The beautiful God we serve

Thou wilt show me the path of life: In thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Psalm 16:11

God is beautiful. From head to toe he is completely beautiful.

The beauty of his forehead can be seen in the creases from worry and concern over the follies of men. The deep creases from years and generations of disobedience and sin. His beautiful forehead bears lines formed from watching our lord Jesus afflicted on the cross, shedding his blood for the sins of this world. When I think of this beautiful God and begin at his forehead, the lines of worry are so beautiful because when I worried and when I cried, when I failed and when I sinned a deeper crease was formed in the beautiful forehead of my God.

The eyes of God are beautiful; his sparkling beautiful eyes. These eyes that have seen everything that there ever was to see, these eyes have been a witness to everything ever done. My heart cries for the things my God’s beautiful eyes have been forced to see. The things that have been done in this world and the things that I have done. I never want to do anything else that will make those beautiful eyes of God misty, lest he weep for my transgressions again. The eye s of my beautiful God see beyond the physical, they see into the spirit. He is El Roy – The God that truly sees, and he sees with eyes so beautiful, he sees with eyes so clear.

My God has a beautiful nose. The nose that told Abel’s sacrifice from that of Cain, the nose that breathes life into dust and a man is formed. When I think of all that this beautiful nose has had to smell, I think of the fumes from burning homes and the smoke from chaos and war, as the smoke goes up to heaven! We hold our noses when we are disgusted in an attempt not to breathe…but the beautiful nose of my God never ceases to breathe, even when the smell is rancid for if he did then we are dead. And so we sin and sin and give God death to breathe, and the beautiful nose of God inhales it all at once and breathes life to all of us.

And what can is say of the beautiful lips of God; These lips that speak the beautiful word of God? The earth was in darkness and the spirit moved over water, until the beautiful lips of my God parted to say “Let there be light” and there was light. Oh these beautiful lips that never stop speaking. Generation after generation they speak to congregation and after congregation. The beautiful lips of my God have never stopped moving since they said Let there be light. And even when the words fell on deaf ears, the beautiful lips of my God never stopped giving the beautiful word of God. Thank you Jesus…

Who has known the beautiful shoulders of God, or even considered the perfect shoulders of God? Perfect to shoulder the burdens of this world and the heavy weight of sin. My heart is moved as I wonder that a shoulder so burdened would so eagerly invite sinner after sinner to add to that burden. "Come ye who labor" this beautiful shoulder says, come lay your burden on me. My yoke is easy, my burden is light, but I will add on yours to all that I carry. Oh my beautiful God, I would have to wade through a million sins and a billion issues to ever see your shoulders for they are covered and saddled by the issues of life!

The hands of God are a beautiful sight. His arms are strong and mighty to save and his beautiful palms are wet from blood and tears: The blood from the cross and the tears from our eyes. Oh they are beautiful! There are many things in the palm of his hand….the scars from the nails, the inscription of our names…and the entire world in the palm of his beautiful hands…Hands that are clean, hands that are pure, hands that soiled themselves for our sake…hands that extend only to give and never to take. I praise the beautiful hands of my beautiful God.

The feet of my God are a sight to see. Words cannot express how beautiful they are. Oh that I could wash them with my tears and my hair and an alabaster with oil. But my God forsook his beautiful feet to wash the feet of men. His beautiful feet bring him swiftly to our side, the feet that blaze a trail before us. I was in the middle of a desert with nothing else in sight and at dawn I cast my eyes all around me and saw the beautiful footprints of God…I could not see him but his footprints outnumbered mine!

God is a Spirit

Oh brothers and sisters, we cannot see this beautiful God for he is a spirit. He told Moses that no man can see him and live Exodus 33:20. Paul spoke of it in II Corinthians 4:10 “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body” The only way to see this beautiful God is to bear in our own body the dying of Jesus…the only way to see him is to die to ourselves.

I urge you…see the worried crease in the forehead of God…he has seen you with eyes so clear and wants to breathe his life into you from his beautiful nose. Listen to the words from his lips and lay your burdens on his shoulders. His hands will catch you when you fall as you worship him at his feet. In the mighty name of Jesus…blessed, beautiful Jesus.

Our Father in heaven

Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou O Lord art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting. Isaiah 63:16

I see your face when I look in the mirror…I hear your voice when I laugh
I feel your presence and I know you’re my hero, my friend, my love, and my dad.

The above is an excerpt from a Poem that I wrote for my Dad. As I wrote it I recounted all the wonderful things that my Dad did for us while we were growing up as I considered that as fathers go no one could have done more for his children.

I recalled so many things from when I was growing up; some of them sobering others silly. Times when I would stay up waiting for my father to come back home from a long journey, I even remember my Dad teaching me how to spell my name. I remember my Dad came to my primary school to pick me up and as I saw him from the classroom I began to worry. You see I thought that he had lost both arms because his blazer hung from his shoulders but I couldn’t see his hands were in his pockets. I just sat in the classroom unable to move.

