Every creature under heaven reflects some aspect of God’s goodness. The whole world is a map to represent and a herald to proclaim this wondrous perfection of God.– Thomas Boston
Q/A#3
Q: What more can we know about God?
A: God is a spirit, present everywhere, and reigning with perfect power, knowledge, wisdom, and goodness.
O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. – II Chronicles 20:6
Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind! – Psalm 31:19
Verses for Further Reflection
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
– John 4:24
Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.
– Jeremiah 23:23-24
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
– Psalm 139:7-10
Discussion Questions Related to the Verses
How must we worship, and why?
What does it look like to worship in this way?
What practical benefit do we find in God’s omnipresence?
How might God’s presence help us find peace in our trials?
The invitation of the Bible is not to dreary abstinence. It’s a call to find in God that which truly satisfies. It’s believing that we find lasting fulfillment, satisfaction, joy, and identity in knowing God, and nowhere else. Whatever sin offers, God offers more, for God offers us himself. God isn’t just good, he’s better – better than everything else – and the true source of all joy.
– Tim Chester in You Can Change
All creatures continually live upon the generosity of God; He maintains the whole creation through His mere goodness. And every good thing that is enjoyed is a part of his generosity.– Jonathan Edwards
Q/A#3
Q: What more can we know about God?
A: God is a spirit, present everywhere, and reigning with perfect power, knowledge, wisdom, and goodness.
O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.
– II Chronicles 20:6 (ESV)
Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!
– Psalm 31:19 (ESV)
Until men recognize that they owe everything to God, that they are nourished by his fatherly care, that he is the Author of their every good, that they should seek nothing beyond him – they will never yield him willing service. Nay, unless they establish their complete happiness in him, they will never give themselves truly and sincerely to him.
– John Calvin
Q/A#2
Q: Who is this God we are to love?
A: This God is the LORD, the one true God in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. – Jeremiah 10:10a
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. – Matthew 28:19
Verses for Further Reflection
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. – John 1:1
But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit… You have not lied to man but to God.”– Acts 5:3-4
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” – Matthew 3:16-17
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. – II Corinthians 13:14
…according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood…. – I Peter 1:2a
Discussion Questions Related to the Verses
Who is the Word (Jesus)? Who is the Holy Spirit?
How do we see each person at work in Jesus’s baptism?
How does each person contribute to our salvation?
Q/A#2
Q: Who is this God we are to love?
A: This God is the LORD, the one true God in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King.
– Jeremiah 10:10a
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
– Matthew 28:19
Verses for Further Reflection
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.
They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.
O Israel, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
– Psalm 115:1-11
Discussion Questions Related to the Verses
What other gods are you tempted to glory in or trust in?
What is happening in your life right now for which you need to trust in the Lord?
Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:
The Joy of Walking with God – Tim Challies
The Christian’s walk is one of close fellowship with God and earnest obedience to God. Here are some of the joys we receive in this walk.
The Nail in the Coffin of Our Hearts: Five Hundred Years of Fighting Idolatry – Tony Reinke (DG) Shallow thinking about God always replaces God, and sets in his place a fraudulent idol of security or sex or wealth or power or even of religion.
Sanctification Is a Direction – David Powlison
We must have a vision for a long process (lifelong), with a glorious end (the last day), that is actually going somewhere (today).
Sunday Morning Is Not About Me: The Joy of Self-Forgetfulness – Stephen Witmer (DG)
As we see our Lord for who he is, as we look away from ourselves to gaze upon him again, we will find true, lasting joy and contentment.
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day walking with, thinking about, and gazing upon God!
By sleeping, we are relinquishing control and reminding ourselves – at least for a few hours – that God actually doesn’t need us.
Brian J. Mikul 