God is …. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

1 Corinthians 13 shows how His love is the source and foundation of His Character.  It is the Love of God which is the source of these attributes in Him. His love is also the source for these characteristics  in us.

 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 "Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

God is patient.  He is like the dog in the picture above who could eat that kitten in one bite, however he is patient with the kitten even while having his leg gnawed on.  God is the same way.  Even when we hurt Him God does not crush us like He justifiably could. Praise God He is patient.

He is kind and not jealous. The word jealous in the Greek means to covet.  We are not to covet.  Nothing belongs to us. We are to oversee what God has given to us to care for, but it all belongs to God.  God never covets, but then He owns everything anyway.

God does not seek His own.  He has given us so much to enjoy and use in this world.  He even gave of Himself totally, even unto death, in the person of Jesus.  He is not a god who only wants from followers adoration and sacrifice.  God desires to love and serve those who follow Him and help them to love and serve others.

God is not provoked to rain down fire on us out of frustration and anger.  He is only moved to do what is necessary, to bring us back to Him, out of His love for us.  He does not take into account wrongs we have done to Him, but rather He looks at how He can move our hearts back into alignment with His heart.  He does not rejoice in any trials which may come upon us, no matter how evil we ourselves might be.  He only rejoices in seeing us come to the truth.

God bears all things we might accost Him with.  He believes in us even when we do not. Hope is faith in what is future and God knows what is in our future.  He knows how much we will grow and please Him.  He will endure pain and heartache, which we cause by accident or on purpose, just so He can bring us into a righteous and more complete relationship with Him.

God desires only the best for us.  We were created so that our lives will be truly fulfilled and have joy when we are in a right relationship with God.  He will do anything possible to bring us to Himself.  He will even put up with our rebellious hearts for a time.  Eventually our time will run out and death will take us.  Then it is to late.  Now is the time to decide to follow our Loving God.  Christians and non-Christians alike must decide to make Him lord of their lives and live a Christ centered life of Love.

Read blog post on 1 Corinthians 13: 1-3 click here.

Photo Credit: The Look of Patience by CaptPiper

The Essence of God is Love

God’s love is best described in 1 Corinthians 13. This one trait is the very soul of God.  1 John 4:8 states that “God is love.”  Love is so intrinsic in the character of God that without it, God would be a hollow form of Himself.

1 Corinthians 13: 1-3 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body ^[a]to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

If God spoke every language in Heaven and on Earth but had not love, He would be a noisy gong or clanging cymbal.  If He knew the past, present and future of all things, and knew everything possible to know; and if He worked great miracles impossible to everyone else, but did not love, He would be nothing.  If God gave the whole universe to the poor and downtrodden, and surrendered Himself for crucifixion but did not love, it would profit Him nothing.

Even God would be as nothing without Love.  He would be all powerful still and know everything possible.  He could create and destroy at a mere whim but without love it would all be meaningless.

There is nothing God does without love.  There is nothing God says without love. There is not one particle of His being that does not radiate love.  If we do not understand how love it the motivation of everything concerning God, then we will never understand God at all.  How can we know what God desires for ourselves without knowing of His Love?

Read blog on 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 Click here

Photo Credit: Love is always.. by Sara Alfred

God of Anger and Wrath

An attribute of God, which most people would agree is negative, is His anger which brings the wrath of God upon men.  They envision God becoming so angry and frustrated with man that He starts to throw lightning bolts haphazardly at everyone in the area.  God is not some crazy gunman out to kill people He blames for some wrong that was done.

Not every bad thing which happens to us in this life is a result of God’s wrath. It is rare to ever see God’s wrath. Bad things happen in this life because of sin. Man brought sin into the world and now it saturates the world with its evil. Man chose a life of sin and God weeps at the result, but He will not stand in the way of man’s choice for ungodliness.

Romans 1:18 "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;"

Romans 1:18 explains how God is angry against ungodliness and unrighteousness, because it calls the truth of God unrighteous. He is angry with the sin and not with the man, however it is the man who holds this untruth within them.  In order to rid the man of this sin, God is willing to do anything to cleanse him, including allowing man to experience God’s wrath.

An example of this is found in the Seven Years of Tribulation.  God’s wrath will come down upon mankind because of sin permeating their everyday lives.  For seven years one catastrophe after another strikes the population of the world until three fourths of the population is wiped out.  Why would a loving God do such a thing?

God knows that man does not seek God unless he comes to the end of himself.  When man has no other options; when he has lost everything in spite of his best efforts, he turns to God. It is better that he lose everything in this life so that he might have eternal life.

