How big a boy are ya?

Greetings from the land of many boxes. Thanks to those of you that have prayed for and/or helped Lisa & me in our move over the last few weeks. I think we are about to dig ourselves out of the rubble!

Today I want to revisit some of the teachings that I received at the IWI a few weeks ago. Bishop Joseph Garlington was one of the many speakers that really hit us between the eyes. Not only was he absolutely hilarious in his teaching approach, but he is a very learned man with an eloquent tongue about him. Needless to say, he kept our attention quite well. The following video was shown to us to set up his teaching. Check it out before reading on.



Feeling kind of small? On this specific day, he was speaking on the size of God in relation to the size of His creation...namely US. 2 Chronicles 2:6a states "But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him?" What does that speak to you? Does it bring back to memory those childhood VBS songs about our God being a BIG GOD? Friends, it's so much more than that! See how this statement from Bishop Garlington strikes you. Hold onto your seats for this one;

"Immensity is that perfection of the divine being

by which He transcends all spacial limitations

and yet is present in every point of space

with His whole being."

Go ahead, read it again. Has it soaked in yet? Yeah, it kinda made my brain hurt too. Let's dissect it a bit. Immensity:in (not) + metiri (to measure), very large, vast, huge. The word literally translated means that you cannot measure its size. My kids love to measure stuff. There's no measuring God! Don't you like the feeling when you've figured something out. Well get over it! We can't figure God out! So, back to Bishop Garlington's quote. Ok, so GOD is HUGE! What else? Because He created the universe & all that's in it, He is able to be in all places at all times. There's something very trekky about that. Do you understand it? Me either! That's what makes Him God!

As if that isn't incredible enough, it gets much, much better. Let's examine what it says in John 14:23: "Jesus Replied, If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to Him and make our home with him". Did you catch that? The same God that is too big to measure, is going to take up residence in my scrawny little body? If I'm reading it correctly, that would mean that I must have been created (by GOD) to be bigger on the inside than I am on the outside. Only an immense God could pull that off! I love serving a God that I don't fully understand! That's where FAITH comes in.

Just in case some of you are still scratching your head as you read this, let me leave you with one last quote from Bishop Garlington. This puts it all into perspective:

"We are not just human beings

having a temporal spiritual experience,

we are spiritual beings

having a temporary human experience."

Well, Bless God Amen!