Thoughts from reading today:
"... He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous..." (Matthew 5:45)
I am reminded today that God will bless who He will bless. Why? One, because of His word - if He says so, He will do it. That's who God is. And two, God created everything and everything is created to worship God. God sends down rain and lets the sun shine on the righteous and unrighteous. He gave His one and only son to the whole world full of sinners, knowing that many will never profess willingly that Jesus is Lord and Savior. Blessings will come - expected or unexpected, deserved or undeserved, faithful or unfaithful.
"Blessed is the man you discipline, O LORD, the man you teach from your law" (Psalm 94:12)
God disciplines me. Why? Not just because right is right and wrong is wrong. But in my learned obedience to God, I bring Him glory.
"Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation... For the Lord is the great God... In his hand are the depths of the earth... The sea is his, for he made it..." (Psalm 95:1,3-5)
Why praise God? The psalmist puts it simply: because "the Lord is the great God". Not because of necessarily what He's done for lil ol' me, and certainly not because I have anything of worth to give to God, but simply because He IS.
"And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black" (Matthew 5:36)
Everything in creation is the LORD's. I own nothing, not even my life. How can I even swear by anything, including my own life, if it is not under my control? I give freely because it wasn't mine to give anyway.
Everything is for God's glory - whether I acknowledge it or not, in the end, God will be glorified. He sure doesn't need me - He can make the rocks cry out in my place! Yet, I am just amazed at how God continues to bless me especially when I know I did nothing to earn any kind of reward.
God provided the Israelites manna, meat, guidance, water, and everything they ever needed for a whole generation - despite their complaining and continued disobedience. But why doesn't he completely annihilate them for their sinful ways? Because through these people, God will display His glory - and even in disobedience, God will still be glorified. Wow.
I wake up and am blessed by the rising sun every morning. I didn't do squat to make it come up. I am blessed regardless. How can I ever think that "for even a moment that the point of it all was to make much of me"? For His glory. Make much of Christ.
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