The subject of God fills books. There are way too many different false gods in this world, but I believe in the only true God: the God of the Christian Bible. The Bible is all about God: who he is, what he has done, and how much he loves us. What are the most important things about God? That's what I'd like to cover in this post.
I believe in God not because of anything I can do, but because he has given me faith to believe in him.
He created the universe and everything in it, including all people, which gives every person inherent worth as a creation of God.
He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere at the same time.
He is three Persons in one God. I can't explain how this is, but I know it by faith. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God the Son is Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate--man and God, both at the same time, neither more or less of the other. As man, he was able to die on the cross; as God, he lived a sinless life, and therefore his death counted for the sins of all people-- and he didn't stay dead! He rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and will return someday to bring all those who believe in him to live with him in heaven for eternity.
God the Holy Spirit came into my heart at my baptism, and it is he who gives me faith. The Holy Spirit gives me the ability to live a life that is obedient to God; without the gift of faith no good works I do are good at all. But no works do anything to help me earn salvation. In fact, I cannot do anything at all to "earn" salvation. It is a gift.
Because he loves me, God has saved me from sin, death, and the power of Satan. He has given this gift freely, without expecting anything from me. He gives me faith to believe in him, and as a result of believing in God and what Jesus has done for me, I am forgiven of all the bad things I do, and I am reconciled to God, and can look forward to eternity with him in heaven--all because of his grace to me.
Now, it is possible to reject the gifts of faith, salvation and eternal life. Many people have chosen to do so, and they will have to endure the consequences of that choice. But God freely offers the gift of faith to all people.
It's important to remember that we can't fully understand everything about God. If we could understand him completely, he wouldn't be God! Our minds are finite, and as humans we simply don't have the mental capacity to understand the enormity that is God. We can understand aspects of who he is and what he does, but it is not for us to understand him fully. That's okay. That's why he gives us faith, because he knows we don't have the capacity for complete understanding. We just accept the things we can't understand by faith.
The fact that I believe in and trust in God doesn't mean I don't have questions. I struggle with why God allows so many horrible things to happen in the world. I don't know why he does. But I do know this: God has a plan for all of humanity that is WAY bigger than I can comprehend. I know that I fit into that plan, and I know what the outcome will be for me and all believers: HEAVEN. :) What happens between now and then is not for me to know. That's God's business. I know that he's completely good, and that he has a good and perfect plan. I trust that by faith, and leave the rest up to him.
I could write so much more about who God is to me personally, and what he's done in just my life. It's amazing that such a big God would pay so much attention to, and heap so much love on, just me. But he does. And he's amazing. :)
I guess the most important thing about this awesome God of mine is that he loves you. He loves me. He loves all of humanity, far more than we could ever imagine. In fact, the Bible says that God IS love.
Just trust that.
Linking with: Upward Not Inward, Deep Roots at Home, Raising Homemakers, We are THAT Family, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Showing posts with label understanding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label understanding. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Monday, August 13, 2012
God Gets Me {and speaks to my heart in so many ways}
"I get you," my husband told me last night. "I understand how you're feeling."
This was after I'd started crying again, that time because of the wise and grace-filled words of a friend (the first time yesterday was in the car listening to Laura Story's Blessings).
It was one of those days. Those days when worry and doubt seemed to overwhelm me. When I felt full of guilt for not being in the Word or in prayer nearly as much as I know I should be.
So, knowing my heart, and my doubts, God spoke to me in a few ways. Convicted my heart...and then encouraged and comforted it.
"We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
as if every promise from Your Word is not enough..."
Those were the words from Blessings that convicted me. Yep. That's exactly what I was doing...forgetting all of God's promises from his Word, that he would provide, that he would bless me beyond anything I deserve, that he would not forsake me.
Then, my friend wrote these words to me on Facebook:
"I've noticed that when I run into some funks [I had said that I felt like I was in a "spiritual funk"] I tend to feel guilty for not feeling repentant or loving or whatever the case may be. But I don't want to force the feeling either. I mean, God knows as well as I that it wouldn't be genuine. And I'm coming to realize more what Jesus meant when he said that where a man's treasure is, there his heart will be also. Like, my heart may not be feeling those things, but I can't change my heart's mind by willpower. Instead, I think feelings follow actions in most cases, and that where I invest my "treasure" - time, effort, energy, talents, materials - that then my heart is going to be invested over time as well...and the more I practice that, the more I am certain it is true.
