Tag Archives: God’s character

Have We Downsized God?

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“[The Son] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” — Hebrews 1:3

The son is the light that radiates from God, but God With Us is as identical to the Father as the impression left by a footprint matches the foot or as the finger print matches the finger and its unique grooves. We can trust Jesus to represent the Father perfectly.

So often this world may seem chaotic and broken, spinning out of control. Yet scripture tells us that Christ, the word made flesh himself, is the one supporting the universe, holding it up with the power in his words, a tireless, ceaseless effort if ever there was one.

Yet the God who is with us via the Holy Spirit and the God who is holding the whole universe together on High is also outside of creation, both Father and Son, and seated beside Himself as his own “right hand man”  and served as his own High Priest, making the sacrificial atonement and interceding with himself for his people.

Such wonders of the omnipresent one! What limited mind can fully fathom the infinite God? Any god small enough for us to fully understand within the limits of human reason is too small to be truly God at all. Today, scripture provides us the only valid, trustworthy window into the character and nature of God, but we still see through its glass darkly.

We often become focused on the problem we least are inclined to, my brothers and sisters. If you’re reading this and nodding, you may have more problems with an emotion-based, unreasoning, unthinking faith than with one that applies logic and reason to the scriptures in a way that defines an infinite God according to what is logical and rational in his finite creation, which inevitably will box him in and make your image of God too small to be truly the Lord.

However, you should prayerfully examine yourself if you feel threatened by this and want to object either with a direct attack or by pointing fingers back at the warm-fuzzy, feelings-only church goers who don’t know the Bible well enough to discern whether a popular sound byte is actually sound doctrine.  That error doesn’t excuse the opposite error of being so puffed up with “knowledge,” we unwittingly fall into idolatry ourselves.

Those of us subject to that weakness  typically feel a need to define logically anything and everything so that we fully understand it and it makes rational sense to us. This gives us a sense of security that is really rooted in a desire for control, hence why it can become dangerous when we turn loose on God our particular pet means of analysis. Trusting the Lord and leaning on our own understanding are ages-old sworn enemies.

Lord, am I serving the infinite God and trusting you even if I don’t always understand all your apparent paradoxes, from my finite vantage point, or have I made a smaller idol in your image and likeness, that I can fully comprehend and honestly think is “drawn to scale”? Give me grace to embrace the truly mysterious, courage to intelligently and scripturally seek the answers that can be known from our finite vantage point, and wisdom to discern which is which. Strengthen me to today to cast down any such idols I have erected. Remove the blinders and my need to control, and enable me to trust you when I hear your voice, even if I do not understand your Word. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, God's Character, Idols, Prayer and Devotions

Tagged , , , ,

Help is on the Way

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD: that he looked down from his holy height;
from heaven the LORD looked at the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die, that they may declare in Zion the name of the LORD, and in Jerusalem his praise, (Psalm 102:18-21 ESV)

Before you were ever born, before Christ died and the Church was created and became the people of the Kingdom of Heaven, the words of scripture were recorded with you on the heart and mind of our God. From the beginning of time, he knew the horrors awaiting us and willed to save us from the grave. Before we groaned and cried out, he had already heard our cries as we were in the bondage of sin and determined to come and set us free.

So let’s not fear, brothers and sisters, as we groan and hurt and struggle. Let’s not quaver in doubt of whether our Father God cares and wants to hear about our troubles. He knew from the beginning and assured us with words recorded millennia ago that there is one who cares in Heaven and he has willed to bring us through this and deliver us home to His heavenly city and turn our groaning into praise and rejoicing in His name, too.

Thank you, Father, for knowing us from the beginning and willing to save us and bring us safely through this earthly turmoil. I pray we would trust in you and turn our eyes to the heights our help will come from. Grant us boldness to approach your throne and present our hearts to you as they truly are, to allow you to do the redemptive work in us that you have already purposed to do. In Jesus’ name we pray, Lord, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, Faith, Fear and Anxiety, Gospel, Grace, Prayer and Devotions, Suffering

Tagged , , ,

Is Christianity “All About Relationship?”

