Praise day 6

Have you ever thought about the fact that God is always trying (for our benefit) to make Himself smaller? Yeah, I know. But calm down and think it through -- I'm not being sacrilegious. (Grin)

When God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, He made Himself smaller. When He came and ate with Abraham, He did it again. When He spoke to Moses from the burning bush, and when He walked past Moses, He made Himself smaller.

And of course, when He came as the babe in the manger, He made Himself smaller still.

                 But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little
                 while, now crowned with glory and honor .....  (Hebrews 2:9a)

                 ...rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a
                servant, being made in human likeness.  (Philippians 2:7)

Each of us has a body.  For us, with our finite minds, to understand things, they must be embodied. He chose to make Himself smaller so that He could be a personal God. He wanted to break through all of our sin, our pride, our arrogance and fear, and hold out His hand to us, "I want you to know something. I want you to know that I love you.  I want you to know Me personally."

                           How precious to me are your thoughts concerning me, God!
                           How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would
                           outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you.
                           (Psalm 139:17-18)

God not only thinks about us, but He thinks of us in terms of a mighty love for us:

                          But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were
                         still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

And He thinks of us in personal terms, using "you" and "I" --

                       So do not fear, for I am with you;
                       do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
                       I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you
                      with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

And In Jeremiah, there is another compelling reason to believe He is a personal God:

                    “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of
                     their strength or the rich boast of their riches,  but let the one who
                     boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know
                     me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and
                     righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord. 
                     (Jer 9:23-24)

Praise Him, for He has made Himself known to us as a personal God!