Matthew 16:26 " For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

God keeps putting man into losing situations in the hopes that he will come to realize that everything he has trusted in this world is worthless without God.  God loves all of mankind so much that He is willing to make life a living Hell if it will turn him around.

God does not enjoy hurting even one person, no matter how evil they might be.  God desires the best for us and will do whatever it takes to get us there. He is our heavenly parent who would rather suffer the pain Himself than to see us suffer.  He however is willing to suffer with us in order to bring us back to Himself. Any trials we go through in this life, God is there as well.  He does not abandon us.

Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon in 1741 called “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” I want to end this post saying, I would rather be in the hands of an angry God than to not be in his hands at all.

Photo Credit: Destroyed Homes On Beach 130th Street & Newport Avenue, Belle Harbor, Queens, New York. by NYC Streamline

Holy is The Lord of Host

We talk about how God is holy, but what do people mean by that?  Is holiness Godliness? Does it mean it belongs to God?  I think that is how we usually think of holiness, but it denotes more than that.  That would mean that God is Godly or He belongs to Himself.  To be holy means something or someone is separate. That sounds kind of dull at first, but it is actually very profound.

A good example of how this works is found in a marriage.  When two people marry it's called “Holy Matrimony”.  Holy does not simply mean that the husband and wife are married in the sight of God.  It means that they are now a holy couple.  They are separate from everyone else in the world and shall live as one.  Sexual relations are to be between them and no one else.  They live their lives for each other and not for anyone else in this world.  They are separate. They are holy.

God is holy and separate from anything of this world or of anything in existence.  There is nothing like Him.  Nothing even comes close.  Powerful? With His words He made all things come into existence. Smart? He knows every atom in the universe and call tell you where it was, where it is and where it will be. Anything about God’s greatness is beyond limits.

His attributes are the same way.  We will be talking about them in coming posts, but suffice it to say that He has more greatness in His nature than anyone who ever lived.

Isaiah 6:3 "And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory."

Someday we will see God face to face.  No one will remain standing when they first see God, but they will fall on their face.  In the Bible when men see Angels they fall down before them.  Seeing God will be so much more awesome and fearful.  How can we stand before a being who is so much greater then we?  A being who radiates His glory and greatness in a visible light which would blind our eyes.  If we were to see Him face to face these bodies could not survive the impact of just the sight of Him.

Photo Credit: HEAVEN by Telstar200

Who Knows God?

If you look around your church, at Sunday morning service, you will see a lot of people worshipping an idol they have created.  Far too many Christians do not know who God is.  They have stored up in their hearts false ideas which they have accumulated in their lives and have clung to them with all their strength.

Do you ever wonder how a Christian can live for years loving Christ and then turn away and follow some other God?  It is because they never knew who God was in the first place.  They only served the god of their own creation.  They served a god who could not strengthen him in times of trouble.  Their god was a false god who was corrupt and weak.  They did not know who God really is.

1 Corinthians 15:34 "Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame."

Have you heard a Christian say “God is a God of love and would never send someone to Hell?”  That person does not know that God is a God of Justice.  God’s love goes out to everyone, but so does His Justice.  To think otherwise leads to blaming God when bad things happen to good people.

No one knows all about God.  We all have mistaken ideas, but are you seeking to know Him?  Are you casting out false concepts you have when God shows you something new about Himself?

If we knew God as we should, we would not need books telling us 10 steps to a better prayer life or how to become a man or woman of God in one week.  We don’t need tricky little gimmicks to live our lives as God desires.  We simply need to know God and who He is.

I think I will start a series on the attributes of God.  I am sure I need it.  I do not know God as intimately as I should.  I do not follow in His footsteps with fear and trembling.  I need to learn of Him.  Will you join me?

Photo Credit: Funny Sign: Relaxed Worship with Live Band by herzogb

God Never Calls Us to Rebel Against the World

I searched for scripture which said to rebel against the world, but found none.  I thought that was curious until God showed me that we can not rebel against something which we have no allegiance to.  Christians are not of  this world but of Heaven.

We can conform to this world and scripture tells not to in Romans 12:2 "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

You do not belong to this world so while you might walk, talk and live like others who do not know Christ, you do not belong to it.  If you do conform to this world, then you are rebelling against God to whom you belong.  God is our king, not Satan, so to rebel against God is treason.

Photo Credit: Student Demonstration (46) - 27Nov07, Paris (France) by philippe leroye

How Much Ransom Are You Worth?

If you were held for ransom, what would you be worth?  Kidnappings happen in the world and large sums of money are paid to have the hostage released.

John Paul Getty III was released when his Grandfather paid 3 million dollars.  Patty Hurst father paid 6 million for her. The record amount paid is probably for the release of Li Tzar-kuoi of Hong Kong with a 134 million dollar ransom.  Are you worth 3, 6 or as much as 134 million dollars?

