He is Our Everything

"Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your glory all the day."

~Psalm 71:8

Over the past few days I have been learning to set my mind more fully on all that the Lord is for me in Christ. And oh, He is everything each of us ever will need in life! Who He is, steadies us in an unsteady world. 

The Lord is our:
~Refuge {Deuteronomy 10:17}
~King {Psalm 74:12}
~The great I AM {Exodus 3:13-14}
~He is God of gods and Lord of lords {Deuteronomy 10:17}
~Wonderful Counselor
~Mighty God
~Everlasting Father, 
~Prince of Peace {Isaiah 9:6} 
~Husband {Isaiah 54:5}
~Redeemer {Isaiah 54:5}
~Creator {Isaiah 40:28}
~Comfort {Psalm 46:1}
~great high Priest {Hebrews 4:14}
and much, much more...

Meditating on all Christ is for us, shifts our flesh-bent and prideful hearts off of ourselves and onto the Lord. He is jealous for His glory, my friends! 

And that is a very good thing for us, because praising the Lord and being happy in Him, positions us in our rightful place. He is greater than anything, and the knowledge of His holiness brings us to our very smallest and freeing state.  

"...yet would man praise Thee; he, but a particle of Thy creation. Thou awakest us to delight in Thy praise; for Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it repose in Thee." ~Augustine

As I read through  the Bible, I'm increasingly made aware that everything in our lives is there to glorify Him. This life is all about Him. The book off Ezekiel shows the zeal the Lord has for His people to know that He is the Lord God. Even if it means overturning nations. 

The Lord doesn't always resolve life circumstances the way we think He will, but this is because He has something far greater for us in mind.

As I read in the Bible I'm stunned with hope.

In John 9:2-3 it tells about the blind man:
 "And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him."

And then in John 11:3-4 it says of Lazarus and his sisters:

"So the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it He said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Ah... we are so finite! So often we look at life and think it's a mess and we are so uncertain and sometimes think we want life to happen our way. But look! The Lord has everything working out to the good of those who love Him {Romans 8:28}! We often think it's sin that caused the man to be born blind, we think it's too late for Him to heal Lazarus, we look at our weakness and blame our problems on it. But no. These weaknesses are the beginning of hope. They are there to showcase the power of God. 

Look to Him, my friends and be in awe. Not only is He our everything, but He uses everything for His glory!

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory, for the sake of Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness!” 
~Psalm 115:1

"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
~2 Corinthians 12:9