~ God Is ~

[comeuphither]

~ God Is ~
...The Lord is my strength and song, and He is my salvation...
Psalm 118:14
God is: my Strength
Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing
to
the LORD, bless His name; show forth His salvation from day to day.
Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all people. For
the LORD [is] great, and greatly to be praised; He [is] to be feared
above all gods. For all the gods of the nations [are] idols; but the
LORD made the heavens. Honor and majesty [are] before Him; strength and
beauty [are] in His sanctuary. Give to the LORD, O families of the
people; give to the LORD glory and strength. Give to the LORD the glory
[due to] His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts.
(Ps96:1-8)
The LORD reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of islands be
glad. Clouds and darkness [are] all around Him; righteousness and
judgment [are] the foundation of His throne. (Ps97:1-2)
The book of the Psalms, for the most part, is a book of praise. Of
praise unto God. Praise to God because of His attributes. And there are
three attributes which appear to be foremost, above all others. So
important are they that they are listed, specifically, in all three
sections of the Old Testament; in the 1) Law, 2) Psalms and 3) Prophets
(Lk24:44) These were considered, by Israel and Jesus, to be the canon
of
the Old Testament Scriptures.
Notice... "The LORD is my (1) strength and (2) song, and He is my (3)
salvation." (Ps118:14) You will find similar statements also in Ex15:2
&
Is12:2.
Notice, too, that these attributes are "attached to" man. These things
that God is, He is TO -me- who believes in Him and is His child.
Remember, man was made "in the image of God" (Gen1:27) So, these things
that God is, He is to me.
Paul speaks of God's "power toward us" (Eph1:19) "Toward" or "into,
unto, to, towards, for, among" You notice, the power the Believer has
is
not his own. Modern man would have us be introspective. Look within
ourselves for that god-likeness. That 'goodness' within each one of us.
The 'power' of the mind. The power -of- 'prayer'; praying that -we-
'do'. And if we do all these things, once we fully -realize- what's
been
there all along, there is no limit to what we can do, achieve or
become;
because we are all part of that 'christ-consciousness'.
The power the Believer has is so much greater than that! It is God's
power. "Christ [is] in you" (Col1:27) through the residency of the Holy
Spirit. (Rom8:9) We do not live our -own- lives, but "to me to live is
Christ." (Phil1:21)
First of all, let's see briefly God's power 'out there'. For all the
gods that people worship, they worship idols. (Ps96:5a) But in
contrast,
"Jehovah made the heavens" (5b) For all the presumed 'power' that
religions claim, and that false 'christianity' pretends to have, none
of
them can claim "creation". They -all- hold to satan's lie of
"Evolution"
and support it with "uniformitarianism", claiming "for since the
fathers
fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of
creation." (2Pt3:4) And you see, there -HAS- to be "creation". Where
did
the substance come from for that original, initial "big bang"? None of
them have been able to answer that. But "in the beginning God
created.."
(Gen1:1) That's why the psalmist records, "The heavens declare the
glory
of God; and the expanse proclaims His handiwork. (Ps19:1) God's
"eternal
power and Godhead" are "clearly seen" (Rom1:20) so that people are
without excuse. They merely imitate and -use- what has already been
created by God... to rebel against their Creator.
Because of sin, the "whole creation groans and travails in pain
together
until now." (Rom8:22) A big percentage of animal life is based on the
devouring of other 'lesser' animals. Big fish eat little fish. Little
fish eath smaller life forms. Lions eat anything they can catch. Wolves
and foxes eat rabbits and rodents. Cats eat birds and rodents. This
came
about after Noah's flood, (Gen9:3) since in the original creation, all
living creatures were herbivores.(Gen1:29-30)
God's -POWER- is going to 'correct' this situation. The time is coming,
soon, when the proclamation will be realized, " The kingdoms of this
world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ. And He
will reign forever and ever." (Rev11:15) As God says to The Son, "Sit
at
My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool.." (Ps110:1) It
will be said "among the nations, Jehovah reigns" (Ps96:10a) as He
"judge the peoples in uprightness."

continue.........

