3 God: WHO IS THIS GOD WE SERVE?

3

GOD

WHO IS THIS GOD WE SERVE?
All of our painful circumstances can't alter who God is. Nothing we can do, nothing we say, NOTHING changes God. The Lord is good and His mercies endure FOREVER! He is always there for us, picking us back up off the ground, dusting us off, healing our wounds, wraps a loving arm around us and loves us back to health.

John 14:8-9 8 Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." 9 Jesus answered: "Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

All of the loving, wonderful things we attribute to Jesus, are the Father, too! We must realize that! God reached down to us in the form of Jesus so we can know who He is!

God is:

Eternal: Psalms 90:1,2 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. 2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Unchanging: Malachi 3:6 "I the Lord do not change.

A Spirit: John 4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth."

Loving: John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Psalms 145:8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.

God will never lie. He is always true to His word. He will never do anything contrary to His nature. We can trust Him because He will never fail us.

God didn't invent love for us, HE IS LOVE! He desires relationship with us. He didn't create us as puppets to do things for him, but gave us a free will. That is where we are free to show our true love for Him in return. We also have the free will to turn away from Him. Love is what gives us a choice. Do we love Him or not? Spend time in prayer, talk to Him like you would a loving father, read the bible and you can't help but fall in love with Him!

Matthew 7:11 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

2 Corithians 1:3,4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

Psalms 91:1,2 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

2 Corinthians 6:18 "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

Now who wouldn't love a God like this!

Prayer:

Father, You are love. Please pour your love out on me and teach me and show me how to love you and others. Amen!
  

2 GOD: WHO IS THIS GOD WE SERVE?

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GOD

WHO IS THIS GOD WE SERVE?
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God. How can we even fathom God? He was and is there from the beginning. He alway was and always will be. I can't even begin to wrap my mind around that. Our lives exist in life and death. He exists eternally, without beginning and without end, so really, there is no way we can comprehend that! Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’"

Exodus 34:6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,

Compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abouding in love and faithfulness. Sounds like Jesus, huh? Jesus is God. God is Jesus. When I'm truly down, when I know I failed others, when I have sinned, it is so comforting to know these things about God!

Hebrews 1:1-3 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

If you have seen Jesus, you have seen the Father.

I realize some people have difficulty with the fact that Jesus is God and God is Jesus.

Let's look at John 1:1-14


1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
In verse one, we establish that the Word was there in the beginning, was with God and was God. Who is the Word? Verse 14 says the Word became flesh and lived among us. Who did that? Jesus! It is just so simple, yet we try to make it so complicated!

God's character is revealed to us in the Word of God, the Bible. We need to know the Word to know God. We need a relationship with Him. We can't get to know Him if we don't spend time with Him, talk to Him, and listen to Him!

Study your bible. Read it cover to cover. Don't just take what others say about it. Find out for yourself the great treasures God wants to reveal to you about Himself.

Prayer:

Father, please reveal your true nature to me. Show me Who you are. Teach me to love you, to listen to you, most of all, to know you! Amen!

　

　

1 GOD: WHO IS THIS GOD WE SERVE?

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GOD:  WHO IS THIS GOD WE SERVE?

Who is this God we are to believe in?  The One we are to worship?  The One we are to give our hearts to?  Growing up I had my own version of who God was.  He was a big, stern, grey haired man who was ready to reach down and smack me with his cane whenever I did something wrong.  And God forbid if I ever said the “F” word because that meant I was going straight to hell.  Some of us believe He is meek, mild, and overly kind.  Or is He the “Man upstairs?”, “the Boss”?  Maybe He’s just a spoil sport and wants to ruin all of our fun.  Boy did I ever think this!  I couldn’t imagine how Christians ever had fun.  They were so boring!  How in the world could you ever have fun without beer or drugs?  I mean, really, God!   Or is He a dictator, who is so hard and cracks the whip when we don’t obey one, or all, of his rules?   Or is he just a Santa in the Sky who we ask for everything and expect it?  I think at one time or another, I’ve believed every one of these things at different times in my life.  Satan loves for us to believe these things, because by believing in them, we will never know who God truly is!

When bad things happen to us, we tend to allow them to define who God is.  “Well, He must be … if He allowed … to happen”.  Our circumstances do not alter who God is.  That is why we must get to know Him.  In all circumstances, He is the same.  He never changes.

One statement changed how I viewed God forever.  GOD IS JESUS.  That rocked my world .  Rocked my view of who God is.  I have always believed that Jesus is God, but never turned it around.  If you know Jesus, you know the Father!  They are the exact representation of each other.  God’s character is revealed in the bible, the word of God!  I am going to repeat this over and over and over again:  YOU MUST READ THE BIBLE!  Not just bits and pieces, but the whole Word!  Have you read the Bible all the way through?  You will see God’s character from beginning to end.  You may see Him in a way you have never imagined before!  One of the greatest ways to be deceived is by not knowing the word of God, the Bible.

The best way I have to get to know God is purely through the Bible.  We will be studying what the Bible has to say about God.

In the meantime, think of all of the ways you view God.  And don’t add your Christianese spin on it.  The spin that you know what you’re supposed to say, but don’t really down deep believe or feel.   Who is God to you?

Prayer:

God, I really don’t have a grasp of who you are.  Show me through your Word your character, your love, your great mercies for me.  Show me who you really are.  Please reveal to me the false ways that I view you, forgive me, and show me your truth.  Amen!