Sunday, August 3, 2008

Good To Be Back!


The God Who Holds Your Life In His Hands

Daniel 5.23

the God Who holds in His Hand your life and all your ways

It is interesting how the Word of God is a double edged sword in that to a follower of Jesus Christ something can be comforting and the very same truth to some one like Belshazzar who set himself up against the LORD of heaven, very frightening.

If you are following Jesus this morning then this verse brings great comfort to your soul. Following the LORD brings you all His promises. You get to see how He is faithful to all of them.

Belshazzar and his guests were praising the gods of gold, silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone while drinking out of the golden goblets that had bring brought from Jerusalem to Babylon when his father destroyed the temple. These were sanctified and only to be used by the priests in worship and that only when they had cleansed themselves. In an act of defiance towards God, he did this very foolish thing. They were paying homage to gods which could not see or hear, while ignoring God that Who sees and hear everything, even the thoughts and motives of the heart Daniel told this King that God had been watching him and that he failed to honor God. But for those who do honor and love Him...


1. This God

*The God of Israel

God Who created the heavens and the earth - it is such a wonderful discovery that He cares about me
The Macro Setting on my digital camera enables me to take incredible close ups of the flowers. The detail and design in these flowers are amazing. With this setting I get to see things not visible to the eye alone. If that is how God has put such detail into the flowers which are here today and gone tomorrow and we cannot see with the naked eye, how much more wonderful is the detail He has placed in your life

With wonderful detail He has put into your life great blessings so you can praise Him and worship Him and love Him.

He holds in His Hand your life and all your ways.
Hand= hand, power

He had saved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the fiery furnace- Nebuchadnezzar said that the fourth man looked like the Son of God. It was Jesus was there with them

He was going to save Daniel (next chapter in the loins’ den)
He will be with you always.

Sometimes His power is not in dramatic rescues like these three men and likeDaniel experienced but in the fact that in times of tragedy and loss and testing and sorrow His power keeps you. The power to go on is from the LORD as well.
It is in those times we find that we do have an anchor for the soul. Jesus is that anchor, the Rock of Ages.

2. Your Life

He holds your life in His Hand. Your times are in His Hands. Psalm 31.5

This means the very breath we take. God gives us breath.

When the worst happened to Jesus on Good Friday (Worst for Him- best for us ) He said at the end of His life, “Father into Your Hands I commit My spirit.” (Luke 23.46) and when He said this He breathed His last.

If you are tempted to worry about tomorrow or even if you have fallen into that temptation and are fretting this morning the good news is you don’t have to

Psalm 102.25 In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your Hands.Creation

Psalm 119.73 Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn Your commands. My birth

Psalm 138.8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever— do not abandon the works of Your hands. The reason for my life.

Psalm 143.5 I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all Your works and consider what Your hands have done. To strengthen my walk... His Hands in all

Do not worry about tomorrow. You are in the hands of God. There is no better place to be These same hands that laid the foundations of the earth and create the heavens are the ones you are in Remember how He has been with you so far

3. Your Ways

You path is in His hands. We follow the LORD. That does not mean everything is easy, rather sometimes it is hard. It is difficult and at times impossible to understand. Life can bring some unspeakable suffering to us, even as we follow Jesus. Those are the times when we must trust that our ways, the very path we are on is indeed in God’s Hands. Job said it, “ 9 When He is at work in the north, I do not see Him; when He turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of Him. 10 But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold. 11 My feet have closely followed His steps; I have kept to His way without turning aside. (Job 23)
Grasp a little of what Job was saying here in regards to what he had been through. He lost everything except his faith in God. He is telling us that in following the LORD we might experience great loss. There will be times when we cannot see God’s Hand.

I love what Spurgeon said, “
God is too good to be unkind; He is too wise to be mistaken,
and when you cannot trace His hand you can always trust His heart.

Sometimes when we read quotes like this one, we think how good it sounds but how difficult it is to practice. Spurgeon who battled depression his whole ministry knew it first hand. At times he became bed-ridden with it. In whatever situation you find yourself, you can apply this truth. God loves you. Jesus never fails.

If the course of your life is set at pleasing the LORD, aiming at that then there are blessings that are yours as a result. All the promises of God are yours in Jesus


4. Honor Him With All He Has Given To You.

Adorn the LORD with the praise He deserves- it will take eternity to do that.

Glorify Him in your life by loving Him and living holy.

Let your life be all for Jesus.

Pay honor to (Psalm 96.1-8)

This is not just lip service. This is action. We need to act upon the love we have in our hearts for Jesus.

Show partiality. He is God No one else. I was witnessing to a saleslady in the mall the other day when Lucy and I were there. She was singing along with the music. I asked her if she attended church and she said, “No. I am a Muslim.” But there was something about it that made me feel she had some background in the church and when I proceeded to ask more questions I found out her grandmother used to bring her to her Baptist Church as a little girl. She now worships Allah. But there is only one true God and that is the LORD. I could not condone what she had done. We honor God by knowing He is unique. He alone is God
Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Psalm 100.3

Don’t bury talents, Seek Him Supremely.

Honor the God Who holds in His Hand your life and all your ways.

Trust in Him with all your heart
Do not lean on your own understanding
In all you do acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.

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