Who Is God

 By listening to some people talk you would think God had a last name as in the word damn, short for damnation. Who is God? Is He one of many gods. A search on the computer reveals historically there have been over 18,000 gods. Get this straight. There may be 18,000 little "g" gods. There is only one God! He called Himself "I am that I am" in Exodus 3:14. He is self existent. He is self sustaining. Put another way, that simply means He was not created. He has always been. 

In I Timothy 1:17, God is described in several ways. First, He is a King. Not just a king. He is the King. A divine and sovereign ruler over the affairs of the universe. People are subject to Him. He is the ultimate authority in the universe. Many refuse to believe that. Many deny that He even exists. He has outlived and outlasted all of them. He will do the same with current skeptics. 

Next, He is eternal. That is hard to wrap our finite minds around. We live in the limitation of time. We have a date of origin and will have a date of expiration. God has neither. He has always existed. He will never die. He does not age. He is not an old grandfatherly deity decrepit and too feeble to work wonders. He is as vibrant, strong, omniscient, as He has ever been. 

He is immortal. That means He is imperishable and incorruptible. God does not age. He is not weakened with the passing of time. He is not slipping mentally. He cannot be destroyed. He is not challenged. He has no rivals. He stands alone as the supreme deity.  Unequaled. Incomparable. Exclusive. Distinguished. 

He is all the above and invisible. He is unseen. His works are visible. He is not. In fact, nobody can see God and live. That is what God told Moses in Exodus 33:18 when Moses asked to see God's glory. God responded that nobody could see Him and live. He put Moses in the cleft of a rock and let Moses see the backside of His glory. Moses face radiated with glory a long time afterward. 

Even saying all of that does not scratch the surface. God is like an iceberg plunging deeper than we can see. He is like a mountain that no person can ever climb to the summit. He is wiser than we can comprehend. Greater than we know. He is therefore to be honored. That means He is to be valued and respected. The masses give Him no value nor do they consider Him worthy of any respect.  He will have the last word and people will honor and respect Him in the end. 

We are to glory in Him. The word glory means to praise in approval. We have the choice to glory in Him voluntarily now. The day will come when people will do it involuntarily. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. He will not be toppled ever. He will not be outlasted. He will stand uncontested as the only God through the ages forever. That is just a small sampling of who God is. 

A Deeper Commitment

 The older I get and the longer I've followed Jesus, I find myself longing for a deeper commitment to Him. To not be satisfied with past experiences or my current level of devotion. I know there is always room for improvement. There is closer communion with Jesus possible. There are new heights to discover and deeper depths to explore. There is more. 

I want to know Him more. Our youngest son, Turner, who is studying to be a youth minister and a psychologist, recently asked me if I could ask God for one thing what would it be. I did not hesitate to answer. This has been a matter of prayer for a long time. I want to know Him more and hear Him more clearly. N\I don't content to settle for what He can do for me. I want to know Him more. I want draw closer. I do not want to settle to know more about Him. Many Christians do that. They settle for gaining information. I want a closer relationship. I know that cannot happen without spending more time alone in His presence. To prefer His company over the company of the crowds. That is why one of my favorite scriptures is Psalm 63:8 in the King James Version. "My soul followeth hard after Thee O God." Following hard is more than a verse. It is an attitude of life. To be in constant pursuit of God to know Him more. Paul wrote that we should strive to know God in the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings in Phil 3:10.

Another sign of a deeper commitment is to please Jesus more. Put another way, that simply means to obey Him more. To do the things He commands us to do. Like tell others about Him. I just walked out of a meeting with two ladies from a volunteer organization who will be using our facilities in the near future. I will probably never see these two ladies again since they are front people for the volunteer group, and will not actually be a part of the team that comes. After our business ended, I asked them both where they would spend eternity, and talked about Jesus' death on the cross taking the place for our punishment. I did not put them on the spot for a decision. I did please Jesus by spreading His good news. I wish I always did that. I missed an opportunity with a lady at Sonic earlier this morning. I don't always please the Lord. Many times I fail and must come back to Him in repentance. It is my desire to please Him more and more in all areas of my life. To strive to submit and be empowered by the Holy Spirit to live in holiness. I Pet 1:15-16

Another way to show deeper commitment is to glorify the Lord more. In John 15:7-8, Jesus told us one way we glorify Him is to bear abundant fruit. In Matthew 5:16, He also instructed that we can glorify Him by doing good works. That is my desire. To glorify Him when I preach, teach, write, and serve. Not trying to draw attention to myself. Not seeking to be honored. Deflecting accolades and attention to Him. I coached football, basketball, and baseball to glorify God. I wrote books and numerous blogs to help people and glorify Him. I desire to glorify Him by the way I endure trials and suffering. I want to glorify Him by answers to prayer when I get to testify to brag on Him. He gets the glory when we baptize someone. He is glorified through a sermon or gospel witness, He deserves all the glory. It is all about Him. Not about us. 

We can show deeper devotion to our God and His Son Jesus Christ by constantly striving to know Him more. Our commitment is demonstrated and we continually discipline ourselves to please Him more. He is most pleased when we deflect any person glory and deflect it all onto Him.