WHICH GOD DO YOU WORSHIP?
Part 5

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people"
(Luke 1:68).

Our great God has many names. Every name reveals another aspect of His character, or the manner in which He wants to reveal Himself to us. Sometimes we forget that God is called “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6). God called Himself this name to Abraham at the burning bush, before He revealed Himself as “I AM THAT I AM.” Immediately following this revelation He once again stated in verse 15: “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.” And He repeats it again in Exodus 4:5.

Not only did He tell Abram three times that this was His name, but affirmed that it is His name FOREVER. Did you get that? There are some Christians who say that God has finished with Israel and the church has taken her place. That does not line up with what the God of the Bible says.

Did you know that God is called the “God of Israel” 201 times in the Bible? I think that is enough to establish His identity, don’t you?

If we truly worship the God of the Bible we have to embrace Him as the God of Israel. We have to know Him as the God of Israel. Because He is the God of Israel, we have to embrace the people of Israel. We have to embrace the land of Israel (and that is a lot more land that the Jews have today). In Genesis chapter 15:18-21 it tells us: “In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt (the Nile river in Egypt and Sudan) unto the great river, the river Euphrates (which is in modern-day Iraq).”

To understand more fully the actual boundaries God promises Abram in verses 19-21 that his descendants will inhabit all the land of the following people: “The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and Jebusites.” These people lived in what is known today as Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, part of Asian Turkey, and of course ALL of Israel, including Gaza and the West Bank. God gave the promise of this land over and over again. He didn’t say it was only for Abraham, or even Isaac, and Jacob, but for their descendants.

We don’t know when, nor can we even fathom how Israel will get all this land, but we know it will belong to them someday. These Scriptures don’t say they have to fight for it, for God has given it to them. It will become theirs in God’s divine way. All we have to do is believe and stand fast to God’s Word and promises.

That’s the next thing. If we worship the God of the Bible, who is the God of Israel, we must believe and embrace all God’s promises to Israel, those which are happening right now and many more that are still to happen in the future. The land of Israel is a living proof that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God and that God is alive today. We are living in times of the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, and we will see much more to come.

It is an awesome experience to go the mountains of Samaria (the West Bank) and seer prolific vineyards growing out of stones! How can they grow in such arid ground? There is only one reason. By the prophetic word of the Lord. God speaks not only to people, but to the lands. Ezekiel 36:4, 8 says: “Therefore ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen . . . O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.”

God promised that when He would gather His people back from the four corners of the earth that they would settle again on these mountains and the land will bring forth fruit. It is totally miraculous. Everything in Israel is miraculous. Read the whole chapter of Ezekiel 36 to be encouraged.

Why do the nations of the world hate Israel? Why does USA and the nations of the world want to take the West Bank from Israel? Why would they like to throw Israel into the sea if they could? Because it is satanically inspired. Satan hates Israel, and hates God’s land. Or I should say, he fears it. He know they are the proof that God is alive today and His Word comes to pass.

If Israel and the land can be wiped out, the Bible is no longer valid, because it fills God’s Word from beginning to end.

But what does the God of the Bible say? “Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; the LORD of hosts is his name: if those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever” (Jeremiah 31:35-37).

God cannot forget Israel, therefore if He is our God, we will not forget Israel either.

Blessings from NANCY CAMPBELL
www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Dear God of Israel, please teach me to know who You are. Please help me to know you as the God of Israel. Please fill my heart with your revelation so I can understand your ultimate purposes for Israel and for the world. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

Because I am on God’s side, I am on Israel’s side.

FURTHER RESEARCH:
To know what the God of the Bible says about Israel now, and in the future, look up these promises: http://tinyurl.com/IsraelEverlastingPossession

Further Scriptures regarding the boundaries promised to Israel:
Exodus 23:31; Numbers 34:3-12; Deuteronomy 1:7, 8; 11:24; Joshua 1:4; and Nehemiah 9:7, 8.

Further Scriptures calling God the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:
Genesis 28:13; Matthew 22:32; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37; and Acts 7:31, 32.

WHICH GOD DO YOU WORSHIP?
Part 4

"I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me.
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying,
My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure"
(Isaiah 46:9, 10).

We continue talking about the kind of God we worship. It grieves my heart to hear people say they are angry with God because things do not work out according to their plan. God has promised us eternal salvation and glory, but He has not promised that everything will be perfect in our lives in this evil and hurting world.

1 Peter 4: 12, 13 says: "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's suffering: that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."

Another false conception is that many people think that:

4. GOD SHOULD NOT ALLOW ANYTHING TO MAKE THEM UNHAPPY

Our attitude to every little or big thing that happens to us comes down to our understanding of God. Is the God we worship a God that does everything I want Him to do? If so, he is not the God of the Bible. The true God is the I AM THAT I AM, not "I am what you want me to be."

Recently someone commented that it is wrong to share how God wants to bless us with children because it could make those who have had miscarriages embittered. What a sad statement. Yes, it is such a grieving thing to go through a miscarriage. To lose life at any stage brings grief and sorrow. But many mothers miscarry. In fact, most mothers miscarry at some stage during their childbearing years. Should this make us bitter towards God?

