Grapevine Ministries
Messages from the bible to uplift and encourage those that need a word from the Lord, to strengthen their faith. Ps Phillip Barker is an itinerant pastor in Perth, Western Australia.
Grapevine Ministries
Sovereignty Part VIII (B) God's Benefits
What if the same Word that launched light still holds your life together today? We take a clear-eyed tour through God’s “resume,” tracing how Scripture presents Him as Creator, Sustainer, Sovereign, and near enough to search the heart. From Colossians 1:17 and Hebrews 1:3 to Isaiah 46 and Psalm 139, we connect the dots between galaxies that keep expanding and daily decisions that shape careers, families, and communities. The thread is simple and bold: God’s powerful word upholds reality, and His wisdom still redirects human plans toward a larger purpose.
We open the lens wide with the cosmos—the idea that God never told light to stop—and then zoom in to the moments that test character: being Christlike when provoked, choosing humility when success tempts pride, and trusting providence when life feels off-script. Along the way, we revisit the shock of “I am” in Gethsemane, the humbling of Nebuchadnezzar, and the steady truth that God directs the hearts of leaders like water in a channel. We tackle the tough bit too: how Scripture speaks about calamity without making God the author of evil, and how the new covenant reframes power through the mercy of Jesus.
Most of all, we make prayer practical. You’ll leave with five grounded principles—come to the Father through the Son, align with Scripture, ask clearly, believe as you pray, and give thanks—and three vivid case studies: Hannah’s longing, Moses’ intercession, and Elijah’s bold faith. If God sustains atoms, He can sustain you. If He guides nations, He can guide your next step. Listen, reflect, and try the prayer framework this week. Then share what shifted for you. Subscribe, leave a review if it helped, and pass this on to someone who needs a larger view of God and a clearer way to pray.
Good morning, good afternoon, wherever you are in the world - Welcome to Grapevine Ministries.
Here we go, we're back again. Um, I don't mind the fact that I'm doing a part A and a part B. Um, but we were talking about God's sovereignty, and I left halfway through his resume. So we're looking at God's resume, and um I'm I'm looking at this and I'm thinking, okay, we've uh we've gone through, he existed before anything else, he created all things, and so now he's got to his second interview in the job. Okay, so he he sustains all things. Colossians 1 17 puts it this way: He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Hebrews 1 3 adds that Jesus is the radiance of God's glory, the exact expression of his nature, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. The language of the Bible tells us that his power to make everything hold together instead of flying apart is operative from the atomic level to the universe level. And speaking of the universe, you you see that um every time they've made a bigger telescope or they've sent out a satellite that's gone further and further, they have not found the end of the universe. Now, I heard this said once before. I I I can't quote who said it because I'm uh not really sure. Um I don't want to make a mistake and put someone's uh name to something that wasn't there, but got to give credit where credit is due. And the the main thing that I want to make note of is that um I believe that when you know in the beginning was the word and the word was with God, and God was the word, and you you talk about in the beginning God was, so that means if there was no beginning for him, but when he created the earth, he said, Let there be light, and then when he spoke that out, the power of his spoken word gave light to the world. But the thing is, I looked at it this way, you never heard him tell the light to stop. So, as far as I'm concerned, me personally, I think that the universe is still growing on a daily basis, and as man's technology improves, we get to see more and more of what God has created. So don't for one minute think that our little solar system is all there was and God created that just for us. But where's God been before us? Just a little food for thought. But it says that He sustains all things. Now uh next point, D. He is above all things. Now Ziah forty six nine to ten says this remember what happened long ago, for I am God and there is no other. I am God, and no one is like me. I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying my plan will take place and I will do all my will. God is not limited or restrained by anything, you know, and the interesting thing is when Isaiah is speaking about this, he mentions that you know there is no other, I am God. And remember when you know God spoke to Moses and he said, You're gonna go and tell Pharaoh to let my people go. And he goes, Well, how am I gonna know that you're the one that sent me? And he goes, I am, and throughout the Bible you'll see that on several occasions when they're referring to God or Jesus, they speak the word that I am, you know, in the Garden of Gethsemane, uh when um when all of the um you know the soldiers come to take Jesus away, and um you know Judas has got to kiss him and you know point him out, and he says, Are you Jesus of Nazareth? And when he says, I am, you know, so he's answering their question, but he's also showing his you know sovereignty and his authority with everything because he's speaking the words that I am. In other words, I'm Jesus, but I'm also God. And when he spoke those words, people were thrown to the ground, okay, and he raised a dead person. And we don't know whether it was more than one or whatever, but he was seen running through there because the Garden of Gethsemane used to be, you know, a um well they call it uh the dead center of town. It's it's a um look at that. I've totally lost where I am. It's a cemetery, that's the word. It's a cemetery. That's where they bury people. So it's the dead center of town, and people are just dying to get in there. That's how popular it is. Okay, no more dad jokes. All right, let's get back to this. Um, he sustains all things, okay? Colossians 1 17 says, He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Hebrews 1 3 adds that Jesus is the radiance of God's glory, the exact expression of his nature, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. The language of the Bible tells us that his power to make everything hold together