Summer Reality
Reality is setting in… Summer is here! Having the next three months off from work I have been thinking of some things I want to get done, namely around our apartment and a few books I want to read. With the long weekend I’ve been enjoying late nights, naps and putting on our annual high school banquet. With the fiesta theme and live Mariachi band it was a great time of honoring the graduating seniors.
Yesterday I heard a lesson on the gifts God gives to us and how we must give in return. Sometimes man likes to think that he works all things together for his own good, but we shouldn’t be deceived by this lie. James 1:17-18 says:
“Every good and every perfect gift is from above
and comes down from the Father of lights
with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth,
that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.”
Everything that we have is granted by Him and given to us for the purpose of glorifying Him. The second part of this verse says that God brought us forth into salvation so that we might be a small evidence of His greatness. He does not change. He does not waver. He remains the same as the Giver of all things. Sometimes we think that God has changed because He gives us things that we do not deem “good.” But we, not God are the one in error.
Martha Peace says, in her book Attitudes of a Transformed Heart, “God is good. He is always good! I am to obey Him whether I feel like it or not. God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours. God is in charge whether we like it or not.” We do not always understand the gifts that He gives us. Our walk of faith in Him is growing to trust His goodness regardless of our opinion of it. I often get distracted by my selfish desire for comfort and plans for the future. Much of the time our desires blind us to the reality of who God is. I want things my way and when God gives me something else I am bitter and angry with Him. My view of Him becomes discolored because I am looking at Him through the lens of my desires and circumstances rather than the perfect words of Scripture. We are all guilty of twisting and contorting Him to be someone that we can live with in our present state by making Him in our image. Some think of God as a glorified Santa Claus, others as one who is angry, mean and ready to judge, and others see Him as all accepting and weak. No matter how we pervert the reality of God’s character, He is still who He is, not who we make Him to be.
Only a right view of God will change who I am. If I have a low view of Him and a high view of me I am bound to experience frustration and bitterness. I have found that when I have a high view of God as holy and just, gracious and true, faithful and sovereign–I experience fulfillment, contentment, joy and peace. I am desperate to discipline my mind and heart to put away the misconceived views I have of God and to be captured by the reality of who He is. This discipline is wrapped up in one practice and that is immersing myself in the place where God is proclaimed—His Word. I need to read it, study it, memorize it, pray it and meditate on it. We much too easily allow our perspective of God to be shaped by an inferior knowledge in the brevity with which He is addressed in our self-centered culture. We need to take hold of the gifts that He has given us in His Word and direct access to conversation with Him and seriously pursue knowing Him. Our lives will be radically different when we begin to live in the reality that God is Lord of all and He alone is good.
“I am the Lord,
And there is no other;
Besides Me there is no God.
I will gird you, though you have not known Me;
That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is no one besides Me;
I am the Lord,
And there is no other.”
Isaiah 45:5-6
Isaiah 45:5-6
Posted by blakeyblog |
May 30th, 2005
Christa,
Recently I was listening to a sermon by John MacArthur and he said that one of the best ways to get to know God was to read the Psalms. “Read one Psalm a day and at the end of 150 days you will know your God,” he says. I was reminded of this when reading your post. You rightly say, “Only a right view of God will change who I am,” and “We much too easily allow our perspective of God to be shaped by an inferior knowledge in the brevity with which He is addressed in our self-centered culture.”
I think it is AW Tozer who says, “The most important thing about us is what comes to our mind when we think about God.” How deep is my understanding of the character, holiness, and goodness of God? Do I have the weight of the Psalms to back up my understanding of him? I’m thankful for your reminder to saturate ourselves in Scripture so that we do not allow ignorance or lack of trust to limit our understanding of the attributes of our glorious God!
May 31st, 2005
Amen and amen, Christa! I was sharing similar thought with my 7th and 8th grade sunday school class, specifically that they will never appreciate who they are unless they know who God is.
Great words.
May 31st, 2005
“Only a right view of God will change who I am,”
That struck me - hard. I want to change. I want to be holy - as we’ve both said before - but, you’re so right - it’s only when I see God for who He is - truly who He is - that I will be changed.
Thanks so much Christa!
Jennifer
May 31st, 2005
Brad-What a great suggestion to read through the Psalms! I can see how that would really deepen any persons understanding of Him as I’ve been reading Psalms casually. I need to take it more seriously even and really study a Psalm a day.
Kim-I like how you said that who we are in Christ is deepened in knowing Him better. I’m glad you are teaching younger students to grasp this too.
Jen-We so often blog along the same lines! Thanks for being an encouragement to me.:)