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:14-15)
How close do you suppose the Father and the Son are? How well do they know each other? That is how well Christ knows his sheep and how well he desires us to know him.  His chief end is indeed an intimate, close relationship with us. Trouble is, so often, professing Christians don’t know him well enough to understand what a good relationship between us and God looks like to him. We don’t read his word carefully to discover where his boundaries are and what his expectations for his relationship with us are. Instead of trusting the Good Shepherd and responding to his sacrificial, loving care with submission in return, we listen to wolves in sheep’s clothing who tell us whatever we want to hear is acceptable to God. We follow after them and stray from the Good Shepherd, who was perfectly obedient to his Father’s will.

But His sheep know his voice, we know his character. We read his word, we know what his values are and how he says he designed us, what he says  he made us to be. Many of us have had false shepherds, people in our lives who devour their flocks and warp our minds, some even use scripture.

The good shepherd keeps his own in his hands.He lays his life down for the sheep. He will protect us from predators in sheep’s clothing and from the unseen predators in the shadows and he will heal the sickness of the flesh known as sin. Let us trustingly submit to the Good Shepherd’s care today. If he places his little lambs into our care, let us imitate our Good Shepherd in relation to them.

Lord, grant all of us reading this ears to hear your voice, and discerning hearts that know you and what is of you and what is not of you. Heal our  hearts and minds and spirits of the ravages of sin and wolves who seek to steal your sheep and devour us. Reveal your truth to us and strengthen us to walk in the light. In Jesus’ name we pray, Lord, amen.

Posted in Abuse, Bible and Theology, God's Character, Prayer and Devotions, Sin and Holiness

Tagged , , ,

The Lord of All Creation is Waiting to Take Your Call.

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it— the LORD is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” (Jeremiah 33:2-3)

In verse one, we helpfully learn this prophecy came to Jeremiah when he was imprisoned/under arrest basically. This is the lead up to God announcing he’s fed up with the evil of the Chaldean oppressors and promises to destroy them (strike them down) and restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel (the kingdom being divided at this time.)

First let’s not read past what God asserts right off: he made, formed, and established, that is he’s responsible for the laws of physics and the physical properties and parameters of Earth, including its orbit and location in the universe, boundaries between the sea and the continents, everything is located right where he’s put it and moving according to the rules he established. The water cycle, the often delicate balance of ecosystems,  God designed all of it. None of it is a result of happenstance or a fluke. The fall introduced all of creation’s “groaning” and the “birth pangs” we’ve endured for two thousand years. The destructive forces of our fallen nature, which atheists and their dupes mistakenly credit with the creation, were introduced well after God set this place up and wrote all the natural laws science has and can actually test and prove.

This intelligent cosmic designer, this supreme king who reigns over the entire universe, declares his ears are always attuned to the cries of little old us. He is never too busy, too tired, or plain unconcerned.  No matter what major crisis is going on elsewhere in your world, God has time to answer your prayers and he will if we will stop and listen long enough to hear his voice in our hearts. God is pouring out his holy spirit on all believers today, not just the prophets.

What “great and hidden things” does he reveal? He shows us how to rightly divide his word, he reveals what our hearts hide from us, he reveals all we can be and become if we walk faithfully by his side, seeking to do his will. Even more than that, he will reveal himself to us and make us like him, rather than our flesh’s sinful tendency to remake God like us in our deceived minds.

Lord, open our eyes to the truth of your eyes–tear down the strongholds of our minds and false images of you and reveal your true self to us as your spirit opens up our eyes to the truths you revealed  to the saints gone before us in the never-changing message of scripture. Guard our hearts and minds from all lying spirits and false teachers who would appeal to the wicked inclinations of our flesh and turn us away from knowledge of you as you truly are. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, God's Character, Prayer and Devotions

Tagged , , ,

The Measure of a Man

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

This gem comes to us when God sends Samuel to anoint a son of Jesse to be king instead of Saul and doesn’t tell Samuel right away which one. Samuel sees the good, kingly looks and height of the eldest, and thinks this must be the one God has chosen to be king.

