The enemies of Christ are triumphant, Christianity is a failure, they say, and the church of God herself looks on in pain at the shortcomings in her midst. But lo, at length from the very heart of the shadows appears the majestic figure of Jesus, his countenance is as the sun shineth in his strength, around those wounds in brow and side and hands and feet—those wounds which shelter countless thousands of broken hearts—are healing rays.
~Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King. Within her citadels God has made Himself known as a fortress. For behold, the kings assembled; they came on together. As soon as they saw it, they were astounded; they were in panic; they took to flight. Trembling took hold of them there, anguish as of a woman in labor. By the east wind you shattered the ships of Tarshish. As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God, which God will establish forever. Selah … We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple. As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filled with righteousness. Let Mount Zion be glad! Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments! Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels, that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.
~ Psalm 48
Oh beloved, it is true.
We are so able to make G_d smaller than He is. Some of this is because, anything we try to conceive Him to be will fall totally short. The finite cannot comprehend the finite. But, the problem presented here is more insidious.
Instead of us trying to see Him for who He is, we are so wanting to put Him into a box of our own making. While it is hard for us to admit, we actually want to see G_d as we desire. Part of us wants to believe that we can control Him.
We can’t. But, we try.
Still, no matter what we try to come up with, G_d is going to break out of the box we try to create. Our little mud-pile walls we try to erect around His amazingness.
with our thoughts
with our theology
with our doubt
with our fear
with our selfishness.
In my normal days, i am so able to fall into all the above. But on my better days, one of the things for this fool of a writer, is that I keep seeing that my view of who He/They is/are is WAY too small – even when i try to see Him for Who He Is. Like the ultra-beings around the throne (and have zero doubt about the star-system shattering power of a seraphim), we just keep getting blown away by the Source of the Power.
This is nearly the biggest problem we can have. As AW Tozer said, “what comes into our minds when we think about God, is the most important thing about us.” And so, when our thinking is small, especially when it comes to The Almighty, we are in very real danger.
Can we see it?
What if we flipped this around and began to see Him for Who He Is? What could happen? Well, surely our view of Him would be more awestruck and worshipful (for He is worthy to be praised!). But, so would our sense of comfort – as we began to realize that Omnipresent means exactly what it is: that He is in all places and all times, right now. And this, would let us know that we are never alone – ever. And, that things are well in His Hands.
Still, it goes a lot further if we will allow it. Yes, we are limited and frail human beings. But, we have become the very temple of His Spirit. Our spirit has been united with His. We have, if we will begin to believe His Word, become eternal.
And so, in a limited (but immensely larger way than we now know) sense, we too have become beings who are bigger than anything the world can throw at us. Oh yes, the liar will try to get us looking down the narrow pipe of our fears and lusts and doubts. But lies are lies. They too are small, and the only way that they can gain any traction on us, is for us to see both G_d as small, and ourselves the same way.
So, are you feeling attracted to a small view of G_d? It happens. This fool of a writer is often fooled into believing this lie. But, the problem is that this small view has a double effect. It also weakens our sense of who we are in Him. And, if we fall for this trick, we are about to fall prey to the enemy of our souls.
Tonight is your night beloved. Time to believe in a very large G_d. And it is also time to believe that HE has made you quite large yourself.
Christ in you is a right royal word! Christ swaying His scepter from the center of your being, over every power and faculty, desire and resolve, bringing every thought into captivity to Himself—oh, this is glory begun and the sure pledge of Heaven! Oh for more of the imperial sovereignty of Jesus! It is our liberty to be absolutely under His sway.
~Charles Spurgeon
