Who Is God?

August 29, 2023 Gracie

Many Will Ask: Who is God?

Who is God?

Are God and Jesus the same person?

To delight in God, we must first know who He is.

For the answer to that, we turn to His Word.

He reveals Himself in Scripture this way:

God the Father

God the Son

God the Holy Spirit

Matthew 28

This truth forms one of the essential foundations of our faith: We serve a triune God – that is, God in three persons.

Granted, the blessed mystery of the Trinity is hard to understand at times.

I’m humbly raising my hand here.

Pastor John MacArthur wrote, “the doctrine of the Trinity stands as a perpetual reminder that we cannot comprehend everything God has revealed about Himself.” (Pastor John MacArthur, March 4, 2020)¹

There’s a reason for that.

All that I can write about God, when compared to the totality of His attributes, is like one grain of sand compared to every beach, every mountain, and every planet in the universe. In order to comprehend God, we would need to be God’s intellectual equals, but He has no equals and doesn’t tolerate the impudent pretense of anyone who claims to understand things better than He does (Job 40:6–41:34). – Pastor John MAcArthur, pastor and bible teacher from Grace To You.²

Even though we deserve eternal punishment for our wickedness, nothing about you and me is a surprise to God.

He is faithful – making a way for us to receive salvation through His Son.

What a beautiful example of His indescribable grace and love that should humble us every single day.

Therefore, we delight in Him not only for His faithfulness, but for Who He is.

God is the Source of all things and we are His created ones.

Who is God?

As our Righteous Judge, He punishes sin, but by His grace and mercy, He will also forgive repentant hearts.

Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Heavenly Father, thank You for Who You are.

No matter what comes our way – whether rich blessings

or humbling trials – we thank You.

The single, greatest act of worship you can render to God is to thank Him. It’s the epitome of worship because through gratitude, we affirm God as the ultimate source of both trial and blessing—and acknowledge our humble acceptance of both. –Pastor John MacArthur, pastor and bible teacher from Grace To You.³

God The Son

Jesus!

It is our imperfection that brought Him here, and it is our weaknesses that will bring Him back to save us from our sins.

Lord, thank You for Your grace and

for sending us Your Son, Jesus.

Through Him, and by His death and resurrection,

You saved a wretch like me (and you who are reading this!)

With a thankful heart, we can recognize that, through Jesus, we are reconciled to the very One Who gave us life in our mothers’ wombs.

Only God could know what it would take to make a sinner acceptable to Him so that that sinner could escape eternal hell and live in the very presence of God in His own house. Only God could determine how the spiritual nature and the supreme authority and the unchangeable perfection of His law which is holy, just and good could be completely satisfied and the lawbreaker completely justified and rightly and purely forgiven and accepted, though fallen, guilty and depraved. Only God could bring all of those components to reconciliation. Only God knew what it would take. – Pastor John MacArthur, pastor and bible teacher from Grace To You.⁴

The Holy Spirit – A Distinct Member of the Trinity

What is the role of the Holy Spirit?

Pastor Alistair Begg writes this, “Enabling us to bow to Scripture’s authority and not man’s, the Holy Spirit plays the central role in the conversion of unbelievers. Being theologically accurate is of no assistance if the Holy Spirit does not live inside us.” (Pastor Alistair Begg, August 23, 2018)⁵

In John 14:26, Jesus comforted the disciples with the promise of the Holy Spirit’s coming.

John 14:26

Thank You, Lord, for Your gift of the Holy Spirit –

our Comforter, Intercessor, Counselor, and

a divine and distinct member

of the blessed Trinity.

Heavenly Father, it is with gratitude,

that our hearts remain focused on You.

May we wake up every day praising Your Name.

# # #

^1-2John MacArthur quotation, courtesy of GTY.org/library/sermons-library. “God Is a Trinity.” para. 10, March 4, 2020. Web. Accessed 22 August, 2023. Retrieved from God Is a Trinity.

³John MacArthur quotation, courtesy of GTY.org/library/sermons-library. “God Wants you to Give Thanks, Part 1.” para. 4, March 4, 2020. Web. Accessed 22 August, 2023. Retrieved from Give Thanks.

⁴John MacArthur quotation, courtesy of GTY.org/library/sermons-library. “Fifteen Words of Hope.” para. 16, April 23, 1995. Web. Accessed 16 August, 2023. Retrieved from Words of Hope.

⁵Alistair Begg quotation, Christian pastor, author, and founder of Truth For Life Teaching Ministry. “Sermons on the Holy Spirit.” para. 2, August 23, 2018. Web. Accessed 28 August, 2023. Retrieved from the Holy Spirit.

