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Isaiah 40:25

Who Is Comparable To God?

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“To whom then will you compare Me, that I should be like him?” says the Holy One.

Isaiah 40:25

Who is comparable to God? There is no one like Him. There is no one comparable to Him. Have you ever tried to explain God to a young child? It’s hard to do; a child’s world is full of magical characters like:

  • Santa Claus, who “sees you when you’re sleeping”,
  • The Tooth Fairy who sneaks into your room and exchanges money for a forgotten tooth underneath a pillow
  • The Easter Bunny who hides plastic eggs on the lawn
  • The boogeyman who will get you if you “sing at the table or whisper in bed”

But these characters, and others like them, are not comparable to God and His greatness.

As we grow older, these fantasies are replaced by super heroes who have their own legends to live up to. Today most super-brave, over-accomplishing, fictional characters have complete historical backgrounds built around their super-ness, which kids of every age thrill to discover.

However, these super characters pale in the light of our powerful God.

As adults we may lay aside the whimsical heroes and felons of our childhood, but often we replace these fanciful feelings with idolization of those who we consider to be great in their own rights. We try to compare man and his accomplishments to God and His greatness. Maybe it’s because it’s easier for us to quantify man, because God is immeasurable, but no one is comparable to God.

  • Man can be placed in time and space, but God is omnipresent–He has the power to be everywhere at the same time
  • Man can be awarded with certificates and mark off his learning achievements, but God is omniscient–He has unlimited knowledge and understanding
  • Man’s authority, influence, and power is measured by those who follow him, but God is omnipotent–He has infinite power and authority

No one is comparable to God; no fictional character we can imagine, no person who has achieved the ultimate pinnacle of success, and nothing we create with our hands can compare, either.

To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? An idol!

A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains.

He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot;

he seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move.

Isaiah 40:18-20

Who is comparable to God? No one… there is no one comparable to God. There is no one else who has immeasurable power, unending authority, boundless mercy, and everlasting love.

God’s love cannot be compared to any other love we will ever know.

Isaiah 40:25
Isaiah 40:25 ESV

Grandma Lorene

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(From 2016)

A few weeks ago, my Grandma Lorene passed into Heaven. She had accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior when she was a young mother, and she exemplified true Christianity throughout her life. She was the matriarch of the family, and the foundation upon which we all grew upon. She was kind, wise, loving, caring…

I know it sounds like I’m romanticizing my grandmother’s memory, but she was truly all these things and much more.

She was the oldest of 11 children, grew up during the depression and had a fairly rough childhood. She married at an early age, so she and her mother were having children at the same time, and they became close friends.

Grandma Lorene and Grandpa Dee lived in a small town in south Missouri, and they did their part to populate it. They had 6 children, 17 grandchildren, 60 great-grandchildren, 60 great-great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-great-grandchildren. (That would have been 11% of the population, if all of us were living there.)

She and my grandfather were solid people. They not only raised their six children, during the 30’s and 40’s, but many, many people have shared fond memories of being in their 2-story craftsman home. Their doors were always open to everyone: friends, playmates, less fortunate neighbors, family members, and even hobos that rode the train into town—Grandma never turned anyone away. They had so little, but shared so much.

They had a large front yard, right in the middle of town, and it was always full of children running and playing and jumping off of the big front porch. Recently, I overheard my aunts and my uncle recalling the games they used to play in that front yard; it was the same games my cousins and I had played, too. My favorite game was “steal the flag” (although the 4th generation calls it “capture the flag”).

I think my favorite memories recalled by my mother and her sisters and brother are the times when Grandma Lorene would sing. She sang often to us grandchildren; mostly songs about Jesus and His promises. But they remember times when they would all gather around in the small living room with their friends and cousins, when the weather was too bad to go out and play

“Mother and Daddy,” my mother recalls fondly, “gathered us all into the living room and they would sing songs to us. Daddy only had a couple of songs that he would sing, but Mother sang song after song.”