instead of all flying apart is imperative because it does look at things from an atomic level, right? It really does. And I've lost my spot, and hang on, where were we? Okay. Uh said he he's above all things. Oh, yes, he knows all things. Well, we know that he knows all things, but Psalm 1391 to 4 puts it this way, right? And I think it's it's always important to go back to the word for clarification and for peace of mind. Psalm 139, 1 to 4 says, Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up, you understand my thoughts from far away. You observe my travels and my rest. You are aware of all my ways before a word is on my tongue. You know all about it, Lord. The knowledge of God is described in Scripture as exhaustive through covering the details down to the smallest possible thing. See, all through the scriptures you see a real breakdown of God literally showing his resume, who he is, what he can do, and what he's all about. And he orchestrates all things. Okay, I know you're gonna think that you went to school and you got educated and and you got that job and you worked your way through the ranks, and now you're you know, uh a high-ranking lawyer in a law firm and you're making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, and you think you did it all on your own. Well, where did that wisdom and knowledge and understanding come from? Is it purely academic, or is God doing something there in the background? And you may not yet have a relationship with God. I know that he knew me before I knew him, right? And God's hand was on my life because I wouldn't be where I am now if not for his intervention and his subtle but slight impact in my life to everything from you know um why all of a sudden, you know, I found my wife Maria, and uh we got married, and she was telling me that I had to be a good Christian like her, and I had to go to church and all this sort of stuff. But something inside of me said that was not enough, and I started searching for more things, you know. Some religious um entities believe that every time they die, they're reincarnated as something else, and they've got to try and live a better life than the one that they lived before, so that they can constantly improve on to become perfect, and we all know that that's not possible because the only one that was perfect was Jesus Christ, and uh we can try and be more Christ-like each and every day. I strive to be you know more Christ-like, and I find myself in situations where I get this of well, what would Jesus do? You know, and uh it's very, very hard, trust me, you know, you know, if like it says in scripture, you get slapped in the face and says, Well, how many times do you turn the other cheek? Seven times heaven. I mean, let's look at it from this perspective. How many times? I I don't, you could be the most passive person in the world, but if someone slapped you in the face because they were insulting you or had a grievance with you or whatever, how many times would it be that you allowed them to do that before you fought back in your own special way? But once again, I'm digressing, right? And uh, so where was I? Oh yeah. He sustains all things. We know that he sustains all things, and he is above all things. Isaiah forty six, nine through to ten says this Remember what happened long ago, for I am God and there is no other. I am God, and no one is like me. I declare the end from the beginning and from long ago what is not yet done, saying my plan will take place and I will do all my will. God is not limited or restrained by anything, you know, and here once again in Isaiah forty six, nine, it's saying I am so he's reiterating that's one of the names of God. He knows all things, there's nothing that he doesn't know, all right? And if you think you're keeping secrets from God, you might be able to keep secrets from family and friends and maybe loved ones, but you can't keep secrets from God. Psalm 139, 1 to 4 says, Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up. You see, it once again he is saying that no, he knows everything there is about you. He can do whatever he pleases. Psalm 135, 6 says this the Lord does whatever he pleases in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the depths. Jeremiah 32 27 puts it this way Look, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for me? Well, I think we've already answered that. We have definitely already answered that. He orchestrates all things. Isaiah 14 24. The Lord of hosts has sworn, as I have planned, so it will be, as I have purposed it, so it will happen. And Ephesians 1 11 reminds us that God works out everything in agreement with the decision of his will. In Daniel 4 34 to 35, the most powerful man on earth decided to take on God. When God was through with him, here was what was said. But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity returned to me. Then I praised the most high and honored the glorified him who lives forever. For his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is for generations to generations. All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing, and he does what he wants with the enemy of heaven and with the inhabitants of earth. There is no one who can hold back his hand or say to him, What have you done? Very, very powerful words. It puts things into a totally different perspective, and it shows that it doesn't matter who you are, uh what position you have in you know the um ultimate you know pegging level of the world, you small and insignificant in comparison to him. You know how they do those the Forbes 100 or you know the the ten most richest people in the world, and all of these sort of things. Statistics, they're just showing that that is 10% of the entire population of 8 billion people. But the thing is, all of that is is insignificant to the power and the authority of our Heavenly Father, and he controls all things, you know, he controls the choices of world leaders. Proverbs 21:1 says this a king's heart is a water channel to the Lord's hand, he directs it wherever he chooses, he controls the course of human events. Psalm 33 9 11 says, For he spoke and it came into being. He commanded and it came into existence. The Lord frustrates the council of the nations, he thwarts the plans of people, the counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart from generation to generation. See, he even controls calamity, right? I mean, a lot of people probably haven't read this, don't even know it exists, but trust me, it's in