Our Bible verse for today: “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.” Psalm 139:17-18 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “You are never out of God’s thoughts.”

I love the beach. I was raised in central New Jersey, not far from the Jersey shore. As a young adult I spent twenty-one years in the Navy and therefore was always on or near the ocean. My family and I lived in Southern California for over twenty years, never far from the beach. To this day my wife and I spend our summer vacations at the beach. There’s nothing quite like the feel of warm sand between your toes. (My favorite is the sugar-white sand of the Florida gulf coast).

A grain of sand is a tiny thing, almost microscopic. It takes hundreds of billions of them just to cover a small portion of beach. In Psalm 139 David gives us a glimpse into the infinite mind of God by telling us that the thoughts of God exceed in number all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the world. That’s a lot of sand. And it’s a lot of thoughts in the infinite mind of God.

The interesting thing about Psalm 139 is that it’s all about God’s intimate awareness of the writer. David is writing about himself and he is describing how intimately he is known by God. In verses 2-3 David affirms that he is never out of God’s sight. In verse 4 he says that God is so aware of his (David’s) words, that God knows them before they even make it out of David’s mouth. In verses 7-10 David affirms that he is never out of God’s presence. In verses 13-15 David explains that God even knit him together in his mother’s womb. Verse 16 tells of how, even before the day of his birth God had already decided the total number of days of life David would have.

Within the context of all that intimacy and Godly awareness, in verse 17 David makes reference to the infinite mind of God. All of those Godly thoughts that exceed even the grains of sand? They include you. That was David’s point. You are included in the infinite mind of God. He knows you better than you know yourself, you are never out of His sight, and you are never out of His thoughts.

Make no mistake about it, when God said in Hebrews 13:5 “Never will I forsake you, never will I abandon you.” – He meant it. You are never even out of His thoughts.

God Bless,

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Never forsaken, never abandoned.”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Where were you when I established the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.” Job 38:4 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Don’t lose sight of God.”

 

As Job was going through his extended time of trials, he lost sight of God. He forgot who God is and what He is like. As his troubles multiplied and as his suffering continued, Job not only failed to remember God’s past faithfulness but worse, he gradually became less and less aware of God’s presence with him in the moment.

 

So in Job chapters 38-41 God shows up in a big way and helps to clarify Job’s perspective for him. God reminds Job that He is the Creator of all there is, including the earth (38:4). God affirms for Job that nothing is beyond His control or too difficult for Him, including controlling the seas, orchestrating each new dawn, and even positioning the stars in the sky (38:8, 38:12, 38:31). God reminded Job that there is nothing in all creation that escapes His attention, including when a mountain goat gives birth, when a raven is hungry, or when an eagle is soaring free across the sky (38:41, 39:1, 39:27). And just to emphasize His point, God reminds Job that He (God) has power and authority over the mightiest and most majestic creatures Job would have been aware of including the horse, the ox, and something God called “Leviathan”. As mighty as those creatures are, God is mightier.

 

The point was that as Job was enduring his difficult times, the evidence of God’s power and presence was all around him. The evidence was present in creation itself and all of life around Job was overflowing with the glory and majesty of God. God’s past power and faithfulness had been proven without question, and His presence in that moment was obvious and observable – if Job would only have opened his eyes and seen.

 

Finally, in 42:3, Job realized his foolishness in ever having doubted God and to have ever accused God of not caring. Job said, “Surely I spoke about things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.” In other words, Job had been wrong about God.

 

God had been there for Job in the middle of it all. He never left him, He never abandoned him. That was true for Job and it’s true for us too. As dark and troubling as life can sometimes seem, God is still there with us. We need only recall His faithfulness and His provision and the many times He has delivered us in the past, to know that He is able and willing to deliver us now.

 

In the midst of your trials don’t lose sight of God. He’s still there. The evidence of His presence is all around you.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Never forsaken, never abandoned.”

Our Bible verse for today: “I had heard the rumors about You, but now my eyes have seen You. Therefore I take back my words and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:5-6 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “When it’s all said and done we discover that God was faithful after all.”

Job tried, he really did. When a cascading series of disasters invaded his life he made a valiant effort to trust God and to remain faithful in all he said and did. And for the most part, he was successful – but not entirely. As the suffering wore on, and on, and on, Job faltered. There were moments when he cursed the day of his birth (3:3). There were other times when he decided that it was God Himself who was inflicting the pain and misery upon him (6:4). And there were times when he challenged God to explain and defend His actions (10:2).

As Job was going through this time of suffering he discovered that his conception of God – his preconceived notions of who God was and what He was like, were inaccurate and inadequate. In the end Job finally came to the realization that God had never forsaken him, never abandoned him, and through this time of terrible trial and suffering Job came to know God is a much deeper, more intimate way. The trials and tribulations actually became a period of tremendous spiritual growth for him. Before being comforted, healed, and restored, Job had to first hear from God. It was necessary for him to come to the end of his own resources and abilities in order to fully appreciate the sovereign goodness of God.

People suffer in this world because there is an evil adversary called Satan who wrecks lives and shatters hopes. But ultimately Satan is the loser. In the end God shows Himself to be not only the Creator, but also the Savior, the Redeemer, and the Sovereign Lord over all of life.

It has been said that in order to fully understand the lessons of Job we ourselves must have first gone through similar loss – or walked through such a time with someone we care about and love. During times like that there are no easy answers, there are no religious platitudes that make it all better, and we usually can’t see the way out. And so we walk through the darkness by faith, putting one foot in front of the other, trusting that nothing we’re experiencing is outside of God’s sovereign will. And in time, like Job, we discover that God was faithful after all. He never left us, He never abandoned us, and in His way and at His time, He brings us through it.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

 

Good Morning Everyone,