Recently, I was blessed to spend some precious time with my mother, her sisters, and their brother, and the girls sang me a few of the ballads my grandmother used to sing to them. One sister would start a song, and then the others would begin to sing along—it was a sweet, sweet testament to my grandmother.

Grandpa Dee passed a few years ago, and some time later, my Grandma Lorene had gone to live with her oldest daughter. However, due to failing health, Grandma Lorene had gone into a nursing home. Her children were faithful in tending to her. Those who lived close would go every day, and those who lived hours away would come every week.

Several times I have witnessed the staff in the nursing home commending them for the attention and time they were giving to their Mother, and each time one of them would say, “Mother has always been there for us, how could we not be here now for her.” And then story after story would be told about her being there with each of them at some important, life-changing event.

She spent eight months in the nursing home before she was taken to the hospital, due to congestive heart failure. And in true fashion of a woman who loved and was loved, the family began to gather around her—speaking words of love and encouragement.

She spent her last days in the hospital—surrounded by those who loved her most. One of my aunts brought in a CD player, and the room was filled with beautiful, Southern Gospel songs about God and His glory.

As visitors came in and out of the room, the sadness of seeing Grandma at this stage of life was quickly replaced with the joy of a memory each one had shared with this precious woman.

My mother had been driving down and spending the day at the hospital for almost three weeks. Every day when she would leave, she didn’t know if that would be the last time or not…it got very hard for her, and the others. Day after day, they watched their precious mother struggle with being in this world, and looking towards the next. They knew when she passed from this earth that God had a place prepared for her in Glory, but it’s hard to watch life ebb from someone you love so much. However, the assurance that there is a place where loved ones will be united and pain and sorrow will not follow is such a blessing to us who are left behind.

As we gathered in Grandma Lorene’s room that last day, we could tell she was getting weaker. Heavenly music was softly playing in the background as each of us whispered our last goodbye, or one more I love you, into her ear.

The day stretched on into early evening, and we lingered hoping that her spirit would be released, so she could be at rest. We began playing specific songs that encouraged us, and that we hoped would encourage Grandma: “Sheltered in the Arms of God”, “Take My Hand, Precious Lord”, “Supper Time”… We sang softly with each song, as we sat with her, praying for her, kissing her, loving her; we knew she was only a prayer away from leaving us.

And then a song by Vince Gill was playing next to her pillow, and we softly sang along—“Go Rest High On That Mountain”<<click to listen

“Go rest high on that mountain,

[Mother] your work on earth is done

Go to Heaven a shoutin’

Love for the Father and the Son

…Go to Heaven a shoutin’

Love for the Father and the Son…

As the music softly faded into the last hushed tone, a quiet calm fell upon the room; and all who were there saw Grandma Lorene take her last breath in this life, as her spirit was released into eternal life.

Grandma Lorene lived a full life; she was just a few days short of turning 97 years-old. She was devoted to her family; was a friend to all whom she met; served in the church through many aspects—especially teaching Sunday school; but most of all she lived her life under the direction of the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that people are known by the fruits they bear, and she produced a lot of spiritual fruit.

She was loved deeply by us all, and she will be greatly missed. But we have this hope, that when she left her temporary dwelling (her body), she was in her eternal dwelling place with God. (2 Corinthians 5)

She fought a good fight,

She finished her course,

She kept the faith:

And there is laid up for her a crown of righteousness,

Which the Lord the righteous Judge, has given her…

(paraphrased from 2 Timothy 4:7-8)

Grandma Lorene was a true servant of our Lord, Jesus Christ. She was well-known for her singing– while she was busy about her business, to any child who was fortunate to hear, and for a time as a song leader in her church. This song,  “Momma’s Teaching Angels How to Sing” <<click here>> reminds me of Grandma Lorene. I often listen to it when she crosses my memory.

