Help My Unbelief

I’m currently doing a Precepts Bible study on Joseph with my church and it is SO good.  Man alive.  So good.  I love these studies because they use the Word to prove the validity of the Word.  How can ya beat that?!

The end of last night’s homework had us examine who God is and it’s one of the most well-written lists of His attributes I’ve ever seen.  The writer said,

You need to know, in order to trust Him.

So true, yes?  I want Sawyer and Wryder to get an accurate view of the Lord.  I want them to see Him for all of these good things that He is and oh, how I want them to trust Him!  As their mom, I have to 1.) believe those things of Him myself and 2.) act like Him.  For a while now, I’ve realized that my view of Him isn’t entirely accurate.  I’ve listened to the lies of satan and have succumbed to the (not) fact that He’s a mean, punishing, vengeful, better-be-on-your-best-behavior-or-I-will-kill-you-off, game-playing kind of God.  (Just reading that sounds APPALLING.  How in the world is that love and how in the world would I ever love Him in return??!?!)  Working on that.  Because if you search His Word that isn’t Him at all.

When we speak of God’s attributes, we are speaking of His essential being or character.  His character is a composition of all His attributes.  In other words, when we talk about one of God’s attributes, we are not talking about a part of His being, but rather His whole character.  For example, God is love…but not just a part of Him is love.  Love is the essence of His being; however, He is also wrathful.  One attribute does not contradict the other, rather they make God who He is.  Therefore, whenever God acts in any given situation, all His attributes are used simultaneously in perfect harmony.  He never suspends one so He can use another.

Great explanation, yes?!  Now I just need to drill it into my head and drop it into my heart.

• He is omniscient.  God knows all.  He has perfect knowledge of everything that is past, present or future. (Job 37:16, Psalm 139:1-6)
• He is omnipotent.  God possesses all power.  He is able to bring about anything that He has decided to do with or without the use of any source beyond Himself. (Job 42:2, Psalm 33:6-9)
• He is omnipresent.  God is present everywhere, in all the universe, at all times, in the totality of His character. (Proverbs 15:3, Jeremiah 23:23-24)
• He is eternal.  God has no beginning, and He has no end.  He is not confined to the finiteness of time or to man’s reckoning of time.  He is, in fact, the cause of time. (Deuteronomy 32:40, Revelation 1:8, Isaiah 57:15)
• He’s immutable.  God is always the same in His nature, His character and His will.  He never changes, and He can never be made to change. (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8)
• He is incomprehensible.  Because God is God, He is beyond the understanding of man.  His ways, character and acts are higher than man’s.  Man only understands as God chooses to reveal Himself, His ways or His purposes. (Job 11:7, Romans 11:33)
• He is self-existent.  God depends upon nothing for His existence beyond Himself.  The whole basis of His existence is withing Himself.  At one time, nothing but God Himself existed.  He added nothing to Himself by creation. (John 1:1-3, Exodus 3:14, John 5:26)
• He is self-sufficient.  Within Himself, God is able to act, that is, to bring about His will without any assistance.  Although He may choose to use assistance, it is His good pleasure, not His need, that governs that choice. (Romans 11:36, Psalm 50:7-12)
• He is infinite.  God has no limits or bounds whatsoever in His person or dominion. (1 Kings 8:27, Psalm 145:3)
• He is transcendent.  God is above His creation, and He would exist if there were no creation.  His existence is totally apart from His creatures or creation. (Isaiah 43:10, 55:8-9)
• He is sovereign.  God is totally, supremely, preeminently over all His creation.  There is not a person or thing that has escaped His control and foreknown plan. (Psalm 103:19, Daniel 4:34-35, Isaiah 40:23)
• He is gracious.  God is a God of grace and always operates on the basis of His graciousness. (Exodus 34:6-7, Luke 2:40, 2 Corinthians 12:9)
• He is righteous.  God is always good.  It is essential to His character.  He always does the right thing.  Ultimately, since He is God, whatever He does is right…He is the absolute.  His actions are always consistent with His character…which is love. (Deuteronomy 32:4, Psalm 110:142)
• He is merciful.  God is an actively compassionate being.  He responds compassionately toward those who have opposed His will in their pursuit of their own way. (Psalm 62:12, 86:15, 106:44-45)
• He is long-suffering.  God’s righteous anger is slow to be kindled against those who fail to listen to His warnings or to obey His instructions.  His eternal longing for the highest good for His creatures holds back His holy justice. (Numbers 14:18, 2 Peter 3:9)
• He is wise. God’s actions are based on His character.  His wisdom causes Him to choose righteous ends and to make the most fitting plans to achieve those ends. (Isaiah 40:28, Daniel 2:20)
• He is loving.  God’s love moves Him to give Himself for another, even to the laying down of His own life.  His love causes Him to desire His creatures’ highest good.  This love is not based upon the worth, response, or merit of the object being loved. (Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:8, Ephesians 3:17-19)
• He is good.  In His goodness God gives to others, not according to what they deserve but according to His good will and kindness toward them. (2 Chronicles 5:13, Psalm 106:1)
• He is wrathful.  There is within God a hatred for all that is unrighteous and an unquenchable desire to punish all unrighteousness.  Whatever is inconsistent with His holy standard must ultimately be atoned for or consumed. (Romans 1:18, John 3:36, Revelation 15:7)
• He is truthful.  All that God says is reality.  Whether believed by man or not, whether seen as reality or not, what God has spoken is reality.  Whatever He speaks is truth. (Numbers 23:19, Titus 1:2, John 17:17)
• He is faithful.  God is always true to His promises.  He can never draw back from His promises of blessing or of judgment.  Since He cannot lie, He is totally steadfast to what He has spoken. (Deuteronomy 7:9, 2 Timothy 2:13)
• He is jealous.  God is unwilling to share what is rightfully and morally His with any other creature. (Exodus 34:14, Isaiah 42:8)
• He is holy.  God is a morally excellent, perfect being.  He is totally other than man!  His is purity of being in every aspect. (Leviticus 10:2, Job 34:10, Isaiah 47:4, Isaiah 57:15)
• He is just. God is fair in all of His actions.  Whether He deals with man, angels or demons, He acts in total equity by rewarding righteousness and punishing sin.  Since He knows all, every decree is absolutely just. (Psalm 89:14, Numbers 14:18, Romans 9:14)

I want to get this and to believe this.  Not just say it.  Not just memorize it.  Not just agree with it.  Not just type it out on my blog.  I want to believe it.   I want to have confidence in the fact that this IS who my God is…and I want to live in a fashion to reflects that.  I want my children to be witness to a mom that loves the Lord and who tries her best to mirror His attributes; a mom who is loving and trustworthy and merciful and gracious and long-suffering and truthful and wise; a mom who lives under the authority of the One who is perfect in all things and in all ways and who loves her despite her shortcomings and who desires GOOD for her; a mom that trusts Him explicitly…..because He’s worthy of our trust…and He’s worthy of their trust.

There it is, your immutable God who never changes.  His character can never be altered – nor His response; God never acts contrary to Himself.  What peace, what security, what confidence this should bring to your heart and mind.  Therefore, anytime you meet a biblical doctrine that you cannot fully understand or explain, or anytime you come across a situation in life that is difficult to understand, run to the shelter of the character and sovereignty of your God and rest quietly in these solid, immutable, eternal truths.  Rest and order your affairs accordingly.

We will believe, Lord…me and my children and my children’s children and to a thousand generations…we will believe and we will live like we believe.