one of the 66 books of the Bible. Amos 3.6 says this if a disaster occurs in a city, hasn't the Lord done it? The psalmist is awed by his, he makes the winds, he his messengers, flames of fire, his servant, he unleashes his winds and the water to flow, lightning and hail, snow and cloud, powerful wind that executes his command. And I know what you're gonna say, oh, does that mean that God's creating natural disasters? No, but we can it just that he has a hand in it, not necessarily physically doing it. Look, I mean, I'll just give these other uh scriptures and then I I want to summarize because I uh I don't want people to think that God is you know uh the author and the finisher of everything, the wrath of God, the hand of God, all this sort of thing. And we know things changed when we went under a new covenant with Jesus. But look, read Psalm 104 4 and Psalm 147 18, and also read Psalm 148.8. Um, and it'll give you a little bit of a different look at it. I could keep going, but I just want to give you an example of a couple of things, right? Uh, the main thing to remember is I want you to ask and consider just a couple of God's credentials, right? And as you think about them, ask yourself whether your idea of God as you entered into your room this morning and to listen to my podcast, was it orchestrated in some way by God? Just food for thought. But I'm gonna give you a couple of examples, and you can read these, and I'll give you the scriptural reference and everything, but this shows okay, God's grace, mercy, sovereignty, power, and authority. Okay, all of these things are all mixed up in this, and when all gets said and done, it starts and ends with your prayer life. But you must understand the word of God because when you pray, and I've said this on many occasions, you know, when you pray, okay, you've got to believe that you receive when you pray. So if you don't have that in place, and you have those five principles, you pray to the Father through the Son, you make sure that it lines up with Scripture, and then you make sure that you ask for what it is that you want, and then number five, you thank him. If you have those five basic principles in any of your prayers, then you're pretty well on the road to an answer from God's prayer, right? And I'll give you an example. Um, these are scriptures about God's power and his sovereignty in line with our power, in conjunction with our prayers, all right. Now, the first one is Hannah's prayer. Now, Hannah's prayer, you read about this in 1 Samuel 1 through to from 10 to 17. Now, this is Hannah prayed for a son, recognizing God's power and her humility as a servant. So here you automatically see that there's several things that are in place. Now she knows that she needs to pray to God because she recognizes his power, okay, but at the same time, she's humbling herself before the Lord. She's not boasting about what she's done, what she's gonna do for her people, and all this sort of stuff. This is just a simple personal prayer about her wanting a son, all right. So 1 Samuel 1, 10 to 17. All right, now these are examples, right? I'm telling you, God's power and his sovereignty in line with the power of our prayers, and this shows how powerful our prayers are and how impacting they can be. I give an example with this one, Moses. Okay, Moses interceded for the Israelites, and God changed his plan showing he answered prayer. Now, this is in Exodus 34 9, and it's his intercession for their forgiveness in Exodus 32 11. Now, see, now this is where Moses influenced God because of his heartfelt prayer for the Israelite people, and so God changed what he'd planning said, you know, like when he says, I'm gonna do this if you don't, such and such, right? And there's lots of uh scriptures like that. Everybody thinks, oh, God's changing his mind, and he's not supposed to be a person who changes his mind. Well, he can change his mind because it's influenced by us if that's what he's wanting us to do. See what I mean? He's wanting us to come to him and seeing what is before them to see if it can change. Now, final one, okay? Elijah's prayer. See, through the prayer, Elijah brought fire from the sky and God raised the dead. Now, this is the prayer on the Mount Carmel. It's 1 Kings 18, 36 through to 40. Now, this is when Elijah wanted to make sure that he would he believed in the authority and the power of God, and so he's saying, rain down fire from heaven, you know. And these three, and look, there's many, many more, okay? Have a look at what David and some of the psalms written by David, you know, about him being, you know, not so good and not so bad, and in between, but he was a man after God's own heart. And so when man is trying to do something, or man is on a journey, right, then God has the ability to interseed and do something about it. Because this was about the the Tower of Babel, right? Um, and you know, you remember when when uh you probably don't, but I'll just mention it, okay. When they were they were building the tower, uh God was saying this is look at their ingenious ability working together. They are definitely gonna build a tower that reaches right up into the heavens. So God wanted to stop that. He wasn't stopping their ingenuity, but he was making sure that they couldn't work as a team. There's no iron team. So what he did is that that's when he he brought down that they could all speak in different languages and then scattered all around the earth as it was at that time, because it was right then and there that he goes, Wow, I've made such a perfect person when they work together as a team and can do things. You know, it's the same as it says, United we fall, I sorry, you know, united we stand, divided we fall. And and that's classic in any military um battle. If if you can confuse or disrupt um the enemy as working in a team united together, General Jackson, another example, right? The Confederates were falling apart, they were done, they were dusted, and then just him calling them together and uniting them, and they go, Wow, this man here, you know, we're gonna get behind him. Otherwise, they were just scattered. But it turned a defeat into a victory in that particular battle because of Jackson's belief in the authority of God over him ruling when he dies and when he doesn't die. Powerful messages. Alright, that's it for now, and uh we'll see you next week. And um week after that, we'll be back in sunny Perth and we can take things from there. Alright, God bless. Bye for now.
