“God is…” So many different people have so many different ways of finishing that sentence. Who is God? Do we really know? We can defiantly scratch the surface; that is what my life has become about. But the thing is, God is infinite. We will never be able to fully comprehend the fullness of any one attribute of God. But that’s the mystery, and adventure of it all! We never know what He is going to reveal to us.
A lot of people, myself included, have wrong views of God, whether we know it or not. For example, for most of my life, I always thought, subconsciously, that God was angry with me. But He’s not. He delights in me, even in my weaknesses. From what I’ve seen, many people view God as a distant, angry, judgmental person who regrets creating humans. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Last year, I went on a mission to read the whole Bible; just 'cause. When I started, I took my blue pen, and began to underline an attribute of God each time I saw it. Let’s take a look at who the Bible says God is…
God is everlasting. God is I AM. God is a jealous God. God is compassionate. God is gracious. God is slow to anger. God is abounding in loving-kindness and truth. God is with us. God is a consuming fire. God is in heaven. God is our God. God is in the midst of us. God is great. God is awesome. God is the God of gods. God is our praise. God is with you wherever you go. God is with you. God is peace. God is our judge. God is our rock. God is sovereign. God is our fortress. God is our deliverer. God is our refuge. God is our shield. God is my salvation. God is our stronghold. God is worthy to be praised. God is the God of Israel. God is enthroned above the cherubim. God is alone God over all the kingdoms of the earth. God is good. God is just. God is glorious. God is mighty. God is wise. God is powerful. God is more glorious than the moon. God shines brighter than the stars. God is mighty in power and understanding. God is all-powerful. God is greater than we can understand. God is clothed in dazzling splendor. God is righteous. God is the One who lifts our head. God is a righteous judge. God is a stronghold for the oppressed. God is King forever and ever. God is with the righteous generation. God is the portion of our inheritance. God is at our right hand, we cannot be shaken. God is our strength. God is holy. God is our shepherd. God is upright. God is a friend. God is our light. God is the defense of our life. God is a saving defense. God is near to the broken hearted. God is a very present help in trouble. God is a great King over all the earth. God is highly exalted. God is the mighty One. God is the sustainer of our souls. God is for me. God is the trust of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest sea. God is a father to the fatherless. God is a defender for the widows. God is our hope. God is our confidence. God is the strength of our hearts. God is our portion forever. God is the God who works wonders. God is our redeemer. God is the living God. God is a sun and a shield. God is great in Zion. God has compassion on His children. God is mindful of us. God is clothed with splendor and majesty. God is good forever. God is high above all the nations. God is merciful. God is good to all. God is near to those who call upon him. God is my song. God is a refuge from the storm. God is shade from the heat. God is a God of justice. God is our lawgiver. God is creator of the ends of the earth. God is our peace. God is love.
You may be saying "Actions speak louder than words Katie! Did you skip over the Old Testament? Did you forget about the book of Revelation?!" Oh of course I didn't! The book of Revelation happens to be my favorite book, other than the Song of Solomon. But do you actually know what the book of Revelation is? It's the revelation of Jesus Christ, who He is as the Son of God. That's the primary purpose of the book, not to scare us about the future.
God is love. He loves us. He is a jealous God, so He will do anything to bring us back to Him EXCEPT violate our free will. He doesn't want robots, He wants a person to love Him freely. "Jealousy is a husband's fury" - Proverbs 6:34
Ladies, let's say you are married. If someone were to attack you, you'd better believe your husband would fight back, wouldn't he? (If not, you have a bigger problem on your hands). But lets say, that for some reason, you left him for someone else. Would he fight for you to come back? Try and win your heart again? I would hope so. But if he cared about you enough, he would want you to be happy, right? He would try his hardest, but he would never force you to come back to him against your own will. That's what I'm trying to say about God. He is forever chasing us, but never catching us, unless we let Him. I call the judgments in the book of Revelation "speed bumps to hell". All God is doing is removing all that hinders love, so that He may dwell with those who have chosen to fully follow after Him. Everyone else has decided they would rather live apart from Him, and so He gives them what they want. And honestly, what you see in that book is the LEAST He could do. He is holding Himself back, He really is.
As for the Old Testament, it is very similar. I don't know about you, but I would hate to be defined by my actions. I'm not a mean person, but if I had children, I might discipline them in ways that might seem mean to them, or even to the people around me. But if I knew that the choices they were making were not good choices, and I let them go unpunished, I would not be a very good, responsible mom, now would I? I would punish them in hopes that they would learn from their mistakes, and make better choices the next time. God is not His actions. He is not mean, unloving, judgemental, or distant. He is a kind, loving, understanding, near Father who accepts us in our weakness. If we write someone off, just because we didn't like how they dealt with their child, or the way they handled a situation, we could miss out on getting to know someone really great.
