By virtue of being the creator, God is King over all the earth. As Savior, He has entered and become a vital redeeming part of His own creation. As the Coming One, He will reign over all the nations until the new creation occures when He shall once again be its one and only, unquestioned sovereign King for all eternity. Ecclesiastes 3:11 "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end ". Pastor Curtis Johnson said, "Though the embedded vow of praise has yet to be completely fulfilled by creation, there are days so beautiful and scenes so spectacular that you can feel creation “tuning up” for something really big. Nature, in all its splendor and reflective glory today, is like an unfulfilled promise. But one day all imperfections will be gone. Then the hills, the oceans, the meadows and valleys will be alive with music – music in praise to the Creator". The Psalmist in 24:1-2 boldly declared, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.” In 1864 the US Treasury so wisely put “In God we Trust” on our currency. It was in recognition that everything we have in this world that is good comes to us from God. The Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase instructed James Pollock, Director of the Mint at Philadelphia, to prepare a motto, in a letter dated November 20, 1861, which said..... *....."Dear Sir: No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins. You will cause a device to be prepared without unnecessary delay with a motto expressing in the clearest and plainest words possible this national recognition of our dependency upon a soveriegn God." To fail to put our trust in the creator of all things is like saying that water is not wet or that air is not real because we cannot see it.....Trust is an easy thing when all is well and there is no turbulant sea rocking our boat. But it is another thing entirely to remain trusting and stable in faith, when the sea is threatning to sink your boat and you don't know just how deep the waters actually are. The writer of the great Christian Hymn "This is My Father's World" is a prime example. Davenport Babcock was celebrated as one of the most brilliant and prolific pastors and ministers of the gospel in his time. In 1901, he contracted "Mediteranian Fever", while on a trip to the Holy Land. This condition is caused by an invasive parasite which causes high grade fever as a result of inflamation of the spleen, the liver, the joints and muscles and the lining of the stomach. Babcock committed suicide by drinking a dose of deadly mercuric chloride and slit his wrists. What a contrast to the actions of Job, who lost everything except his nagging wife, and his entire body was covered with boils, yet in Job 13:15 He declared, "Though God slay me, yet will I trust in Him, and still I will maintain my ways before him". He knew that it was His Father's world...... Job 19:25 "For I know that my redeemer lives, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. v26 And though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. v27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold.... He continues with majestic words for an incomprehensable God.....and Job didn't let the circumstances of the moment, affect his trust in God.... What an ending the Lord brings to this story of unswerving trust.... Job 42:12 "So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand prime mules. v13 He had also seven sons and three daughters....v15 And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren. v16 After this Job lived an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations. v17 And Job died, being old and full of days". So many see only a world filled with loss, unforseen accidents and tragedy....A very strict primary school teacher, who was extreemly disliked by her students, asked them to share an example of a tragedy. One little boy stood up and said, "If my best friend who lives on a farm, is playing in the field and a runaway tractor comes along and runs over him and kills him, that would be a tragedy." "No," said the teacher, "that would be an accident." A little girl raised her hand: "If a school bus carrying 50 children drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy." "No, I'm afraid not," explains the teacher. "That's what we would call a great loss." The room goes silent. No other children volunteer. The teacher searches the room. "Isn't there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?" Finally at the back of the room, little Johnny raises his hand. In a quiet voice he says: "Teacher, if a plane you were on, was struck by a missile and blown to smithereens, that would be a tragedy." "Fantastic!" exclaims the teacher, "That's right. And can you tell me why that would be a tragedy?" "Well," said the boy, "because it sure wouldn't be a great loss and it probably wouldn't be an accident either." Many Christians in the process of chasing the American Dream, have become Secret Atheist... In other words they do and say all the things Christians are supposed to say, but they no longer have intimacy with the one their faith is all about. A Secret Atheist has stopped living according to what they say they believe and they speak of God's power, but they live out of their own strength and power. Jesus is not their Lord, He is a fire escape from hell. God's grace is their license to live however they want. They know and they can tell everyone else how they aught to live, but they don't do it themselves. Jesus put it this way.... Matthew 16:26 "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? God is not looking for employees, He's looking for friends... He's not looking for those who will work for Him, but those who will work with Him.....He doesn't want us to see Him as an obligation, but as someone we put first because we love Him more than anything or anyone else. In Numbers the 14th chapter, When the Jewish people got to the promised land, the first time, and they sent spies into the land to see what it was like. The spies came back loaded with the bounty of Canaan, but they also gave report that the land was filled with giants, even though God had given them great and amazing prophecies. The bible says that the spies felt like