Tag: Empty

God Shows Himself to All People

th006S2DX4

          In the following piece of scripture it is revealed that God reveals Himself to all people. He makes His presence and power clear through His creation. Every person in this world has had a moment where they marvel at nature, an indescribable joy, a new born child, the kindness of a stranger or some other moment that caught their attention. They are looking into the face of God and have no idea how to explain the way their spirit seems to illuminate in the presence of the power of their Creator.

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man….. (Romans 1:18-23a)

          God makes His presence clear to all and it is the darkened heart that denies the source. The heart is blinded by false wisdom, pride, arrogance, and sometimes shame that covers God’s presence. They idolize the things of this world and are willing accept the happiness of earthly moments as an exchange for the joy found in earth’s Creator and Sustainer.

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature (creation) rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25)

          God puts eternity in all men’s hearts. He has put eternity into man’s heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11)  He creates a longing that is meant to seek Him but gets soiled in man’s fallenness and then given over to addictions (alcohol, drugs, pornography), sin (greed, lust, envy), and idolatry (money, sex, vanity, attention); all in attempt to fill a void that only the Father can fill. How many people that seem successful by worldly standards later admit that they are truly empty? They sink deeper into despair when they are lost because the world they are meant to shine light into by reflecting their creator blows out the flame they have built for themselves. They seek a powerless source and neglect the only everlasting God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

          God, in His infinite wisdom, even went so far as to come to earth in the flesh and show His love to us through His teachings and eventually the sacrifice of His body as an atonement for our sin. He presented His plan in the Old Testament through prophecy and then fulfilled it in Jesus. He made the Word flesh so that His glory could be visible. God literally loves us so much that He left Heaven and stood among us to fill that void and reconcile us to Him. God has made His presence clear throughout history and the arrogance and blindness of man has seen them explain away God in exchange for something they can control and take credit for discovering. Science does nothing more than give man a false sense of power and control. It doesn’t explain away God, it just proves His methods and shows His glory to a world that must sink deeper into the darkness to avoid the eternal light.

32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1:32)

          All history shows people seeking God. The Greeks had gods that lived on Olympus, the Egyptians built statues and monuments, and many other religions have designed gods to suit their desires and fit into a cultural box they have created. The true God placed that longing into all men and then showed Himself through creation for all time. He has no need to change to suit man so they have chosen to change Him into a powerless imaginary god or deny Him all together in their pride and arrogance. Know that all men have felt His calling, they have felt the emptiness only He is meant to dwell in, and they have seen him with their eyes.

          It is up to us as believers, who have allowed His Spirit to dwell within us, to reflect His light and His love so that the lost can find their way home; because we are more proof that God is going to show Himself to every person we will ever meet.  

Always Empty, Forever in Search of Wholeness

thTP5WYB9U

Sit and think about the people of this world, constantly in search of purpose and pleasure. The problem is the search will always remain futile because there is no end when the search remains limited to earthly availability. God creates a longing in every person’s heart. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)  He has put eternity into man’s heart. God places a longing that can only be satisfied in Him. Just listen to the emptiness that exist when worldly happiness fades and the longing for God remains. People seek idols and lifestyles in an attempt to quench a thirst that desires the living water of God through Jesus. (John 4:14) whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. In a search for spiritual satiety, hardened hearts search out substitutes for God that leave them lonely. (Romans 1:21-23) 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images. The dark/ hardened/foolish heart turns from the longing, placed in them by God, away from Jesus, away from the eternal things that will not die with the rest of the world. (John 6:35) 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. As believers who know what it is to delight in the completeness only found in Jesus, we must be examples to the lost who search, in vein, for an alternative. (John 6:27) 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. We must remain steadfast in our pursuit of Jesus, His peace, and His joy; which are not affected by emotional uncertainty promised outside the guiding light of God. (Psalm 107:9) For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things. It is extremely difficult to turn from the self-absorbed world and turn control over to God. There is an immediate fear of falling behind or being stepped on as the world clamors for idols. It’s in our faith that we know those idols will fade and the glory of our God will shine forward into eternity as we find peace in His steadfastness. The red line of the earthly may seem exciting at times. But the emptiness in the end is inevitable. As the green line of the believer learns to turn to the direction of God, the reliance on earthly things fades and the eternal view of God is now possible.

graph

(Isaiah 55:1-3) Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price (only your love and obedience).2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good (of God), and delight yourselves in rich food (eternally satisfying). 3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live (in peace forever)