The wonderful works of our all-glorious wonderful God.
I was thinking about something I wrote previously in connection with the torn veil at the entrance to the Holy of Holies. I spent some time before the torn veil in deep wonder. It represents not only the brutally torn body of my Saviour but also the torn heart of my loving heavenly Father in the horrific price which must be paid in full. God’s love for us is so incredible that He deliberately limited Himself to one option. When He heard those WORDS from Jesus on the Cross, He had to rip open the dividing veil which had shut us out and He welcomed us in, into the Shekinah glory of the very Presence of the Transcendent Sovereign God. If Jesus had not been able to say – IT IS FINISHED – that veil would be still intact, still shutting us out from personal fellowship with God. Jesus, precious Jesus - - - how far He came, how much He paid!
That dividing, shutting-out veil was so impregnable that a cart could not be driven through it. It took Almighty God, through the power of the Blood, to tear open that forbidding veil. Because there is no longer a separating veil, I am supremely privileged to live continually in God’s Presence. If somehow I had been able to force my way in - - the holiness of God would immediately have struck me dead. How can I express my gratitude for the matchless, limitless power of the Blood? Only by consistently loving, trusting and obeying the Lord.
Take time before the torn veil at the entrance to the Holy of Holies to remember and wonder and worship. (Oswald Chambers) “We can never fathom the agony of Gethsemane but we don’t have to misunderstand it. It is the agony of God and Man in one face to face with sin.” Jesus had to get through triumphantly as Son of Man in order to be the Saviour of mankind. Now you are ready to continue on into the Holy of Holies, the Throne Room.
I know that I deserved to be (Psalms 22:1) deserted, abandoned and utterly alone. and that is exactly what I would be if the veil had not been torn. But because Jesus took my sin on Himself, He had to take my just punishment on Himself. Therefore, Jesus is the One in Gethsemane Who cried out, in my place (Matthew 27:46) My God, why?
Knowing that Jesus ever lives (Hebrews 7:25) to make intercession for us and that the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:27, Romans 8:34) prays for us, I want to be a continual learner in God’s school of prayer. The Lord wondered (Isaiah 59:16) that there was no intercessor. (Oswald Chambers) “Prayer and worship go together, you can’t have one without the other. Seek the mind of God for those for whom you are praying. We need to get into such a living relationship with God, maintained on the line of intercession whereby God works His marvels”.
We know that everything belongs to God and we own nothing. So actually we have nothing of our own that we can give to God except ourselves in full surrender. When the people gave large contributions for the building of the temple, David said (1 Chronicles 29:14) all things come from You and of Your own we give to You. From my discussion with the Holy Spirit I think this principle is also true of prayer. Because we seek the mind of God about those we pray for, then our prayers will coincide with His will and purpose and will be formed in the heart of God.
So when we present our requests to the Lord at the Throne of Grace, we will be offering to Him what we have received from the mind of God and which comes from the very heart of God. This is oneness with God, which results in godly, effective intercession. Oh, the wonder and the beauty and the privilege of giving and of prayer. Obedient discipline in prayer and giving, greatly strengthens our faith.
Discernment is a wonderful gift which we can ask of God. Like Solomon (1 Kings 3:9) we should pray that the Lord will equip us to discern good from bad. Discernment is given for prayer and not (1 John 5:16) for criticism. If we see a Christian sin and we criticize him and point out his faults to others, we make ourselves guilty of greater sin than his. In the family of God, the root of our character is to be love and the fruit is to be kindness and compassion. Would we like a huge spotlight turned on all our failings? As you would (Matthew 7:12) so do. It is a great gift to us if people know they can trust us to keep a confidence. It is a priceless and eternal treasure if God can trust us to pray and not gossip and not judge. (Billy Graham) “It is God’s job to judge, the Holy Spirit’s job to convict and my job to love.”
This is fearfully incredible and completely opposite to the rich incredibles which God has made available to us. Instead of the church invading the world with salvation and holiness, as it did after Pentecost, the world is now like a deadly disease invading the church with a philosophy and culture which is (1 John 4:3) the spirit of antichrist fiercely at work in the world.
This is just a small sampling of the multitude of things God has made beyond INCREDIBLE - - -
Adam was formed (Genesis 2:7 from the dust of the earth and yet was created (Genesis 1:27) in the image of the holy God of heaven.
