"Above All Else"

"O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever." (Psalms 136:2)

  Okay, so as to not step out on a limb, let me start by saying that God's word is not meant to be normalized! I have been told not to spiritualize the text, as if the word of God just means what it says and says what it means; to a certain extent, I believe that to be true. But this is more about the Word of God being alive and able to minister into that which God has intended it to do, far beyond the printed word that we see on the page. I believe that His Word was written by men that were spoken to by His Spirit; without a doubt, each and every single word, each and every process, and each and every reproduction of the Text, was put together and made available by the Holy Spirit working in and through each and everyone involved in the thousands of years it took to make it what we see and read today. You can choose to believe what you want, but I am convinced that God is the Author! That said, what I believe we are going to experience within the context of this chapter, is something that speaks to all the false gods that are placed between God and His children. As I said yesterday, this is, I believe, a continuation of the previous chapter; they go together, because they are meant to be exactly the way they are in the Book. And, whether or not it was Ezra that wrote this, or any other, it is the Word of God! To get right down to it, this is probably the most important thing that we need to know and cherish within our hearts: God is our Judge, and it is He that wants to have mercy upon us, the One who will untimely judge us; no other god can come close to that, because no other god is the One True God! So what pray tell do we do with that little bit of information: We Give Thanks...

""The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! He knows the truth, and may Israel know it too! We have not built the altar in treacherous rebellion against the LORD. If we have done so, do not spare our lives this day. If we have built an altar for ourselves to turn away from the LORD or to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings, may the LORD himself punish us."" (Joshua 22:22-23) NLT