My prayer is that Delight-in-God.com filled with articles, bible verses, my Christian testimony, and other inspirations will encourage you in the challenging days ahead.
For Christians everywhere – this Sunday we celebrate one of THE most important dates in our faith – Easter.
This is history’s most glorious moment!
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, rose from the dead signifying His triumph over sin and death.
He is risen!
He is risen indeed!
From our home to yours, we wish you a very happy Easter 2023!
A Bible teacher I am not, but to answer the question of God’s Sovereignty, we can first take a look at its definition.
According to dictionary.com, the word “Sovereign” means “supreme power or authority.” (Dictionary.com, n.d.)1
I believe that secular definition is a pretty good description, but our ultimate authority on this is the Word of God.
Let’s take a look. This is from a Psalm of David.
24 The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains,
The world, and those who live in it.
2 For He has founded it upon the seas
And established it upon the rivers.
3 Who may ascend onto the hill of the Lord?
And who may stand in His holy place? – Psalm 24:1-3, (NASB).2
The first line of Psalm 24 is pretty clear, isn’t it?
The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains . . .
God is in control of everything. As a divine attribute of His Sovereignty, nothing can stop Him from His intended purposes.
As sinful humans, we don’t like not being in control.
It’s interesting that when God does not “intervene” (by human standards) in a crisis situation, some will question His power and majesty.
Do you remember that outrageous 2015 headline, “God isn’t fixing this” which also referenced prayer as “meaningless platitudes”?
How sad is it that people actually still think that way.
Here’s the truth:
God has the ability to do anything, to take action and intervene in any situation, but He often chooses to act indirectly or to allow certain things for reasons of His own. His will is furthered in any case. God’s “sovereignty” means that He is absolute in authority and unrestricted in His supremacy. Everything that happens is, at the very least, the result of God’s permissive will. This holds true even if certain specific things are not what He would prefer. The right of God to allow mankind’s free choices is just as necessary for true sovereignty as His ability to enact His will, wherever and however He chooses. – Got Questions website.3
The fact is we live in a sinful world, and we will suffer.
Whether it’s illness, or persecution, or anything else.
The Bible warns us about the sufferings we will experience in this life.
God’s sovereignty in a sinful world is a tough topic for many people.
The importance of God “allowing” actions as part of His sovereignty cannot be overstated. God’s causing the basis for an act to occur does not mean He is a responsible moral agent for the act. The moral responsibility for intentionally evil acts falls on those who commit the acts themselves. – Got Questions website.4
We won’t understand the concept of sovereignty perfectly. As the Bible says, His ways are not our ways.
Simply put, as our Creator, the world belongs to God so it’s His to do with as He wishes.
Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
God’s Sovereignty is exactly the reason we should pray. He sees and hears our every cry.
We are talking to the One who created the heavens and the earth and the One who created you and me.
We should be falling on our knees in reverence and praise.
Trusting in God’s Sovereignty helps give us more peace about a situation.
Why?
Because it takes the pressure off of us in a lot of ways.
We can rest in the peace that God is in control no matter what is going on.
And, as Christians, we have nothing to fear.
He loves us in every sense of the word.
We were created by Him and for Him and God wants us with Him for eternity.
Our modern day sufferings are just for a little while.
Because we know the end of “His Story” (the Bible) we have all the reason to praise Him, to have great faith through the storm.
This is one of the many reasons that we can delight in God.
As prophesied in the Bible, we will have tough days ahead, but stay strong.
Dear friends in Christ, Jesus our Lord and Savior is coming back someday!
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1 Sovereign. (n.d.). In Dictionary.com. Retrieved from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/sovereign
2 Scripture quotation is from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.
3 Quotation from gotquestions.org, from “What does it mean that God is sovereign? n.d., para. 6. Web. Accessed March 31, 2023. God’s Sovereignty.
4 Quotation from go Sovereigntytions.org, from “Is God sovereign over death? n.d., para. 7. Web. Accessed March 31, 2023. https://www.gotquestions.org/is-God-sovereign-over-death.html
A few days ago, my husband and I were headed to a Bible study when we saw a beautiful and intriguing sight in the sky.
Check out these linear (also known as lenticular) clouds.
We’ve never seen clouds like this before in our lifetime.
They literally looked like stripes across the sky – white linear clouds alternating in a distinct pattern with blue gaps in between.
Only our creator God can paint beauty out of nothing on an earthly canvas.
Even a child can see it!
What are these clouds anyway?
I immediately texted a meteorologist friend of mine.
A few seconds later, he came back with the answer.
They’re called, “gravity wave clouds.”
Wave clouds – in the sky!
Strictly speaking, it’s when a sudden cold parcel forms above and is forced downward. The splash effect is like when you throw a rock in a pond and watch the waves form and spread outward. – courtesy of Larry Cosgrove, Meteorologist.
Just like a beautiful snowflake, no two clouds are exactly alike.
There are many different shapes and sizes towering up in the sky.
And, with just the right conditions, life-giving rain falls to replenish the earth.
“The clouds and the rain display God’s astonishing control of the world in operations of such delicacy and strength that men can neither understand nor imitate them.” (Andersen)1
One of my favorite things to do is to take a drive through the countryside.
I can’t help but stand in awe at the power and majesty of our Sovereign God. He reveals Himself in many ways through His creation and in our hearts and minds.
God created and sustains everything that exists. His power is absolute, and His love is perfect.
What a blessing to know that He created you and me in His own image!
27 So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. – Genesis 1:27, (NASB).3
We were not created from lower life forms without any value, as evolution suggests.
We are made for much more.