Every person who on this earth, except for Jesus Christ, has been held captive by Satan by way of the snare of sin.  2 Timothy 2:26 "And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will."

What can we do?  We are all captives and a mere 134 million dollars will not free you.  Understand this, you are far more valuable than that.  If you owned the whole world, you still could not pay the ransom for your freedom. You are more valuable then all the universe.  If God wanted to He could create another universe in 6 days. It is as nothing to Him.  It has taken a lifetime to create you and there will only be one you.

1 Peter 1:18a "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold,”

You are worth far more then silver, gold or anything else in this material realm. God sees that your value is so great that only the life of Jesus Christ can cover the ransom payment needed to redeem you.

1 Timothy 2:5-6 " For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;  Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."

Nothing you can do is great enough to cover the payment. Nothing you can give is enough. You are far more valuable to Him then you know, because He loves you with an everlasting love.

Jeremiah 31:3 "The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee."

Photo Credit: Gold-Treasure by digitalmoneyworld

Our Crafty God

I learned just how crafty God was after I joined the Navy on August 23, 1970 and attended boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois.  A man in my company by the name of Gary Morstad was a Christian who loved God.  He got permission from our Company Commander to take any who wished to a Sunday night service at the chapel on the School side of the base.  That meant we would be outside of boot camp and where normal people were.

Little did I know that this was a trap that God had set up.  Gary, myself and three others went to this service.  I guess the service was alright, but what I really liked was that after the service they had cookies, kool aid and we got to meet to some girls.  Girls!  I had not seen a female in weeks.  The next week I was back again, and the weeks that followed.

I don’t remember anything that was said or preached at that chapel, but I do remember Gary and I talking as we walked from our barracks to the chapel and back.  It was as a result of those talks that I recognized my need for Christ.  If not for there being girls at the chapel, I am not so sure I would have gone back a second time and had those talks where I learned of Christ.

God knew what he was doing when he had those girls at the service.  I am sure those girls never knew how God used their presence to woo me to Christ.  They might have thought being there was of no eternal consequence, yet their answering God’s call to attend those services helped bring me to salvation.

We may not know until we get to Heaven what our following Christ has meant in the lives of others.  God does not call us all to great, heroic deeds or to evangelize thousands.  All He ask is for our obedience, and then He will do a great work in the hearts of men.  Perhaps God will use the sight of you at church as bait to a non-Christian to return again next week.  You might never know in this life just how important a part you played in that person’s salvation.

Photo Credit: 101107-N-4743B-059 by U.S. Pacific Fleet

Is Jesus Pro Gun Control or Pro NRA?

Our country is in turmoil in relation to guns, especially since the shooting at Sandy Hook.  Politicians, the media, NRA, and just about anyone living in the USA has an opinion about what should be done. Christians need to take a stand on this issue also, but are they looking to see what Jesus says?  Is He a card carrying NRA member?

I believe most Christians are politically conservative and believe in the right to bear arms.  I am standing right there beside them.  I believe the constitution of the United States gives us the right to have weapons for our own protection.  I even think assault rifles should be allowed.  That does not mean that Jesus agrees with me and others who are conservative.  Jesus is not a Republican.

Christians to often make the mistake of thinking God agrees with us.  I tell you the truth, God never agrees with us.  You can declare anything you want and it may sound so good and right, but Jesus still does not agree.  He does not agree with the Constitution.  He does not agree with Republican platform.  He does not agree with the death penalty.  He does not agree with you.

We, however, must always agree with Him.  He is not on our side on any issues.  We must always be on His side.  There is no middle ground on this, no matter how good it might look.  The answer to gun control is not found in the Constitution.   It is found in Jesus Christ and what God says in Scripture.

Jeremiah 17:9 " The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

The problem is found in the heart of man.  We are a wicked people who do all sorts of evil deeds.  If we do not use a gun, we will use a knife. If we don’t use a knife, we will use a club. If we don’t use a club, we will use our fist. If we don’t use our fist, we will use our lying lips.

The job of Christians is not to defend the Constitution, but to defend the faith first and foremost.  That means that turning the hearts of people to Christ is our primary job.  If we get distracted by political problems, people go to Hell.

So we are not to defend the Constitution?  I did not say that.  I said that faith in Christ is first.  The way to solve most of our political problems would be to change the hearts of men.   As Christians we must also stand up for our Country, pray for it and do our best to see that it goes according to Biblical principles.  Neither party platforms nor even the Constitution are the basis for our lives.  God and God alone is our compass of life.

Photo Credit: My Uncle with an AK-101 carbine by SamJUK