I want to get to know God. To me, He seems like a really great guy.
A lot of people, myself included, have wrong views of God, whether we know it or not. For example, for most of my life, I always thought, subconsciously, that God was angry with me. But He’s not. He delights in me, even in my weaknesses. From what I’ve seen, many people view God as a distant, angry, judgmental person who regrets creating humans. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Last year, I went on a mission to read the whole Bible; just 'cause. When I started, I took my blue pen, and began to underline an attribute of God each time I saw it. Let’s take a look at who the Bible says God is…
God is everlasting. God is I AM. God is a jealous God. God is compassionate. God is gracious. God is slow to anger. God is abounding in loving-kindness and truth. God is with us. God is a consuming fire. God is in heaven. God is our God. God is in the midst of us. God is great. God is awesome. God is the God of gods. God is our praise. God is with you wherever you go. God is with you. God is peace. God is our judge. God is our rock. God is sovereign. God is our fortress. God is our deliverer. God is our refuge. God is our shield. God is my salvation. God is our stronghold. God is worthy to be praised. God is the God of Israel. God is enthroned above the cherubim. God is alone God over all the kingdoms of the earth. God is good. God is just. God is glorious. God is mighty. God is wise. God is powerful. God is more glorious than the moon. God shines brighter than the stars. God is mighty in power and understanding. God is all-powerful. God is greater than we can understand. God is clothed in dazzling splendor. God is righteous. God is the One who lifts our head. God is a righteous judge. God is a stronghold for the oppressed. God is King forever and ever. God is with the righteous generation. God is the portion of our inheritance. God is at our right hand, we cannot be shaken. God is our strength. God is holy. God is our shepherd. God is upright. God is a friend. God is our light. God is the defense of our life. God is a saving defense. God is near to the broken hearted. God is a very present help in trouble. God is a great King over all the earth. God is highly exalted. God is the mighty One. God is the sustainer of our souls. God is for me. God is the trust of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest sea. God is a father to the fatherless. God is a defender for the widows. God is our hope. God is our confidence. God is the strength of our hearts. God is our portion forever. God is the God who works wonders. God is our redeemer. God is the living God. God is a sun and a shield. God is great in Zion. God has compassion on His children. God is mindful of us. God is clothed with splendor and majesty. God is good forever. God is high above all the nations. God is merciful. God is good to all. God is near to those who call upon him. God is my song. God is a refuge from the storm. God is shade from the heat. God is a God of justice. God is our lawgiver. God is creator of the ends of the earth. God is our peace. God is love.
You may be saying "Actions speak louder than words Katie! Did you skip over the Old Testament? Did you forget about the book of Revelation?!" Oh of course I didn't! The book of Revelation happens to be my favorite book, other than the Song of Solomon. But do you actually know what the book of Revelation is? It's the revelation of Jesus Christ, who He is as the Son of God. That's the primary purpose of the book, not to scare us about the future.
God is love. He loves us. He is a jealous God, so He will do anything to bring us back to Him EXCEPT violate our free will. He doesn't want robots, He wants a person to love Him freely. "Jealousy is a husband's fury" - Proverbs 6:34
Ladies, let's say you are married. If someone were to attack you, you'd better believe your husband would fight back, wouldn't he? (If not, you have a bigger problem on your hands). But lets say, that for some reason, you left him for someone else. Would he fight for you to come back? Try and win your heart again? I would hope so. But if he cared about you enough, he would want you to be happy, right? He would try his hardest, but he would never force you to come back to him against your own will. That's what I'm trying to say about God. He is forever chasing us, but never catching us, unless we let Him. I call the judgments in the book of Revelation "speed bumps to hell". All God is doing is removing all that hinders love, so that He may dwell with those who have chosen to fully follow after Him. Everyone else has decided they would rather live apart from Him, and so He gives them what they want. And honestly, what you see in that book is the LEAST He could do. He is holding Himself back, He really is.
As for the Old Testament, it is very similar. I don't know about you, but I would hate to be defined by my actions. I'm not a mean person, but if I had children, I might discipline them in ways that might seem mean to them, or even to the people around me. But if I knew that the choices they were making were not good choices, and I let them go unpunished, I would not be a very good, responsible mom, now would I? I would punish them in hopes that they would learn from their mistakes, and make better choices the next time. God is not His actions. He is not mean, unloving, judgemental, or distant. He is a kind, loving, understanding, near Father who accepts us in our weakness. If we write someone off, just because we didn't like how they dealt with their child, or the way they handled a situation, we could miss out on getting to know someone really great.
I want to get to know God. To me, He seems like a really great guy.
