The Everywhere God – No Tresspassing

In order for men to believe in God, they deep down really want Him or Her to be like them, to think like them, to act like them, to be one of them. They want a god who agrees with their agenda. And yet a god who can get them out of tight spots. He is in fact a god of their imagination, custom made and designed! Exactly what the doctor ordered! A DESIGNER GOD!

We live in a world where now truth is what you make it, right is what you define it, wrong is what you call it, and God is who you make him. A WORLD 🌎 of total subjectivity, with no objective standards. We are up to our necks in it! Objective absolutes are out, subjective preferences are in.

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People also want god to be bisexual, that is, have a masculine and a feminine nature. That enables God to be a practicing, condoning LGBT member! After all, He did give the gay rights movement their iconic symbol – the rainbow 🌈.

If you will, A GOD WHO is one of the guys and gals. Straight or crooked. A god who approves unisex bathrooms. A HE-SHE god, whatever he-she wants to be at any given moment. Transgender divinity.

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But certainly more human than divine. That is exactly why you will hear folks say these words referring to God,

“THE MAN UPSTAIRS – THE OLD MAN UP THERE – THE BIG GUY UP IN THE SKY.”

And of course, in the midst of all that man likeness, to still be God, sort of. In other words, a God who is more like than unlike us. That’s a must!

But it does not dawn on them that a God who is more human than divine, will then be a God who is less divine than human. Sort of like a 2/5ths god who is 3/5ths man. That is not God, but a man 🚹 with a god complex.

If you will:

“A GOD WHO IS MORE LIKE MAN AND LESS LIKE GOD, BUT STILL IS GOD.”

Slick trick if you can pull it off! The games people play! Even with, if not above all with God. And if God is really or mostly man, then He should get tattoos as well. I’ve seen many pictures of Jesus with tattoos. You can find them on the internet.

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This of course all becomes very subjective, for all people have their god preferences, their god likes and dislikes. So god will vary from person to person, and god then becomes what every person wants him or her to be. A pantheon of gods from A to Z and beyond is the result. A god zoo!

Different strokes for different folks. Whatever god turns you on! Each to his own. You can have God your way. One size does not fit all. Variety is the spice of life.

EXAMPLE

The children of Israel in the wilderness preferred an ANIMAL-god to a MAN-god. Go figure! With High Priest Aaron’s help, they worshipped a GOLDEN CALF-god. A gOD WHO was not equal to them, but a God who was actually beneath them. Easier to control god that way. A KOO-BAAS god. Benign and gentle and controllable. Plus it was a GOLDEN calf. At least they went first class. Oh how people are messed up in their god concepts.

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It is all better known in theological circles as:

“MAKING GOD IN YOUR OWN IMAGE.”

Whatever your god taste-buds prefer! How convenient, a chameleon god who becomes what you need and want him to be. You have heard of pulling A RABBIT 🐇 OUT OF A HAT? This is PULLING A GOD OUT OF YOUR HEAD! Very common today in the world 🌎 and in the modern church ⛪.

To which Jeremiah 16:20 says,

“DO PEOPLE MAKE UNTO THEMSELVES GODS? YES, BUT THEY ARE NOT GODS.”

Do they? Do they still make gods unto and for themselves? More than ever! The modern church ⛪ is a god factory. A church today mind you where man actually commands God! Man on the mountain and God at the base. A command-able god which tens of thousands of people eat up.

Stay tuned, the modern god-production-line is pumping out gods faster than you can worship them.

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How often I have met people who reject the God of the Bible, because He does not meet their god requirements. He flunks 👎their god test, because He doesn’t do the things they demand in a god. So they give Him a god make-over.

Poor Creator God, he must pass the exam of the god creators, which because He is truly God, He can never pass. He is just TOO GOD!

Even church ⛪ people who though they believe in the God of the Bible, they have their god times when they wish that He would think and act more like them. God seemingly just can’t catch a break so that He can be Himself.

