Isn't God great?

Tonight I had the privilege of holding forth my testimony at Calvary Chapel El Cajon.  It was wonderful to see all the smiling, expectant faces and receive the brotherly love that marks true believers.  Young and old came alike and took in the wonder of our God, a great God who is mighty to save all through Jesus Christ who come to Him in humility and faith.  My prayer is that God was glorified tonight, and that the Body of Christ was edified.  There are few things more exciting then people who are excited about what God is doing and take in active role in serving Him.

So much of our lives are spent on the sidelines.  We think about doing but procrastinate.  We leave loving words unsaid, and withhold good from whom it is due, especially concerning God.  With the NFL kicking off the season next week, millions of Americans will spend hours watching people play a game.  Bets will be taken, fantasy football will be in full swing, sports bars will be full, and kids will play pick-up games imagining they are L.T. or Phillip Rivers.  But the only games that matter in the record books are played by professionals.  No kid will go to the Pro Football Hall of Fame for throwing touchdowns on a Wednesday night.  That is reserved for the chosen few who compete on national television on Sundays and have years of continued success at the National Football League level.

There is no such thing as a professional Christian.  There is no "semi-pro" league or NCAA.  Every Christian has made the big time because we serve an infinite God.  A child can have the impact of a seasoned veteran.  Everyone's words, thoughts, actions, and attitudes add up for the glory of God or otherwise.  We have a choice if we will sit on the sidelines and watch other people sweat and sacrifice to follow Jesus and cheer them on.  Or we can choose to enter the arena, put on the armor of God through the Holy Spirit, take up our cross daily, and follow Jesus.  The battle is not reserved for the strong, for when we are weak He is strong.  Living vicariously through another Christian is a dangerous thing.  That's not life:  that is a cheap substitute that will not supply robes of righteousness by God's grace.  Because the football team you cheer for wins does not mean you have won.  No one ever entered into eternal life because they admire faith.  You must have faith in Christ received from the merciful hand of our Creator.

If you could be everywhere, know all things, and do everything without effort, why not do it all yourself?  Then it would be done exactly how you want it, right?  God does not operate like a man.  He is so great and awesome and wonderful that He commits the treasures of the Kingdom of God to wretched, lost sinners!  He calls and commissions men to serve Him on earth that His power might be revealed through these weak instruments, these earthen vessels in which He has placed His glory.  God could have committed the Gospel to righteous angelic beings, but instead He chose man.  The ways of God are past finding out, and His thoughts are so high.

May we think as highly of God as His thoughts are above us!  Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."  Only a good God could think good of a stubborn, stiff-necked people.  Lift up praise to the King of Kings, the Redeemer and Restorer of your soul!  Psalm 100 brings us to a fitting conclusion:  "Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! [2] Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing. [3] Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. [4] Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.  Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. [5] For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations."