Abiding in The Greatness of Our God
He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite. (Psalm 147:4-5)
‘Do you not fear Me?’ declares the LORD ‘Do you not tremble in My presence? For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, An eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it. Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.(Jeremiah 5:22)
“You alone are the LORD You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down before You. (Nehemiah 9:6)
“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” (Revelation 4:11)
This is the God that we give glory! Our God is indeed awesome. His presence fills us with wonder. Even the one who refuses to believe – they must scream their protests loud because the roar of His splendor leaves their voices hushed against His creation. The universe alone declares His might. The vast space filled with all its stars and galaxies exist to proclaim His majesty. And not only all that we see, but all that we are. Our very selves reflect God. (Genesis 1:27)
Yesterday we talked about how we make room in our minds for God. This is why! Because our God is huge, and His greatness requires all of us. This is how we eliminate the junk that takes up our time and our thoughts This is how we remove negative thoughts, bitterness, ugliness, hatred, resentment, jealousy, and insecurities. We center in on the Creator of the Universe. We focus on the one who created us in His very image. We fix our mind on the one we exist to make known and be known by. And when we make this our practice, there is little space left for “little ole me.” There isn’t time to dwell on the hurt that we feel, the wrongs been done to us, the sin we so greatly regret. Because we are filled with the one whose greatness is unsearchable, and whose understanding has no limit!
When we dwell in our flesh, our worries, the world and all its trivial, temporal, life-sucking ways, we take the glory away from the only one to Whom it is due. And we are miserable because of it. We may try and fool ourselves into believing that our selfishness isn’t really all that bad, our obsessing over material gain, worldly pleasures, getting ahead, making our name a little bigger, being noticed a little more. We are only justifying our sinful desire to be seen. When that is our heart, whether known or not, we are stealing the limelight away from God. If we are promoting ourselves in any way, we are wrong.
We, as flesh and blood, struggle against so many things. Depression. Anger. Fear. Anxiety. Resentment. Bitterness. Comparison. Discontentment. Jealousy. Unrepentant hearts. Apathy. Pride. Whether these sins are directed at others or at ourselves, the temptations are real and the struggle is hard. How do we overcome? How do we renew our minds and make that room for the Lord? Well, the answer is: WE CAN’T. I’ve tried over and over on my own strength, only to fall harder or deeper than where I was before. We need the supernatural working of the Holy Spirit for this! We must come to an end of ourselves, and cry out for His work to transform us. And you know what? He will do it!
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God (Romans 8:26-27). And again in John we see that However when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth (John 16:13).
But we do have a part in this. We need to immerse ourselves in the truth of God’s Word, especially when our struggles are great. We won’t feel like it. But do it anyway. Listen to sound teaching. Download sermons and listen as you run your errands. Fill your radio with encouraging and uplifting songs. Dive deep into the Scripture. The easiest way for me, when I am feeling at my lowest, is to go to the Psalms and read chapter by chapter to find statements declaring God’s greatness and might. I underline them. I write them out. I memorize them. I carry them with me through the day. I mull over them. I linger in them. I immerse myself in these truths. And before much time passes at all, I find myself in a better place. When the truth is saturating our minds, the Holy Spirit takes that truth and begins to transform us. We must be deliberate on our part. But it will change you. It will make you come alive in ways you never knew were possible. And you will taste the sweetness of the Lord in such a personal way that it will propel you forward into wanting more and more!
Meditate for a moment on Hebrews 4:12. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Today’s Challenge: Do you believe this to be true? Pray, and ask God to give you a hunger for His Word, for it is the only thing that can change us. His Word is alive. In it, we meet the Creator’s heart. We see His desires for mankind, for you and for me. It is awe-inspiring and beautiful. It breathes life into weary, broken souls. Choose a verse today to be your comfort in times of trial.
This section from Matthew is one of our favorite:
Forty Days of Faithful 
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