365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 93: God of Heaven

God of Heaven

"Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever." (Psalm 136:26 NIV)

My daughters once asked my mom what heaven would be like. My mom told them, "Whatever you want will be there."

My mom was not saying that whatever my girls wanted at that moment or during their life on earth in general would be in heaven; she was telling them that if there was something they wanted when they got to heaven, they would have it. Wanting something we do not have is incompletion, but in the many rooms of our Father's house (John 14:2), we will find everything our hearts are longing for. 

Yet God of the then-and-there is also God of the here-and-now. He's with us in the rooms we're living in on earth. 

The joy room.

The expectation room.

The grief room.

The classroom.

The waiting room.

These rooms can be messy. (Sort of like my teenager's bedroom some days.)

That mess is our own fault, of course. In "Thoughts To Make Your Heart Sing," Sally Lloyd-Jones writes that "God made his world to be our perfect home. But sin has spoiled everything."

Yet:"did God abandon us? Did he just look down from heaven at the mess we made? No. He didn't just look down. He came down. God himself came down."

The God of heaven came down. Whatever room you're living in right now, He's there with you, lavishing on you His love that endures forever. 

365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 92: God Who Can Be Seen

God Who Can Be Seen

"My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you." (Job 42:5 NIV)

I've admitted in the past that I sometimes wish I could "see" God the way a few of His people in ancient times were allowed to see Him: as a burning bush (okay, that was only one person, and Moses at that, but still); as a pillar of cloud or fire; in the flesh.

But then I have to remind myself that these were instances when God showed Himself in some physical form to a relatively small number of people for a relatively short period of time. His greater goal is for all people to see Him all the time, at any time. 

God is immortal and invisible, but He is also relational and revealed. 

He is the God Who Sees, and He is also the God Who Can Be Seen. 

Job saw Him: "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you." (Job 42:5).

Hagar saw Him: "She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: 'You are the God who sees me,' for she said, 'I have now seen the One who sees me'" (Genesis 16:13).

Mary saw Him: "Mary of Magdala went to the disciples with the news: 'I have seen the Lord!'" (John 20:18).  (Admittedly, Mary saw Him in the flesh, but I truly believe she was also proclaiming a sighting that went far beyond seeing His physical body.)

We see the God Who Can Be Seen through what He has made: "For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made" (Romans 1:20).

We see Him through what He has done: "I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me. The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. The LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes" (Psalm 118:13,14,23).

We see Him through what my Bible's reference section calls "the telescope of faith": "By faith, [Moses] left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27).

Dear friends, how I pray you'll get a glimpse or a full-on view of God today and that when you do, your mind and heart echo Mary's shout: "I have seen the Lord!"

365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 91: Victor

Victor

"Now I know that the Lord gives victory to His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with mighty victories from His right hand. (Psalm 20:6 CSB)

Braveheart is one of my husband's favorite movies. This is not a movie I watch with him, but I've heard him talk about it enough to know that it is inspired by the true story of Sir William Wallace, a Scotsman who led an uprising against an English tyrant. Wallace fought valiantly, and his efforts ultimately brought about the independence of Scotland—but not while he was alive to see it.

One reason I don't watch this movie with my husband is because it does not have what I consider to be a happy ending: Wallace comes to a gruesome demise, which, according to my husband's research, is actually softened in the movie. William Wallace was a great warrior, but he was not a victor—at least not insofar as he knew when his life was decidedly over. 

But God. 

God is not only a God who wars; He is a God who wins. 

He is both Warrior and Victor.

When we, in faith, choose His side, we win, too. And love is always the greatest victory.

This is how love wins
Every single time.

Climbing high upon a tree

Where someone else should die.

This is how love heals

The deepest part of you.

Letting himself bleed into

The middle of your wounds.

This is what love says,

Standing at the door,

You don't have to be

Who you've been before.

Silenced by his voice,

Death can't speak again.

This is how love wins.

("How Love Wins;" Steven Curtis Chapmam; from Music Inspired By The Story; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwBDLGuwTns.)