. He is with us always, even to the end of the world, and He wants us to live and breathe the power and glory of His magnificent presence. God wants to be alive in our thinking and wants us to actively practice His presence in our daily living.

Psalm 139:1(b)-11,13-16 (Message Bible):

God…I am an open book to you; even from
a distance you know what I am thinking.

You know when I leave and when I get back;
I am never out of your sight.

You know everything I am going to say
before I start the first sentence.

I look behind me and you’re there, then
up ahead and you’re there, too-your reassuring
presence coming and going.

This is too much, too wonderful-I can’t take
it all in!

Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?
to be out of your sight?

If I climb to the sky, you’re there! If I go
underground, you’re there!

If I flew on morning’s wings to the far western

horizon, you’d find me in a minute-you’re already
there waiting!

Then I said to myself, “Oh, he sees me even in the
dark! At night, I am immersed in the light!”

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you
formed me in my mother’s womb.

I thank you, High God-your breathtaking! Body and
soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration-
what a creation!

You know me inside and out, you know every bone
in my body; You know exactly how I was made,
bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into
something.

Like an open book, you watched me grow from
conception to birth; all the stages of my life were
spread out before you,

The days of my life all prepared before I even lived
one day.

Absolutely no one knows you better than the Lord. The Lord shaped you in your mother’s womb and sculpted everything about your body and soul in breathtaking fashion. The Lord breathed into you the breath of life and has been present during every stage of your life. Yahweh-Shammah is intimately acquainted with everything about you and understands you more than a trusted friend or beloved family member. So often we think we are alone, but we are not, as the Lord is there closer than our breath. So often we think we are forsaken, but we are not, for the Lord is there, and He will never desert or abandon us. So often we are misunderstood, criticized, condemned, or betrayed, but the Lord is there and He knows and understands the burdens on our heart. The Lord wants us to talk to Him, to recognize His presence, to confide in Him, to love Him, to turn to Him, to trust Him, and to live for Him.

We can get so busy in the details of our lives that we forget Him, and we lose out on the peace and joy of practicing His presence. Do you talk to the Lord like you do to your best friend? Do you share your heart with Him about your discouragements, problems, disappointments, and triumphs? How personal, intimate, and close is your relationship with Him? The Lord desires a deep, intimate, and loving bond with you that will continue to grow and blossom each and every day. God is saying, “I am your Yahweh-Shammah, and I will always be there for you no matter what, as this is an unbreakable covenant promise of my everlasting goodness.”

God’s Beautiful Plan and Purpose for You

February 1, 2014

Long before the world was ever formed or the stars in heaven were made by God, God knew you and placed a calling, a purpose, and a plan for your life. Nothing is greater than the call of God on your life. Can you imagine that the Creator of the Heavens of the Earth has placed a divine call and summons on your life? He has designed a beautiful purpose and plan distinctly for YOU. The greatest tragedy in life is when we ignore His calling, His purpose and His plans and waste our lives going in another direction. Are we a saved soul but a lost life? Do we have a sense of vision and an understanding of what God’s purpose, plan and calling are for our lives? Or are we wandering aimlessly through life with little direction or purpose, wasting precious moments on trivial matters.

Most of us have no idea why we were born. We spend our lives in search of purpose. We are on the race track of life; the course of the world and all we do is spin our wheels going around in a circle having the same fears, doing the same routine things, having the same worries and living in a rut of existence. God wants us to enter each day with anticipation which can only be done when you begin to know the heart of God. Each day is a gift from God and contains a moment God has been planning to express his purpose for creating you; a moment that he has planned since before time began to express his grace and mercy through you.

Guinness: Calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion, dynamism and directed lived out as a response to his summons and service. God’s calling is the key to igniting a passion for the deepest growth and highest heroism in life.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT):For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Psalm 139:15-18 (NLT): You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.¹⁶ You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.¹⁷ How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! ¹⁸ I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!

God called us before we were formed in our mother’s womb. He thinks about us constantly with thousands and thousands of thoughts about His love for us and His purpose for our lives. Don’t we want to follow His plans as the master blueprint of our lives? Don’t we want to fulfill His purpose for our lives? How amazing the plan must be? How spectacular must that purpose be that was conceived in the heart of God and sounded out from the heavens before the foundations of the world!!

Acts 13:38: For David, remember, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his ancestors.

We were born for THIS time and have a specific purpose to fulfill and complete in our generation. Are we serving God’s purposes for our generation or our own?