Walking On Thin Ice

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“I need a camera,” I informed The Farmer last November.

“I thought you had a good camera on your phone,” he reminded me.

“I do, but it doesn’t zoom far enough. I need a camera that zooms so I don’t have to get out in the cold and take pictures. Remember last year when the cow had her baby in the snow? I couldn’t get close enough to get a really good picture.”

I’m not sure he was truly convinced, but since it was right before Christmas, I had a really good chance of getting one. And I did. Doing the research, I got a great deal during the Black Friday sales (online, by the way).

And I’ve taken some great pics. I can sit in my sitting room and zoom in on the McD’s cup that is sitting on the counter and see the advertisement on the cup.

I’ve also taken some wintery shots off the deck when we had all that freezing snow the last couple of months.
Can you see the cattle?

Unfortunately,  after I got the camera, I  lost my muse for a time, because The Farmer hadn’t been doing much around the farm. Well, he has fed hay, and scraped the feed lot, and fixed waterers, and shoveled snow, and chopped ice on the pond, but  it was too cold for me to get outside, and too far away from the porch for me to take pictures. Until the other day when he went out to spread red clover on the pastures.

We re-seed our red clover in our pastures every couple of years, because it’s the natural way to put nitrate back into the ground (nitrate helps the grasses grow). A good time to spread seed is while the snow is on the ground, and right before spring thaw. Since the weather seemed to be cooperating, you can imagine how excited I was to find out The Farmer was going to go do something I could take pictures of and write about. I was also silently hoping to take a video.

Hurrying to get my coat and boots on, I rushed out the door just in time to take a picture of The Farmer pulling away. “Click” (always take two) “Click.”


Walking along trying to adjust the zoom, I all of sudden found myself lying flat on my back, with a cracked elbow, rattled teeth, and a throbbing backside! The only thing that I was aware of was the fact that I threw my camera as I went down. As I lay there getting my bearings, my rendezvous with The Farmer was forgotten. Completely unnoticed by him, I hobbled into the house to access the damage, and was thankful to realize that nothing was broken. Later, retelling the story to The Farmer, I was amazed to find how much concern he had for my camera. I assured him that I too had come away unscathed.

Later, as I was again walking outside (being more watchful this time), I thought about how quickly my world was “turned up-side down.” How I was going through the motions of my day, thinking, planning, doing, and then in a split-second my feet were gone from out from under me and I was lying helpless on the ground. All my thoughts, plans, and motions had been changed to something completely different with that one small slip on the ice.

Jonathan Edwards (a 18th century preacher during America’s Great Awakening) spoke of this very thing in his well-known sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” He used Deuteronomy 32:35 as his text, “…their foot shall slide in due time.”

His sermon can be read here >>Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God , or you can listen to a reenacted version >>HERE<<. It’s a long read, but it is so worth the time it takes.

I was reminded of his key statement, “…their foot shall slide in due time.” When I slid on the ice, there was no warning, no flashing lights, no sounding alarms, and no stopping once I began to fall. My feet slipped and gravity took me down.

Edwards compares this with life on this earth and eternity. We all are walking around thinking about our plans and what we’ll be doing tomorrow and the next day, but none of us are promised tomorrow. No one is ever guaranteed more than the second in which we are living in right now.

All of us are one split-second away from eternity. And once that journey begins, all of our thoughts, plans, and motions will cease on this side of eternity. In a lot of cases, it comes without warning; a health issue, an accident, etc., and then we are on the other side of eternity.

Several years ago I made a very conscious decision to place Christ on the throne of my life. In God’s word He told me that I had offended Him; that I was an enemy of His, because I had been born into sin (we all have). And God cannot, and will not, associate with sin.

