We have a great God! Praise the one who transforms our lives into something beautiful.

greater|than> • part 2

The equation solves everything. Go ahead. Try it. Fill in the blank. God is > _____. God is > my latest crisis. God is > my parents problems. God is > my worst sin. God is > my guilt & shame. God is >. Chris Tomlin writes in one of my favorite songs:

Age to age He stands, And time is in His hands;
Beginning & the End, Beginning & the End.
The Godhead three in one, Father, Spirit, Son,
The Lion & the Lamb, The Lion & the Lamb

How great is our God!
Sing with me:
How great is our God!
And all will see
How great, how great is our God!

Name above all names,
Worthy of all praise.
My heart will sing: How great is our God!

Ever wonder why the smallest things in life stress us out? Ever wonder why we sometimes feel all alone, even when surrounded by people? Ever wonder why you can't get past the one thing that is always holding you back, holding you down? I wonder if it's because we haven't really turned it over to our Great God. There's nothing you've done that He hasn't dealt with before. There's nothing you can say that will surprise Him. There's not too much you can offload onto Him or dump on Him. He won't get stressed out. He won't get tired of listening to you. You can't scare Him off. You can't run Him off. He be here for you tomorrow, & the next day, & the next day, & the next day, & the next day after that. He's a Great God. And He's Great at what He does. And He wants to do Great things in You, through You & for you. He's all about being a Great God. And in being Great in you, through you & for you He brings glory to His name. So let Him. Let Him invade your life today. Let Him be Great. He's going to be Great regardless. Let Him be > in your life. Not for you, but for Him.

epicenter

So this morning I've been reading Isaiah 40 & 41. It reminds me again how "out of sorts" things are in my head. And it's a tragedy. Epicenter... know what it means? It refers to the point of the earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake. It's the focal point of tragedy. It's the point of origin of something that's just not right. You see, for me at least, I'm spending too much of my time & efforts trying to keep the world revolving around me. And it doesn't work that way. The world revolves around God. He is the center. He is the focal point of all that is good & perfect & right. He is the point of origin that keeps everything under His care. He needs to be the center of my life... and I need to put an end to trying to make my life the center of His attention.

"To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?" asks the Holy One. Isaiah 40:25

"Who has done such mighty deeds, directing the affairs of the human race as each new generation marches by? It is I, the LORD, the First & the Last. I alone am He." Isaiah 41:4

greater|than>

Psalm135:5
I know the greatness of the LORD--
that our Lord is greater than any other god.

greater|than>. I love the concept. It's found on virtually every page of the Bible. It's found in every story revealed to us on every page of the Bible. Every story, character, psalm, parable, sermon, prophecy, wisdom...all tell us that God is greater|than>. And not only will you discover this through everything you read in God's awesome word, I believe you'll find it to be true in your life too. God is greater|than>our problems. Our circumstances. Our situations. Our emergencies. Our sins. Our family troubles. Our limitations. Our failures. Our inadequacies. Our short comings. Our successes. Our victories. Our finest moments in life...God is greater|than> them all.

We have this misconception that God is somehow as stressed out about stuff as we are. That He's all worked up over all the things He's dealing with. And we even feel guilty sometimes handing our junk to Him to work on. And then we get this idea that there is no way God can fix this. There's no way He help here with this deal I'm dealing with. We pray, & if someone who didn't know our God were to listen in on our prayers, they would probably think that we pray to a pretty small, weak, infinitesimal God.

Read this verse again...& see if you agree with the Psalmist.

"I know the greatness of the Lord--
that our Lord is greater than any other God."

Do you know the greatness of the Lord? The next 2 verses in this psalm say,
"The LORD does whatever pleases him,
in the heavens and on the earth,
in the seas and all their depths.

He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth;
he sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses."

You see, God's got a lot going on. He's got to keep the heavens & the earth spinning, He's got lightning, rain & wind to worry about. Not to mention the fact that He's got over 6 billion people on planet earth to deal with. Countless stars to light every night. Countless galaxies to watch over. An entire universe to oversee. And the thing is, He's not stressed out. He's not burned out. He's not overworked. He doesn't need a vacation. He's doing just fine. And the wild thing is that in-spite of all that He's got going on, He still cares deeply about what's going on in your world. And beyond that, He's capable, able, willing & wanting to get involved in your life. "The Lord does whatever pleases Him." And the cross tells me that nothing pleases Him more than knowing & loving you.

And what happens when you come to reflect a life that says God is greater|than>____? Notice the way the psalmist begins...verse 1:
Praise the LORD!
Praise the name of the LORD!
Praise him, you who serve the LORD...

Our praise & His glory is the result of His working in my life & in your life. And that's why He does what He does. For the praise of His glory. So live today in the assurance that God is greater|than>, & praise His Name, you who serve the LORD.