Today’s Word from Pastor Jim…
“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” Exodus 34:5–6
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” I John 4:7
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.” Isaiah 40:28-29
What is your image of God? Is God a gray-haired old man who is looking to strike you down or punish you when you sin? Is God the master controller with a joystick hand-manipulating humans, finding your parking spots or magically selling your home? Is God the CEO of an employment agency, finding work for good Christians, or a white coated Josef Mengele doling out diseases to see how his creatures respond? Is God a male or a female? Have we created God in our own image? Is God a heavenly vending machine: push a button, make a sacrifice and out comes a baby, a cure or a new car?
What is your image of God? The Bible tells us that God is love, God is infinite, God is the creator of all things. God is good, God is merciful, just, gracious, patient, all knowing, all powerful, omnipresent and mysterious beyond the capacity of human understanding.
I often hear people say that God is in charge. This is undoubtedly true! God is in charge of the entirety of time and creation. But the human experiment is by any measure a new venture. If all of time were compressed into a year, with the Big Bang at the start of January, the emergence of humans would occur very late in the year, around 11:35 PM on December 31st. God is in charge, I believe that with all my heart, I trust that truth. My life is a mere mist quickly fading and yet safe in the hands of a merciful and loving God. God is in charge, but when God gave those created in the image God freewill, the inmates took charge of the asylum. The resulting human story has been remarkable in its creativity and in its cruelty.
What is your image of God? Does this all-powerful God intervene in human affairs? And if so, how? I want to know, Adam and Eve wanted to know, but instead of bowing down in humility, they ate the apple, and the rest is a tattered human history. I am Ok just being me, a flower quickly fading, someone called to teach about a subject that I don’t understand, the 1667th generation of humans, the 1959 model, with design flaws and imperfections. Does God answer prayer? God can do whatever She wants, so I would suggest that you humbly pray, faithfully wait, and get busy swinging the hammer, exercising the freewill that the Lord of Eternity has entrusted to you.
God is love! One beggar, telling another beggar where to find bread, I am your,
Pastor Jim
PS: If you would like to respond directly to Pastor Jim, please email [email protected].
