Our Omnipresent God

Our Omnipresent God

God is everywhere - all the time, and He knows everything.  I don't know about you, but I find that truth to be very hard to imagine.  I know its true, but its hard to comprehend.  The Psalmist David said it well, "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable" 145:3.

As humans, we are finite creatures  [definition: having bounds or limits...as of space, time, circumstances, or the laws of nature].  The limits to our being are quite evident if we stop and think about it.  Without extra gear, we can't jump across the Grand Canyon, we can't swim the ocean, we can't see around the corner, we can't add an inch to our height or years to our lives -- the list is of what we can't do because we are limited is endless.  I can't even reach a jar on the top shelf of my cabinet without climbing in a chair to get it!

God, however, is the opposite of finite.  He is infinite, meaning immeasurably, indefinitely, or exceedingly great; unbounded or unlimited; perfect; inexhaustible.  I'm sure glad He's "inexhaustible," aren't you?  Because, we certainly do try His patience on a daily basis!

I was reading in my devotional book this morning, Sarah Young's Jesus Calling.  She writes as if God Himself is speaking the words to us, saying, "Man has tended to make himself the measure of all things.  But man's measure is too tiny to comprehend My majestic vastness.  That is why most people do not see Me at all, even though they live and move and have their being in Me."

I was reminded of the verses in Isaiah that are so powerful:  "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord.  'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts'" 55:8-9.

I looked out the window at the beauties of nature in my back yard and I thought about how God is in everything I'm seeing, and beyond into the outer reaches of all that there is.  Such thoughts can truly overwhelm, but they also make us humble before Almighty God -- and oh, so, thankful that this infinite God reaches down and loves us and cares for every little detail in our lives.  Does He not know the very number of hairs on our heads?! (Matthew 10:30)

Let's praise God together as we view a few of His beautiful creations and rest in the knowledge that He is in and around everything.  "For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him, and for Him.  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together" Colossians 1:16-17 NIV.

I snapped these pictures in my back yard this morning:

A butterfly at the back of my yard -- ended up

looking like a painting - God's work of art!

A few raindrops fell, refreshing God's lovely

green earth and offering cloud-cover from the heat

More beautiful hydrangas with blooms galore -

all standing upright in praise to their Creator

Charlotte, part two

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - part two

Driving into the big city of Charlotte (metropolitan population - 2.4 million), it was a cloudy Sunday afternoon with just a few raindrops now and then.  But, that didn't stop us from getting out and pounding the pavement for a couple hours, enjoying what this city had to offer. 

Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina.  Walking amidst the towering buildings downtown, it was obvious that this is a big city indeed!  Even so, there was a cozy feel along Main Street.

Charlotte prides itself as being known as the "Queen City."  It was named after Queen Charlotte in 1761.  The sculptor Graham Weathers captured her likeness with her dog Presto and placed her in a garden plot, because she "learned Botany and took pleasure in Kew and Richmond gardens."  Charlotte was a 17-year old German princess when she married King George III of England.  She bore 15 children, she played the harpsichord, and was well-thought of.  One of her court attendants, Fanny Burney, wrote:  "She is full of sense and graciousness, mingled with delicacy of mind and liveliness of temper."

There's a lovely waterfall in the center of downtown, called Thomas Polk Park

The Hearst Tower is a 47-story skyscraper with elegant design built in 2002

The City of Charlotte boasts many sculptures scattered throughout downtown.  As a writer, I especially like this tall, bronze sculpture of a stack of books at the entrance to The Green.  

This mural is above the altar in St. Peter's Catholic Church (ca 1851)

      I enlarged the mural above, hoping you can see the details in the drawing.  I think the painting is meant to capture numerous messages.  The risen Christ is pictured (see nail scarred hand), having prepared fish for the disciples as described in John 21.  He had enabled the disciples to catch a boatload of fish and he also restored Peter through His words, "Feed my sheep" 21:17.

       I'm not sure what the angel up in the corner is doing, but angels are always around Jesus.

       Then, there's the fisherman in modern clothing and a more modern-looking fishing boat.  This may well signify our roles in Christ's kingdom - to be fisher's of men, just as He asked His disciples to be 2,000 years ago, when He said, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men" Mark 1:17.

Charlotte, North Carolina

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

We took a couple hours to wander around lovely downtown Charlotte on our way home from a family reunion in South Carolina.  I love collections of signs that show distances from where you're standing.  This one in the Green Park in downtown Charlotte is colorful and cute.  The brown sign near the bottom reads, "Charlotte - North Carolina - the center of the known world."  I love it!

    Of course, there's a spiritual application to that little phrase (of course there is!!).  Don't we all consider the spot where we're standing to be the center of the known world?  I mean, it's certainly the center of our known world.  It's the place we live and breathe.  No matter where we're standing or sitting in this moment, we'll be in the center of where we're supposed to be if we can live in the midst of this great truth:  "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" Ephesians 2:10.  Now, that's the center of the known world that I want to live in - to walk in the good works God created me for (:
      Speaking of "worlds" - here's an artistic rendering of the world by artist, Arnaldo Pomodoro (1974) that sits on Main Street in downtown Charlotte ---

     This is called "Grande Disco."  Here's what the artist wrote on the plaque I'm standing on:  "Our life today is one of crisis…of movement…of tension….  We do not know what our world will become.  I try to say something about this uncertainty in my work.  I try to communicate a sense of vitality and connection with the movement of life today… and to be a part of its movement."

     As you can see from my expression in the picture, I'm a bit puzzled - not quite seeing the meaning of what the artist said in the disc.  It is, however, an interesting and attractive piece of bronze artwork.

     While many people are uncertain about the world we live in today, as children of the great Creator of it all, we can live within a large circle of certainty.  We know where this world is going and we know our long-term future -- and we know that God loves us with an everlasting love that lends itself to feelings of peace and power and purpose in our little corner of the world. 
      I do agree with the artist in what he says about wanting to be a part of the "movement of life today."  I want to be in the center of God's will -- just as the verse in Ephesians tells us that we're created for a purpose -- an amazing purpose that is part of the "movement of life" in ways that are exciting and beyond what any of us could think or imagine.
     I love the verse in 2 Corinthians 4:7:  "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."
     If we are children of the king, I just love that wherever this "jar of clay" (your body) is standing that the priceless treasure of the Holy Spirit is there within you, ready to show His "all-surpassing power" - not just in the center of your known world, but in any corner of any part of His great universe.  And -- He wants to use that "all-surpassing power" through you!
     Oh, the wonder of it all!