This could never be the case if we know who our God is. Our God is in control of every situation. He is a good God. He is not mostly good. He is totally and perfectly good, because He is holy and perfect in every attribute of His character. His anger is holy anger. His love is holy love. His justice is holy justice. His goodness is holy, perfect, and absolute goodness.

He works everything out for the best. We don't often see it with our puny, finite, earthly eyes. But one day we will know and understand. One day all evil will be subdued. One day all pain and suffering will cease and God will wipe away all tears from your eyes. One day all the nations will be brought into subjection to His dominion. In the meantime, He waits with patience. He has His ultimate timing. He waits for He is not willing that any should perish.

And in the meantime we can totally trust Him. If we don't trust Him, we worship a false god who is less than WHO HE IS!

After talking about the blessing of children, another mother reacted, "So does God hate me because He doesn't give me children?" The ache and longing for children can be unbearable. After many years of barrenness, Rachel, Jacob's wife, cried out in despair, "Give me children, or else I die" (Genesis 30:1).

Even in this greatest pain a mother bears, we must still trust in God's sovereignty. Yes, the blessing of children is one of God's very precious blessings, and the first blessing He gave to mankind (Genesis 1: 28). But if God does not bless you in one way, He blesses you in other ways. He blesses you moment by moment. God's blessings are myriad. Look for His blessings in your life. Count them one by one. Never give up thanking Him for the blessings He gives you.

He blesses you with His divine Presence. He blesses you with His sustaining, life-giving Word. He blesses you with your husband and a home to live in. He blesses you with family and friends. He blesses you with the gift of a new day to live for Him and glorify Him, for isn't this our ultimate goal? The shorter catechism says: "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever."

And above all, He blesses you with the gift of salvation. To have the blessing of forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life is beyond anything we ever deserve. Every other blessing is only icing on the cake.

2 Corinthians 4:18 says: "For your light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a FAR MORE EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL WIEGHT OF GLORY; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." The Knox translation says: "This light momentary affliction brings with it a reward multiplied every way, LOADING US WITH EVERLASTING GLORY."

God's plan for you is not as much for this life as for the eternal. I am always challenged by the attitude Joseph had in all his loneliness, suffering, and heartache. Taken away from his family as a teenager and left and forgotten in prison for years, he never ceased to trust God. God had his timing for Joseph. He was doing something far bigger in Joseph; He was preparing him to bless nations.

Joseph's brothers feared that he would punish them for betraying him. Instead Joseph says: "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but GOD MEANT IT UNTO GOOD, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive" (Genesis 50:19-21. Read also Genesis 45:7,8).

God is always working everything out in your life for good; not only for your good, but for the good of many others.

Be blessed. Nancy Campbell

PRAYER:

"I thank you, dear Father, that I can trust You. When I lean on my own resources and reasoning, I crash. When I lean on You I will never fall for You are my Rock and my Salvation. I acknowledge that You are a good God and that you are working out everything in my life and my family for good and for the blessing of many people. I thank you in Jesus' name. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

My God is a good God. My God is in control of every situation, even when I cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel.

WHICH GOD DO YOU WORSHIP?

Part 3

"Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods?
who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?"
(Exodus 15:11).

 A. W. Tozer writes: "Among the sins to which the human heart is prone, hardly any other is more hateful to God than idolatry, for idolatry is at bottom a libel on His character. The idolatrous heart assumes that God is other than He is--in itself a monstrous sin--and substitutes for the true God one made after its own likeness. . . . The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him."

Erwin W. Lutzer writes: "Idolatry is more than dancing around a statue of silver or gold; it is constructing a mental idea of a deity that bears little resemblance to the God who actually exists. Idolatry is giving respectability to our own opinions of God, formed after our likeness. Idolatry is fashioning an idea of God according to our inclinations and preferences. It is to pare God down to "more manageable proportions."

Another false conception we have of God is that we think that:

3. GOD IS TOLERANT OF THE WAY I LIVE

The religion of Tolerance is prevalent today. Whenever you take a stand for righteousness, Christians respond with "Judge not, that ye be not judged." They forget that God says that judgment will be "given to the saints of the most High" (Daniel 7:22).

There are many who commit fornication and adultery and yet continue to go to church each Sunday thinking that God overlooks their sin. No He doesn't. Jesus' sacrificial death upon the cross paid the price for their salvation and deliverance, but repentance comes first.

God's unchanging Word says that those who live this lifestyle:

a) Deny our Lord Jesus Christ

Jude 1:4 (NIV): "For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about^[a] long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord."

b) Will not inherit the kingdom of God

1 Corinthians 6:9: "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators . . . shall inherit the kingdom of God." (Galatians 5:19-21; 5:5).

c) Sin against their own body

1 Corinthians 6:18: "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication shineth against his own body."

There are many who no longer think that God is a holy God. They love the entertainments of this world and are not interested in seeking after the things of God. To go to a prayer meeting does not sound like fun.

And what about clothing? It is hard to know where to look in the church today. In every direction women brazenly and unashamedly show cleavage. Where is their shame? Do they no longer know how to blush? Where are their husbands who should protect them from exposing themselves to every other man?

