GPS Theology - God Sees Me

GPS Theology - God Sees Me

The Theology of the GPS

By Pastor Dan Kennedy
© June 30, 2013
www.pastorkennedy.com

We are in a genuinely unique digital age – in the history of all the generations of the world!

• Do you have a cell phone?
• Most cell phones keep track of where we are at all times with their internal GPS systems.

GPS, or the Global Positioning System, was originally developed for the military…but has expanded to every person who has a cell phone with an internal GPS.

o Parents can find where their child is and follow them in real time, where they are going.
o Employers can monitor the movements of their employees during work hours - where their vehicles are and why they may be late…if stuck in traffic.
o Commuters can see traffic snarls and work around them, on their way to work. They can see where the closest gas station is, or a place to get a bite of lunch…right from their phone.
o Civil Engineers can see the traffic patterns of those living in every city and plan the future generation of roads upon current and potential future trends.
o Emergency personnel can pinpoint accidents…and locations of those who called in a 911 call, even those lost in the forests or on the tops of mountains.

• The governments of the world keep track of phone calls, emails and digital communications of everyone they choose to follow electronically. We have seen somewhat of a firestorm in the recent revelation of the “Prism” operation.

• Our financial transactions are recorded in great detail in what we purchase, how much we spend, and how much we have left.

• Our purchases and Internet searches are logged so that marketers can advertise the most precise merchandise directly to both our computer and to our mailboxes.

• Video cameras advise us as to weather and visibility on Hurricane Ridge and numerous other places of destination. Cameras also monitor what is happening on highways, streets, in malls and on stoplights, etc., etc.

• Facial recognition programs can identify who we are in any part of the world.

• We may think that we have privacy. We have very little. We are living in the digital age. Our life, more than ever, is an open book in the annals of time.

• If limited human beings can create intricate systems that track the movements of most of the individuals in the populations of the world, then how can we think for a moment that we are free from the intimate observation by God?

We must “think again”! God created us. He knows us. He understands our every thought and deliberation of our heart and mind. This is clearly stated in the Scripture, 3,000 years before GPS systems were ever dreamed of.

God is Our Creator in the most intricate detail of our being!
God knows everything about us!
God knows who we are and where we are.
He knows what we are thinking… and if we truly believe in Him. He is very aware of everything we do and every need we have. We cannot hide from God.

This was revealed thousands of years ago in Psalm 139:

Psalm 139
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
1 O Lord, you have searched me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O Lord.
5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be….
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

The Theology of the GPS

We used the car GPS extensively on our recent trip. Without it we would have been lost many times! It was a wonderful guide within the maze of roads that interconnected before us.

Here are some of the main benefits of GPS:

1. GPS gives us the exact speed of car together with the exact posted speed limits of the highways and roadways large and small.

You never have to wonder what the speed limit is on the road you are traveling. It is posted before you…together with the actual speed you are traveling!

2. The GPS gives the projected time of arrival – from any address to any address – and it is often right on…to the minute, even on long trips. It will subtract time when you take a detour, stop for gas, take a break, or have lunch.

The GPS calculates all the speeds of the roads on which you will be travelling, no matter how far you are from your destination – and gives you a time of arrival!

3. The GPS will “recalculate” if we make a wrong turn, miss a highway or have to avoid the backed-up traffic because of an accident taking an unexpected exit. GPS will redirect us back onto the programed destination route!

Let’s take a second look “Recalculating”! It reminds us of wrong turns, wrong highways but the possibility of wise returns!

a. “Recalculating” is the word the GPS voice uses when a wrong turn has been made. Many “recalculations” may have to be in life’s real-time arenas.

b. There are two things we can do when the GPS continues to let us know we are going down the wrong road:

i. We can turn the GPS off, so our “directional conscience” will keep from bothering us, or…

ii. We can start going back to the right road again.

Does this remind us about what we do to God?

