10/11/2018
We serve the one true God, the creator of the universe, do you wait on Him today, and the return of Jesus Christ, just as Abraham and Moses waited on Him, and the first coming of the Messiah in theirs? Do you pray and wait on Him, knowing that He will answer your prayers? Do you faithfully expect His presence to be known not only in your lifetime, but in your life, because He calls to you, and knocks at your door even now? This is the moment of our faith, and the promise which thrills us. He to whom Jesus prayed, and to whom He taught us to pray, desires a relationship with us.
“From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.”
Isaiah 64:4 ESV
Isaiah speaks to us of the existence of the one true God, but he also tells us that He acts in our lives if we will wait on Him. A question to ask yourself is this... do you believe in Him? Sure you might have gone to church since childhood, or been born into a family that says it believes in God and Jesus Christ, but what about you! Do you believe in more than the concept of God? Do you believe that He sent His only begotten Son to die for you? Do you actually, and completely, believe that He is active in the world and your life right now... today?
“"The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.”
Lamentations 3:24-25 ESV
Men have been seeking a god, or god’s, since the very beginning of time. Every tribe, every man, has had a concept of god and a longing to appease, or interact, with him/her/it. There has never been a culture that did not seek or worship a god. Then God revealed Himself to the Jews, and suddenly we were able to know Him and have relationship with Him... the one true God! Do you know Him? Has He announced Himself to you? Listen:
“"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. "You shall have no other gods before me. "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
Exodus 20:2-6 ESV
So today we know who God is because His inspired Word, as written in the Bible, tells us of Him. No longer do we have to live with the inborn desire for some vaporous god... no, we serve the one true God who loves us, interacts with us, and who sent His Son to redeem us. We serve the God who wishes for us to abide in Him, and He in us, and who will send His Son once more to gather the believers to Him, but we must believe in Him as our God, and in Him alone. He is no less the God of the unbeliever than the believer, but His promise of relationship and eternity with Him are confined to those who believe. Our not believing in a Him does not make Him any less our God! He does live, He did send His Son, He will send Him again, and He will Judge us all.
So do you believe with all your heart, soul, and mind? Or do you merely believe in the concept of God and Jesus, but have no real relationship with Them? Do you seek, but have never committed, or perhaps were introduced to Him at some point, but lost touch with that tiny seed of faith within you? Has your seed of faith that once shifted with the spark of life now forgotten that moment?
“Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:”
Lamentations 3:40-41 ESV
Jesus, the Son of God, stands at our door and knocks, but it is up to us whether we will open ourselves to Him. He desires to sit with us in relationship, and welcome us as God’s children, but He will not force Himself on us. So how are you reacting to His knock; His extended hand? His desire for relationship?
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”
Revelation 3:20 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for planting within me the seed of my faith, no bigger than a mustard seed, , and for caring for it as it has grown. Thank you for sending your Son Jesus Christ to knock at my door, and who came in to dine with me... me, a sinner. You rustled in my heart before I knew you, and you called out to me when I was wandering lost. Your Holy Spirit speaks to me, and prays for me when I have no words of my own. Hear me now Lord as I thank you for your mercy and grace. Thank you for your Son who was Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, lived, suffered, died, and was resurrected from the dead. Thank you for the salvation and redemption of Christ who ascended into heaven to sit at your right hand... by Him came your grace, and my forgiveness from sin. You are the one true God, and in you rests all that is true and good! Your Word is without blemish, and your promises are forever your bond. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my One True God, and the focus of my life. Praised be your name now and forever more!
Rich Forbes