Who is God?

Luke 19:11-27
While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. He said: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas.'Put this money to work,' he said, 'until I come back.'
"But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, 'We don't want this man to be our king.'

"He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.

"The first one came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned ten more.'

" 'Well done, my good servant!' his master replied. 'Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.'

"The second came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned five more.'

"His master answered, 'You take charge of five cities.'

"Then another servant came and said, 'Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.'

"His master replied, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?'

"Then he said to those standing by, 'Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.'

" 'Sir,' they said, 'he already has ten!'

"He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me."

Do you think that Father God takes out what he did not put in? Do you think he is a hard 'man'? Do you think he's unfair? Are you afraid of him? Do you believe in him at all? Do you know that his Son, Jesus, is King; whether you want to accept it or not?

Our understanding of who God is affects our relationship with him. We need to discover who he is so that we have no misconceptions that cost us our joy or even worse, our salvation.

The Bible is God's communication with you; telling you who God is. Try reading it from that perspective.

"...when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God..." 1 Thessalonians 2:13

"My teachers of Indian history taught us how wonderful our ancestors were. But the Bible – the source book of Jewish history – was telling me terrible things about its kings, priests, prophets and people. It could not have been written from any of their perspectives.
This book claimed to be God’s interpretation of Jewish history and the claim made sense. It explained why Israel and Judah were destroyed. The story of the restoration of a ruined nation fascinated me.
More intriguing was the discovery that the Bible told a story bigger than that of the Jews. It said that God had chosen Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob so that he could bless all nations on earth through their descendents: God had made a promise to bless India. I could know if the Bible was true by examining whether God had kept that promise."
Vishal Mangalwadi

Read Vishal's latest article "Can the Words of Men be the Word of God?" @ www.vishalmangalwadi.com

Longing for His voice to break through the chatter in my mind; I seek it out and investigate what He may be saying. I look at the Bible and dissect each word, verse, phrase, and chapter. Awakened in the night by a pain in my tooth... what is He trying to say to me? Why would I think that a tooth ache is a message from my Lord? I prayed for forgiveness as I felt washed in guilt. That didn't seem to fit... I couldn't fall back to sleep. I was restless and didn't know what I was missing. I relieved my pain with some aspirin and restlessly put my head on my pillow.

John 10:27-29
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand."

I should have prayed for Sandra... her tooth was aching too - same time, but miles away. Her body is battling cancer - God knows why her tooth ached and told me about it, the best way possible; he gave me a tooth ache! I'm unsettled by my lack of ability to discern what Jesus was saying. I need to seek that which God would have me do for others. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Matthew 22:37-39
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. and the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself."

After years of walking with my Jesus, my friend, I still struggle to say that "I love" my God. What does that mean? So all encompassing, how do I place it in my life? Before all things, all people - is my love for my God.

1John 5:3
"This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,..."

Not burdensome. Obeying is loving. Application of your knowledge of scripture and of what Jesus would have you do, is loving God. Not that complicated. We even tell our own children these very words about the 'rules' we have for them. After all that happens in life, we need to remind ourselves to lean on Jesus, to follow him, to obey, and to find joy in that - to know that we love Him.

Psalm 62:5,7
"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him... and my honor depend on God."

All my ambitions, hopes, and plans. All for Jesus, I surrender them into his hands.

Listen for the voice that agrees with that. Rest in that.

I used this as a devotional for my Women's Connections Ministry Team and thought that I would share it here.

Our Connections verse that I chose last year is in the NASB (New American Standard Bible) translation because I thought the wording was better for what we were trying to communicate. I looked again at the verse in the NIV. It reads;
“I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong – that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” Romans 1:11-12

Three things that we as a team, (and you individually), can take away from these verses as we look into the New Year.

1. Your gift is to make you strong. As we work together and use the gifts that God has given us, remember that your gift is not to be a burden. It is to make you and those around you strong.

2. Your gift encourages you in your faith. As we plan and enjoy the events we plan, may it encourage your faith in Jesus. Our simple acts of service like serving coffee, preparing decorations, making craft preparations, and chatting with a new person at a Connections evening, will encourage you in your walk with Jesus. Using our gifts encourages our faith in an unseen God. It helps us also to be encouragers of others in their faith.

3. Our gifts are meant to aid us in sharing the gospel. Romans 1 goes on to say that “I am not ashamed of the gospel,… For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last…” (vs. 16-17). Our spiritual gifts encourage our faith, which is of God, which spurs us on to tell the good news to those who don’t know it. When you have good news to tell – you shout it out!! Use your gift to bring people to a relationship with Jesus.

“Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.” 1Corinthians 1:7
Remember that you are just as God designed you to be. He knows your strengths and weaknesses and delights in your working together with other followers of Christ – especially when we feel weak. Jesus really takes off then!!