Thursday, December 31, 2015
For God is
Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24(NLT)
In
speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus revealed the great truth
that our God is not impressed with outward displays of righteousness. He exists in a realm that provides Him with
access to the inner being of any man or woman.
Jesus saw
the deep spiritual need of the woman, and he knows our needs also. It is possible to please God only when the
inner person – that spirit within each of us – is in harmony with the heart of
a spiritual God. Jesus told us in His
earthly ministry that the only way to come to the Father was through Him. And so that tells us that it is only possible
to worship God by accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
The
personality of God is seen in the personal way God has dealt with mankind. From a bush that burned, and was not
consumed, God said to Moses, I Am. Reality and cognizant existence are personal
qualities. God weeps, loves, hates,
cares, creates and feels loss.
There is
one concept of God called pantheism which says that God
is in
everything, literally. He is in trees,
grass, oceans, porcupines...as a component part. This robs God of personality, making him merely
substance, or part of the creation.
God is
personal, and He takes a personal interest in His creation.
There are
those who may still subscribe to the idea of a "hands-off" type of
God. This was popular in the 1950's and
early 60's. This pictures God as a
creator who made the world like a craftsman makes a grandfather clock, winds it
up, and lets it run by itself; God never interferes, man can take care of
himself.
How
different is the biblical view of God!
The LORD is near to all who call on him, to
all who call on him in truth. Psalm
145:18(NLT)
In one
episode of "The X-Files," agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are
discussing a prison chaplain who claims that God speaks directly to him. When
Mulder expresses skepticism that such a thing could ever happen, Scully asks: Don't
you think God can talk with people?
Mulder
replies: God is just a spectator. He only
reads the box scores.[2]
But
that's not the way it was when the children of Israel cried-out to God from bondage
in Egypt. God rocked the kingdom of
Pharaoh until he drove them out. God
didn't apply hands off when they were boxed-in with mountains on two
sides, Pharaoh's army behind, and the Great Red Sea in front. God's personal breath blew every last drop
out of the way, and His personal family walked over on dry land.
Humankind
numbers in the billions, and with all His creation, Yahweh is a personal God
who loves us consciously.
How Up
Close and Personal is our God?
The world was lost in sin and degradation, and the personal God who
loved us came to our rescue…as one of us.
For You Today
The question (for those humans who choose to honestly
face reality) never centers on whether or not God knows everything about us, or
wants to be personally involved with us.
It’s more a question as to whether we will respond to His invitation,
and begin to know Him personally and up close.
You chew on
that out on that Rocky Road today…and have a joy-filled and blessed day!
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