God Reveals Himself - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Acts 20:25-27, “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.” As Paul met with the Ephesian elders for the last time, he reminded them he had proclaimed to them “the whole will of God.” Paul wanted to ensure that the church in Ephesus would have its very best prospect of success as he would no longer be available to them when he left. I suspect I shouldn’t make too much out of Paul’s phrase, “the whole will of God”, but I can’t help seeing in his choice of words that Paul did not hold back when he taught the church at Ephesus. Just as we do today, the early church in Ephesus needed the whole counsel of God. Enough can not be said about the need we have to be aware of who God is, what he is like, what his intentions are and what he is doing in the world. Amazing to me is that God has provided all of this for us. Every one of the sixty-six books in our Bibles are God-breathed, inspired by him, and contain within them all he intends for us to know about who he is, what he is like, his intentions toward us and what he is doing in the world. He has seen fit to inform us about himself. We find there, in pages of our Bibles, who God is (the Eternal One, Creator of heaven and earth) and what he is like (loving and just: both the Savior and the Judge of all humanity). He tells us what his disposition is (love and grace) for us today and what his intentions are (to save sinners and condemn those who reject him.) He tells us what he is doing (carrying out his program of redemption in a lost world through the church). What an opportunity we have to get to know God! As Paul taught the Ephesians “the whole will of God”, we receive that same education as we spend time in the pages of the Bible! What a wonderful God we have who has revealed himself in its pages! Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you! If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.