Who Created Who - Day 63 Month3-4 Week 9-7

Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)


Exodus 40 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2040&version=NASB1995

Psalm 52 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2052&version=NASB1995

Isaiah 45:8-25 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2045%3A8-25&version=NASB1995

Mark 9:38-10:12 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%209%3A38-10%3A12&version=NASB1995


Who Created Who?


In Exodus, we read “Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.”  Once again we are reminded of how powerful and sovereign God is. A perfect God can only accept a perfect human in His presence. Only one perfect man existed - Jesus.   In Isaiah, God gives an analogy of who He is compared to man.  Isaiah 45:9 states, “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker - an earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!  Will the clay say to the Potter, “what are you doing?”  


For many years, my prayers were, “Lord, I want to do this…..please bless” or “Lord, I need this…please provide.”  Jesus says, God will supply all our needs so what’s wrong with that kind of prayer?  It’s very simple.  In these examples,  I’m placing myself at par with God rather than Him being my creator. I’ve just treated God as if He were my personal butler. 


There are some people who have been seriously taken advantage of because their Pastor was using this same line of “butler” thinking for His personal benefit. It’s called prosperity theology;  it’s how some false preachers have become very rich.  You see, it goes something like this:  “Send me your $100 and God will reward you tenfold.”  One can understand why a person in need or in greed might send every dollar they have to this preacher  if God’s going to multiply it tenfold.  The problem is, God’s not your butler, He’s your Creator!  Many desperate people who can’t afford it, will send their last $100 believing they’ve got $1000 coming to them.  They never see a dime in the end!  I heard one preacher say, “God doesn’t want you to drive a Chevy, when you could have a Cadillac!”  “Our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, He’ll provide you a Cadillac!”  Meanwhile, the preacher is taking God’s Word out of context, and the preacher is pocketing that money to get a private jet.  And if questioned about not receiving anything back, nevermind tenfold, the preacher will use guilt or shame on those folks saying they either didn’t pray the right way or they are too sinful.


Meanwhile, Jesus is saying in our Mark reading, “Whoever causes one of these little ones to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.”  Jesus, is referring to misleading children but the same can also be applied to the weak minded, gullible or desperate.


When we start focusing on ourselves, Mark 9:50 comes into play.  We have lost our saltiness.  Jesus followers are called to be Salt and Light to the world, to Love God and Love others.  When we make ourselves out to be at par with God, we lose our saltiness because it becomes about us rather than about God.


In Isaiah 45:21-22 God says, “...there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Saviour; There is none except Me.  Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other”


If my prayer at the beginning was, “Lord, You've asked me to do this, but I think I need  (…something) to accomplish it; but if Your plan is different, please provide what I need to accomplish Your will.  I ask this in the name of Jesus (why we ask in Jesus’ name is a discussion for another day),” you are acknowledging the absolute sovereignty of  God. 


In my experience, I always try to acknowledge God as sovereign and as my Creator. Because He loves His people more than we can ever imagine, my needs have always been met and sometimes beyond, but it’s because God wills it for His own purposes, not mine!


Have a great day!

Steve


You can subscribe to this blog and receive an email each day or week.  Just visit the following link. https://follow.it/my-faith-view-from-here-daily-readings-and-thoughts?leanpub


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 15 - Week 3 Day1 Let Your Heart Rest

Today's reading Genesis 24:61 - End of 25 Psalms 14 Isaiah 12 - 13:5 Matthew 11 Thought for today (sorry but this is heavy) Today my heart is heavy.  I couldn't sleep well.  I figured that I may as well get up and do my morning reading and blog post.  So much is going on this world!  So much death.  So much war.  I long for what we read about yesterday of the eventual peace that will be in God's Kingdom.  In Psalm 14 from today's reading, we read "The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God."  They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good...They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one. "  This is a Psalm of David, Israel's great king who God describes as a man after His own heart.  I think it's because David always wore his heart on his sleeve.  He was real and you see it in the Psalms he wrote.   My heart is heavy because...
Read more

Day 25 Week 4 Day 4 Green Pastures

Today's reading (Bible in 1 year) Genesis 36 Psalm 23 Isaiah 22:1-14 Matthew 17 Last evening, my wife, Sylvia, read a statement to me from a bishop in the Episcopalian church in New Hampshire.  He advised his Episcopal clergy to get their affairs and wills in order "because it may be that now is no longer the time for statements, but for us with our bodies to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable".  Sometimes, peacemaking puts one in the place where death is a possibility in the protection of the most vulnerable.  It's an ominous thing to think about. Today we read Psalm 23.  What a powerful Psalm to read in it's fullness but hopefully you just read it and I'll simply mention verse 4 where it says " Even though I walk through the valley of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me " Did you hear that?   You are with me! On November 16, 2025 my mom passed away and went to be with Jesus, 2 days before her 98th birthday.  My mo...
Read more

Day 20 - Week 3 Day 6 The Rock

Today's reading (Bible in 1 Year) - If you have not read my introduction or blog from the beginning, I felt a strong motivation to read the whole Bible in a year and discover something new each day to share. Genesis 30:25 - end of 30 Psalm 18 Isaiah 17 Matthew 13:44 - end of 13 Thought for the day We have rocks!  We live on a rocky shore and our whole property is full of rocks.  You can't dig down more than 6" anywhere on our property and not find a rock.  It's very frustrating when you're trying to dig a garden or plant a tree.  Interesting though, they shift.  Every spring, my mower finds new rock locations.  During the winter freeze and thaw and freeze and thaw and freeze and thaw (that's how it is here), the rocks in the ground shift again and again.   There is one rock on our property that does not shift!  At the shore we have a lava rock outcropping.  It's goes out about 20 ft and and at high tide, you can touch the water from it. ...
Read more