Great is He!

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.” (Psalm 147:3-5 NIV)

For those who have heard the disdain in the voices (or the printed words) of those who don’t understand God, take heart! No matter how many times or how many ways, the unbelieving attempt to undermine our faith, we know–Our God is great!

If having a broken heart from a broken relationship or the loss of loved ones led to our deaths (naturally), the world’s population would be at a deficit–for all who are compassionate. When we feel as though our hearts are shattered, He comes in like a flood, washing away all the hurt and pain, and overwhelming us with His love (if we allow Him to do it). Sometimes, people are so hurt behind the death of a loved one, especially a child or parent, they feel they simply cannot go on. But we can continue to move forward, appreciating life and the time we have on earth to do great things–in memory of those we have lost.

When we incur injuries that need to be bound to contain blood lost, the tighter the binding–bandage, wraps, whatever it takes, the greater the likelihood, we stem the flow of blood until we can get medical attention. God does the same thing for our emotional wounds that others cannot see. He binds them tightly, stemming the flow of anguish and bitterness until His love seals the wound and makes us whole again. 

Since we know He cares enough about the stars to know their number and names, how much more can we expect Him to care about us? He knows our thoughts before we think them, He knows our desires before we speak them, the very hairs on our head are numbered by Him, and He cares about everything that will keep our focus off Him. His love is amazing and His mercy endures beyond our individual lifespans from generation to generation.

When He delights in us–there are no limits to what we can do when we do all to glorify Him. He is our Father and like any loving parent, He only wants what is best for us. And since that is the case, sometimes, He has to deny our requests that will distract us or harm us. So, when we don’t always get what we want, we must remember–He knows best, and He will always provide our needs.

Great is He who loves us beyond measure!

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Praise The Name of Jesus!

“Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven” (Psalm 148:13) .

Who is the “them” referenced in this statement? The them is everything and everyone mentioned in the previous verses–the stars, the heavens, the elements, the oceans, the earth, everything in the earth, on the earth, and everyone–young and old alike. In other words--all of God’s creation should praise Him.

The birds sing their praises, the squirrels and I’m sure other animals praise Him; I just haven’t had an opportunity to observe them all. The most amazing thing about animals is the fact that they do exactly what they were intended to do. The stars shine in the night, the sun provides warmth and light, the moon does what does, the clouds do their thing, the rain, snow, ice, all do what they were meant to do. Everything and every animal knows their role. What happened to us–the human beings–the higher order of intelligence–why can’t we do what we’re supposed to do?

Perhaps, for some–their intelligence deludes them into believing they are wiser than God. Perhaps, this is the reason they refute all belief in God. Perhaps.  Perhaps, human beings are not the higher order of intelligence; we just think we are.

But then there are some–who attempt to do just what we’re supposed to do–love God and love others. We don’t always do things right or perfectly, but our hearts are sincere and our desire is open before God. It is our openness to God that makes a difference between those who believe Him and those who don’t. We who believe don’t make excuses to not serve Him, we simply do it to the best of our ability. Those who do not believe use their unbelief to ignore Him and when we praise Him, they simply do not understand.

We were created to praise Him–to give Him all glory for it truly belongs to Him and Him alone. When we praise man and self more than God, we have created other gods. When we give credence to things rather than God, we have created other gods. Nothing made by the hands of man deserves our praise. For we cannot create anything we need in order to make anything–He has already created all that is created for our benefit, not our praise.

Lord Jesus, we give You all the praise for You are the only One worthy of it. We will praise You from the mountain tops to the valleys and raise our voices in praise of You until the stars and heavens rejoice with us in our praise to You. We will cause a movement in the oceans so strong with our praise that every deep thing in it will praise with us. No one like You, Lord! No one who could ever do the things that You do for those You love! No one can love us the way You do! No can provide for us the way You do! No one can heal us like You do! You are everything we need and You are more than enough!