Tuesday, April 17, 2018

God > Your Problems

We compare things. We all do it. If we want to describe what a food tastes like to someone who has never tried it, we often compare it to something they have had before. Remember the infamous, "It tastes like chicken" comparison? We compare experiences and feelings. Often we can compare individuals with one another. "She is just like her mother." "He gets that from his dad." When we compare one thing to another, we often want someone to have a similar experience that we have had. What do we do when there is nothing to compare with? It gets a little more complex.

ISAIAH 40:18
To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto Him?

Those are great questions! Obviously God has no equivalent, no match to compare features and mannerisms. In fact God says in Isaiah 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. We were created in God's image, but even His very creation is not comparable to Him.

God asks again in Isaiah 46:5 To whom will ye liken Me, and compare Me, that we may be like? There is no one. God is omnipotent, omnipresent. He always was. He always is. He always will be. He was not born or created and that is hard to wrap our minds around because we are finite beings. He is infinite. We have a beginning and we have an end. He does not. We have time that stops and starts again. He is outside the realm of time. He is eternal. 

Yet God continues to ask in Isaiah 40:25 To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.  This question today, as I present it to you, is for you to let your mind explore the vastness of God. As I think about the God of the universe and what could compare to Him, nothing comes to mind. I imagine the world I live in and how huge it is in size and the miracle of its' orbit around the sun and how it spins on its' axis, yet we don't feel like we are spinning. He did that! I think of space and astronomy; the sun, the planets, the stars, the Milky Way, and celestial bodies. Space is so incredible and immeasurable and yet God is bigger and is in every single part of space. There is no where we can think of that God isn't. He is everywhere! That is a BIG God! We serve a great BIG God and yet He desires to be a part of every single thing we do or think.

ACTS 17:29
Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.

There is nothing created that we can compare with God because it is something He made to begin with. If I foolishly try to carve a piece of wood into something like God, I am using something He made (the wood) to imitate Him. There is nothing you can make that will do God justice. He is simply too complex and multi-faceted to ever duplicate. 

We are not the only ones who are curious about God. Philip asked Jesus to show him the Father. Jesus answers him with a question. John 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? You see Jesus is the only begotten of the Father. To see Jesus is the only way to see God the Father. He is the only One worthy to be compared! Jesus is telling Philip that in order to experience God, he first needed to have an experience with Jesus. Philip was looking for something tangible, and Jesus said, "You're looking at it!" We may be searching to know God more, and meanwhile Jesus is knocking on our heart's door, lovingly asking for us to let Him in!

COLOSSIANS 1:12-17
12. Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
13. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son:
14. In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
15. Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16. For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him:
17.  And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.


It is difficult to stretch our thinking into comprehending that God made all things by Jesus and for Jesus and by Him all things consist. Jesus was there in the very beginning! 

HEBREWS 1:1-4
1. God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds;
3. Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:
4. Being made so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

Jesus is the "express image of His person" and that is why Jesus could say to Philip, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." Psalm 89:27 Also I will make Him My firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. Colossians 1:18 And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence. Preeminence means superiority. We see from these verses that Jesus was not some ordinary man. He was greater than a prophet. He was more than just a "good man." His authority is higher than any other. We will all know this when Jesus comes back! Revelations 19:12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. Revelations 19:16 And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.  That should make us excited! That should remind us how powerful our soon-coming King is!

There is an order that society wants to disorganize. We have seen multiple problems with far-reaching consequences when the divine order God has set up is messed with. I don't discuss politics and I don't engage in spirited debates about women's lib agendas. I am not expressing Bridgett's opinion of how things ought to go. I am sharing God's Word today to help us see the clear picture God has for the order things ought to be. 1 Corinthians 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. God is at the very top and then Jesus. If we do not put Jesus in the position directly below God, we are not going to receive the blessings of God. They flow down from the Father to the Son to us.

Now that we have a clearer understanding of who God is; how great and powerful He is; think about the hardest trial you have had. Maybe you are going through a difficult situation right now. Do you know of someone else who is going through circumstances they just can't get through? I have great news for you! God is greater than your situation. He is greater than your problems! He is greater than your need! He is greater than your illness. He is greater than your diagnosis. He is greater than your marital problems. He is greater than your financial struggles. He is greater than your family issues. He is greater than addiction. He is greater than depression. He is greater than anxiety. He is greater than fear! He is GREATER!!!!

PSALM 56:3
What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.

PSALM 30:10
Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be Thou my helper.

PSALM 54:4
Behold, God is mine helper: the LORD is with them that uphold my soul.

PSALM 72:12
For He shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.

HEBREWS 13:6
So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Please do not let the enemy deceive you! God loves you and wants to help you. He adores you and wants to help you through these struggles. Every single situation that is difficult and messy, God is standing before you, with outstretched arms, asking you to trust Him.

PSALM 139:17
How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

And after you have placed your hand in the hand of the Master, expect great things! You will receive the answer. You will get your miracle. You will be free. You will be equipped to help others and you will be instructed to share your testimony of God's faithfulness to others just like Jesus told the man in Luke.

LUKE 8:39
Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.

I have no doubt your story is going to impact many others. Keep talking about the goodness of God. Send me an email at bridgettowens78@gmail.com or send me a note in the mail letting me know what God is doing in your life. I would love to hear from you!

Bridgett Owens
PO Box 471
Mitchell, Indiana 47446
USA

God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens