Who or what is your God?

I believe there is one Holy God who created the universe. One God who with a word said, "Let there be light," and there was light. I also find it difficult to keep our Mighty Creator at the forefront as the only god of my life. Our lives present us with opportunities to be very easily distracted by things that are much less Holy than God. In our culture, we have the internet at our finger tips that helps to fill longing desires of loneliness or lust. We turn to our spouses, friends, or kids to fill the aching void but expect perfection that we can't get from imperfect humans.

I'm looking at 1 Chronicles 16 as a reference that expresses the mightiness of God in comparison to the gods that we humans look to as a replacement for the Almighty.

25 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and he is to be held in awe above all gods.


26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.


27 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and joy are in his place.

Idols are things we worship, meaning our time is consumed with admiring or exalting the thing that seems to dominate our heart and mind. So to expose our idols we can ask, what do we look to keep us happy and fulfilled?

Its a hard thing to admit but I know there are times when my husband is an idol of my life. And some would say that's okay, but I know its not. Its simply not fair to my spouse to hold him at such a high regard to fill my every need and desire while expecting perfection. I am married to an amazing man but he's still a man, he's human. "For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be held in awe above all gods (vs. 25)." God is worthy of awe and praise over any earthly thing or being. Even those we hold dearest to our hearts are not superior to the greatness that God deserves.

Psalm 96:5 states, "For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols." Think of what consumes your mind in a day on top of those we love. We hunger and thirst for perishable food or we anticipate the coming episode of our favorite TV show to be entertained. Our minds are consumed by things that are not worthy of our praise.

My husband has posed these questions (adapted from John Piper) in a recent sermon that I think are appropriate for this post when thinking about "What is your God?"

• Is there something I could have in Heaven that could make me happy forever if Jesus wasn’t there?
• Or is there something here on earth that if I found out wouldn’t be in heaven would I still want to go there?

These questions help to expose our idolatry, or our love for something more than God.  When we leave this world and are in the presence of our Almighty Creator we will see in full circle what 1 Chronicles is claiming in verse 27, "Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place."  Our eartly idols cannot give us the splendor, majesty, strength or joy that is found only in our eternal King.  My prayer is that God exposes our idols and changes our hearts to be fully satisfied in Him alone.  All glory and praise to God our Father who radiates strength and joy from his heavenly throne!

What's in it for me?

In our culture we are self indulgent. We do things with the mindset of "what can I get out of this" or "what good is this going to do for me". So when asking "What does it mean to be a Christian", I'm sure some people ponder the same self indulgent question, "What's in it for me"?

There is a very simple answer that I struggled to wrap my head around. The answer: We get God. When this life ends we get to be in the presence of our Almighty Creator with the absence of pain, suffering, and tears. I do need to clarify that I didn't struggle with this answer because I wanted more, it was the complete opposite actually. I simply wanted nothing. A few times in my life I wanted to not exist, I wanted the absence of everything. The thought of eternal life was daunting. Thankfully God's mercy has saved me from those thoughts. The absence of everything was not the answer because the few times I wanted nothing it was the presence of something that actually ended my desire for nothingness.

Psalm 16 reminds me of the strength and courage we receive from God:

7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your a holy one see corruption.

11 You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

"I shall not be shaken... my flesh dwells secure," verse 8 and 9 of Psalm 16 rings in my head as I recall one of the nights I needed a verse such as this. I needed peace and comfort and there it was in the written word of God. The presence of God led to the absence of my fear.

So... "What's in in for me?" Psalm 16 gives us the answer in verse 11 "In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." With eternal life comes the presence of Jesus Christ, which simply should be enough. But because of His presence we also receive full joy and pleasure with the absence of all suffering. I praise the Lord for His Word which comforts in time of suffering and gives us insight to His kingdom.

Pointing the finger...

As Christians we are called to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ or what many call the "Good News". As a fairly new Christian my husband would say I am in the "cage stage"* the point where I feel as though what I hold to be true is the only way and I want everyone I come into contact with to know it and believe it.

With that said I want to reflect on Matthew 7:1-5

Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. (ESV)

I've been called a hypocrite before and was very offended. At the time it was probably rightfully fitting but now in this light, as I attempt to spread the gospel, my prayer is that I don't take that "hypocrite" title again.

For my second post I had originally planned to discuss what it means or looks like to be a Christian or follower of Christ. When reading through the scripture I stumbled upon Matthew and was convicted to address my own personal struggle with judging others. When thinking of how one is to live the Christian life I am very quick to point my finger and say someone else is wrong. But as Jesus says,

You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

I need to judge and examine my own life as a Christian. As I continue this process of defining my faith I am pointing the finger back at myself to help chisel out the hypocrisy in my life. My standard or measure of judgement is not my own, I did not create it, it is the written word of God.

Final Note:
Thankfully we humans are not the final judges of who lives and dies. I'm sure that those who I have wronged would have me condemned for eternity, I know because I once felt the same for those who wronged me. As James 4:12 states,

There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and destroy- But who are you to judge your neighbor?

We cannot save ourselves. We need the God of grace and mercy to be in control of our final judgement. Praise to our Lord and Savior for his judgements are fair and just.

*The cage stage is a term to jokingly describe how new found Calvinists react when they discover other believers don't share the same beliefs. They should be put in a cage until the initial excitement wears off. Unfortunately for you, the reader, my husband let me out of the cage to start a blog :-)