And so when it comes to those funks, all I can do is be intentional about investment in the Word, etc...and then everything falls into place.
Of course, the lovely Holy Spirit is behind all of that."
"Lead your heart," Joshua told me after I read the above message from my friend.
Then later, when I was sitting on his lap and trying to explain why I'd been feeling the way I had all day, he said to me, "I get you." I realized that I hadn't been giving him enough credit...of course my husband understands me. He might not all the time, but he knows me better than anyone. I was glad to be woken up to the fact that he really did understand how I was feeling...and then it hit me.
I had, perhaps unintentionally, been assuming the same things of God--that he didn't understand what I was going through, that I had to try to carry the burden by myself, that worrying and fretting was the only way to accomplish anything... that talking to him wouldn't do any good.
It was as if God, in his immeasurable grace, said to me, "I get you. Do you think I don't understand, child? I understand exactly what you're feeling in your heart...I know what you're doing and why. And I'm still in control. You don't have to worry. You don't have to do it on your own. That's why you have friends, family and a husband who all love you. That's what I'm for. I'm taking care of you. That's not your job."
That's the message I got from everything yesterday.
And God has the same message for you. Even when it might not feel like it, God understands you. He gets you. He knows your heart even better than you know yourself!
Our Father is just wonderful. When we sin, he not only helps us realize what we're doing wrong, but he immediately reminds us that we're forgiven, and he's taking care of everything. He speaks to us through music, through the words of others, through the love of those around us. His words to us might even be audible, a "little voice" in our heads (although that's not how it was for me yesterday). But God still speaks to us. He knows what we need to hear.
He gets us.
(and just as a little reminder and encouragement for you today...the song that spoke to me yesterday and many times before...)
Linking up today:
The Better Mom; What Joy is Mine; lowercase letters; Raising Arrows; The Alabaster Jar; To Love, Honor and Vacuum
This was after I'd started crying again, that time because of the wise and grace-filled words of a friend (the first time yesterday was in the car listening to Laura Story's Blessings).
It was one of those days. Those days when worry and doubt seemed to overwhelm me. When I felt full of guilt for not being in the Word or in prayer nearly as much as I know I should be.
So, knowing my heart, and my doubts, God spoke to me in a few ways. Convicted my heart...and then encouraged and comforted it.
"We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
as if every promise from Your Word is not enough..."
Those were the words from Blessings that convicted me. Yep. That's exactly what I was doing...forgetting all of God's promises from his Word, that he would provide, that he would bless me beyond anything I deserve, that he would not forsake me.
Then, my friend wrote these words to me on Facebook:
"I've noticed that when I run into some funks [I had said that I felt like I was in a "spiritual funk"] I tend to feel guilty for not feeling repentant or loving or whatever the case may be. But I don't want to force the feeling either. I mean, God knows as well as I that it wouldn't be genuine. And I'm coming to realize more what Jesus meant when he said that where a man's treasure is, there his heart will be also. Like, my heart may not be feeling those things, but I can't change my heart's mind by willpower. Instead, I think feelings follow actions in most cases, and that where I invest my "treasure" - time, effort, energy, talents, materials - that then my heart is going to be invested over time as well...and the more I practice that, the more I am certain it is true.
And so when it comes to those funks, all I can do is be intentional about investment in the Word, etc...and then everything falls into place.
Of course, the lovely Holy Spirit is behind all of that."
"Lead your heart," Joshua told me after I read the above message from my friend.
Then later, when I was sitting on his lap and trying to explain why I'd been feeling the way I had all day, he said to me, "I get you." I realized that I hadn't been giving him enough credit...of course my husband understands me. He might not all the time, but he knows me better than anyone. I was glad to be woken up to the fact that he really did understand how I was feeling...and then it hit me.
I had, perhaps unintentionally, been assuming the same things of God--that he didn't understand what I was going through, that I had to try to carry the burden by myself, that worrying and fretting was the only way to accomplish anything... that talking to him wouldn't do any good.
It was as if God, in his immeasurable grace, said to me, "I get you. Do you think I don't understand, child? I understand exactly what you're feeling in your heart...I know what you're doing and why. And I'm still in control. You don't have to worry. You don't have to do it on your own. That's why you have friends, family and a husband who all love you. That's what I'm for. I'm taking care of you. That's not your job."
