What’s So Great About God?

SOME QUOTATIONS FROM THE BOOK: • The powerful forces all around us make us feel like a mouse caught in some giant machinery, running around trying to avoid being crushed in the gears. We are indeed inside a giant machine, but the machine is God’s, and you are not a mouse, but a cog. The heavy, steel gears that are turning you are doing so by God’s design and under His control. • His anger is like lightening—awesome and dangerous, but momentary. His love is like sunshine—constant, pervasive, enduring—persisting even when our eyes are closed. • How many things is the Holy Spirit doing in you right this minute? strengthening, sustaining, guiding, comforting, reviving, teaching, drawing, feeding, nourishing, satisfying, delighting, protecting, purifying, transforming... • Dear Father, give me the grace to go the next 24 hours without complaining or grumbling a single time - not even in my own thoughts. • Examine your fears and joys. Fear comes when the object of your faith is in doubt, and joy comes when the object of your faith seems certain. • Father, today let my focus not be on the mercies of God, but on the God of mercies. • Am I seeking the praise of men? Which puts me in a better mood - when I have the approval of God but not of men? Or when I have the approval of men but not of God? • Praise God for being both loving and powerful! His love sweetens His power, and His power sets His love in unstoppable motion. • God's goodness is raining down on you in a deluge every moment of the day. Are you tasting it? • For the Christian there is no such thing as "alone." (Ps.139:1-12) • Lord, teach me to enjoy Your presence through Your presents • The Lord listens more intently and cares more deeply about my prayers even than I do. • God is more willing to save me than I am willing to be saved. The price He was willing to pay was far greater than the price I'm willing to pay (as seen by the decisions I tend to make) • When Satan exhausted his entire fortune offering Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, was the largest, most extravagant bribe ever offered; and God has given us more than that. • All running is running to God. If you run from God’s love you run into the rod of His wrath. And the only way to run from His wrath is to run to His arms of His mercy. • Our joy is greater than the world's because our sorrows are deeper. The world has only superficial sorrows (sorrows over temporal things only), but they fall into despair anyway because their joys are even more superficial. But we grieve over massive, eternal sorrows, and so our restoration brings us transcendent joy • As I witness things happen today Father – a cloud moving, the mountains not moving, a phone ringing, a bug crawling somewhere, something falling off a shelf, interactions between volitionally free human beings…let me rejoice and revel in the knowledge that the One who is controlling all those things in the outworking of His perfect plan is also the One who promised to take care of me and bless me! SAMPLE DEVOTIONAL: Attribute #1 GOD'S PRESENCE - What is wonderful about this attribute: God exists everywhere. He observes and knows everything (Jer.23:24), and is upholding and sustaining every molecule in the universe (Col.1:17). When Scripture speaks of God’s presence, however, it refers something more than His existence. The Hebrew word for presence is the common word for face. This is why in passages like Ps.105:4 some translations say “Seek his face,” and others “Seek His presence.” When Scripture speaks of the presence of God it does not merely mean God exists in that place or that God can see you or that God is at work there; it means God has turned His face favorably toward you. It is personal and relational. You are in God’s presence when God has turned His attention toward you in a way that enables you to have a favorable, personal interaction with Him. The Lord is far from the wicked (Pr.15:29). He exists near the wicked, but His face is turned away from them. He is not showing them His favor, and they cannot be close to Him in a relational way. God is merciful, but you receive His mercy only to the degree that His face is turned toward you. He is a guide, a refuge, and a giver of strength, but you experience guidance, protection, and strengthening only to the degree that you are in His presence. How does one sense God’s presence? If God were to turn His face toward you right now, or next Sunday at church, how would you know? Can the presence of God be felt? And if so, what does it feel like? The answer is yes, the presence of God can indeed be felt. It is not a mere theological abstraction. The feeling that results from experiencing God’s presence is not a physical sensation, but an emotional response. The chief feeling that results from being in the presence of God is joy. Psalm 16:11 "You reveal the path of life to me; in Your presence is abundant joy; in Your right hand are perpetual pleasures." Psalm 21:6 "Surely you have granted him eternal blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence." Another feeling that can result from being in the presence of God is inner peace and calmness. Zephaniah 3:17 "The LORD your God is with you … he will quiet you with his love." Other feelings that come from the experience of the nearness of God’s favorable presence are feelings of pleasure (Ps.16:11), refreshment (Hos.5:15-6:3), and satisfaction of soul (Ps.63:5). When God withdraws His presence (or turns His face away) the results are anxiety, sorrow, wasting or melting away, dismay, and internal anguish (Ps.32:1-2, 88:14-15, 30:7, Isa.64:7). What an amazing and wonderful thing it is to serve a God whose mere presence is guaranteed to always have such an effect on your soul! What effect would it have on your heart if you were to consciously experience God’s presence today? Experiencing this attribute: You experience the presence of God when 1) God expresses one of His attributes toward you, 2) you are aware that He is doing so, and 3) you enjoy the experience. Think of the various joys you are experiencing right now—comfort, hope, rest, peace, understanding, safety—and remind your soul that those joys are due to His immediate presence in the room with you right now. If His favorable presence to bless were removed completely, you would quite literally be in hell. Think: What would it look like if today you were to carry out your normal responsibilities while seeking wholeheartedly after God’s presence? Are you doing it now? Promise to trust today: Jeremiah 29:13 "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Write out a prayer describing the longings in your soul, and expressing your confidence that an experience of the presence of God would fulfill those longings.