God is Real

God is real, you can know Him personally and intimately and once you do, there’s more. It’s an eternal pursuit, a perpetual longing so we need never settle into a smug “I’ve got God all figured out” way of living. We can wake up each day eager for what we might be taught from and about Him, eager to share and learn from others. We don’t have to be anxious or fearful just careful that what we teach and discover is consistent with what He’s given us in His Word.

I can’t begin to tell you the hours and hours of angst behind the above paragraph. I know what you’re thinking, “Duh! You say those things all the time.” Lately I’ve been listening to and reading a bunch of different Bible teachers on both sides of the concept of knowing God. Some that tell us God will pick out your clothes for the day and others that say the Bible is the only place you can hear from Him. The one thing they have in common is their insistence that they’re right. Combine that with the crappy way many Christians treat each other plus those on the outside and you have good reason to struggle with some tough questions. The answers to those questions are found in the seeking, urgently needing to hear from God whether it be in His Word, through His people or however He may choose to get through.

All that to say, sometimes it’s good to have what you know challenged in order to dig deeper and know more certainly how much God loves and cares for you. Aw, just read the first paragraph.

The Pursuit

Seeking God is the most wonderful of pursuits. Finding Him in the least likely of places or the most difficult of circumstances fills our hearts with the truth that He is everywhere. We must continue to pursue Him, it is our eternal quest as it’s the fresh encounters that keep our love for Him from going stale and our trust in Him strong.

Knowledge

Did you know it’s possible for the study of the Bible to get in the way of a relationship with God? What? Okay just for the record I totally encourage you to dig deep into God’s word. He’s in there for sure. But there is so much more of Him to know than just what He’s written to us. Scripture is meant to be part of the foundation of our knowing God; it’s not the whole building. Nothing can contain Him; though the depth of scripture is endless it’s still just a drop in the infinite bucket of who He is. It’s easy to bury our nose in the Book thinking that knowing about Him is the same as knowing Him. It’d be like reading everything we can about an athlete or a celebrity and then expecting to be invited over for their Birthday. They might say, “I never knew you”.

Infinite and Transcendent

These two attributes are so closely related I thought we would look at them together. God as infinite takes into account both His eternalness and His immensity. While being transcendent means that He is beyond space and time. So if we put them together we see that He has always been, no beginning, no end and He’s bigger than all He has created. Because He is outside of space and time He is not only everywhere (omnipresent) but also everywhen. The comfort we can take from this is that there is nothing that takes God by surprise. He has the way prepared for us if we will stay close and even if we don’t, He’s got that figured out too.

The Implications

So what are some of the implications of knowing how much God loves you? How about never feeling unloved again? Feeling accepted and confident in who you are? Being so secure you don’t have to find the faults in others in order to feel better about yourself? Love, joy, peace…

All they need too

The amazing life we talked about yesterday is so much better if we share the fantastic news and what it means with others. It is not just for us. We can’t sit in church each week thinking someday we’ll be ready. God’s love and our beautiful eternal life with Him are all this desperate world not only needs but wants.

More on Hell

There is no one in hell wondering why they are there or how did I get here. Part of the self-imposed torment is the eternal memories of the countless opportunities they had to receive Jesus.