Greetings again my Brethren. Just think of it as divine enabling. We enable people and even ourselves in so many destructive situations and areas in our lives it is a wonder God lets us continue in them, but this enabling is not of our abilities (even our God given abilities) or our flesh, but it is divine (not of this world or of the earth) birthed from the heart of God. The Prophet Isaiah points us to four attributes of God to help us see this divine enabling. Without seeing God’s attributes we will never be able to move into the divine enabling God has for us. Now please let us understand this word enabling quite well. Enabling is giving someone or something the authority or means to do something. God has given us the authority and the means (both) to speak for Him, do things for Him, and even represent Him in the world. It must be both. God must give of the authority and means to act and speak for Him. What kind of God would we serve if He told us to do things or represent Him in affairs of men and not give us the means or ability to do them. We would surely fail at everything we would do for Him. It is like a father telling his son what he wants done, but not teaching his son how to do what he wants. The father must give the son the education, skills, and abilities to perform the tasks the father wants completed. Well our heavenly Father is no different. He gives us the education (learning opportunities), skills and abilities as we grow in the grace and knowledge of Him through His dealings and judgments. As we learn this lesson that enables us to learn the next lesson we discover we have learned something special about our heavenly Father. Our eyes of understanding has been opened and we can look deep into His heart and begin to see His character and if we look a little deeper we will be able to see His attributes. God’s character is who He is. God is love, love is His character. God is merciful. Mercy is His character. God is longsuffering. Longsuffering is His character. And so much more, but an attribute is deeper, at the core of His makeup, and is at the essence of who God is and is something we are not and maybe never be. Now we have physical attributes God gave us them, but not spiritual attributes like God has. And yes we can only hope in ages to come we will be like Him. For example God is eternal. This is an attribute of God from the eternities to the eternities God who is and always was. No beginning and no end. We some day in the future shall be eternal, but in the natural we are of the earth. God is not of this earth He is eternal the ancient of ages. Another mind boggling attribute is the sovereignty of God. The word sovereignty means supreme power and total authority. We may think we are sovereign, but in reality we only fool ourselves. God and God alone is sovereign knowing the beginning from the end. He laid the foundation of the ages by His desires, His will, and He will see them as they roll on from age to age. God and God alone makes the calls as He upholds the existence of life in His hands and of the dealings with man. There is none greater nor will there ever be a greater sovereign power. Another attribute is God’s omnipotence. This attribute means the quality of having unlimited, infinite power and authority. God has all power over all things at all of the times in all ways. Nowhere is God’s omnipotence seen more clearly than in creation. God said, “let there be”and it was so. Man needs tools and materials to create, but God simply spoke and by the power of His word everything was created. As well as in creation God’s omnipotence is seen in the preservation of His creation. Also seen. God’s omnipotence extends to governments and leaders as He restrains them or lets them go their own ways as according to His plan and purposes. It is the glue that holds everything together. And lastly another attribute of God is His omniscienceor the sate of knowing everything. I have often thought how wonderful it would be (especially when growing up) to know everything, but without the ability to have supreme power and authority to right the wrong or affect the right change it would be hopeless. To know everything one must carry a heart of benevolence and generosity for everything you know something only God can do. I have always said it is bad not to know something, but it is worse not knowing you do not know. A knowing in our heart is the goal of discovering God’s attributes and what He wants for our lives. Not knowing everything like God, but knowing what God wants us to know so we can know Him. In Isaiah 40 we can see many of the attributes of God, “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, thatthe everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there isno searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that haveno might he increaseth strength. 30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the LORDshall renew theirstrength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; andthey shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31) Can you spot them?We must be able to see God’s character and His attributes for Him to be able to push us in the direction of His divine enabling.
Next month we begin a new section the LORD”S CALL. Do you hear Him calling? Please know God is calling. Walter Beuttler said if you build God a temple He will inhabit it. Have you built God a temple? If you do He will abide and wait for you.
Written by David Stahl
