Little Chats With God

“Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.” Ps 119:89Ps 119:89
English: World English Bible - WEB
LAMED ⁸⁹ Yahweh, your word is settled in heaven forever.

Lord, eternal is one of those concepts that it’s really hard for people to get their heads around. Maybe it was easier in the days of our grandfathers, when things moved more slowly and manfactured goods were built to last. But today … life moves so quickly, and years slip by before we have even gotten used to writing the new date. Then there’s the wonderful concept of “built in obselescence” - so often it’s cheaper to throw something away and get a new one than to have it repaired.

All of that adds up to a sense of temporariness: nothing lasts, everything changes, nothing is dependable.

Yet there, overriding it all, is Your Word. It doesn’t change or fluctuate. It’s not goint to become obsolete tomorrow, next week or next year - or in a billion years time. It’s not “here today, gone tomorrow.” It is eternal, just like You.

As with so many things about You, Lord, that can be either comforting or confronting, depending on where the hearer stands with You.

For those who know You, it is a comfort to know that Your promises re not “like piecrusts, made to be broken.” It means we can stand on firm ground, sure and unshakable. We are not going to get close to the goal posts, only to find that You have moved them again (as is so often the case with the words of men.)

For those who don’t know You, though, I guess it’s rather confronting to think that You are not going to back down; that You are not going to change Your standards just because society does; and that you are not going to allow individuals to be the “exception to the ruld”.

Lord, help me to rest in the sureness and unchangeability of Your Word.

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This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

“I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.” Isaiah 42:8Isaiah 42:8
English: World English Bible - WEB
8 I am Yahweh, that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to engraved images.

Lord, I have heard people take verses like this and use them to suggest that You are some kind of egomaniac. I know that’s not the case, Lord … but I can kinda understand that reaction from people who don’t know You.

Why is it that You place such importance on people not worshiping other gods? After all, there are many today - as I’m sure there were in Isaiah’s day - who insist that there is only one god, and it doesn’t matter what you call him (or her), or how you represent him - we are still all worshiping that same god. You certainly don’t seem to share that viewpoint! You make it abundantly clear in Your Word that You do not consider Baal or any of the other deities worshiped in the ancient Middle East to be even remotely equal to You.

Could that be because all those gods turn the true order of things upside down? They are made by man - whether they are carved in stone or wood, or only in the minds and imaginations of people - therefore they reflect man’s image. You were not made by man: You are not the creation of either our minds or our hands. Rather, we were created by You in Your image.

There are a whole heap of problems when man creates god in our image. Firstly, we are finite, so a god created in our image cannot be infinite. We are temporal, so the god we create cannot be eternal. We are sinful, so god in our image cannot be holy. Our power is extremely limited, so god like us cannot be omnipotent. Our knowledge is limited, so the god we create cannot be omniscient.

Lets see … that leaves us with a god who is finite, temporal, unholy, and limited in both knowledge and power. Not much of a god, if you ask me! Not much use to mankind!

I guess that explains why You insist that we worship You, and You alone!

Do you like Little Chats With God? Buy the book at http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback_book/my_little_chats_with_god/6099303.

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

“You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the pride of the earth.” Isaiah 62: 6Isaiah 62: 6
English: World English Bible - WEB
6 I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day nor night: you who call on Yahweh, take no rest,

Lord, I laugh every time I read these verses. If ever there was an invitation to nag You, this has gotta be it! You say to give you no rest - what a far cry that is from the people who say, “pray once, and then if you pray for the same thing again you are lacking faith.”

I think, too, of Your illustrations in the New Testament … the woman who kept nagging the unjust judge till he gave her justice, and the bloke who kept banging on his friend’s door in the middle of the night till the friend got up and gave him a loaf of bread. In both cases the message seems to be, “keep making a pest of yourself till you get what you want.”

Now, Lord, I know that the world has a saying that “it’s the squeaky door that gets the oil”, but I don’t quite understand why You would be like that. After all, You love us and want the best for us even more than we do. Particularly I don’t understand why You would be like that with things that You have already said that You want to do … like establishing Jerusalem, or establishing the Kingdom of God on earth. If it is Your will and purpose to do these things, then why don’t You just go ahead and do them? Why do You need us to nag You into it?

Something just occurred to me, though, Lord. From the beginning You wanted to reign on earth through man. You appointed us as Your vice-regents and gave us Your authority. Sure, we handed that to satan when we sinned - but that never changed Your purposes, did it? So, when You invite us to nag You like this, are You really inviting us to step into the position You called us to in the first place? Is it really more about moving us than about moving You?

Do you like Little Chats With God? Buy the book at http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback_book/my_little_chats_with_god/6099303.

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” Phil. 2:5

So often, Lord, we hear that expression, “Do as I say, not as I do.” People give voice to standards that they themselves do not observe, yet they expect to hold others to those standards. It’s so easy to separate our words and our actions - to say one thing and do something totally different.

But here You get to a much deeper level: the level of the heart and mind. Everything we do flows out of our attitude. Unlike our words, we cannot separate it from our actions.

Our attitude is the sum of how we think and feel about life, the universe and ourselves. If we think life owes us, that attitude will show through in everything we do. If we feel that our purpose is to love and serve You, that will also show through.

You say we are to cultivate an attitude that is the same as Your own. It’s not enough for us to speak Your words. Nor is it enough for us to “imitate” You - the very best imitation is only ever a good fake. No, You say it has to come from the heart and mind.

The question is, of course, how do we get there? You had the distinct advantage of not being encumbered by a sin nature, remember!

Ah, but even as I write that You remind me that You live within me by Your Spirit. He has Your nature and Your attitude, and He wants to live His life - Your life - through me. I don’t have to struggle and strain to make my life and my thinking conform to Yours. I just have to let the old life die and start living in the new life You have given me.

Sounds so easy … but not so easy to do! Lord, bring me to that place where I am dead to my own old attitudes, so that Your attitude can truly be expressed through me.

Do you like Little Chats With God?

Buy the book at http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback_book/my_little_chats_with_god/6099303.

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up…

1 Thessalonians 5:111 Thessalonians 5:11
English: World English Bible - WEB
11 Therefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as you also do.

Lord, I get so tired of knockers. You know the ones I mean - the people who are always negative about everything. No matter what you’re doing, it’s not good enough. No matter what your plans, they haven’t got an ice cube’s hope in hell of succeeding. And if you’re feeling a bit down and say that you can’t do something, they will agree with you quickly and wholeheartedly. Just being around people like that pulls you down.

How refreshing it is to meet someone who, instead of knocking, lifts others up. Instead of seeing the negatives, they focus on the positives. Problems become opportunities. They appreciate your efforts, and recognize your talent even if it is only latent. They encourage you to believe that all your dreams can come true, and build you up to see more in yourself than you ever could.

I guess, Lord, that to be like that we have to be able to see people as You see them. It always amazes me to know that You can look at a drunk in the gutter, or a drug addict, or an habitual criminal, and see beyond what they are to what You created. It’s not that You are unaware of what people have done with their lives, or that You don’t hold them accountable. But as well as the present You see the past - the fact that You created them in Your image. And You see the potential future - what their lives could be, even now, if they turn to You and accept Your grace.

Lord, help me to see people through Your eyes, and seeing their potential to lift and encourage them to fulfill that potential, rather than knocking them down.

Do you like Little Chats With God?

Buy the book at http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback_book/my_little_chats_with_god/6099303.

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,