Blog Archives - Created through Him

Created Through Him

Let everything that hath breath praise God

7/31/2012

6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord (Psalm 150:6).

Life is from God. The idea of God breathing life into creation is central to God’s role as creator. The breath of God is the beginning of life. There are profound moral and ethical principles that hinge on the acknowledgment of God as the creator of life. So when the psalmist states that everything that hath breath will praise the Lord, he is saying that all things that God created will praise Him. We are in essence obligated by our very existence to praise God. We owe all to our Creator, the maker of heaven and earth and the giver of life. Let all life praise God.

By name

7/30/2012

4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. 5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite (Psalm 147:4-5).

If you are ever worrying about anything whatsoever, comfort yourself with the realization that your God knows the number of stars by name. There is nothing beyond your Creator’s knowledge or understanding. We should not ever worry since God, as Creator, not only knows the stars by name, he knows you by name as well. How amazing is it that the God of all creation knows you, by name! We are finite, and yet God is infinite. We know in part, and yet God knows in total. We are fallen, and yet God is great. Do not sell yourself short by relying on the imperfect, when you have the perfect God as your advocate. Great is our God who knows us and calls us by name.

God is great

7/29/2012

3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable (Psalm 145:3).

God is great, God is good….These are words we have spoken as a prayer before meals since childhood. But what does it really mean that God is great? To begin with, it is certainly a statement of fact that God is great. So we are stating truth when say that God is great. We praise God through stating the fact of His greatness. A profound part of this praise is that we acknowledge that the Creator is supreme and that we are in submission to Him. The distinction between the Creator and the created is, in part, a distinction of greatness. It is also a distinction of understanding. We can only know in part and incompletely. So, our understanding of the greatness of God is partial is beyond our complete human comprehension. When we call God great, we are expressing a sense of wonder and amazement, the extent of which we only partially understand. And this then becomes praise. It is praise for God’s amazing greatness, beyond all our collective understanding and power. God is great.

Cause me to hear and know

7/28/2012

8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee (Psalm 143:8).

The psalmist cries out to God and asks God to cause him to hear and cause him to know. The ability to ask God for hearing and knowledge is a sign of humility. It is not that God cannot make us hear or have knowledge of Him. It is that God knows that unless we approach Him with a humble heart, we will never actually put to action the things that God desires. Our old nature simply gets in the way. When we ask God for anything, we are acknowledging His sovereignty over the situation and perhaps more importantly we are walking according to our new nature through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is God that ultimately acts on our behalf and this is the good news of the Gospel.

God knows

7/27/2012

139 O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off (Psalm 139:1-2).

God knows us. God’s knowledge of us is not cursory rather it is, total. Total knowledge is only possible by God. It is part of God’s nature to be all knowing. Total knowledge is a prerequisite to sovereignty. There is deep purpose in God knowing us; our salvation is dependent upon it. Therefore since God actually saves us based on His sovereign knowledge of us, God’s knowledge of us goes far beyond passive knowledge. We are saved because God knows us, for if God does not know us, we are in utter darkness. The good news of the gospel is that God will never deny those He knows.

Mercy endures forever

7/26/2012

8 The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands (Psalm 138:8).

We are the work of God. This work includes both creation and restoration. Notice in this verse that the one doing the action is God. The work of restoration is salivation and sanctification. We are saved and made right by God. The reason that God chooses to do this is because He is merciful. The act of mercy by God is a gracious action toward His creation. This action is permanent and irrevocable. This is good news that God’s mercy towards us endures forever.

Except the Lord build the house

7/25/2012

127 Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain (Psalm 127:1).

This verse should add perspective to our lives. The perspective is that we should start everything with God. Starting anywhere other than with God means that what is started is temporary. Seeking God’s approval should be our first priority not an after-thought. At the core of seeking God’s approval is the idea of submission. When we submit to God first, we are admitting that it is He that is great and all knowing. Our pride is reduced and held in check. This is to our benefit since pride in our own ability is really false pride. The pride we should have is in God, and God alone.

Lift mine eyes unto the hills

7/24/2012

121 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth (Psalm 121:1-2).

In my opinion, these verses are some of the most profound and visual in all of scripture. There is no better place to seek help than from the One that made you. To lift your eyes to the hills is to look toward the horizon to the high point. Mountains and hills appear on the horizon as majestic and powerful. God is the high point, powerful and majestic. When we fail to seek the help of God, we are automatically limiting the power that could be applied to the situation. Keep your eyes upon our majestic and powerful God.

Trust in the Lord

7/23/2012

8 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. 9 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes (Psalm 118:8-9).

Placing trust in God is a command. The previous statement is easy to say, but it is, at times, actually very difficult to trust and place our confidence in God. It is difficult because we often want to trust in ourselves and we also want the approval of others. The problem with either trusting in ourselves or in placing confidence in others is that we are not perfect. Therefore, even the best of us, are not fully trustworthy and we can and do let people down. God is commanding us to trust Him because He knows that only trust in Him will be our permanent solution to our own condition. Placing trust in God means we are trusting in the one who controls the beginning from the end.

To be humble

7/22/2012

6 The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me (Psalm 116:6).

This verse contains really important detail about the relationship of God to His people. To be brought low means to be humble before God. You might wonder why it is important for the Created (us) to be humble. Being humble is the opposite of being prideful. Mankind’s problems started with pride and they are only made right through humility. When you think about the Cross and how much that Christ endured and the penalty that He paid, you realize the even God the Son humbled Himself before the Father. To pick up our cross and follow Christ is to walk humbly before our God and the result of this is the gracious preservation of our souls.

Created Through Him