That's the message I got from everything yesterday.
And God has the same message for you. Even when it might not feel like it, God understands you. He gets you. He knows your heart even better than you know yourself!
Our Father is just wonderful. When we sin, he not only helps us realize what we're doing wrong, but he immediately reminds us that we're forgiven, and he's taking care of everything. He speaks to us through music, through the words of others, through the love of those around us. His words to us might even be audible, a "little voice" in our heads (although that's not how it was for me yesterday). But God still speaks to us. He knows what we need to hear.
He gets us.
(and just as a little reminder and encouragement for you today...the song that spoke to me yesterday and many times before...)
Linking up today:
The Better Mom; What Joy is Mine; lowercase letters; Raising Arrows; The Alabaster Jar; To Love, Honor and Vacuum
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Faith and Understanding
There are two different responses to what we experience in life that may be frustrating, confusing, or unexpected.
We can simply trust God,
or try to understand why He is doing (or allowing--there is a BIG difference!) certain things in our life.
Which one is more honoring to Him?
Our God is a big God. It is simply impossible to fully understand Him.
If we spend all our energies in the quest to understand all the whys in our life, we won't have energy for doing anything else...
like putting our trust in Him.
We can't understand God. We shouldn't expect to. However, that doesn't negate the fact that we are required to trust Him unconditionally.
God doesn't ask us to understand everything that happens in our lives. He doesn't ask us to understand Him. There are things about God that are too wonderful for us to know...too big and awesome for our human minds to comprehend.
And that's okay.
But when we do understand, it is not by our own wisdom, but by His.
It is good to be able to understand.
It is essential that we have faith.
Faith in the grace of Jesus Christ, in His redemption for us on the cross, is what saves us.
The next time that something frustrating, confusing, or difficult comes our way,
how will we respond?
Will we seek to understand
or thank God for the gift of faith, that allows us to trust even those things "we do not see"?
Perhaps in His wisdom, God will allow us both faith and understanding...
but we can trust that He will do what He knows is best.
Inspired by this post by my dear friend Sara (and the discussion we had about it).
Linking up today with these lovely women:
New Life Steward; Upward Not Inward; Exceptionalistic; Deep Roots at Home; Raising Homemakers; A Wise Woman Builds Her Home; Women Living Well; The Fontenot Four
We can simply trust God,
or try to understand why He is doing (or allowing--there is a BIG difference!) certain things in our life.
Which one is more honoring to Him?
Our God is a big God. It is simply impossible to fully understand Him.
If we spend all our energies in the quest to understand all the whys in our life, we won't have energy for doing anything else...
like putting our trust in Him.
We can't understand God. We shouldn't expect to. However, that doesn't negate the fact that we are required to trust Him unconditionally.
God doesn't ask us to understand everything that happens in our lives. He doesn't ask us to understand Him. There are things about God that are too wonderful for us to know...too big and awesome for our human minds to comprehend.
And that's okay.
"Then Job replied to the Lord: 'I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted....Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know...." -Job 42:1-2, 3bThis doesn't mean that God will not sometimes allow us to understand His purposes.
But when we do understand, it is not by our own wisdom, but by His.
"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding." -Colossians 1:9Understanding is an act of the mind. Faith is an act of the heart, a gift God that is ours by the power of the Holy Spirit.
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." -Hebrews 11:1
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." -Ephesians 2:9Both understanding of God and His ways, and faith in Him, are gifts that God gives us freely.
It is good to be able to understand.
It is essential that we have faith.
Faith in the grace of Jesus Christ, in His redemption for us on the cross, is what saves us.
The next time that something frustrating, confusing, or difficult comes our way,
how will we respond?
Will we seek to understand
or thank God for the gift of faith, that allows us to trust even those things "we do not see"?
Perhaps in His wisdom, God will allow us both faith and understanding...
but we can trust that He will do what He knows is best.
Inspired by this post by my dear friend Sara (and the discussion we had about it).
Linking up today with these lovely women:
New Life Steward; Upward Not Inward; Exceptionalistic; Deep Roots at Home; Raising Homemakers; A Wise Woman Builds Her Home; Women Living Well; The Fontenot Four
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)