 

[comeuphither]

Notice what God's creation is going to do when this day comes! "Let the
heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the
fullness of it. Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it; then
shall all the trees of the forest rejoice before Jehovah; for He
comes..to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness,
and the people with His truth." (96:11-13)

What will be the result of God's judgement? What will be the practical
results? "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb...and a little child shall
lead them...and the lion will eat straw like the ox." (Is11:6,65:25)

The world tries to achieve peace through idolatry and concensus. But
the
final economic, religious, military conflict/s will prove to be utterly
futile, as Jesus Christ comes "as the lightning comes out of the east
and shines even to the west" (Mt24:27) to judge, and set up His rule
with His "rod of iron". (Ps2:9) :lightning

With such honor, majesty, strength and beauty (96:6) mankind is called
to worship God in fear and joy. (vs4,9,11,12) Fear because of His
awesome power. Joy because of His holy righteous judgment.

You see, the only entities in all of God's creation who object to God's
holy judgment are those who fall under His condemnation. As they reject
His righteous declarations, they try to persuade themselves that it
isn't -really- so. That they are, actually, OK. But when Christ makes
an
end of satan's access to the heavenlies, it is declared, "Therefore
rejoice, O heavens, and those tabernacling in them" (Rev12:12) Woe is
upon the earth...for a brief time. :lightning

So, let's bring God's power from "out there" to the individual's level.
This God Who created the universe, and Who will judge and purge out the
evil by His great power... this power is "toward us". (Eph1:19) When we
cry out along with Paul, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver
me
from the body of this death?" :secret: (Rom7:24) we first of all reject the
modern notions of that "goodness within" which has crept into the
'church'. All of Paul's sense of 'self-worth' was out-the-window. He
argues the points of introspection. The struggle between good and evil.
The old nature and the spiritual desire to live holy before God. And
comes to the conclusion that it is, simply, not possible in human
terms. mg:
Man is simply too 'weak' to accomplish a holy life. [Ed: read the whole
chapter Romans ch7] :embarasse

You see, this is where "God is my strength" comes in. Paul sees his own
worth-LESS-ness, and comes away rejoicing and praising, "I thank God.."
And notice, he doesn't go into a mantra of a "worship song" of an
empty-minded swaying back and forth. No! There is an -Object- of his
worship. The 'problem' is resolved. -Therefore- worship is possible.
"Worship" is an act of attributing and acknowledging "worth" to the
object of that praise. That is not a mindless emotional mantra. The
victory for holy living comes from "Jesus Christ our Lord!" (vs25a) He
is the One Who gives the 'ability' (strength) to live for God. This is
-true- "enabling". God's enable-ment through Jesus Christ.

God -is- my strength. This word "is" is key to this understanding. "Is"
is a state of being. To exist. Be present, etc. It is "present tense".
Now. This is not something we need to -pray-for- as many often 'lay
hold' of God and "Oh, Lord, give me Your strength!" No. By virtue of
the
fact that a Believer -is- (already) "in Christ, he is a new creation"
(2Cor5:17) as Christ is "in you the hope of glory" (Col1:27) he has
been
"born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the
living word of God, and abiding forever" (1Pt1:23) God's strenghth is
'already' at the Believer's disposal. He has, only, to live the life.
To
"be mindful of things above, not on things on the earth." (Col3:2) To
"set your mind to be right-minded, even as God has dealt to every man
the measure of faith." (Rom12:3b) :shade:

To illustrate. A poor one. But it might help. A person has entered an
elevator. The elevator is fully operational, and the power is turned
on.
The elevator has been designed, and is fully capable of carrying the
person to the next level of the building...but they (elevator car and
person) are just sitting there. Going nowhere. The person has not set
his 'mind' to the fact that he must 'push the button'. When he does,
the
elevator does the work.

Now, the weakness of this example is the fact that God does not just
'sit there'. He is always active. He is always speaking to our hearts
"push the button...push the button."

But, in closing; a Believer does not need to 'wring his hands' in
despair regarding living a life pleasing to God. In Revelation chs 2-3
the term "overcome" is used. Promises of rewards and added
responsibilities to those who overcome. John speaks of our "faith"
being
integral with overcoming. (1Jn5:4) Of overcoming the "evil one" (2:14)
Paul speaks of, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with
good." (Rom12:21)

All this is possible, however, because God -is- "my strength". We are
not alone. We have the "comforter" within. (Jn16:13,Rom8:9) You are of
God, little children, and you have overcome them, because He who is in
you is greater than he who is in the world. (1Jn4:4) When Jesus cried
out on the cross, "It is finished!" (Jn19:30) He fulfilled His own
word,
"be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." (Jn16:33)


Amen and Amen~