{"id":3020,"date":"2016-04-08T20:38:14","date_gmt":"2016-04-09T02:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/?p=3020"},"modified":"2016-04-08T20:38:55","modified_gmt":"2016-04-09T02:38:55","slug":"why-god-does-what-he-does","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/?p=3020","title":{"rendered":"Why God Does What He Does"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"20160408_150115\"<\/a>This ended up being a good day. Nice summer weather. I got out on my bike for the first time this season. We said goodbye to our neighbors of the last three years Jeff and Jan Steiner. Jeff is returning to Washington D.C. to work for USDA in a research capacity. We enjoyed a “last supper” together before they head east early in the morning. When I returned home from our dinner, I found that the sample copies of my book arrived! I was pleased to give Jeff one of the review copies as a gift and send off to on their new venture.<\/p>\n

BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…\u00a0 <\/strong>“All this happened <\/span><\/span>so that they might keep His statutes <\/span>and obey His instructions. <\/span><\/em>Hallelujah!”<\/em>\u00a0<\/span> Psalms 105:45 HCSB<\/p>\n

When we look at the Bible we see a God who proves Himself. A God who gives reasons why He is to be honored, trusted and obeyed. It is interesting to observe how quickly God’s people turned away to idols and false gods of their own choosing. God’s who do nothing, offer nothing and really are nothing, other than an extension of the hearts of sinful people, who want their own way.<\/p>\n

As Psalm 105 opens, we are implored to, “Give thanks to Yahweh, call on His name; <\/span>proclaim His deeds among the peoples.\u00a0<\/span>Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; <\/span>tell about all His wonderful works!”<\/span> <\/em>(Psalms 105:1,2) We see the charge to, “tell about the Lord’s deeds and His wonderful works.”<\/em> When you stop and observe all the Lord had done, an awe inspiring response and desire to tell others come natural. What impresses us, is express by us.<\/p>\n

The psalmist shows how the Lord is our “go to” source for all that we need, “Honor His holy name; <\/span>let the hearts of those who seek Yahweh rejoice.<\/span> Search for the Lord<\/span> and for His strength; <\/strong><\/span><\/em>seek His face always.<\/strong>“<\/em> (Psalm 105:3,4 HCSB) When God is on your side, it is a cause for comfort and rejoicing. It builds confidence for living. Whatever your need, turn to the Lord; find strength in Him. Be one who lives in His presence. When you find yourself in need, your default should be to “seek His face.”<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the basis for this confidence in the Lord?<\/p>\n

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“Remember the wonderful works He has done, <\/strong><\/span>His wonders, and the judgments He has pronounced<\/strong>…<\/span><\/span> <\/span>His judgments govern the whole earth<\/strong>.<\/span> He remembers His covenant forever, <\/strong><\/span>the promise He ordained <\/span>for a thousand generations.”<\/span><\/em> (Psalm 105:5-8 HCSB)<\/p>\n

The Lord God\u00a0 Almighty, is not some “local god.” He is the God who governs the whole earth, that\u00a0 He created. He is not obligated, but chooses to reveal Himself through His works and wonders and judgments. Not only that instead of waiting for “pledges of allegiance” He initiates a covenant with His people. He then shows how patiently, methodically and with divine power He fulfills that covenant and brings to pass all the He has promised! (Psalm 105:12-44)<\/p>\n

That deserves an “Hallelujah!” The result of all this for God’s people? “…that they might keep His statutes <\/span>and obey His instructions.”\u00a0 <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Our God is a God who initiates. We see it in the Old Testament covenant with Abraham. We see it in the New Testament with God sending His Son to our salvation. The pagan concept of a “god” is that people initiate, the deity is to respond. With the Lord God, we see Him initiate and we respond in surrender, trust and obedience. As we then seek His face and make Him our “go to” source of help; He provides strength, wisdom and meets all of our needs. <\/span><\/p>\n

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This ended up being a good day. Nice summer weather. I got out on my bike for the first time this season. We said goodbye to our neighbors of the last three years Jeff and Jan Steiner. Jeff is returning to Washington D.C. to work for USDA in a research capacity. We enjoyed a “last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3020"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3023,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3020\/revisions\/3023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}