I read that God desired for me to be adopted into His family for eternity. He said that He had already paid for my sins that I had committed, and the sins that I wasn’t even aware of, because Christ took the punishment on the cross that was meant for me. And although Christ had taken on the sins of the whole world, there was still something I had to do to make this gift of salvation mine. I had to accept it. The work was done, the gift was given, the relationship between a holy God and an unrighteous people had been reconciled, but until I personally accepted His Gift of forgiveness, I could not be reconciled with God. We could never have a relationship unless I acted on His gift. And I did when I was 21 years old.

However, if God would not have sustained me, if He would not have had mercy to keep my feet on solid ground, if I would have slipped into eternity before I had accepted this Gift, my eternity would have been full of darkness, agony, and total separation from God.

Being a Christian is more than a religion to me, it’s the fulfillment of my purpose in life. It’s the reason I was created, and it’s the reason I wanted to share this with you. I’m not being trite when I ask, but have you been reconciled to God? Have you made a choice to follow God’s law and trust in His gift of eternal life made available to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? I truly hope you have.

When I had questions about eternity, I found my answers in God’s Word. Reading the books of John, Romans, and Psalms answered a lot of my questions. I hope it helps you, too.

“…God commendeth (demonstrates) his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us…being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”

“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life…”

“We also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”

Romans 5:8-11

I Miss You In The Ordinary

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Recently, my mother-in-law passed away after a short bout with cancer. Up to that point in her life, she had always been healthy. At age 86, she didn’t take any medications, and she would walk 2 miles a day—Monday through Friday (on Saturday if the weather was really pleasant).

Often her daughters would come over and walk with her, and she would always encourage me to walk with her, also. Being her next-door neighbor was a good enough reason to do it, but I always had an excuse: I was too busy, too tired, too grumpy, too lazy (probably the real reason). At one point I justified not walking with her because I didn’t want to get too attached to her.

Judge me if you must, but this reasoning came after her sister had passed away. For years, every morning between 7:00 and 7:30, she and her sister would call each other just to talk and check up on one another. After her sister passed, I saw the pain and loneliness that my mother-in-law had felt for her sibling, and I made a conscience decision that I didn’t want to suffer that.

Knowing that she was a bit older than I, I assumed she would go before me and I was preparing myself emotionally (some psychologist out there can work on that if they need to). But when I began to reason within myself, I saw this for what it was…just another excuse (a twisted one perhaps).

Eventually, I began to walk daily with her. She encouraged me, prodded me on, and took it easy on me those first few days while I adjusted to her walking pace. Actually, she was just recovering from a cold that she had harbored for several weeks, so she was only walking one mile a day in the beginning, and I was able to keep up with her (wow, that’s pretty sad, since I’m 43 years younger)

After several months of walking, talking, griping, and laughing together, she found out that she had a very aggressive form of cancer and was given 4 to 6 months to live. But like everything else she faced in life, she stayed strong, faithful, and level-headed. She got her house in order and began telling her kids how she wanted everything done. She planned out her own funeral, took care of all of her financial business, pretty much decided who was going to get what, and assured us all that she would be okay, because she had accepted Christ as her Savior and she knew her final destination (although we already knew this, because it showed in her everyday life).

My mother-in-law was many things; loving, giving, faithful, energetic, stubborn and proud. When she became too weak to walk with me, she still encouraged (and threatened) me to keep on walking for my health. And I did, mainly because there was a need for someone to stop in each day and help her with some meds (it kept me accountable).

She was a strong woman and wasn’t used to being helped out. But eventually, the cancer made it impossible for her to be by herself. We kids began taking turns staying with her, and my fear of becoming too close became my reality. We spent weeks doing ordinary stuff for her; talking with her, reminiscing with her, eating with her, watching TV with her, and just being with her.

And now I find myself missing her in the ordinary—when I walk past her house, Sunday afternoons, eating candy bars and drinking sodas, watching Matlock, and a hundred other things that became daily routines. So many things, that I couldn’t begin to list, and no one else would understand, because they are just my memories.

 

gramma
I Miss You in the Ordinary
I see you in the ordinary,
In the things that happen day-to-day.
I see you in the ordinary
As I’m walking along life’s way.
 
