Admiring and Applauding God. R. Bruce Stevens

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СКАЧАТЬ into nouns. Some of the terms I came up with may cause grammarians to cringe a bit; nevertheless, I believe the form is helpful in conveying certain aspects of God’s nature.

      The verses I use are from the 1984 edition of the New International Version (NIV). If you use the NIV, you might find that your version may have some slightly different phrasing due to revisions to the NIV since it was first published.

      How to Use This Book

      A suggested method for using this book is to select one of the terms as the beginning point of your prayer time and then reflect on the verse, the term, and what it reveals of God. Take time to let your mind run with the term, meditating and reflecting on its meaning and then applying that meaning to God to reveal something of his nature. The Holy Spirit will likely bring to your mind additional thoughts (or thoughts more helpful to your life circumstances) related to the term than those I include. The few descriptions I have provided will hopefully provoke your own thinking and application.

      Following a time of praising God, it is natural to drift into giving thanks, confessing, and asking God to help us and those we love in the very area upon which we have been meditating.

      Ability-giver

      But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

      —Deut 8:18

      • We owe our abilities in life to a variety of sources, e.g., our parents, teachers, professors, etc., and from our own study and life experiences.

      • God is an Ability-giver. As the Israelites were poised to enter the promised land, they were warned not to forget the Lord or mistakenly think they had attained that land or prospered in it due to their own abilities. We face a similar temptation, forgetting that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (Jas 1:17). God gives us our parents, our unique genetic code, our health, our temperament, and opportunities to go to school, get a job, and more. Our possessions and accomplishments have very little to do with us but everything to do with God. If we were born in another time or place, our lives would be so different. What we have in life and what we have attained in life ultimately comes from God.

      • Praise God, our Ability-giver.

      Acceptor

      Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”

      —Acts 10:34–35

      • It is upsetting when qualified people are bypassed by hiring managers because a less-qualified relative or family friend was hired instead.

      • We tend to exclude others who are not like us or who do not share our race, denomination, theology, social standing, politics, etc. We consciously and unconsciously judge who is worthy of our acceptance.

      • God does not show favoritism but is willing to accept people regardless of their past sins, their family status, their education, appearance, etc.

      • Jesus is the reason we have been accepted by God the Father, despite the fact that we had ignored or rejected him for years.

      • Praise the Lord, who accepts us when we had no merit of our own.

      • Praise God, who invites any and all to come to him and find acceptance.

      Adopter

      For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will . . .

      —Eph 1:4–5

      • Adoption is a wonderful practice. Children who have no parents to love them—orphans, wards of the state, and street children—are welcomed into the hearts and homes of loving families.

      • Praise God, who loved us enough to adopt us into his family, not caring about our past.

      • Praise God that Jesus is willing to consider us his brothers and sisters: “So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers” (Heb 2:11b). And, “He replied, ‘My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice’” (Luke 8:21).

      Afflicter

      I know, O Lord, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

      —Ps 119:75

      “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word”

      —Ps 119:67

      “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn you decrees”

      —Ps 119:71

      • Most of our notions about affliction are entirely negative—we picture leprosy, cancer, and worse. But affliction can be a good thing. It can motivate us to change our direction, attitudes, or behavior.

      • God loves us enough to use the hard side of love—to do whatever is necessary for us to be safe and to teach us to be better people.

      • Praise God for his wise, fatherly love, even when it is expressed in affliction.

      • Reflect on Jesus, who chose to be afflicted so that we could experience the love and forgiveness of God the Father.

      Alien-lover

      He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.

      —Deut 10:18

      • When the Bible speaks of aliens, it does not refer to little green men in spaceships. Rather, it refers to those who have left their birth country to live in a foreign land. Many aliens live as second-class citizens and do not enjoy the privileges or blessings of native citizens.

      • God loves aliens. God’s plan from the early pages of the Bible was to bless all nations and peoples through Abraham and Israel so that all would enjoy full citizenship in God’s kingdom, regardless of their nation of birth.

      • Praise the Lord for his love for the defenseless and the weak—the alien, the widow, and the orphan.

      • Reflect on our Lord Jesus, who chose to leave the glories of heaven and become an alien in his own world, suffering abuse and discrimination. Because he chose to become an alien, no one needs to remain an alien. Thank you, Jesus!

      Anger-restrainer

      Yet he was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.

      —Ps 78:38–39

      • Perhaps you СКАЧАТЬ