Tag Archives: Godship

Posted on

An Issue Of Godship

Read Psalm 24

Featured Verse: Psalm 24:1

“The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”

God owns it all—the entire earth and all it contains, including me. He has the right of rulership over it all, including my life. He determines the ways this world must operate, both physical laws as well as the moral code, and even the way I must live my life. I cannot approach him on my terms; I must bend to his terms. God doesn’t yield to me, I am to yield to him.

Why? He owns it all. The earth is the Lords, and everything in it—and that includes me!

The problem is, from the beginning of man’s history, mankind has tried to reverse the immutable laws that the unchanging God has eternally established. We have done our dead level best to create God in our image. We have usurped his rightful place. We live as if we were God.

That is what ails the world, isn’t it? It’s an issue of godship: Who is going to rule. Every sin, every war, every crime, every calamity, every sad story of a broken home, everything that has ever gone wrong can be traced back to the wrong choice in the decision of godship. We have consistently put ourselves on the throne in place of the One who rightfully owns it all.

And of course, what is true of humankind in general is true of our lives individually. Our biggest issue, bar none, is this business of godship: Who will sit as master and commander of our moment-by-moment lives?

Truly wise people have settled that issue once and for all. They understand that God owns it all, and they are simply managing what he has given them in a way that will bring honor to the Owner. When we get that right in the big and small, seen and unseen moments of life, everything else will fall into place.

“A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling ‘darkness’ on the wall of his cell.”
—C.S. Lewis

Posted on

Godship: Who Gets To Rule Your Life?

Read Psalm 24

Featured Verse: Psalm 24:1

“The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”

God owns it all—the entire earth and all it contains, including me.  He has the right of rulership over it all, including my life.  He determines the ways this world must operate, both physical laws as well as the moral code, and even the way I must live my life.  I cannot approach him on my terms; I must bend to his terms.  God doesn’t yield to me; I am to yield to him.

Why?  He created it all, therefore, he owns it all.  The earth is the Lords, and everything in it—and that includes me!

The problem is, from the beginning of mankind’s history, the human race has tried to reverse the immutable laws that the unchanging God has eternally established.  We have done our dead level best to create God in our image. We have usurped his rightful place.  We live as if we were God.

That is what ails the world, is it not?  It is an issue of godship—who is going to rule.  Every sin, every war, every crime, every calamity, every sad story of a broken home, everything that has ever gone wrong can be traced back to the wrong choice in the decision of godship.  We have consistently put ourselves on the throne in place of the One who rightfully owns it all.

And of course, what is true of humankind in general is true of our lives individually, including your life and mine.  Our biggest issue, bar none, is godship.  Who will sit as Master and Commander of our moment-by-moment lives?

Truly wise people have settled that issue once and for all.  They understand that God owns it all, and they are simply managing what he has given them in a way that will bring honor to the Owner.  When we get that right in the big and small, seen and unseen moments of life, everything else will fall into place.

The most important question that you will be asked today—the most important question you will need to resolve in life—is this: Who is ruling your life—you or God? I am not talking about the confession to which you verbally assent or even what you believe in your heart. I am speaking about what is evident by the way you live your life: The way you think, plan, talk, react to circumstances, respond to people, spend your money, use your time and whatever else you do in each of the 86,400 seconds that tick off the clock in each of the days the Creator has graciously provided for you.

The greatest thing you can do with your life is to respond to your Creator’s desire to take his rightful place as your God. Make that decision today—then gladly reaffirm it everyday for the rest of your life. When you trust that he will rule your life well—and entrust him with Godship—oh what unspeakable and glorious joy you will have!

 “A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling ‘darkness’ on the wall of his cell.”  ~C.S. Lewis

Posted on

Psalm 131: Room For Only One God

One Year Bible: I Kings 11:1-12:19, Acts 9:1-25; Psalm 131:1-3; Proverbs 17:4-5

Room For Only One God

My heart is not proud, O LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
(Psalm 131:1)

There is only One who is God—and that’s not you! Basically, that is what the King David is saying of himself in this brief song of assent. The Message translates verse one this way:

God, I’m not trying to rule the roost, I don’t want to be king of the mountain.
I haven’t meddled where I have no business or fantasized grandiose plans.

Yet this business of godship is more prevalent than we care to admit. You see, when we fret and worry over matters we can’t control, when we meddle and manipulate to get our plans fulfilled, when we come to God after the fact for help, when we pray as a last rather that a first resort, when we cut corners in our financial stewardship because we can’t afford to give to the Lord’s work, and when we put our hope in government (or anything else) at the expense of our trust in God, in effect, we have removed God from his rightful throne.

There is room for only one God in your life, so let God be God. He has a great track record in that role, you know, and you don’t.

And by the way, when you allow God to be God, good things happen for you:

  • You become the recipient of greater grace. Recognizing God’s rightful role takes true humility (the opposite of pride and haughtiness—Psalm 131:1), which is always the catalyst for more grace. (Proverbs 3:34)
  • You become the recipient of greater security. You put things that are above your pay grade back into the hands of the only One wise enough to handle them—what David calls “great matters or things too wonderful for me.” (See how Paul describes them in Romans 11:33-36)
  • You become the recipient of greater contentment. David says, “like a baby content in its mother’s arms, my soul is a baby content.” (Psalm 131:2, MSG) Paul says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” (I Timothy 6:6)
  • You become the recipient of greater hope. It is by Biblical hope, as Paul teaches, “we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?” (Romans 8:24) “Hope” as Paul says in Romans 5:5, “does not disappoint us…”

Hmmm…grace, security, contentment, hope. I think I’ll let God be God!

“I have one passion. It is He, only He.”
~Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf

Posted on

Psalm 24: An Issue Of Godship

Read Psalm 24

An Issue Of Godship

“The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.”
Psalm 24:1

God owns it all—the entire earth and all it contains, including me. He has the right of rulership over it all, including my life. He determines the ways this world must operate, both physical laws as well as the moral code, and even the way I must live my life. I cannot approach him on my terms; I must bend to his terms. God doesn’t yield to me, I am to yield to him.

Why? He owns it all. The earth is the Lords, and everything in it—and that includes me!

The problem is, from the beginning of man’s history, mankind has tried to reverse the immutable laws that the unchanging God has eternally established. We have done our dead level best to create God in our image. We have usurped his rightful place. We live as if we were God.

That is what ails the world, isn’t it? It’s an issue of godship: Who is going to rule. Every sin, every war, every crime, every calamity, every sad story of a broken home, everything that has ever gone wrong can be traced back to the wrong choice in the decision of godship. We have consistently put ourselves on the throne in place of the One who rightfully owns it all.

And of course, what is true of humankind in general is true of our lives individually. Our biggest issue, bar none, is this business of godship: Who will sit as master and commander of our moment-by-moment lives?

Truly wise people have settled that issue once and for all. They understand that God owns it all, and they are simply managing what he has given them in a way that will bring honor to the Owner. When we get that right in the big and small, seen and unseen moments of life, everything else will fall into place.

“A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling ‘darkness’ on the wall of his cell.”
—C.S. Lewis