grasshoppers compared to them. This struck the hearts of the people with terror. Caleb said, "we are well able to take it, for it shall be strengh for us"... but the people said, let us appoint our own captian in place of Moses and return to Egypt and they threatened to stone Moses, Aaron and Caleb. At that time, God appeared in a cloud of Glory over the camp and threatened to kill them all, (remember that justice and truth are in God's glory) so Moses intervened. Moses and Aaron fell on their faces and reminded God of His own promise and this is where God said... *.....Numbers14:21 "As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD." God is taking an oath, based on His own reputation, that the earth shall be filled with His glory! We are told that God was willing to start over with just these three believers, and still fulfill the promise He had made. But because of the prayers of Moses, He repented and spared the people. Don't miss your promise because of the moment you're in....Rule the moment, don't let the moment rule you! So they have just been given mercy, and their rebellious hides were saved, and instead of entering the land, they walked away! It would be 40 years later, after everyone over 20 years of age had died off, in the wilderness, that they would return to the place of entering in.... Dennis the Doubter asked his pastor if they would have golf in heaven. The pastor said, I'll search the word, pray and ask God to see what He says, and let you know in a few days. A few days later Dennis the Doubter calls the pastor and asks him if he found out anything. The pastor said, "Yes I certainly did, and there's good news and bad news"..... "You see, God said they have some of the most incredible golf courses ever seen by man, and the other news is, you're scheduled to tee off at 8:00 tomorrow morning"... (we can worry over things that don't really matter and let it distract us from the things we should be doing now)
Psalm 118:24 "This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it"! Your best time is now! Your best opportunities are now! When God finds someone who's willing to let him be God, who will believe that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.... He will use them to fulfill His promises and show Himself mighty! Whatever our situation....whatever the giants we must face which would seek to overwhelm us and intimidate us.....God is looking for a Moses, an Aaron and a Caleb who will see His glory, instead of the giants and believe His promise instead of the overwhelming situation! Because This Is My Father's World..... We may not get it just right every time, But if you fail, don't give up because F.A.I.L. stands for "First Attempt In Learning". What looks like the end is only an illusion, because E.N.D. stands for "Effort Never Dies". If you get a NO for your efforts, remember that N.O. stands for "Next Opportunity" It's all about how you look at it!!!
The Glory of God is a redeeming Glory, that will restore what is lost and bring back what is abandoned. It declares to us that our present situation is not our final destination. The redeeming Glory can bring hope to the hopeless, opportunity to the unfortunate, the empty and lacking. It means promises regained in a desert and wilderness place. Redeeming Glory brings harmony out of discord, wholeness out of desease and disaster and gives songs in the night season. That we might know the faithfulness of our God from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same! The Glory of God invades the future, for it is the Spirit of Prophesy.. It fills the whole earth in the present as well as the future..... Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent, has he spoken, and shall He not do it? Has He declared, and shall He not make it good?" His glory is already there in our future, connecting, arranging, and setting up all that is needed to cause it to become possible unto us. Sometimes the worst things that have happened to us, put us on a collision course with the best things that will ever happen to us! When God speaks, as far as He is concerned, it is already done... And Our best response is "Amen".... "So be it, Lord", HALLELUJAH!
That's why we know that the people who are allowed to come into our lives are never there by accident. They either come for a lesson or a blessing. Some folks come to test you, some are there to use you and some are there to teach you, but they are all there to bring out the best in you. When you understand this, you can stop trying to make them into what you want them to be, and accept them for what they are bringing into you. Some will come and go quickly, some will stay forever, but they will all leave footprints on your heart, and because of them, you will never be the same again.
Revelation 11:15 "The kingdoms of this world are now become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." Oh, yes, This is My Father's World! When I was a kid, I was an accident looking for a place to happen...my curiosity got me in situations where trouble was assured to come. Some lessons you learn the easy way and some you learn the hard way. I always seemed to choose the hard way. That's why I know I'm only here, alive today because God was redeeming my present and working in my future.... When I look at some of the things I survived and walked away without being maimed or worse....it encourages me to look forward *.....knowing "that Jesus is Lord over Satan, sin, death and disease"! In spite of all that may appear unfavorable in our lives, we can still declare with ... Isaiah 62:1 "For My people's sake I will not hold My peace, and for your sake I will not rest, until your righteousness goes forth as brightness, and salvation shines forth as a lamp." God's glory is on the side of those who trust in Him. He never sleeps and never grows weary of performing His word of promise. He is awake while we are sleeping, and He is working when we don't even know it. He has you and I on His mind and we are engraved on the palms of His hands. Before I get up He's been up, and when I lay down, He's still keeping His word to me. I can rejoice in the assurance that it will come to pass in due time, and in the right time .....