God knows where everyone is all the time. Let’s look at some Biblical examples:

Hagar is not known to be a “person of pristine faith” in the Bible, such as Abraham and others. She was the servant of Sarah, Abraham’s wife, and the woman whom Sarah gave to Abraham to bear a child – which was Sarah’s means of fulfilling God’s promise through her own manipulation. When God gave Hagar a child – Ismael, and then fulfilled His promise to Abraham through Sarah in her old age, Sarah became jealous of Hagar and Ismael and had Abraham cast she and her son out of their family clan. When Hagar ran out of water and could find none in the wilderness in which they had been sent to fend for themselves, she was sure she was going to die. She did not want to see and hear her son cry and die. God, though, heard their cry and sent an angelic being to comfort her and reveal a place of water. Genesis 16:13 reveals how Hagar responded when God spared her life.

Genesis 16:13
13 She (Hagar) gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

God sees me.

Jesus spoke the following words about God’s knowledge of who we are and of all that is happening.

Luke 12:2–7
2 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 3 What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.
4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

If God sees all and completely comprehends who we are and what we are doing, shouldn’t we want to take steps that draw us closer to God and give us a deeper relationship with Him instead of simply doing what we want and going where we want to go with little concern for God? We are, in fact, going to stand before God one day and be judged by Him for who we are, how we have responded to Him, and how we have lived our life.

What are some steps, which will guide us into a growing and deeper fellowship with God? What are those things that will help us fulfill the life that God wants us to attain?

Steps Beneficial to our Faith
The Apostle Peter, while imprisoned and awaiting his execution, wrote a second letter to the believers of Jesus Christ who had been scattered because of persecution. In this letter Peter lists seven attributes to add to our faith while we are journeying on many roads during this short life:

2 Peter 1:5–9
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

• To faith add Goodness (virtue, moral purity); and
• To moral purity add Knowledge; and
• To knowledge add Self-control; and
• To self-control add Perseverance; and
• To perseverance add Godliness; and
• To godliness add Brotherly Kindness; and
• To brotherly kindness add Love…

(Peter continues with some choice words for those to whom he is writing…)

8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

Do you think Peter feels strongly about these attributes as necessities for the Christian life?

What happens when a Crisis comes into our life and we need to make a decision but are afraid of the Consequences if we make a “God-honoring” decision?

We often know what we should be doing when they are faced with one decision or another. God’s Word gives us clear direction when faced with moral decisions, but our minds may be confused for a time. As we cry out to God and seek to understand what God wants us to do, most of the time we begin to gain a clearer picture of what should be done, given our circumstances.

Charles Stanley has given us a good summary statement, which, he said, would be his final words of advice given to others, even if he was on his death bed:

“Obey God and leave the consequences to Him.”

Obey what you believe God wants you to do – that which is consistent with His Word; and, do not worry about what the outcome of your obedience may be… let God be responsible for all of the consequences.

When we are going down life’s highways, whether in familiar or unfamiliar parts of our world. We can trust God to guide us. The path may lead us into unfamiliar circumstances, but God knows the way we should take, so follow Him as He guides you.

God knows who we are.
God knows where we are.

Conclusion:

God understands that we may not always comprehend exactly what we should be doing or the path we should be taking, so on life’s journey we should consistently seek to add to our Faith in Christ…
To our Faith in Christ add:

• Goodness (virtue, moral purity); and
• To moral purity add Knowledge; and
• To knowledge add Self-control; and
• To self-control add Perseverance; and
• To perseverance add Godliness; and
• To godliness add Brotherly Kindness; and
• To brotherly kindness add Love…

Next week, I am planning on going into more detail regarding these seven qualities as we begin to look more closely at the book of 2 Peter.

Obey what you believe God wants you to do – that which is consistent with His Word; and, do not worry about what the outcome of your obedience may be… let God be responsible for all the consequences.

“Obey God and leave the consequences to Him.”

God Sees Me!
God knows who you are.
God knows where you are.
We can put our Confidence and Trust in Him.