“In his book When People Are Big and God Is Small, Edward T. Welch states that we either worship God, others or ourselves. Since Christ purchased my body on the cross, I am to steward it for His glory.” - Jessica Pigg
“One of the ugliest sights in the world is that of a child who rules over his parents. But ahead of even that is the sight of human beings who believe they have the right to rule over their God—who erupt in anger, who are insistent, who demand that God do things their way.” - Challies
“Christians should be engaged [in other social issues] just like we’ve been in the pro-life movement, but we need to know more. We need a posture of learning and humility, perhaps in a way we never had in our lifetimes.” - Stetzer
“There are two kinds of walking, of going on a journey. The first kind is typified by an elevator ride…. the experience is all about getting where you’re going. It’s not about the journey. But there’s another kind of journey. It’s best typified by lovers going for a walk….Nobody cares where we’re going; we’re just going for a walk.” - Dan Olinger
Are there any among the idols of the nations that can cause rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Are You not He, O LORD our God?
Therefore we will wait for You,
Since You have made all these. (Jeremiah 14:22)
We’ve all heard versions of the prayer that goes, “Lord, help me to be patient, and please hurry up about it.” In my life the lesson on being patient has been probably the hardest one to learn. In fact, I must confess that I have not learned the lesson very well, and have constantly to relearn it. If I were to put my finger on the problem it would have to land on the truths brought out in the verse above.
COVID-19 has brought the whole world to its knees. It is a world-wide pandemic in which none of us are completely immune: not to the disease itself nor to its effects. The novel coronavirus is fearful for many reasons. We face the loss of economic health and activity, the loss of social comfort from our friends and family, and for our loved ones or ourselves, perhaps the loss of the ability to breathe, which is life itself.
“If we’re going to help our people, we pastors must cultivate humility. We need to grow in our Christlikeness to help others do the same. So how do we do it? Here are a few ways to cultivate humility in ministry.” - 9 Marks
“An ultracrepidarian is someone who goes ‘beyond the shoe.’ He is ‘one who is presumptuous and offers advice or opinions beyond his sphere of knowledge.’ Or ‘someone who has no special knowledge of a subject but who expresses an opinion about it.’ Apelles’ concern was that the shoemaker should stick with his area of expertise and not presume to be an expert on everything.” - Challies
God uses even sin to develop us as Christians. That may sound like a bold statement, especially because God never wants us to sin (1 John 2:1); we should always seek to avoid it and not take it lightly.
Casting Crowns popularized a song titled, “In Me.” Some of the lyrics follow:
How refreshing to know You don’t need me.
How amazing to find that You want me.
So I’ll stand on Your truth, and I’ll fight with Your strength
Until You bring the victory, by the power of Christ in me.
I was impressed at the depth of these lyrics. They serve as a jumping board for my topic: He is God and we are not. Hopefully, these thoughts will serve as a tonic to remedy a popular—but weakened—view of God.
The first principle suggested by the song is that God does not need us, but we need Him. The Scriptures are clear on this:
