Tag: Does God

God’s house

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 25:1-11, 17-18, 23-24, 31-32; 26:1-2, 7-8; 27:1-2; 29:43-46 (day seven)

“And let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell with them.” (v 8)

Does God have an address?  A place where we can always find Him?  At some level, the answer is, “no”.  In 2 Chronicles 6:18, Solomon prays, “Will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth?  Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Thee; how much less this house which I have built?”  At another level, however, God does dwell, stay, (can always be found) in the places He has promised to do so.  He dwelt in the tabernacle.  He met with Israel there.  Christ, in similar fashion, promised to meet us in the gathered fellowship of His family.  “Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, I will be in the midst.”  (Matthew 28:20)  God’s house, God’s address is His people when we gather in cooperation with His purposes.  He lives there.  It is where we will find Him.

Does God get angry?

RE Verse reading–Exodus 3:1-14, 4:1-15 (day seven) 
“Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses”--v 4:14.  Does the Lord get angry?  With us, I mean.  Are we in danger of this happening to us?  “Do not put the Lord to the test” is the way Moses verbalized this life-lesson years later. ( Deuteronomy 6:16, Matthew 4:7)  Yes, the Lord gets angry!  Like a parent with a child who resists His will, asking one question too many, resisting obedience one moment too long. That moment when further hesitation becomes defiance.  Peter felt Christ’s anger. “Get Thee behind me, Satan”—Matthew 16:23.  The Pharisees too.  “He looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart“–Mark 3:5. (Did they even notice? Not sure)  Be careful!  The Lord is patient with His people, but eventually anger rises toward hard, unwilling, hearts.  Explains where some are, even today. “To one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”—James 4:17.  Does God get angry?

Like a rainbow on a rainy day

Re: Verse reading – Ezekiel 1:28-3:4 (day one) 
“As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day. . .so was the glory of the Lord.”  (1:28)  Was Ezekiel surprised to see it?  Maybe.  The previous few years had been very discouraging for the people of Judah.  They had been conquered and captured and carried away into exile.  Ezekiel, himself, had experienced the loss of his youthful dreams.  Did he ever ask, “God where are you?”  The vision that God gave him provided the answer.  God was still sovereign.  Nothing had changed.  He was seated on the throne, His glorious radiance forming a rainbow of hope.  Does God shine this confidence in your heart today?  No matter what you are facing, or what disappointments you are called to bear, can you see the Faithful and Glorious One sitting high above your circumstances, His promises still intact?  On this morning after Easter, sing with me,  “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow!”

Recovering hope

Re: Verse reading – Jeremiah 29:1-14 (day one) 
“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to give you hope and a future.” (v 11) We call it recovery.  Life destroyed by addiction–drugs, alcohol, porn–and brave, broken people turn to face the pain and regret and find a way to start over.  Are there rules for doing so?  Does God have a word for us when we “hit bottom”?  Yes!  Help came to the people of Judah in the form of a letter.  They had been conquered and captured and carried away into exile, but Jeremiah was not letting go!  He became the voice of hope for recovery.  Psalm 118:18 says, “The Lord has disciplined me severely, but He has not given me over to death.”  Jeremiah speaks this same balanced view.  Consequences do come.  Painful.  Real.  Mercy is even higher.  May the Lord give us grace this week as we read these hopeful words and communicate them to others.