Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Thankful that God is worthy of praise

I will extol you, my God and King,
    and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you
    and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
    and his greatness is unsearchable.
~Psalm 145:1-3 (ESV)



No matter what happens, 
God is holy, almighty and good.

No matter what happens,
God is worthy of praise.

God created the Universe out of nothing.  

God loves the world.

God sent His only begotten Son into the world
to be the atoning sacrifice for all the sins of humanity. 

God tarries now, giving opportunity for the full number of the faithful to come to Him.

God will return to judge the world.

He will punish the wicked. 
He will reward the faithful.
And the faithful will praise His name. 

God is worthy of praise.

This is a great comfort to me.

When things go wrong, when life twists away, awry, painful, God is worthy of my praise.

Sin, pain and disappointment can obfuscate the glory of God, but they can't change the essence of the glory of God.

In the end, sin, pain and disappointment will be cast into the pit, along with the devil, and we will be completely free, forever, to bask in the glory of God. 

One of my favorite Bible passages tells of the end, when God will make all things right:

And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.  And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.  
~Revelation 20:7-10 (ESV)

Did you read that?  Did you see?  Satan assembles his forces for battle, and they gather, a massive force with numbers like the sand of the sea.  They march up against the beloved city, the people of God, surrounding them with menace.  And what happens?  Fire comes down from heaven and consumes the enemies of God before they fire a single shot.

There isn't even a battle.  God is the victor before the conflict even begins to rage.  And then God throws the devil into the lake of fire where he can never, ever hurt anybody again.

And I heard every creature in heaven 
and on earth and under the earth 
and in the sea, 
and all that is in them, 
saying,
“To him who sits on the throne 
and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory 
and might forever and ever!”
~Revelation 5:13 (ESV)


God is worthy of praise.



 

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