“Better” is Best

Text:  1 John 4:1-6 “… “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

From Friday Morning’s “Just a Moment” devotional.

Here is what I am learning about trusting in the Lord. Rather than seeing it as a spiritual discipline, I am thankful to Him today for the opportunity and the invitation to trust in Him. The reason, simply put, is because He is just better than me. He is the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time). In ALL things! At all times. He is more creative. He is funnier. (That’s right!) He is more powerful. He is wiser. He is more patient. He is more loving. He is all of that and more. And because He is better, I am a better “me” and my life is a better experience when I am receptive and responsive to Him (i.e., trusting in Him). As it is written, “Blessed (happy) is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord” (Jeremiah 17:7).

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord because the One in whom He trusts is greater than he who is in the world.  He is better than us.  And better is best.

The One who is greater than he who is in the world is also the One who is better than us.

John 8:42-47 (NIV) ⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

As surely as Jesus is the truth.  The evil one is a liar.

Family challenges hard to know what to do.  Showing grace is important.  So is telling the truth.  Sometimes we’ve got lots of truth and little grace.  Other times we’ve got lots of grace and little truth.  Jesus is Better.  He was full of grace and truth.

Greater is the One who is in you than the fog of relationship dynamics created by the evil one.

[The man with the “Jesus” sign.]

• One day, John, one of Jesus’ disciples. “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to hinder him because he does not follow along with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you.” (Luke 9:49-50 (NASB77)

Science and God

Romans 1:20 (NASB77) ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

“One could summarize the difference between science and religion by saying that they are asking different questions about the nature of reality. Science is concerned with the question, How?—By what process do things happen? Theology is concerned with the question, Why?—Is there a meaning and purpose behind what is happening? We are perfectly familiar with the fact that we can ask and answer both questions about the same event. The kettle is boiling because burning gas heats the water. The kettle is burning because I want to make a cup of tea, and will you have one too? We do not have to choose between these two answers, and, in fact, if we are fully to understand the event of the boiling kettle, we need them both. In an exactly similar way we need the insights of both science and religion if we are fully to understand the rich reality we inhabit.  –John Polkinghorne, a highly esteemed physicist

“For myself, faith begins with a realization that a supreme intelligence brought the universe into being and created man. It is not difficult for me to have this faith, for it is incontrovertible that where there is a plan there is intelligence—an orderly, unfolding universe testifies to the truth of the most majestic statement ever uttered—-‘In the beginning God.’” – Arthur Compton

“For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.” — Robert Jastrow

I think it’s good every once in a while to worship the One who is Better as the Creator, so that we can see that He is beyond our spiritual methods and rituals and doctrinal positions and the words on the page.  That He is in fact, the Living Word, the Creator of heaven and earth, and all that we see, all we can touch in the material universe is the evidence that He is.