He's Already There!

     Christmas is behind us and here we are, facing 2019.  Looking ahead into a new year is kind of a mixed bag.  On the one hand, there is something exciting and invigorating about a new year.  Even though January 1 is really just another day on the calendar, there is something about it that offers hope and promise. 
      On the other hand, there is something a little ominous about a new year.  We can plan, prepare and work, but the reality is that none of us really has any idea of what 2019 holds for us.  How will my health be?  How will the important relationships in my life fair?  What challenges will I face in my ministry?  We can hope for the best, but nobody knows.  Well, that’s not totally true. There is One who knows…
      Theologians attempt to describe God by using 10 attributes gleaned from scripture.  I say attempt, because who can describe God?  Four of those attributes are moral, having to do with his character.  They are righteousness, justice, love and veracity (meaning that he is absolute truth).
      Then there are six non-moral attributes.  He is sovereign (in control), omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), and immutable (unchangeable).  But as you think about the new year, focus on these last two attributes for just a bit.
      He is eternal.  In other words, there has never been a time he hasn’t existed and there will never be a time he won’t exist.  He has no beginning and He has no end.  In I Timothy 1:17,  Paul describes God as “the King eternal.”  In Revelation 1:8, John says that God is the One “who was, who is and who is to come.”  God is present everywhere throughout time.  In fact, time is a dimension that doesn’t exist for Him.
      Now couple that attribute with this one.  God is also omni-present, meaning that He is present everywhere at once.  Proverbs 15:3 says, “The eyes of the Lord are everywhere.”  In Jeremiah 23:24 God, himself, asks, “Do I not fill heaven and earth?”
      So, try to wrap your head around this; God fills both time and space.  There is nowhere throughout all of time and space where God isn’t present.  So face 2019 boldly, because the God you serve not only knows the future, he inhabits the future.      HE’S ALREADY THERE!