Our Exceptional God

Who Else Works Overtime?

April 20, 2021 Gracie

Who Else Works Overtime Besides You?

Who else works overtime besides you?

Here’s to all of you who have to work overtime – my hat’s off to you. 🙂

Give yourself a pat on the back for taking on those extra hours when duty calls.

I’m not just talking about hospital workers.

You know who else works long hours to help to make this country great?

Men and women serving in the military

Police officers

Secretaries

Biblical pastors writing their sermons

Delivery drivers

And many other occupations that don’t get the media accolades.

We’ve probably all worked overtime at some point in our lives.

I remember working overtime often over the years, even overnight as a reporter camped outside a breaking crime scene.

It’s just what you do to get the job done, and to do it well.

While we’re on the subject, guess who else works overtime, but not for the good like all of those dedicated workers mentioned above?

Evil Doesn’t Sleep

Spiritual Enemy No. 1, Satan, also works overtime.

The Enemy of our souls spends hour after hour, every single day, looking for ways to trip you up, make you doubt your faith, and throw every conceivable distraction at you so you don’t have time for God.

Fact: The Enemy hates every single one of us.

Satan is geared to the destruction of God’s people, primarily. Obviously he wants to damn the whole human race, but his particular preoccupation is with those who belong to God, i.e., Adam and Eve and Job and Peter and Paul and others. His hope is that if he can’t destroy their faith, he can destroy their integrity before God by a long list of indictments. – John MacArthur, pastor and bible teacher from Grace To You.¹

And so he acts the same with us.

Satan also works overtime

Satan’s time is short.

Is he invincible?

No!

Jesus Will One Day Take All Of This Evil Away

Fortunately for us, there’s someone greater, omnipotent, and sovereign who works overtime.

That someone is Jesus – our Sovereign God who has already won the battle against evil.

Christians know that troubling times continue up ahead.

It’s easy to get discouraged during all of this craziness – but don’t stay in that place for long. Keep your eyes on Jesus.

We have blessed assurance that every last repentant sinner who recognizes Jesus as Savior will be saved.

Jesus Christ, our Deliverer, works overtime praying for you and for me, and at the appointed time, He will come back for us.

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¹ John MacArthur quotation, courtesy of GTY.org/library/sermons-library. 20 February, 2000. para. 17. Web. Accessed 19, April, 2021. Retrieved from https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/90-236/the-character-of-satan

* Charles Spurgeon, influential pastor, quotation was accessed April 14, 2021 and retrieved from https://www.thekingdomcollective.com/spurgeon/sermon/92/. n.d., Para 39. Web. Photo used under the Pixabay License – free for commercial or private use – an artistic derivative created by me of the background photo original.

Our Exceptional God

Heavenly Entrance Exam

January 19, 2021 Gracie

Pop Quiz? Oh No!

Heavenly entrance exam

Back when I was in high school, there were times when the teacher would walk into our classroom and announce a pop quiz.

Yikes!!

You should have seen the panicked look on all of our faces.

What a relief it was when, seconds later, the teacher would then add . . . “it’s open book.”

The sighs of collective gratitude from my fellow classmates could be heard all the way down the hall.

Your Answer To This Question Is So Important!

Why should God let you into Heaven?

Could you pass the biggest test of all – the Heavenly Entrance Exam?

Don’t worry – there’s just one question.

Someday, an unbeliever may ask you a question about salvation.

Here goes.

“Why should God let you into Heaven?”

I’m sure you’d come up with something, like

“Because I . . .”

“Well, I . . .”

“When I . . .”

If your answer started with any one of those openers above, you’re seriously headed down a path of “missed the point.”

We have to remember that there is no “I” in the equation when it comes to our eternal salvation.

Our salvation, and the reason God will let you into Heaven, is because of Jesus and your acceptance of His grace and forgiveness.

The quick answer is: Jesus!

If salvation was up to us in any way, we would blow it every time.

Why is this heavenly entrance exam an “open Book” question? Because we have His Word that assures us that Jesus is our Savior and the only way to Heaven.

In Luke 11:28, Jesus said to his disciples when they questioned Him about prayer:

But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and follow it.¹ – Luke 11:28, (NASB).

As Nice As We “Think” We Are, We Aren’t

Jesus is THE answer Last month we celebrated the glorious birth of our Savior.

But His Story of Glory doesn’t stop there.

The Son of God grew up and was brutalized on the cross.

It was you and me, as sinners, who put Him there.

But, He didn’t stay in the tomb forever.

Praise Jesus for His Victory on the Cross!