God chose (1 Corinthians 1:27) the weak to put the strong to shame.
The foolishness of God (1 Corinthians 1:25) is wiser than men.
When I am weak (2 Corinthians 12:10) I am strong.
Our aging, decaying bodies will get a complete makeover and be transformed to be like (Philippians 3:21) the glorious body of Jesus. The life of the flesh (Leviticus 17:11) is in the blood. In His atoning Death for us, Jesus poured out His Life Blood, which had sustained His human life. He rose from the dead in a glorified body which (Luke 24:37-43) no longer needed blood to keep it alive. We also will have a very real, glorified resurrected body that never again is dependent on blood. Our present bodies could not survive in heaven. Our new body will be totally fitted and powerful, filled and energized and eternally alive with the power of God. We will recognize others and be recognized (1 Corinthians 13:12) know as we are known.
Wherever Christians live in this world, in whatever country, their citizenship is temporary. Our earth visas will expire and in one split second (1 Thessalonians 4:17) we will all vanish from the earth. Immediately we will enter into (Ephesians 2:19, Philippians 3:20) our eternal citizenship in heaven.
Satan blinds (2 Corinthians 4:4) the minds of unbelievers but we have (1 Corinthians 2:16) the mind of Christ.
Satan prowls around (1 Peter 5:8) like a lion to deceive and devour but soon (Romans 16:20) the God of peace will crush Satan under the feet of believers.
Two mites had more value (Mark 12:42-44) than the total of all the large contributions.
If we trust and obey, the Lord of peace (2 Thessalonians 3:16) will give us His kingdom peace at all times, in all ways, whatever comes.
The Transcendent Sovereign Ruler (Psalms 103:19) of the universe takes thought (Psalms 40:17) and plans for me and is lovingly involved in every detail of my life. This is incredible, so personal and so precious.
Before God formed the earth, the Cross was as certain (Revelation 13:8) as if it had already happened.
The greatest, far above and beyond all incredible things that have ever been or ever will be is that - - God so loved the world (John 3:16) that He gave His only Son (1 John 5:11-12) to die for sinners so that whoever believes and receives Him will (John 11:25-26) never perish but will immediately receive Eternal Life.
Jesus is all to me and He is all in all for His purpose through me. I picked up a clue from Ananias. He said to Paul (Acts 9:17) the Lord has sent me so that you would receive your sight. This is why we are here - - to witness to the Lord Jesus so that others would receive spiritual sight, that the Holy Spirit would (Ephesians 1:18) flood the eyes of their hearts with the Light of eternal Truth.
I find myself thinking more about heaven these days. There is only one thing we can rely on in the news we hear, and that is conspicuous by its absence. It is the unchanging Sovereignty of Almighty God. We know that the first heaven is the atmosphere, where the birds fly. The second heaven is where the Lord placed the sun, moon, stars, constellations. I remember when I was a child going outside at night to be spellbound by the awful grandeur of the aurora borealis. The third heaven is (John 14:2) my Father’s house, where God lives, a very real place. Paul said that 14 years after he had been stoned (Acts 14:19) and left for dead, at Lystra, he was caught up (2 Corinthians 12:2) to the third heaven. Where is it? When Satan aspired to usurp God’s place he said (Isaiah 14:13) I will sit on the mount in the uttermost north.
The reason there so many religions is because fallen angels are vainly trying to continue what Satan attempted, even though he failed. For example, the encounter Mohammed had with an angel in the sixth century which resulted in world-wide deception and persecution of the true church.
Some years ago, I heard that scientists had discovered an empty place in the highest up and the most north area in the universe. Possibly God’s heaven could be there, but we’ll have to wait until we get there to know for sure.
Every day it is incredible to me that God is so utterly transcendent, yet at the same time so condescendingly loving and personally involved in every detail of my life. I think it is richly rewarding for us to express (Psalms 105:2) our admiration for the Lord and to talk, even to ourselves about His marvelous deeds, the wonderful works of our all-glorious wonderful God.
This thought invaded my mind while I was getting washed this morning. While I’m getting washed and the luxurious warm water feels so good on my skin, it is like a hug from my loving heavenly Father. Don’t you agree? The road may get harder but the path gets brighter all the way HOME.