A police officer stopped a car that was speeding down main street. "But I can explain...." the man said.. "No need to even try, the radar says it all"... the officer interrupted... "But officer, there's something you need to know".. the man tried again, but was once again interrupted. "Just sit there and cool your heels, while I run a check on your tag and registration".... "But sir, you really need to know something"....the man tried again... Twenty minutes later, the officer returns to the car, and the driver insists on seeing his commanding officer. "Well, that won't be possible, sir, because the commanding officer is at his daughter's wedding, and I am not about to bother him now".....the driver, breaks out laughing and says...."sir, believe me, you are bothering him.....I am the groom"!
When your answer seems to delay, sometimes, it's because there's something you need to experience, that will change your way of thinking and seeing things, so you can possess what He's giving to you. The greater your gifting, the more you need to develop your character to sustain it. Sometimes we are so focused on our giftings that we neglect our character. The greater the gifting, the greater the level of character that is needed to operate in it for the long haul. God wants to develop our character so we won't crash and burn in our gifting. Take Samson for example. He was powerfully gifted and used by God in amazing ways. However, he neglected the developing of his character in order to maintain the level of his gifting and eventually he fell.
When God gives you a detour, He puts you on a path you would never have chosen to get you to a place you would never have gone...... God caused those who came out of Egypt to hit some detours, to give them a chance at character building, but many never made it to the promised land, because they neglected the character building moments and only wanted the gifts .... Those who made it, yeilded to God's ways of doing it and in spite of how bad the wilderness was, they received the promise.
Habakuk 2:3 says "The vision is for an appointed time; but in the end it shall speak and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, and it will not tarry". My heavenly Father would not make a lock without making a key, He wouldn't create a detour without a destination, and He wouldn't allow a problem without giving a solution!!! This week I've been praying the covenant words of Isaiah 43:4-7 "Since you were precious in my sight, you havebeen honourable, and I have loved you therefore will I give men for you and people for your life. v5 Fear not: for I am with you, I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west. v6 I will say to the north, come forth and to the south, do not hold back. Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth. v7 Every ne that is called by my name: for I have created you for my glory, I have formed you yes, I have made you". Isaiah 40:5 "And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it." Let us not be swayed by the nay-sayers. Let us not be intimidated by the mockers and the maligners.... The final authority in this world and the world to come, has given us His word, and backed it with His glory..... So when it's all said and done, when we are tried, we shall come forth as gold. When I am unhealthy, I shall come forth as gold.. When I am fearful, I shall come forth as gold! When the deck is stacked against me, I shall come forth as gold!!! Romans 3:4 "Let God be true, but every man be a liar, for it is written, that you shall stand justified and you shall overcome in the judgment." The world population is 7.5 billion people.....One little boy wrote a letter to God, "Dear God, it must be very hard for you to love all the people in the world. I have only four people in our family and I can't do it. But anyway, A study was done which showed how many who call themselves Christian attend church each week. The study revealed that when both parents attend church, 72% of the children attend church when grown. When only the father attends church, 55% of the children attend when grown. When only the mother attends church, only 15% of the children attend church when grown. When neither parent attends church, only 6% of the children will attend when they are grown. One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the evil that was going on. He decided to send an angel down to Earth to check it out. When the angel returned, he told God that it was getting pretty bad on Earth. He reported that 95% of the population had forgotten Him and only 5% gave Him a place in their daily lives. .
God thought a moment and decided He had better send down another angel to get two witnesses.
When the second angel returned he confirmed that Earth was in decline, 95% gave no thought to God and only 5% gave Him any attention.
God thought about what He could do about the situation and decided to send a message to the smart phones of the 5% that still truly believed in Him with a little pep-talk and some praise and encouragment to help keep them to continue faithful to Him.
Do you know what the message said?....
Oh! YOU didn't get one either.......? God's word is true, and it is up to us to believe and stand faithful on His promises if we are to turn it around in our own circles of influence. This picture was taken at a protest....The book of Revelation lets us know that when Jesus returns, He will subdue the earth, but it also tells us that over 2/3 of the population will rise up against Him. Their efforts will prove useless, but my point is, how many of our friends, our family members, and our neighbors who reject Christ now, will fight against Him then, if their souls are not reborn and their spirits awakened? This is My Father's world, but there are many who only see a twisted view of God, instead of looking for and appreciating His glory!