God does not intend us to dress in dowdy manner. He loves beautiful and colorful clothes (Exodus 28:2). But He wants us to dress in a holy manner. He intends clothes to cover the private parts of the body (1 Timothy 2:9, 10). Hebrews 12:14 tell us that without holiness "no man shall see the Lord."

If we worship the true God, the God of the Bible, we will know that He is a Holy God. We will be in awe of His holiness and it will keep us walking in the fear of the Lord.

Isaiah 6:3, 5: "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. . . . Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

1 Peter 1:15, 16: "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation (conduct); because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy."

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

PRAYER:

"O glorious and holy God, I don't want my eyes to be clouded by deception and the things of this world which hide the glory of your holiness. Help me to understand even a little of Your awesome light and holiness for I want to walk in the fear of the Lord. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

I am opening my heart daily for God to shine His holy light into my soul and expose all that grieves Him.

QUOTES REFERENCED:

"The Knowledge of the Holy" by A. W. Tozer

"Ten Lies About God (And How You Might Already Be Deceived" by Erwin W. Lutzer

CHECK THIS LINK:

http://tinyurl.com/PermissionToJudge

WHICH GOD DO YOU WORSHIP?
Part 2

"To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?"
(Isaiah 40:18).

We continue today talking about how we think about God. Do our thoughts match up with the God of the Bible or have we made a god of our own design? Another false conception people have of God is that:

2. GOD VIEWS CHILDREN LIKE WE DO

The attitude of most Christians towards children reveals that they do not believe in a God who wants to bless us with children. Most couples believe in limiting their family size to a number they think they can afford, or the number they decide to fit in with their life agenda.

I talked to a gentlemen recently who said, "We can only afford three children."

"So you believe in a God who is only capable of providing for three children?" I replied. This does not sound like the God of the universe who created the earth and all the galaxies and worlds beyond our earth. It doesn't sound like the God of the Bible.

Let's come to the Word and get a little glimpse of what our God is like. First of all, can I ask you a question? What was the very first thing God did after creating Adam and Eve? He blessed them. God is a blessing God who loves to bless His creatures. And how did He bless them? He blessed them with fruitfulness of the womb. "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion . . . " (Genesis 1: 28).

In fact, every time God talks about fruitfulness, He first gives His blessing to the man and wife. Every conception is a blessing from God.

When God spoke to Abraham about his wife Sarah, He said: "And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her" (Genesis 17:15, 16).

Genesis 49:25 speaks of the "blessings of the breasts, and of the womb." They are blessings to embrace, not curses to avoid.

Deuteronomy 7:12 talks about God showing mercy to His people. Verse 13 and 14 continue: "He will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb . . . Thou shalt be blessed above all people there shall not be male or female barren among you."

What a beautiful understanding of God. How does He show us His mercy, love, and blessings to us? Not always with material possessions, an easy life, and getting everything we want, but with the blessing of children from the womb.

In Deuteronomy 13:12-18 God tells the children of Israel how they must destroy those who serve other gods so that He will "turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers." After the judgment comes God's love and kindness. The words "mercy" and "compassion" are both the same Hebrew word "racham" which mean "love, compassion, tender pity, and the womb." Once again, how does God show His great love and compassion to us? By giving us children.

Deuteronomy 28:2-4 says: "And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body . . . " You can read verses 1-14 to check out all the other blessings that we receive when we walk in obedience to God's ways, but the very first blessing He mentions is the fruit of the womb.

As parents it is our responsibility to leave an inheritance for our children. It is a great blessing to receive an inheritance--a house, land, or even a million dollars! God as our Father also loves to give us an inheritance and He knows the best inheritance for us. Psalm 127:3 (GW) says: "Children are an inheritance from the LORD." I love the way the Douay-Rheims Bible translates this Scripture: "Behold the inheritance of the Lord are children: the reward, the fruit of the womb."

The inheritance of material possessions will pass away, but children are eternal souls who will live forever. Each child also gives us grandchildren and great-grandchildren and the blessing of continuing generations.

If we do not believe in a God who wants to bless us with children, we worship a different God than the God of the Bible. If we do not believe He is able to provide for the children He gives us, we do not know the God of the Bible (Psalm 78:19-25).

Who is your God?

Blessings from Nancy Campbell\

PRAYER:

"Thank you, dear Father, that You are a God who loves to bless your people. Help me to understand that Your blessings are the best blessings. Help me to know You as You truly are. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

My God loves children and therefore I love children.

Further references:
God's blessing comes before conception:
Genesis 9:1; 17:20; 21:1, 2; 22:17, 18; 24:60; 48:3, 4; Leviticus 26:3, 9; Deuteronomy 1:10, 11; 33:24; 28:63; 30:5; 1 Samuel 2:21; 1 Chronicles 26:4, 5; Job 42:12, 13; Psalm 107:38; 115:12-15; 127:3-5; 128:1-3; Isaiah 51:21; and Luke 18:31.

Can God Provide for Another Baby:
http://tinyurl.com/CanGodProvideforBaby