February 3, 2013 – Pastor Tim – “The Thunder – He’s More Than A Buddy… He is God“ – Click to download
Psalm 97:1-7, “The Lord reigns;?Let the earth rejoice;?Let the multitude of isles be glad! 2 Clouds and darkness surround Him;?Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. 3 A fire goes before Him,?And burns up His enemies round about. 4 His lightnings light the world;?The earth sees and trembles. 5 The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord,?At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. 6 The heavens declare His righteousness,?And all the peoples see His glory. 7 Let all be put to shame who serve carved images,?Who boast of idols.?Worship Him, all you gods.”
These are more than just words. Jesus was more than just a really nice guy who told nice stories about nice things. Make no mistake, He is a God of love, but there comes a point where the words become real, and then the very real sense of just who this man is settles into our minds. It’s like a storm that’s out there someplace and we are just beginning to hear the thunder or smell the wind and rain.
Matthew 24:37-42, “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. Paul, in anticipation of the coming of the Lord, prayed for us in Ephesians 1:17-23, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”
We come up with all sorts of ways to deal with our understanding of Jesus. We paint pictures and write songs. We create wonderful visuals of Jesus standing with His arms around our shoulder or carrying us through the sand. These are all true, however, Jesus as our friend is only the beginning. There’s so much more.
Proverbs 18:10, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; ?The righteous run to it and are safe.” Yes, He is our Savior, but, he will also be our judge.
The sheer awesomeness of the Lord is a light so bright it could knock us to the ground. (That actually happened to a few people in the Bible.) God is more than a buddy; He is our only God. Did you (or you) create the Universe; put the stars in place; dig out the space for the oceans and mold the mountains? When we close our eyes and pray, remember that we are praying to the one who did all these things.
Oswald Chambers said, The only possibility of understanding the teaching of Jesus is by the light of the Spirit of God on the inside. If we have never had the experience of taking our commonplace religious shoes off our commonplace religious feet, and getting rid of the undue familiarity with which we approach God, it is questionable whether we have ever stood in His presence. The people who are flippant and familiar are those who have never yet been to Jesus Christ. After the amazing delight and liberty of realizing what Jesus Christ does, comes the impenetrable darkness of realizing Who He is. I finally understand James 4:9-10, “Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Revelation 19:11-16, “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND?LORD OF LORDS.
John 16:20-21, “Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. 21 A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. We, the Church, must not interpret this pause in time, this dispensation of grace, as God’s approval of our sin. We are not judged by work or merit, but sometimes I think we should be driven by our work or merit.
James 2:18, “ But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
John 15:11, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”
The heart of Christ… Lord, give us Your joy under all circumstances this day, and let our full hearts overflow in blessing to others.
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