Thoughts

While with my discipler on Friday we looked at Psalm 40. One verse that particularly caught my attention was verse 5. "You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told." This is reminiscent of Psalm 139 where David writes. "How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand..." (verses 17-18a) Even with seven or eight billion people in the world, God's thoughts towards us are innumerable. Yet how often do we think about God? If we love someone and they love us, we think about them all the time. For decades I have been gathering with Christians informally in things like men's breakfasts. The topics vary from A to Z. The irony is that only rarely in those conversations do Christians actually talk about God, or the things of God. Why is this? The exception is ardent "Doctrines of Grace" people. Unfortunately they often speak more about Calvin than Jesus. Hebrews 12:29 says that "Our God is a consuming fire." As we get closer relationally to an infinitely holy God our garbage becomes more obvious, or, at least, mine does. The Holy Spirit wants to root out the junk. I need to receive and walk in more faith and courage to proceed farther. "O wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24) "Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:57) Lord Jesus, have mercy on my soul.