God’s likeness denotes our capacity to rule over creation and be in relationship with God and other humans and to exercise reason, intelligence, speech, moral consciousness, creativity, rationality, and choice. Since the beginning of time, God has desired to bless us and enjoy close fellowship with us, and for this reason He made us like Himself. – Got Questions website.4
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1 Anderson, Francis I. Job (Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1975).
2 Scripture quotation is from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.
3 Scripture quotation is from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.
4 Quotation from gotquestions.org, from “What does it mean when God said, ‘Let us Make Man In Our Image’ Genesis 1:26)? n.d., para. 3. Web. Accessed March 26, 2023. From Genesis.
Do You Know What You Believe And Why?
A few days ago, I read the results from a study where teenagers were asked about their spiritual lives. Among the surprising findings, almost none of the Christian committed teenagers could “articulate the most basic beliefs of the faith.”(Stand To Reason, n.d.)1
Now granted, this is from an older study.
But, I can’t imagine it’s gotten any better when you consider the onslaughts against our faith and traditional family values in the news, among certain celebrities, and worse, being taught in some public schools.
Are your kids prepared to defend their faith?
Are you?
Do you know what you believe and why?
To these teens, religion was about being nice and enjoying a relationship with a God who mostly wanted them to be happy and feel good about themselves—which was, as it turned out, the very same religious view of their parents (emphasis added.) – Stand To Reason website.2
Let that sink in . . . “the very same religious view of their parents.”
Sadly, what this means is that many believers are woefully unprepared to contend earnestly for the faith.
In his letter, Jude warns of the spiritual battle between good and evil which spans the generations. His appeal is quite clear:
3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all time handed down to the saints. – Jude 1:3, (NASB).3
Human nature rebels against the notion of Sin. In today’s contentious world, anything goes and any sense of what’s right and moral has mostly vanished.
Even though we can expect pushback (sometimes violent) from a wicked world, we must contend for the essential truths of the gospel.
What we believe isn’t some kind of “faith du jour” teaching.
The Bible is the Word of God.
It is crucial to know what you believe and why.
The mockers of our christian faith are hoping you will stammer and look foolish.
As adults it may be easier for us to prepare for this.
But for the younger generation? Defending their faith is even more challenging.
It’s best to prepare yourselves and your kids for the modern atheistic world.
Don’t think your kids need guidance for defending their faith?
Watch this . . .
In the Bible, Paul wanted a united, Philippian Church, to stand courageously together to share the good news, even while under persecution.
It’s a lesson for all of us today as well because experiencing the majesty and splendor of our triune God awaits the Faithful.
27 Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; 28 and in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and this too, from God. 29 For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer on His behalf, 30 experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me. – Philippians 1:27-30, (NASB).4
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1-2 From Christian Living | Contend Earnestly For The Faith (n.d.). Author Greg Koukl. Web. Accessed 16 March, 2023. Contend Earnestly reference.
3 Scripture quotation is from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.
4 Scripture quotation is from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.
From the Hubble Space Telescope – Westerlund 2
Sometimes I look at the stars above and wonder in amazement at how big and beautiful the night sky is.
That’s a lot of stars up there!
Do you ever wonder how many stars there really are?
No one knows exactly, except our Sovereign God who created them.
14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and they shall serve as signs and for seasons, and for days and years; 15 and they shall serve as lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. – Genesis 1:14-15, (NASB).2
Here’s an interesting estimate that I saw recently:
Just in our Milky Way alone, astronomers estimate there are about 100 billion stars. (Imagine the Universe, 2015)3
100,000,000,000.
That’s eleven zero’s!
We are so blessed that our all-powerful, merciful, loving, and righteous God not only created us and every thing, but He loves us and knows each of us by name – just like the stars in the sky.
He counts the number of the stars;
He gives names to all of them. – Psalm 147:4, (NASB).4
From the stars to land and sea, we can appreciate God’s handiwork all around us.
Australian poet, Maurice Dyson, captures this reminder beautifully in his poem, “The Eternal Spring.”
Please enjoy.
Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding. When the morning stars sang together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy? – Job 38:4,7.
Before God made His creatures,
Or earth received its form,
It rested with the Mighty One
To formulate the norm.
The universal features,
As much as we can see,
Are so designed to satisfy
A role in history.
The circular attractions,
Of matter large and small,
Are evident by telescope
Or in the science hall.
We marvel at the actions,
Which keep them in their paths,
And from their stable characters
We standardise our maths.
There is a great Designer
Controlling everything:
The many constellations
Or the sparrow on the wing;
The largest ocean liner
That ever put to sea,
Would never reach its port of call
If facts did not agree.
The law of gravitation
That holds us in our place;
The measureless dimensions
That we commonly call space;
All form a grand equation
That echoes and coheres;
Maintaining checks and balances
Throughout the passing years.
This wonderful creation
And marvellous expanse
Was brought into existence
By the Master’s strict commands;
We share the exultation
That angels once portrayed,
The day they sang that joyful song
When earth and sky were made.
Copyright © 2019 Maurice Dyson.5
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1 “Star Cluster Westerlund 2 and Starforming Nebula Gum 29” by HubbleColor {Zolt}. Public Domain Mark 1.0. Web. Accessed 13 March, 2023.
2 Scripture quotation is from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.
3 From the The Milky Way Galaxy | Imagine The Universe! (2015). 100 billion stars reference.
4 Scripture quotation is from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.
5 Dyson, Maurice. “The Eternal Spring” – Christian Poems About Creation, n.d. Web. Used with permission. Accessed March 6, 2023. Courtesy of freechristianillustrations.com.