I miss you in the ordinary,
In the things I daily do.
I remember you in the ordinary,
And realize how much I miss you.

In the commonplace of living
You have affected all of my days.
I miss you in the ordinary-
I miss your extraordinary ways.
 
 
 
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”
Psalm 51:10


Starting A New Resolution In 2013

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happy new year

Happy New Year!

Have you started your New Year’s resolution? Or…have you already broken it?

As far back as I can remember I have never liked to make a new year’s resolution. Mainly, because I know myself well enough to know that I don’t have the fortitude to keep it. Blame it on laziness, distraction, weakness, or whatever…but I don’t like to set myself up for failure.

Last week as I was studying for my Sunday school lesson, I ran across this statement, “Should Christians make New Year’s Resolutions?” Well of course we should; there’s even a hymn for it:

 

 

I am resolved no longer to linger,
Charmed by the world’s delight,
Things that are higher, things that are nobler,
These have allured my sight.
I am resolved to follow the Savior,
Faithful and true each day;
Heed what He sayeth, do what He willeth,
He is the living Way.

I looked up the word resolution and the definition that I liked best was “a firmness of purpose”. So yes, I decided, Christians should make resolutions. Like the hymn says, be resolved not to be charmed by what the world has to offer…things that are higher and nobler should be what we try to obtain.

Then I began thinking about the new year and making changes. My thought pattern (if you dare to listen in) went something like this (imagine me talking to myself):

As a Christian, maybe I should “resolve” to do some things differently.
    –I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions.
But as a Christian, I should be resolved about some things.
    –I don’t like New Year’s Resolutions.
Have I ever lost weight, or read my Bible in a year, or stopped any bad habit, or started any good habit?
    –Well… probably, I just can’t think of anything right now.
Maybe if I make one New Year’s Resolution that I was going to do anyway, like lose weight (yeah, right).
    –But it’s a New Year’s Resolution.
Oh, come on! What’s it matter what I call it? It’s the same thing!
    — I don’t like New Year’s Resolutions.
But losing weight would be a good goal, and I know I will be able to keep that.
    …Oh good…there’s still some cookies left from Christmas…
I wonder where that fudge is that Mom made.
…I had better get that eaten if I’m going to make a resolution!

Actually, that was one of my more sane “conversations”. But the point is, that statement about Christians making resolutions got me thinking. When I make a decision to change something about myself, why do I want to change? What’s the reason behind the change?

Well, there are a lot of things we (I’m including you now, so I don’t have to be out here by myself) all could change. Maybe it has to do with weight, punctuality, finances, attitude—you could insert a thousand things. But what are the reasons behind the change?

Let’s take weight—you may want to lose, or gain, weight to improve your looks, or for health reasons.

Or finances—maybe you want to try to learn to save money so you can take your dream trip.

Maybe your attitude needs to change so you can be polite and considerate.

Although these changes, and the reasons for them, are good, the center of all the reasons is “I”.

“I want to change so I will be better”.

As a Christian, the changes I make should bring honor to God so I can be used for his glory.

  • Does God want me to manage my weight? Yes, but I should seek out his will in that area.
  • Does God want me to be more financially responsible? Yes, but I should find out what he wants me to do with my finances.
  • Does God want me to have a loving attitude? Yes, but I should desire his way over mine.

Proverbs 16, verses 3 and 9 says, “Commit thy work unto the Lord, and thy thoughts will be established; A man’s heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps.”

Christians should be resolved, we should have a firmness of purpose, but our goal should not be self-improvement, but God-honoring—“Heed what he saith, Do what he willeth…” However, we don’t have to wait until January 1st, we can be resolved to change anytime of the year, month, week, or day. Just pick a starting point and make sure the hub of that decision wheel is God and he will establish your steps.

By seeking to be more like Christ, I’m becoming a better me.