Geeking out about God!

Sometimes God just blows my mind! There is certainly an aspect where God amazes me daily as I consider, the big things; His grace, mercy, long suffering. These are awesome truths about the cross that humble and amaze me. But sometimes God blows me away with the small things...when He evidences His sovereignty in the little details of life. This week God blessed me in some amazing ways. Let me explain...



I listen to preaching on a daily basis. I podcast a number of guys (Chuck Swindoll, Mark Driscoll, Steve Viars) but I end up listening to Dr. James MacDonald, the pastor at Harvest Bible Chapel, almost every day. This week, I downloaded several messages from the Straight Up! Pastor's Conference the church put on recently. Keep in mind, this was "random." I saw the link and was just amazed and, might I add, greatly pleased to see they offered the MP3's for FREE! So I was listen to Joe Stowell preach a great sermon on the call of God and how life is ALL ABOUT being a follower of Jesus Christ. After the message, I turned to studying my text for Sunday's sermon; James 4:13-17. As I was reading the passage and thinking through the message, God blew me away! The text is REALLY all about...being a follower of Jesus Christ! James is saying, "Don't' be all about making a profit...be all about OBEDIENCE to the LORD (as the Lord wills)." Man! God had just filled my heart with that truth through the "random" choice of a podcast! And listening to that message will add a new depth to my sermon preparation!


So the next morning I'm sitting down for my devotions. Currently I'm working through the Psalms via a book by Nancy Lee Demoss. That morning Ps. 90 was the focus. Ps. 90 is all about the brevity of human of life and we are told to "number our days (vs. 12)". Then it dawns on me...James 4:14 is all about the brevity of human life..."our life is but a vapor." Wow! I mean, how AWESOME is God to give me that text to study! Again, doing this study on Ps. 90 will add depth to my message!

There's more...

Later that day I'm reading the Pastor's blog over at Harvest Bible chapel. There was post about determinism vs. non-determinism...how much does God really control when it comes to suffering? How much does His will impact our lives? So as I'm pondering through the theological ramifications for either view once again it hits me. James 4:15 is all about God's will! This pondering, though seemingly at "random" is going to help me in my sermon prep!

I didn't plan all this...but MY GOD did. He put a number of seemingly "random" things together just for me to enrich my study and to maximize my time. I suppose some "Non-determinist" will say it's just the course of life. I guess I'm a little more about God doing it all (Eph. 1:11). My GOD is in control of everything and when He works things out like He did this week it makes me feel loved and cared for. And it brings Him glory! And I want to be all about that!