Ezekiel's question could be our question today.....As the Lord showed him a valley filled with dry bones, Ezekiel asked "Can these dry bones live again?"......God says the same thing to us that He spoke to Ezekiel.... Ezekiel 37:4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O you dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. v5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. v6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the LORD." Ezekiel didn't see a valley filled with the redeeming glory of God. He saw only dead, dry bones..... It was only when he believed that it was a valley filled with God's glory, that things were turned around. What is your valley of dry bones?..... That place where it looks hopeless, where it seems nothing is working.... filled with dead dreams and lost chances..... where regrets and missed opportunities lie spread out before you..... where you see one dissappointment after another.... bad news is followed by more bad news.... While having a bad day of fishing, a tourist capsized his boat. As he's clinging to the overturned boat. He spotted an old beachcomber on the shore, the tourist shouted across the water, "Are there any gators around here?" "Naw," the old man hollered back, "they ain't been none around here for years!" Feeling good about that information, the man started swimming toward the shore. About halfway there he shouted to the guy, and asked him "How'd you get rid of the gators?" The beachcomber shouted back, "We didn't do nothing, the sharks got 'em all!"
That's what a valley of dry bones is like.... bad stuff following bad stuff!! But the account of Ezekiel challenges us to see something else .....It challenges us to see instead, a valley filled with the glory of God..... This is our Father's world, and that valley is His valley, and He has already spoken life and success, a good outcome and ultimate victory!
In Genesis, when the world was without form and darkness covered the face of the deep.... God spoke, and the glory of His presence began to hover over the darkness the emptiness and the destruction which followed Satan's being cast out of heaven in Revelation 12:7-9.... Scripture says that in his wrath he wreaked devastation on the earth which God had created. It says that God began to prophesy and said "Let there be".... and light sprang forth, and the waters came into place, and the water below seperated from the water above, and marine life appeared, then he spoke flora and flauna into place, and a great variety of animals began to cover the earth..... and as heaven held it's breath, He made man in His image and in His likeness. He's speaking right now this moment, no matter what the enemy has tried to destroy, His words are creative, life changing words. "LET THERE BE"...The glory of His presence is hovering over your valleys and mountains.... Faith, hope, love and a new day are breaking through the formless void and darkness. It is no wonder that Isaiah says in Isaiah 35:1-6 "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with with a recompence, He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a young deer and the tongue of the dumb shall sing, for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert". This is My Father's World!!!! May our voices be lifted to join with those of the redeemed which are recorded in Revelation as eagerly anticipating His coming, when this dispensation shall pass and the next shall be revealed in greater fulfillment as it ushers in a new beginning for all creation. May we pray as Jesus instructed, " Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven" Psalm 139 (the message bible) "Oh God, You know me. I’m an open book to you. Even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.You know when I go out and when I come in. I’m never out of your sight. You know everything I’m going to say before I start the first sentence. I look behind me and you’re there, then up ahead and you’re there, too—your reassuring presence, is there, coming and going. This is too much, too wonderful—I can’t take it all in! Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit? to be out of your sight? If I climb to the sky, you’re there! If I go underground, you’re there! If I fly on morning’s wings to the far western horizon, You’d find me in a minute—you’re already there waiting! Then I said to myself, He even sees me in the dark! Even at night I’m immersed in the light!” Nobody likes a detour, but sometimes they are necessary. One day Billy and Ruth Graham were driving through a long stretch of road construction. They had many slowdowns, detours and construction to deal with along the way. Finally, they reached the end of all that difficulty, and smooth pavement stretched out before them. That's when Ruth saw a road sign that said: "End of construction. Thanks for your patience." And Ruth told Billy those words would be a great inscription on her tombstone someday: "End of construction. Thanks for your patience." Ruth Graham is now buried on the grounds of the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her grave is marked with a modest stone, and you know what? That is the inscription on Ruth's gravestone: "End of construction. Thank you for your patience."
My world is in His hands, My times are in His hands! so I can praise him in the mountains and praise Him in the valleys. Praise Him when the sun is shining and when the clouds blacken the skies. Praise Him in sickness and in health, in good times and bad. No matter what it's like, His promise is true, it will not fail, it will accomplish all that it is sent forth to do in the earth! Our praise is a magnet for transformation!
Even though things come to try to hide God from me and hide me from God, I know that my Redeemer lives, and I shall come forth! He knows the way that I take.... He's gone into my future, to secure the present and when I am tested, I shall come forth as gold......I've come to tell you today that no matter what it looks like, right now, the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof! The earth is full of the glory of God! For this is my father's world!!