The Bible is the God-Breathed Instruction Book for Life

January 28, 2014

II Timothy 3:16.17 (Amplified):

Every Scripture is God-breathed (given
by His inspiration) and profitable for
instruction, for reproof and conviction
of sin, for correction of error and
discipline in obedience, and for training
in righteousness (in holy living, in
conformity to God’s will in thought,
purpose, and action),

God breathed His heart and His life into every word of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. The Bible is a perfect reflection of God’s heart and contains His purposes, His will, His designs, and His plans. The Bible contains the thoughts of God, the desires of God, the warnings of God, the righteousness of God, the love of God, the judgment of God, the wisdom of God, the salvation of God, and the light of God. The Bible is the very life of God and is a living book that will abide and live forever. The Bible is a perfect revelation of the goodness of God. The Bible is the words of the Living God and the perfect expression and communication of God in writing. The Bible is the truth of God that brings life, light, wisdom, discernment, peace, wholeness, guidance, and understanding. It is the master blueprint for life and contains every principal of truth that a person would ever need to live life in every category to its fullest. The Bible is the divine instruction book that teaches us how to live His way in power, joy, peace, and love.

The Bible is a complete revelation of our wonderful Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ and sets forth the plan of redemption available for the entire human race. The Bible contains the only hope for mankind of the deliverance from sin and death-the promise of everlasting life, and the future hope of living with God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ forever in paradise. The Bible is the voice of God to all peoples on the earth and is constantly knocking at the door of the human heart, imploring all to come back to Him and learn of His great heart, His great goodness, His great love, and His great faithfulness. The Bible is a revelation of the personality and characteristics of God and paints a true picture of His loving heart. The Bible is a wonderful divine book and guidepost of the truth that God gives to his children to be their training manual for life physically, mentally, morally, and spiritually. No other book in all the libraries of the world can make these claims, for God is the author of His Word and has breathed everything He is into every word of Scripture.

The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of God will stand forever (Isaiah 40:8). The Word of God cannot be broken, overcome, or defeated. God magnified His Word above all of His name (Psalm 138:2), and He has freely given us His Word so that we may know Him and learn and walk in His ways. God did not hide his Word in some mysterious cave or bury it in some underground grave, but has publicly heralded His Word to all generations.

Isaiah 45:18b,19 (New Living Translation):

“I am the Lord,” he says, “and there is no
other.

I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not
whisper obscurities in some dark corner. I
would have not told the people of Israel to
seek me if I could not be found. I, the Lord,
speak only what is true and declare only
what is right.

The Bible contains bold promises and declares what is right and true. God would not have given us His Word if we could not understand and believe it. I have heard so many people say that they don’t read or study the Bible because they do not understand it. God will enlighten your heart and give you more and more understanding of the Scriptures, but you must first open the book. The Creator of the heavens and earth has authored an amazing book of absolute truth that reveals His wonderful heart of goodness and His purposes for our lives. He has authored a book that shines as a brilliant light in the darkness of this world and shows us the proper path to live our lives. Shouldn’t we want to study it, read it, meditate upon it, think about it, and follow it?

The Amazing Peace of God

January 25, 2014

Romans 5:1 (Moffatt):

As we are justified by faith, then let us enjoy the
peace we have with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are to enjoy this wonderful peace that we have with God that no earthly power can take away from us. Look at how good this peace is! To have a complete and whole state of well being that is calm, undisturbed, untroubled, and free from worries, anxieties and fear. To have a harmony and tranquility of mind and soul; to be at complete rest with nothing broken or lacking in our lives. This peace allows the heart to be free of agitation and strife and not to be affected by the roaring waves of circumstance. It is the same peace that Jesus Christ had while he walked on the earth. Before his crucifixion, he made the awesome promise that he was giving his peace to his disciples and all those who choose to follow him.

John 14:27 (Amplified):

Peace I leave with you; My own peace I now give
and bequeath to you: not as the world gives do I
give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled,
neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves
to be agitated and disturbed, and do not permit
yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and
cowardly and unsettled].

When we were born again, Jesus Christ gave us his peace. Jesus Christ was never agitated, disturbed or fearful. Jesus Christ was never intimidated, cowardly or unsettled for he had peace. The Gospels tell us about a ferocious storm that exploded with force on the Sea of Galilee and rocked the little fishing boat that Jesus and his disciples were in. The Greek word for “storm” in the Gospel of Mark means a furious storm or hurricane. It is not simply a single gust or a steadily blowing wind, but a violent storm breaking forth from black thunderclouds in furious gusts and floods of rain. The Gospel of Matthew describes it from the Greek as a violent upheaval like an earthquake. The waves were throwing themselves on the boat, and the little fishing boat was being filled with water. Quite a dilemma! So what was Jesus doing? Freaking out? Greatly troubled? Full of anxiety? Seized with fear? No, he was sleeping. What peace he had even in life’s most sudden and difficult circumstances. He knew what was written in Psalms 3 and 4 and laid down in quiet sleep, for he knew that the Father sustained him, and watched over him. He was completely secure and safe in his Father’s bosom.