We do this today. Since the advent of television, presidential candidates have a much stronger chance of success if they look like  the sort  Hollywood would choose to play the president.  The president’s race thankfully no longer matters to the people, but when it comes to the presidency, in the voting booth where no one is looking, Americans, at least, still vote for a tall, dark, and attractive gentleman born to wealthy parents over a short fat guy with an everyman face and a blue collar background or a female presidential candidate of any sort.

God doesn’t measure us the way people do. When selecting where to fit us in the body and what vocation to call us to, God doesn’t judge our candidacy by our looks, how tall we are,  and by implication by other things important to men: how smart we are, how many degrees we have from the right schools, who our families are, how rich, how talented, or even how much we’ve messed up.

No, in the Kingdom of Heaven, God selects us for duty based solely on the condition of hearts, who we are on the inside when no one is looking, and more than that even, he looks ahead and sees who we can become if we answer his call and turn our hearts towards him. When Samuel looked at David that day, he saw a scrawny weak shepherd boy, the youngest son not likely to achieve greatness.

When God looked at the same youngest son shepherd boy that day, God already saw the man after his own heart who would slay the giant and turn down the chance to assassinate Saul even when Saul was jealously trying to kill him.

Lord, give us your eyes. Help us to see people as you see them. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Posted in Prayer and Devotions

Tagged , , ,

When Mountains Fall and Rivers Rise

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God;I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

Are you afraid? Are the walls closing in, the roof caving in? Are you teetering over the edge of a cliff, hanging on by a slim root? Do you feel overwhelmed by the circumstances of your life and like you having nothing to hold onto?

God here reassures the spiritual heirs of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, those of us who he has chosen from the every corner of the earth, that he is with us, that he cares about us and looking out for us. He asks us to trust him to be bigger than our enemies and all of our problems and hold onto the outstretched right hand he promises will be there for us to cling to even when our senses can perceive nothing there at all.

We can ask God for help and for strength with bold confidence, because he has already promised us he would do it, and God’s promises are always secure. He simply doesn’t work on our time table or do things our way. We often are looking too low, thinking too small. God often is way ahead of us, thinking bigger and grander, and the rewards down the road are often directly proportional to the amount of suffering we endure in the present–but we have to hold on and trustingly continue to love him to receive the good he has for us, especially if the particular payoff he envisions is intended to come in Heaven.

Lord, we thank you for your promises. We thank you for your steadfast love and the dependable strength of your arm. No problem we have is too big for you. Thank you for having everything under control even when we don’t. Increase our faith today. Strengthen our hearts to love and trust you more. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Posted in Faith, Fear and Anxiety, God's promises, Prayer and Devotions, Suffering

Tagged , , ,

God Helps Those who Can’t Help Themselves

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;his name is the LORD; exult before him! Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.” (Psalm 68:4-5)

The palmist worships the Lord for riding through the deserts, for being present in the lonely, dry, lifeless places often symbolically associated with not sensing God’s presence and running dry on the river of life that flows from the Lord, who else where promises us rivers in the desert. We are encouraged to exult before him who is there even when we are dry, dead, and barren, lonely and forsaken. In similar images, God is presented as taking up into his personal care those without the nurture and guidance, without the  love and protection, of a father and a husband. A greater principle behind his care for widows and orphans is that he defends the defenseless and the destitute of the land from injustice.

This does not relieve the Church one iota. All the more, we are his body, we are called to take care of the widow and the fatherless and love them and care for them as much as we would our own. Does that mean everyone has to adopt a child or a grandma into their family? No, we each have our own call and ministry, but we do need to have listening ears willing to hear his call and open hearts with the courage to say yes to him in regards to whatever ministry and function of his body he does call us to.

Lord, we thank you for your personal care and touch on those who do not have a loving, compassionate father in their lives. We ask you today to show us who the “widows and orphans” are in our communities, those defenseless and destitute (of mind, heart, or pocketbook) and unable to stand up for themselves. Show us in particular those specific people, or areas, in which you have called us to help, and further, how you would have us to do so. Equip us and strengthen and embolden us to step out and allow you to defend them through us in whatever way yo. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, Fatherhood, God's Character, Prayer and Devotions

Tagged ,