NO to the Default Setting

We can probably all agree that it can be SO annoying when a device keeps switching back to a default setting after we had it all programmed the way we wanted it.

We as people seem to have a default setting called self-condemnation.  We are so quick to be down on ourselves, to focus on our faults and shortcomings and failures and sins of commission and omission, and then, because of that, come before our God in a cringing, grovelling attitude.  "Oh, God, I am so unworthy!"

We have help from the enemy of our souls, also variously known as Satan, deceiver, liar, father of lies, and accuser.  But sometimes it could seem as though he's trained us enough and can leave us to beat ourselves up without any further help from him.  We are so used to this low opinion of ourselves that it feels normal and right.

In John 14:4,5 we have this exchange:  Jesus says, "Where I am going you know, and the way you know."  Thomas says, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" And I think to myself, "Thomas, that is pretty brash, contradicting the Lord like that!"  But we do it all the time.  What we say when we are bashing ourselves absolutely contradicts what God says about us.  We believe what we  sense with our seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling and touch, and what we have been taught to believe either by explicit word or by experience.  We tend to "walk by sight and not by faith", the exact reverse of what a believer is called to do.  This is what it means to be carnal or "in the flesh". 

So.  What does God say about us?

Probably at the top of the list is that He calls us righteous.  Romans 10:9,10 "....if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."  And 2 Cor. 5:21: "For (God) made Him who knew no sin (Jesus) to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."  Actually the righteousness of God Himself!  What does it actually mean to be righteous?  It means we can stand in the presence of our holy, pure and perfect God without any sense of guilt, condemnation, fear, or shame.
I've mentioned "justified" in the past.  Think of it as "just-as-if-I'd never sinned."  Can you wrap your head around that?  God looks at you as if you had never ever sinned.  We are probably all familiar with Romans 3:23 which says "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  But read it in its context, starting with verse 21:  "But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.  For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus..." It's not through our behaviour that we are justified, but by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
I'll add to the list in a future blog, but right now I want to mention peace.  We're all affected by this covid-19 pandemic, and I know there is a certain degree of fear amongst us.  But how many times are we told, "Do not fear"?  My grandchildren can sing Isaiah 41:10, one of my favourite verses, which says "Fear not...(why?)...for I am with you; be not dismayed...(why?)...for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."  Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you, My (personal) peace I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).  Romans 5:1 tells us "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ ."  So if we are told not to fear, if we are not to let our heart be troubled, if Jesus left us His peace, if our justification means we have peace already, let's stop asking God for peace.  Let's believe Him when He says it's already been given to us.  When fear wants to grab you and hold you fast, resist it and declare, "No, I have an awesome, amazing God who is with me and who strengthens me and helps me and holds me up.  Jesus left me His peace.  I will choose to look at Him and His fabulous, lavish love and grace and provision.  I will trust in His grace and power in me."
Eric, my late husband, used to say, "When Jesus came to live in your heart, what part of Him didn't come?"  He is in there in all His power and glory and perfection and grace and holiness.  

Rest in  the fact that He has done it all for you and start to agree that it is so.  Don't sink back to that old default setting of shame, fear and condemnation.

Oh, Magnify the Lord

Here are some verses about God's greatness:
Psalm 145:3-6 "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts. I will meditate on the glorious splendour of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works. Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, and I will declare Your greatness."
Isaiah 40:25,26 "'To whom then will you liken Me, or to whom shall I be equal?' says the Holy One.  "Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these (stars), Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power not one is missing." Psalm 91:1 refers to our God as the Most High and the Almighty.
One of His names in Hebrew is El Shaddai, usually translated "Almighty God", meaning in effect "more than enough." He is also Jehovah, the literal meaning of which seems to be "He is", similar to the "I Am", eternal and self-existing. There are compound"Jehovah" names too that show who He is:
Jehovah Shammah = "the Lord is here" or "the ever-present One".
Jehovah Nissi = "the Lord my Banner (of victory)"
Jehovah Jireh = "the Lord my Provider" (Provision has 2 parts:  pro which is before and vision, to see.  He sees the need before we experience it and supplies the answer ahead of time.)
Jehovah Shalom = "the Lord is Peace"
Jehovah Tsidkenu = "the Lord my Righteousness"
Jehovah M'Kaddesh = "the Lord is my Sanctification"
Jehovah Rohi = "the Lord my Shepherd
Jehovah Rapha = "the Lord my Healer"
And there are more. But this is enough to remind us that God is all that we could ever need and more. He is also omniscient (knows everything), omnipresent (is everywhere), omnipotent (all-powerful) and infinite (without limits of any kind).

So then, the question came to me when reading Psalm 34:3, "Oh, magnify the Lord with me", how can we possibly magnify Him? How can we make Him bigger than He already is? And the answer has to be this: when we look at something through a magnifying glass, that object doesn't change in size; it's only how it appears to us that changes. When we magnify God, it's just that we focus on Him and who and what He is, and He becomes greater in our view. Meditating on all of His names and attributes will open our eyes and give us a greater revelation of Him.
Let's remind ourselves to praise and thank and glorify Him: Psalm 69:30 "I will praise the name of God with a song, and will MAGNIFY Him with thanksgiving."