Consider Him

Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:3 Dear Sisters of my heart,  May the sweetness of who He is be the perfume of your spirit this week. And now.. "Consider Him." The heavens are telling of the glory of God;          And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.  Psalm 19:1 So limited. We see sun, moon,  and a minimal sprinkling of stars. Unless you are seated in the Omnitheater viewing 'The Hubble", as I was privileged to do this past week. The difficulty was in remaining seated vs shooting up from my seat shouting 'Glory to God, Hallelujah to my Creator!'  This was no birds eye view, but an up close, in-my-face experience leaving me minuscule and breathless! Viewing star clusters trillion of light years away and moving through space amongst stars is surreal. Consider Him...... He who knows the names of every star and unbelievably He knows my name!  Our faith in this All-powerful God gains us approval. When I consider Him, I am cognizant in a small measure of who He is and I taste His terror. Job cried out God terrified him! "For God has made my heart faint, timid, and broken, and the Almighty has terrified me..." Job 23:16 "For the Lord Most High excites terror, awe, and dread; He is a great King over all the earth." Ps 47:2  O God, awe-inspiring, profoundly impressive, and terrible are You out of Your holy places; Ps 68:35 Listed in Hebrews 11 Hall of Faith are saints we recognize (ex: Moses, Abraham, Daniel), who 'considered God' and experienced the miraculous. Some were delivered, some healed and some empowered to accomplish mighty things in Jehovah's name, bringing Him glory. Reading, I was inclined to place a final period after vs 35a ending the chapter. God in His perfection does not stop but transitions in vs 35 using two words: 'and others'. This transition is important: not all men and women of faith experienced miraculous release, but were sawn in two or tortured, tempted, stoned, some died, while others were destitute with no place to call 'home' and lived in caves and holes in the ground. Was it their lack of faith? It was God's will to heal and deliver but they just didn't have faith? Not according to the scriptures. The 'others' had faith but God chose in His Sovereign and perfect will, to deal differently with them than with those just mentioned. God will not to be manipulated by our attempts at 'believing hard enough that He is obligated to answer our prayers". That is not faith. It is pride. Faith is a heart that seeks God's will not our own way. He will work His perfect will as we trust Him. I have personally been healed many times and not healed at others. Digest God's powerful pronouncement in verses 38-39 regarding those who were not part of the miraculous mentioned first, God states: "Men of whom the world was not worthy...  And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised,"  " Such as these have said goodbye to the world's toys; they have chosen to suffer affliction with the people of God. They have accepted toil and suffering as their earthly portion.' AWT  Oh to be willing to trust God to deliver or not to deliver, to heal or not to heal. And still truly believe He is good, faithful and wise. He desires us to trust Him in whatever circumstance we are being tried. I have so often heard in a praise service dozens of testimonies of God meeting needs miraculously, providing amazingly, then they acclaim His faithfulness and goodness.  Is their testimony based on who God is or the miracle He provided? Is He not good to those who have prayed and believed, who have not experienced the miraculous? Is it their lack of faith as many believers insist? Oh, how we wound each other when we insist on being God in another's life. I remember a family who lost a young daughter to cancer and some 'godly' believers felt led to visit and lay a merciless burden on two grieving parents; telling them their lack of faith was responsible. A wounded young woman going through a divorce was told her lack of faith was why God didn't bring restoration. This from one whose marriage was mercifully healed! I grieve over such cruelty. May God deliver us from the pitiful, prideful presumption of thinking we can be the Holy Spirit in another life. Consider this: God is Infinite. He never makes a mistake. God alone knows what is in someone's heart. God is good and faithful if He never answered a prayer! It is who He is and because of who God is He bends low to lift us up. Because He is Love, He loves us immeasurably. Let that Truth wrap around you and encourage You from head to toes. You are precious my sisters. Look up at the night sky and try and number a few stars. Now imagine (not possible) trillions of stars and that God counts and names each one. He knows your name and desires your love. Blessed be your name Adonai, Most High God, You who knows our secrets, our pride and failure. You who are Perfect in all your ways, I bow in awe as I consider there is no limit to Your greatness and no words to begin to describe You. How do I grasp what You endured on the Cross, despising the shame and have sat down at the right hand of the throne of God? Teach me. I want to 'consider' Your greatness, for with You God is a terrible majesty. Your Cross is my cross. Your resurrection is my resurrection. Your Peace is my peace. As feeble as an attempt to measure the ocean with a spoon, so I feel deficient to consider Your person. I pray in your Holy Name, the great name of Yeshua, amen Considering the love of Him who calls the stars by name, az