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But be assured of this, God will never stop ✋ being Himself. Hear what He says in Malachi 3:6,

“I AM THE LORD AND I CHANGE NOT…”

Hear it:

“GOD IS GOD, INFLEXIBLY, UNCHANGEABLY, UNALTERABLY, ETERNALLY GOD.”

So much for the the god-makers, the god-inventors. You cannot have God your way , you can only have GOD HIS WAY.

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MEET THE EVERYWHERE GOD

I wish that I could more completely understand Him! I mean, how is that even possible? Here, and yet all of Him equally and fully everywhere? Here, there, and everywhere!

How can that be? I mean, if you are here, you can’t be there. And if you are there, you couldn’t be here. You can’t have it both ways. I just don ‘t get this! It would make much more sense if He would have to travel like the rest of us.

Sorry, this side of eternity you will never complete the God course. In fact, it is my deep conviction that it will never be completed.

I wish I could figure Him out? Sorry, when it comes to figuring, God is an unsolvable problem which shall always stump the experts, let alone little unperts like us.

Listen to the words of Jeremiah 23:23-24,

“I AM A GOD WHO IS EVERYWHERE, AND NOT IN ONE PLACE ONLY. NO ONE CAN BE WHERE I CANNOT SEE 👀 HIM. DO YOU KNOW THAT I AM EVERYWHERE IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH 🌎?”

People don’t believe that because they don’t like a God who infringes on their privacy. I mean, who wants a Peeping Tom God who is present everywhere, and Who sees us always. At the least He could look the other way in our less than commendable postures. Give us some private space. They don’t want a God Who they cannot escape. Such a God is utterly threatening to them!

Except:

“WHEN THEY REALLY NEED HIM, then they want Him to be JOHNNY-GODDY ON THE SPOT.”

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Adam and Eve thought that God was a limited God in terms of time and space. He certainly can’t be everywhere all the time. So they thought they could hide from their localized, temporalized God when in their guilt they needed an escape route.

We read that after they disobeyed God by eating from the forbidden tree 🌳, like naughty kids they tried to hide from God. Genesis 3:8 says:

“ADAM AND HIS WIFE HID THEMSELVES FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD GOD AMONGST THE TREES OF THE GARDEN.”

Point is, they actually thought they were doing it. They HID THEMSELVES. He will never find us here, they thought! Just be quiet and don’t move, okay. Shhh! Here He comes! The Bible tells us that God came walking in the Garden in the cool of the day.

Problem was God saw them make their new fig leaf wardrobe.
God saw 👀 them put it on to cover their now unmentionables. They were ashamed, even in front of eachother. Before they sinned, they were free and easy! Not any longer.

So they really tried to hide from God and each other. Trouble was, God already saw 👀 behind the tree that they went behind to play hide and go seek with God. Not fair, apparently God didn’t count to 50. How did that work out? The rest is history.

(GARDEN SPOILED! WEEDS GROW! FRUIT WORMS! EVICTION NOTICE! GUARDS POSTED! DEATH ENTERS! MURDER WARRANT! FAMILY FRACTURED! FUNERAL SERVICE! SICKNESS RAVAGES! GUILT ALIENATES! PARADISE LOST!)

Fact is:

“MAN CANNOT GO WHERE GOD ISN’T, FOR WHERE MAN GOES, GOD IS ALREADY THERE.”

ILLUSTRATION

So much for God-free acreage! Ever since Adam and Eve’s attempted escape manuever, mankind has tried to find the ZERO GOD ENVIRONMENT, yet with tons of amenities and great night life.

We think we have found just the ticket for you. It is commonly referred to as VEGAS. More properly known as Las Vegas, Nevada. And the come -on that really stands out in the Vegas advertisements are these words:

“WHAT HAPPENS HERE STAYS HERE.”

In other words:

“NO ONE WILL TELL ON YOU BECAUSE IN VEGAS EVERYONE IS
INVISIBLE, AND MUM’S THE WORD.”

Oh Wow, finally free of the PRIVATE EYE GOD. It doesn’t get any better than this!

But of course, we still want Him in times of FOXHOLES, TORNADOES, HURRICANES, and CANCER. The danger protection god.
The 911 God. Always good to keep him handy.

