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January 8, 2004
Sometimes it is good to go back to basics and refresh our minds and memories - to remind ourselves of how great a God we have, and how ;much He has blessed us. One way of doing that is to sit down and write all the characteristics of God - and all the words you can think of to describe Him. I dare say you would fill a page, at least, before running out of words. There are not enough words to describe all that He is.
Another thing I sometimes think of is what I call a "bird's eye view" of the Bible - a "panoramic" view of it. After years of reading and studying it, when I think of the Bible, I often see in my mind's eye a picture - like a scroll - from Genesis to Revelation. Each book is filled with stories and highlights of God's relationship and work in and amongst His people. Some books are filled with rules and laws, others are genealogies and historical things. Some tell stories of heroes, some speak of disobedience and defeats, while others speak of victories and prophecies. But always God is in the midst - loving, forgiving, waiting for His people to learn to live in His love.Then as I think of this scroll, I think of questions - 1. How do we define "time", or "eternity"? 2. When did "time" begin? 3. If someone asked you how "time" was different from "eternity", what would you say? 4. What kind of a view of the world, us, time, etc. would you say God has?
In Isaiah 55:8,9 we are told that God's thoughts and His ways are higher than ours. And in Job 38 we are reminded of all the mighty works of creation that God did from away back. Yet, in spite of all His greatness, He has given us a way to understand and know Him better - through His Word. In Psalm 138:2 we are told how important God considers His Word - "He magnifies it even above His Name".Thinking back to my first questions - How important is it for us to get or have a "bird's eye" view, or a "panoramic" view of the Bible? How can we develop such a view? How important is the Old Testament to the New? If we don't have a complete picture of both Old and New Testaments, how can we really understand the necessity of the Cross or the extent of our need?
In the Bible God began revealing His plan for our salvation right from the beginning - just as we might unroll a scroll. He began in Genesis 3:15 with the first prophecy of the coming Saviour. And in the succeeding books He continued to reveal bits and pieces of His plan - we learn also that He had His plan in in place even before the creation of the world! He already knew it would be needed. And gradually, as we study the Old and the New Testaments together, we begin to see how the rules and laws, and the instructions He gave for worship, the times when His people disobeyed and were punished - then His mercy when they repented, etc., so many of these stories begin to form a picture of Who God is, and we begin to see shadows, or pictures of the coming Saviour, of Who He would be, what He would be like. And most of all, in the New Testament, we find Him in Jesus, fulfilling all the laws, all the prophecies of the Old Testament about Himself.
In Him we find the promised Messiah - Emmanuel - God with us - the incarnate God in flesh - Jesus our Lord. But how could we have known, or recognised Him, or understood Him at all, if we didn't have the Old Testament to point to Him? How could we know we even needed a Saviour if we never knew about God the Creator, and how man's fellowship with Him was lost and why?
Until we know Who He is, how can we know who we are and what we are or why we need Him? Many, many questions - and more questions we need to ask ourselves and search the scriptures for answers to - questions to make us hunger and search for a deeper knowledge of and fellowship with Him. Answers that are more satisfying when we search and find them for ourselves or along with others - when we search together, and share our gems from His Word. And the more we discover, the more we want to know. In my Bible I have a note beside Romans 1:17 - "from faith to faith, from strength to strength, from victory to victory." As we exercise the faith and strength we have, we gain more, and each new victory will lead to another.
I find no other book so filled with Life - so precious - so filled with strength, truth, love, courage, comfort, - so satisfying to my spirit as my Bible. In its pages I find Living Water (John 4:14), and spiritual Bread (John 6: 54-58) that can satisfy the deepest thirst and hunger of my spirit as nothing else can. Hebrews 4:12 tells me that Word is so sharp it cuts through the hardest, thickest walls I can build up, it pierces into the deepest part of my soul and reveals to me the ugliest, and the best, of myself, and shows me that even my best is nothing compared to the cleansing He provides - and He shows me how poor my love is compared to His - but, oh what joy to know that in spite of it all, His Word tells me He loves me - He knows me (Psalm 139) and He loves me. How could I not love Him back?
Postscript - January 8, 2004
I began to write the above last September, but for some reason was unable to finish it. So I put it aside for awhile - turned into a few weeks, and then months, as every time I tried to finish, I couldn't seem to do so. Then this evening I decided to try again, as I couldn't seem to let it go, and after inserting a couple of lines, and beginning again mid-way through the sixth paragraph, I was able to finish it. But as I got into the last two paragraphs, I began to feel tears streaming down my face, and by the time I finished, I realized the Lord was even then using what I'd just written to speak to my own heart. And all I could do was praise Him, and thank Him through my tears. There followed a tearful, but blessed time of prayer. I don't know why I couldn't finish it before, but perhaps I needed to be reminded of those things before I could share them. I pray they will bless the hearts of those who read, and remember how much God loves them.--Esther
About the Author
Esther Swyer was born in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. The eldest of eight children she married at twenty-one and promptly had six children. She became a Christian in October of 1958 at the age of twenty-five and was baptised in December of that year. She began teaching a Sunday School class of a dozen nine to ten year olds in 1961 or 1962 and has been teaching various age groups ever since.
Esther began teaching adults and leading Bible studies sometime in the seventies. She became involved in WMS in the late sixties and held various positions over the years, then in the early to mid-seventies she started serving on the Association Council. On top of all that she was involved for many years in ladies retreats serving as small groups director for around twenty years. Currently Esther is president of the WMS on the Association level, treasurer of her church, adult ladies class teacher, and is completing her third year as a church deacon.
Her first marriage ended after twenty-two years. She re-married thirteen years later in December 1988 and was widowed in June of 2000. She has eighteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Esther has just published a book about her spiritual journey.