See, that’s the only alternative God had. Either He punishes you for your sin, and me for my sin, and that’s eternal punishment in hell; or else He substitutes someone else in our place, and they pay our penalty. And that’s exactly what Jesus came to do: be our substitute, the exalted second person of the Trinity, the divine Son of God. God in flesh humbled Himself, came to earth to die my death, to provide for me an escape from eternal hell. The sinless One became sin, the living One died, the perfect One became the punished One; and not because He deserved, but because I deserved it, and He was my substitute.² – John MacArthur, Pastor and Bible Teacher. Grace to you.

Are you ready for the Heavenly Entrance Exam?

Jesus is the answer.

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² John MacArthur quotation, courtesy of GTY.org/library/articles. 20 December, 1970. para. 15. Web. Accessed 30, December, 2020. Retrieved from https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/1204/why-was-jesus-born

Our Exceptional God

Christmas 2019

December 23, 2019 Gracie

Creator of the Heavens and the Earth

^{23 “}Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” – Matthew 1:23, NASB.

Reverence For King Jesus

If we could condense all the truths of Christmas into only three words, these would be the words: ‘God with us.’ We tend to focus our attention at Christmas on the infancy of Christ. The greater truth of the holiday is His deity. More astonishing than a baby in the manger is the truth that this promised baby is the Omnipotent Creator of the heavens and the earth!¹ – John MacArthur, Pastor and Bible Teacher, Grace To You.

On a Personal Note

Thank you for finding this blog post

in the midst of a

very busy holiday season.

I know your time is valuable and I appreciate your being here.

May we delight in God forever.

Merry Christmas 2019 to you and yours

Christmas 2019

# # #

²John MacArthur quotation, courtesy of Christian quotes.info. Accessed 12 December, 2019.

Our Exceptional God

Jesus What Is Your ETA?

November 6, 2019 Gracie

What is Your ETA?

Has anyone ever asked you that question?

Hopefully, it wasn’t a cellphone call from your boss because you’re late coming back from lunch. 😉

Many years ago, when I was a news reporter, we used to answer the ETA question a lot.

disturbing news headlines

For example, after covering a news story, my cameraman and I would radio the TV station to tell them we were finished and on our way back.

Something like this:

Me: Hey. We’re done. Headed back to Base.

Assignment Director: What’s your ETA?

Me: About 30 minutes.

Journalism is a very time-driven profession.

I think we’re all that way to a degree. We like to know when we can expect this or that to happen, especially if we’ve been waiting a long time. But it doesn’t always happen that way, does it?

Jesus, What Is Your ETA?

With the direction things are going in this mixed-up world, it’s no wonder the heightened yearning for our Savior’s return.

I read some of the disturbing news headlines, and silently pray the Lord comes back sooner rather than later.

But always in accordance with the timing of His will.

mixed-up world

Disturbing such as:

Did you ever think you’d see radicalized sex education being taught to grade school students?
Did you ever think you’d see a giant Ouija board erected in Massachusetts?

Very, very sad.

Depending on the headline, I cringe, or I cry, and sometimes I grieve, especially if it’s a story affecting the future of our children.

Please, make it stop.

Come Lord Jesus!

The fact is, just as in Biblical history past, we don’t know when Jesus will return.

God decided in His infinite wisdom that we don’t need to know the timing. The exact future day and time will remain a mystery, until it’s here.

Good News for Repentant Sinners

When the headlines get you down, remember Who is always in control.

I take comfort in the reminder that God will save every last sinner who repents and turns to follow Jesus.

But that takes time. This is a big world and God is moving in ways that we don’t see. Jesus what is your ETA?

God’s timing is always perfect, even though it can feel like forever to us.

Doesn’t God care about how bad things are getting?

He cares more than we could ever understand.

In the meantime, we must continue to persevere and shine the light of His glory as He exercises His Sovereign power over all of humanity.

. . . the real reason for the Lord’s delay is not that He is negligent or careless in fulfilling His promises, but simply because He is long-suffering and kind, delaying Christ’s coming and the wrath that will accompany it while He calls out people to salvation.

And Christ will not return before the merciful purposes of God are complete.

Far from suggesting apathy or neglect on God’s part, the long delay before Christ’s appearing simply underscores the remarkable depth of His nearly inexhaustible mercy and long-suffering.¹ – John MacArthur, Pastor and Bible Teacher, Grace To You.

Praise God for His inexhaustible mercy, or none of us would be saved!

# # #

John MacArthur quotation, courtesy of GTY.org/library/articles. 23 July, 2009. para. 30. Web. Accessed 4 November, 2019. Retrieved from https://www.gty.org/library/articles/A368/is-christs-return-imminent.

Our Exceptional God

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