ILLUSTRATION

Many people are okay with God as long as He is and stays PAROCHIAL.
As long as He stays in His own ⛪ House, and goes to people’s houses only when He is invited.

A GOD WHO KNOWS HIS PLACE, and stays away from and uninvolved in the secular world like school, government, wombs, and public places. They don’t want a God Who TRESPASSES ON PUBLIC PROPERTY.

As if no-trespassing signs can deter or reroute Him! As if God needs a TRIP TICK to show Him where He has free access and where He doesn’t.

GOD LIMITED! DIVINITY LTD! A GOD WHO STRICTLY OBSERVES THE HARD, UNBREACHABLE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE SECULAR AND THE SACRED.

That is the god behind:

“SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE.”

Which is but a camouflaged way of saying:

“SEPARATION OF GOD AND STATE.”

In other words:

“GOD WHO IS NOTHING MORE THAN A DOG ON A LEASH, WHICH IS NO GOD AT ALL.”

That DOGGY 🐕 GOD CAN GO NO FURTHER THAN THE CHURCH ⛪ LAWN to do His business.

Everywhere else is OFF LIMITS. Can’t have this doggy god running around in education, government, courts, or the medical 🚑 profession. He must know his place, this cute little goddy doggie.

This is the doggie god of the ACLU, the DEMOCRATIC PARTY, the radically LIBERAL LEFT, and the nominally religious. Oh yes, they will talk about their God, but it is god jive to get votes from the evangelical right. Their god is a dog on a leash that sits and heels when and where they command him. Even Satan can appear as an angel 👼of light.

Just mind your own business god, and we will call you when we need you. Until next time, hope to see you then. Just so He stays on call!

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THE ALL-OWNERSHIP GOD

The Bible tells us in Psalm 24:1,

“THE EARTH 🌎 IS THE LORD’S, AND THE FULLNESS THEREOF, AND ALL THEY THAT DWELL THEREIN.”

Now you are talking GOD GOD! He is not only everywhere, but everything and everyone BELONGS to Him! And because it is ALL HIS, He can do what He deems best and right for everything and everyone.

Frank Sinatra sang “I DID IT MY WAY.” Obviously the old crooner did not sing “I DID IT HIS WAY.” Frankie was a humanist and not a theist. But through it all, and in the end, God will have HIS way, even with those who did it their way. Ultimately, no one has their own way.

ILLUSTRATION

Belshazzar found that out the hard way. (Daniel 5) He was the son of Nebuchadnezzar, the Emperor of the Babylonian Empire. Old Neb decimated Jerusalem and the Temple, and claimed the sacred vessels of the Temple as part of his booty. Neb thought he was god, and then found himself in the field grazing and chewing his cud like a cow.

But Bel took it a step further! He threw a big party for the in-crowd in Babylon. The upper crust, about 1000 were invited. The WHO’S WHO were at this huge elite shindig. Hollywood strut your red carpet stuff! Let the good times roll!

In so doing, Bel used the Holy vessels from God’s House as part of his drunken bash. And as they guzzled their booze from the holy goblets, they praised their gods of gold and silver etc.

They did not know that the God to end all gods was at their party too, and that He was the real Master of Ceremonies Who would soon introduce Himself.

Bel did not know that God was in the house (palace). Never dawned on him, that while his dad had destroyed and pillaged God’s House, God was an uninvited guest in his.

Suddenly, a hand ✋ as of a man begins to write all over the wall of Bel’s palace banquet hall. It was not an interior decorator. The hand of God suddenly turned a wall into a HUGE IMAX SCREEN with handwriting unfolding before everyone’s eyes. It was not part of the scheduled program.

The IMAX message was as follows,

“GOD HAS NUMBERED YOUR KINGDOM, IT IS COMPLETED. YOU HAVE BEEN WEIGHED IN THE BALANCES AND FOUND WANTING. THIS NIGHT YOUR KINGDOM SHALL BE DIVIDED BETWEEN THE MEDES AND THE PERSIANS.”

