In a call to
worship the man making the announcements said, “Let’s ask God to join us.” I
understand the thought behind the statement, but the reality is that God is already
with people when two or more are gathered in the Lord’s name. It’s human nature
to think we can summon God to join us in an activity…and exclude Him when we
don’t want Him around. We may not invite God to the bar, the bedroom, or a social
activity; however, the Spirit lives within the believer and has an open
invitation to all our activities. The Apostle Paul said, “Don’t you know that
you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you” (1 Cor 3:16
NIV)?
2 comments:
Gail;
-----The Spirit being within us, as we are His temple, is the bright side of God’s awareness of our activities and thoughts. “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.” (Ps 15:3) “The LORD is in His holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test, the children of men.” (Ps 11:4) God is both witness and judge to everything we do, think, or feel. To us who know Him, this is a great comfort. To have the Lord’s presence all we have to do is be. To those who deny Him it should be frightening, but, “A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool throws off restraint and is careless.” (Prov 14:16) All a fool must do to escape his own knowing anything of God is turn off his better senses. It should be greatly discomforting to the fool that the Lord watches regardless. But with their better senses switched to “off” they won’t have any knowledge of His watching to discomfort them. I think it is called “ignorant bliss”, or “blissful ignorance”, or something like that. To anyone who must stand trial before His throne, His being both witness and judge should be terrifying. It is no wonder atheists get so hostile over any mention of the Lord whatsoever.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
PS
When understanding that God’s awareness of all actions, thoughts, and feelings is tantamount to His being the witness as well as the Judge to those who must stand trial, their problem is compounded by the fact that God’s witness does not stop with their own actions. Not only does God witness what one does, He also witnesses the full effect of the action upon the victim, including the victim’s thoughts and feelings in response to what was perpetrated upon him. And in the Lord’s infinite knowledge and discernment, He fully understands the cascade of effects following from what was done to the victim. Sometimes those effects do not end, ever. Many people have been physically crippled by the sins and crimes of others. Some of those people choose grudges and retaliation in response instead of forgiveness. Bitterness leads many into eternal graves. No pun intended, but it is a grave thing to stand trial before the Almighty and Holy God who is both key witness and Judge. Better to know Jesus who will dismiss your case (which will irk atheists to no end on that great Judgment Day.)
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