We have that same peace of Jesus with the new birth, and no matter how fierce the storm or how dark the night, our soul can be full of peace and quiet assurance that God will take care of us. We simply have no doubt, no anxiety, no apprehension, and no fear because we know who God has made us in Christ, and know the unwavering power and ability of our Lord to sustain us. We must renew our minds to this awesome promise in God’s Word, and let His peace rule always in our hearts and lives in both good and tough times. Instead of worry, we have peace. Instead of fear, we have peace. Instead of anxiety, we have peace. His glorious peace should flow through every part of our being as we bravely face each day knowing that we always triumph in Christ and are super conquerors through Him. Everyday we can walk in great peace, and every night we can sleep in restful peace, knowing beyond any shadow of doubt that the Lord sustains and protects us, and we are resting in His safe and warm embrace. Even if ten thousand problems surround you on every side, you can have peace, calm, and tranquility for the Lord is your strength, your victory, and your protector. Nothing can stand against or defeat God’s peace.

Worldly or Eternal Vantage Point

January 20th, 2014

Worldliness robs the Christian of their spiritual eyesight. Worldliness robs the Christian life of its vital radiant dynamic character. Worldliness is anything that takes the keen edge off my spiritual life and dims my vision of the Lord. Worldliness is anything that robs me of my deep inner love-life with my glorious Redeemer. Worldliness is anything that takes away my burden for souls. Worldliness is anything that hinders my spending time in the closet in earnest intercession, by the power of the Spirit, for the church and for the world. Whatever passes as a cloud between the mental eye of faith and things unseen, causing that brighter world to disappear, or seem less lovely, or its hope less dear; that is our world-our idol. This worldliness dims the vision of the saints and causes them to lose the sense of eternal value. We must see things from an eternal vantage point which in turn should cause us to live our lives from a totally different perspective than that of the world. We should ask ourselves what am I doing today that counts for eternity?

No True Enjoyment in Life Without God

January 17th, 2014

On our pilgrimage of life, we are constantly facing the choice of whether to stay with God on His path of life or to choosing its alternative of casting our lot with the world. What God is exhorting us to do in Ecclesiastes is to stay on the path, because even under the best circumstances—that is, Solomon’s life, where Solomon was endowed with tremendous intelligence; he had money running out of his ears; he had wisdom; he had power; he had the ability to discern; he had the ability to do almost anything he would want to do—so his conclusions regarding matters are very important to those of us who do not have the powers or the capacities of mind that Solomon had. Yet, we would wish very much to do the things that Solomon was able to do.

Would we possibly find happiness and meaning in life in doing the things that he was able to do? That is what this book of Ecclesiastes addresses. God is showing us, through the life of Solomon—this man that He endowed with so much—that apart from God, life is absolutely, absurdly meaningless, regardless of how smart you are; regardless of how handsome or pretty you are; regardless of how much money you have; regardless of your abilities to build things; do anything (virtually) that you want to do in life—everything is at your beck and call, but if there is that one thing missing, then life becomes absolutely meaningless—not only meaningless, but downright frustrating and hopeless.

Ecclesiastes 2:25: For without Him who can eat and find enjoyment?

(Proper translation from the Hebrew). There is no true enjoyment in life without God.

Ecclesiastes 1:2 shows everything in life is meaningless without God.

The Majesty of God

January 10th, 2014

The sense of awe of the majesty of God that could drop believers to their knees is mostly absent in the church today.

We have lost our sense of awe.

Rampant individualism has infected our beliefs. God is shaped to fit our needs, to be no more than a foot taller than ourselves. “A God, who in any way threatens to lead us beyond our personal autonomy . . . will likely be reduced to a more manageable size.”

. . . As McCullough notes: “We have fashioned gods to fit the contours of our desires and then bowed before them with religious abandon: the god-of-my-cause, god-of-my-understanding, god-of-my-experience, god-of-my-comfort, god-of-my-nation, god-of-my-success have been our particular favorites.”

Only by rediscovering the holiness and majesty of God will we be able to face the sufferings and uncertainties of life with comforting hope.

And it must begin on our knees.