The Babylon gala came to a screeching halt. Whether it is the dance💃in Bel’s palace, or the global dance of the nations, God is there ruling and overruling the affairs of nations and men.

God is never somewhere or anywhere as a casual observer! He is the SOVEREIGN LORD ruling in righteousness, everywhere all the time!

The everywhere Master of Ceremonies got everyone’s attention, and the longhand message was devastating! You talk about a PARTY POOPER!

Sure enough, that night, Darius, King of the Medes came plundering in and
did to Babylon what Babylon did to Judah. Belshazzar became the ex- king of Babylon and lost not only his throne but his life.

There was now a new sheriff in town, and the Babylonian Empire went into the waste basket of expired kingdoms. Times Up! The finger of the Lord has written it! The mouth of the Lord has spoken it.

It would lead to the rebuilding of Jerusalem as the Jewish exiles were now allowed to go home and restore the Holy City which lay in ruins. THE GOD OF EVERYWHERE AND EVERYTHING powerfully at work on location!

Psalm 97:1,

“THE LORD REIGNS, LET THE EARTH REJOICE.”

Psalm 99:1,

“THE LORD REIGNS, LET THE PEOPLE’S TREMBLE.”

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PRESENT AND VERY PRESENT

It is better known as the OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD. GOD EVERYWHERE, FULLY PRESENT.

Here He Is:

“THE INFINITE BEING OF GOD FILLING THE WHOLE AND EVERY PART OF THE UNIVERSE NEARLY AND INTIMATELY.”

Never away from God! Can’t be done! The unavoidable God! The psalmist put it this way in Psalm 139:7-8,

“WHITHER SHALL I FLEE FROM THY PRESENCE? IF I ASCEND INTO HEAVEN THOU ART THERE. IF I MAKE MY BED IN SHEOL, THOU ART THERE.”

And everywhere He is, remember:

“GOD’S HANDS ARE AS POWERFUL AS HIS EYES ARE PIERCING.”

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THEN we read in the Word of God something that is very striking. Psalm 46:1 says,

“GOD IS OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH, A VERY PRESENT HELP IN TIME OF TROUBLE.”

Wait a minute here! How can you be VERY present? Either you are present or you are not present. Come on now, you are either all present, or you are all absent. What is it with this VERY present business?

Well, let me try to express it in this way. It is common between my wife and I to say to each other, “I LOVE 💘 YOU SO MUCH – I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH.” We never get sick of hearing it! Can’t say it too often! It is not just love, it is a VERY LOVE!

The ADVERBS SO AND VERY represent the strong intensity of our love for each other. It is not just love, it is a SO VERY MUCH LOVE! It is an INTENSE LOVE! It is a FIERY, BURNING DESIRE LOVE 💘.

Likewise, HE IS VERY PRESENT WITH HIS CHILDREN. That is to say,

“GOD IS NOT ONLY PRESENT WITH HIS CHILDREN, HE IS INTENSELY PRESENT, A BURNING DESIRE TO BE PRESENT TO PROTECT AND STRENGTHEN HIS CHILDREN.”

VERY PRESENT! That means He is present VERY differently with His children than He is with those who hate His presence, and will do anything to get rid of His presence.

“GOD IS PRESENT IN THE WHOLE WORLD, BUT HE IS VERY PRESENT WITH HIS CHILDREN EVERYWHERE BECAUSE HE INTENSELY DESIRES TO BE WITH US.”

Jesus said to His disciples:

“LO I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, EVEN TO THE END OF THE WORLD.”

He emphasized:

“I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU OR FORSAKE YOU.”

In this terribly troubled and turbulent world, there is no greater comfort than to know that Jesus Who so loved me that He went to Hell for me, is always at my side walking me to Heaven!

The Psalmist says,

“WHEN I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH I WILL FEAR NO EVIL, FOR THOU ART WITH ME…”

Besides my wife, I know of no other person who wants to be with me always 7-24, except Jesus Christ. He is VERY PRESENT TO ME EVERY SECOND OF MY LIFE!

He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own. And just the time I need Him, He is always near. Amen!