And so in all of this remembrance I can scarcely contain the truth that Is plain- I love this man.

But the humanity of an earthly father is not an issue that is easily settled in the hearts of his children. Alas his children do not stay children forever. As we grow we begin to understand that our fathers are human therefore not perfect, though our love is not diminished It matures as we see them as they truly are. As we grow in Christ and become “Children of God” we begin to understand that Children are a gift from God given to Parents as caretakers, spiritually our father is in heaven and he is God.

“As many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” John 1:12

Don’t give up your heritage: Brothers and sisters, what an inheritance you have in Christ. I believe that we live in a season where many of us do not understand just what a heritage we have as Children of God. If you have given your life to Christ you have been adopted into his Family, now the bible says that we are joint heirs with Christ.

What this means for you is that you are no longer subject to the laws that govern this world. The statistics that apply to the world no longer apply to you. The word of God has put the children of God beyond statistics when the Lord said “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come near thee” Psalm 121:7

It is indeed amusing how quick people of this world are to quote statistics. I have heard many people told things like “only 1 out of 3 people survive from this procedure”, “There are so many applicants and we are only taking a handful”. Before I took the CFA exam in June someone said to me “Do you really want to use books from a previous year when less than 50% of the people who take the exam pass?” All the while the spirit of God wants us to see that if we live in the spirit then we are no longer subject to the laws of this world. Now we are subject to something greater than the law of this world, something greater than the law of the old covenant between God and the Israelites, now we are subject to the word made flesh – Jesus. We are subject to the word of God. Why should we believe the world’s opinion about our chances, our future, and our lives when our father has already said something about it?

When I was growing up if my father said something I believed him. Even when it didn’t happen, next time he said it again I would believe. How much more our father in heaven whose word does not come back void, who cannot lie? How much more do we believe his promises that are yes and amen?

Do not give up your power: As a child of God your father in heaven has given you power – not unto you but that his name might be glorified. The word of God says that “As many as received him, to them he gave power to become Sons of God”.

Jesus said “If you say to this mountain move and you do not doubt it in your heart it will surely move”. Matthew 21:21 This is the power that we have as children of God. The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the grave is at our disposal.

It amazes me how many in this world spend their lives pursuing wealth and power when there is no other power like the power of Jesus and there is no wealth like the riches of heaven.

We build political, corporate and social hierarchy’s. Categorize, rank and esteem people on the basis of their earthly influence. Our father in heaven is not interested in any of that. The most powerful person that ever walked this earth was born in an animal shed in a little town called Bethlehem. But there was a time in a river when the heavens opened and a dove descended and a voice from heaven said “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased”. Matthew 3:17

The more obedient we are to our father and the more we seek his face the greater his power in our lives.

Do not give up – God is able and willing

So do not start worrying: “Where will my food come from, or my drink, or my clothes? (These are the thing the pagans are always concerned about). Your father in heaven knows that you need all these things. Matthew 6:31-32

Brothers and sisters your father knows your most intimate needs and desires. The enemy knows your heritage and he knows the power that you have in Christ. He also knows that if he can get you to doubt God by worrying, if he can put the spirit of fear in you then he has robbed you of your inheritance.

Too many of us do not receive from God because we either don’t believe that he can help us or we don’t believe that he is willing.

God is able – The bible says we should test the lord and see that he is good. God is able to surpass our wildest dreams and ambitions because he is God.

I remember watching a program on television where Senator Obama was asked if believed that God created the world in 7 days and I thought: If God can create this world, the mountains, the oceans and everything else then surely he can do it in whatever period of time he wants.

Are you waiting on God for something? I want you to know that doing the impossible is what God has been doing since he created man. We serve a God of miracle who is not restricted by time, circumstances, and certainly not by men whom he created. God is able.

God is willing – This is a hard one for many of us as we struggle to grasp God’s will for our lives. What God has made for you he has specially made for you and you must hold on to receive it.

When the children of Israel were journeying to the promised land they came across the land inhabited by the Children of Esau (Jacob/Israel’s brother), God told the Children of Israel not to strive with them because this land he has given to the Children of Esau. They came again unto the land inhabited by the Children of Lot (Abraham’s nephew) and the lord told them the same thing: Do not distress them, continue on. (See Deuteronomy: 2)

That God is not giving you now something you want may be that it is not the right time, or that he has something better in store for you. Brothers and Sisters, as Children of God these are the only options: It is not yet time or there is something better. God is willing and wants a better life for his children more than they can want it for themselves.

My father on earth saw me doing a PhD when I was still concerned about my bachelors, how much more for me does my father in heaven see? The bible has called him El Roy: The God that truly sees. Your father in heaven loves you and he sees the best for you. To him be the glory for who he is, for all he has done in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen