Admiring and Applauding God. R. Bruce Stevens

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СКАЧАТЬ our burden of sin on his shoulders on the cross.

      Caller

      But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach to the Gentiles, I did not consult any man.

      —Gal 1:15–16

      • Can you recall the moment when you came under strong conviction of your need for a Savior? The testimony of many is that they found themselves compelled from within to respond to the gospel message.

      • God invites, calls, and even “commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30b). Beyond this general call, there is another call from God that is more specific.

      • Praise God for the amazing and yet mysterious way that he draws lost people to himself. Those who were spiritually blind, disinterested, and lost now see, become keenly interested, and are found! How sweet the sound of this amazing grace that saved such lost sinners as we.

      Carrier

      You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

      — Exod 19:4

      Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions.

      —Deut 32:11

      • Throughout North America, the bald eagle is making a comeback. It is an increasingly common sight to see an eagle in majestic flight.

      • God compares himself to a great eagle and us to baby eaglets. Just as an eagle can swoop under an eaglet that founders in flight, so the Lord swoops down to catch us when we are either unable to fly or lack the confidence to do so. We all fall at times and need the strong wings of God to swoop under us to lift us up and keep us from harm.

      • Praise the God who catches and carries us when we stumble or fall.

      • Praise the Lord Jesus, who was willing to fall to his own great hurt on the cross so that we would be lifted up to safety.

      Celebrator

      But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.

      —Luke 15:32

      • Families celebrate people, events, and milestones—things like birthdays, new jobs, births, graduations, last student loan payments, etc.

      • We have a God who celebrates. As the father in the story of the lost brothers (better known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son), God declares that “we had to celebrate and be glad.” Just as our homes ring with the joy and laughter of celebrations, so does God’s in heaven when even one sinner repents and comes home.

      • Jesus said, “there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:9).

      • Reflect on our celebrating God and his rejoicing over us when we come to faith.

      Changeless

      But you remain the same, and your years will never end.

      —Ps 102:27

      • It is hard to think of anything in this world that does not change. It is the nature of things to do so. Well, not all things.

      • God is both timeless and changeless. He is Mr. Dependable in a world of fickleness and forgetfulness. As he was when we first knew him, so is he now and will be forever.

      • Reflect on the reliability and dependability of God and his words in the Bible in contrast to the world around us.

      • Praise God, the timeless and changeless one to whom we can anchor our lives.

      • Reflect on the Lord Jesus, the very same Jesus who walked this earth, and consider how thrilling it will be to see him face-to-face in heaven.

      Chastener

      The Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.

      —Ps 118:18

      • God delivered the psalmist into and out of the hands of an enemy, and in so doing, helped him learn the lesson of humility.

      • God’s love causes him to chasten us—to not only correct us when we go astray, but also to train us to be godly. His tools of chastening can include trying circumstances, disappointment, sickness, and hardship.

      • Just as good parents discipline and teach their children with consequences, so does God with his children. He is transforming us into the likeness of his Son, Jesus, and chastening us is one of the means he uses.

      • Praise God that his love prompts him to chasten us as he sees fit.

      • “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in” (Prov 3:11–12).

      Chariot-owner

      The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands; the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.

      —Ps 68:17

      • See also 2 Kgs 6:8–17.

      • The chariots of old were the tanks of modern warfare. Infantrymen respect the advantage tanks give on the battlefield.

      • If we were to talk about God’s might in military terms, we would need to replace chariots not with tanks but with the most technologically-advanced weapons system known to man. God is the only military super-power.

      • Reflect on the Almighty power of God and praise the One whose power protects and keeps us.

      • Consider the Lord Jesus, who will one day judge and make war against all nations that wickedly oppose God, bringing final and complete justice. Astride a white horse, he will lead the armies of heaven to victory (Rev 19:11–21).

      Chooser

      If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

      —John 15:19

      • Many a child has experienced the dread of waiting to be chosen for a pick-up game by the gifted (and often self-appointed) captains. Each child hopes for the honor of being chosen first and, barring that, hopes against hope not to suffer the indignity of being chosen last.

      • In the upper room, Jesus told the disciples that he chose them. Surely they recalled how he, after a night of prayer, selected the Twelve from a larger group of disciples.

      • Every Christian is a chosen person. СКАЧАТЬ