Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder
Be With Me is a daily 7 minute chronological walk through the New Testament hosted by Michael Smith. It is for everyone who is curious about what Jesus actually said and did in the gospels. Most episodes will leave you with at least one good thought to chew on for the rest of the day. We start with the Bible and hopefully end with Awe. We are walking through the chronological events of Jesus' life and then thoughtfully considering them. It is meant to spur the devotional life of the Christian and the not-yet-Christian. We occasionally venture into the Old Testament when it helps our understanding of the New Testament events. Everybody has 7 minutes. Everybody needs to wonder. Be With Me is hosted by Michael Smith who has absolutely no special qualifications to do a podcast. He is not a pastor. He has not been to seminary. He does not lead a mega-church. He is not a professional and he has no more credentials than you do. He does, however, follow a great God with an observant eye and a curious heart. Each day, he starts with a study bible and aims for astonishment. ‘be with him’ for 7 minutes as he sets out daily to discover the God who invites us to ‘Be With Me.’
Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder
Is God KIND? s30e135 Psalm 145
If God is not kind, we are all up a spiritual creek without a paddle. God's kindness is what connects his GREATNESS to us.
God's kindness is the DELIVERY SYSTEM He uses to make His infinite greatness of particular use to us.
You'll be needing both the unsearchable greatness of God and the tender kindness of God. Listen as I deliver one of the above in 6 minutes. Please subscribe.
https://youtu.be/mWWMZhK03dY
Is God KIND? s30e135 Psalm 145
Has something to say about it: we’ll discover how the greatness of God comes home
His KINDNESS is what connects He GREATNESS to us.
He HAS to be. Without it we’d be permanently lost.
Without kindness, God’s greatness would be inaccessible
Without God’s Kindness, God’s greatness would be OUT OF REACH
Without God’s bending-down to me in kindness, I could not bow down to Him in belief
His KINDNESS is what connects He GREATNESS to us.
We have been admiring, stretching for, and focusing on the GREATNESS OF GOD. We had to stretch, because the Greatness is UNSEARCHABLE, that is, it will fulfill all searches, and then some
When you get to the end of your search, there is more to be discovered.
So then, what good to me is all this greatness of God, if it doesn’t end up on the spiritual acre that I occupy?
How does all this limitless Greatness touch me, and all of us personally
In a sense, God “needs” more than greatness, at least if He wants to deliver it to His not-very great subject.
That is, He also ‘needs’ kindness.
We find this curious characteristic of God in Ps 145: KINDNESS.
God is kind: having or showing a tender nature
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
[The Lord is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.]
Closely associated with mercy.
This kindness is an essential quality of God. You will need the kindness of God or you already have needed it.
What if, on the day of the lightbulb flash in your soul, when you became aware of your offense to God; the day when you finally agreed with God about sin…What if on that particular day you turned to God and found out He wasn’t KIND? What if, at the moment you needed it most, He would not or could not demonstrate His tender nature to you?
What if you need the Lord’s kindness and you found out He wouldn’t or couldn’t give it to you: You’d be up a creek without a paddle.
Making things right with God is a complex spiritual process
that He grossly simplifies for us
Complexity: How can God who never forgets, forget sin?
How can He take foreigners and make them a part of His family
How can He justly move the penalties for such transgressions to Another
Somehow, God does all this heavy spiritual lifting and figures all of it out.
If God was not kind, this mercy to you, and penalty to Himself could and would never take place.
But God is great and gracious: He possesses the ability that we directly and absolutely require, and He is gracious: in that He actually extends it toward us. His KINDNESS is what connects His GREATNESS to us.
If He was ONLY great, we’d admire from a distance and shudder in fear
If He was only kind, He wouldn’t have the GREATNESS to do anything about our big problems
KINDNESS is what connects His GREATNESS to us.
Yes, God is Great. He is unsearchably great.
Without His KINDNESS, that greatness stands aloof from me.
I need the Majesty and the MERCY
I need the GREATNESS and the grace
God’s KINDNESS connects us to the Capabilities of God
God’s Kindness connects us to the Clout of God
God’s Kindness connects the orphan to a great family
God’s KINDNESS connects the wanderer to the WONDERS of God
God’s kindness connects the sinner to the Savior
KINDNESS is what connects His GREATNESS to us.
Let’s review. It stands in Ps 145 17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
The Lord is kind.
It is in a big psalm about the Greatness of God”: 3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.
So God is great beyond our abilities to fully understand it, beyond our abilities to search for it.
So yes, absolutely yes we should stand and admire the greatness of God
Yes, we should WORSHIP and recognize, the Possessor of these powers
But we should not stop there in our understanding:
Wait, Lord, you are great, but you are also gracious to me?
You are infinitely capable, but you are also KIND to me?
You are wonderously competent, but you are also KIND to my people?
Kindness is how we access the Clout
Kindness is how the greatness comes home
Kindness is what connect His greatness to us.
What should I do with the greatness of God?
Worship: You are great, You are gracious
You are unsearchable, You are tender
You are infinitely capable, and You are KIND. I worship You