Someone told me recently that God is whatever we want him to be. Shortly after hearing that, I am almost sure I also heard God’s characteristically contented and unflappable chuckle.
What do we know of love, of truth and of holy? We know very little, and this is why it is such an incredible relief to have God to worship.
A cat purrs on a lap, so a psyche sings close to God.
Divine irony is often present in divine retribution. We receive in punishment the very same nastiness we deal out to those we harm.
Guilt is the neurotoxin of failure; Christ the antidote.
I believe in a God who knows how to sing and dance.
Some think God loves his own glory most. If that’s true then why did Jesus give it to us?
Heaven will begin with a long, reflective and healthy silence. The human voice will be conspicuously absent. Then God will talk and we will listen. How unique heaven will be.
Some think God is impassable, not subject to any emotions or feelings. But scripture says that “God is love.” So much for Him being impassable.
God allows extremes. Dang!
God’s solution for sin isn’t rules; it’s a relationship with him.
God honors those who love, give, serve and lead, motu proprio. What a pleasure for him to see us initiate what he usually has to. Do this, you are his friend.
The ancients thought the fragrant flowers contained the presence of deity. But it’s not the perfumes that house God. We humans contain the presence as we dab on the divine fragrance of love and kindness.
Capsaicin, the alkaloid that makes chiles hot, can be detected in one part per million. Similarly, faith, in the human soul, is also detectable by God in one part per million. Be encouraged struggler, it doesn’t take much.
Jesus disturbed people because he was the Prince of Peace. His peace, which was based on righteousness was highly upsetting to the unrighteous. They don’t want to travel the route needed to get there.
The God of the Bible is a God who asks rich men to leave their idols and to risk an adventure with a personal, relational, promise-keeping friend. Why would God do that? To bless them so that they can bless others. God asks people to leave selfishness and go into the generosity business. Think Abram.
The Holy Spirit is a person, not a bucket of water. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is an encounter with God, not an encounter with a drenching emotion.
God’s methodology? The Holy Spirit. That’s an exciting way to get it done.
To know God is to stand on the beach of a sea, the foot of a mountain or the edge of a river, and to be asked to cross over.
God has lower standards than we do; he accepts people who we reject.
Sulking, grouching, grousing, complaining and tantrum throwing — God won’t reward any more than any wise parent would reward. A wise God won’t reinforce behaviors he doesn’t want us to traffic in.
Moses asked God to show him his glory. This was necessary because if God had shown anything less, Moses wouldn’t have seen it. We are that myopic.
Sometimes after making requests of God, it is important to notice what doesn’t happen. What is circumvented, prevented, not done? Absence is a significant result.
The “Why” questions always anticipate more than God himself anticipates. Should a man anticipate more than God?
Novels often have circular structures; they come back to where they began. So do lives. Such design suggests an author.
God is omnipresent. Sometimes I feel intimidated by his everywhereness. God independent; I feel my separateness from him. God is omniscient; I am sometimes embarrassed by what he knows about me. But I find there is another way to think about him. God is everywhere so he is always there to comfort me. God is not needy, so his love for me is unselfish and pure. God knows, everything, so he knows and understands my hurts and insecurities. What I know about God has become tempered by my awareness that God is always personal.
God is present everywhere, but completely seen nowhere. He is revealed and hidden. But he is passive, never, and when we act out justice and love, we have the greatest opportunity to see him present.
We should take less offense from what we think that God is not doing and more offense from what see that we are not doing
Santa Clause, Bill and Melinda Gates, Rockefeller, Mother Teresa, Joan Krock – mere shadows of generosity when compared to God.
God’s antidote for dullness is surprise. He has a penchant for astonishment.
God is the only model of himself. God relates to us independent of our ideas of say, fathers. He doesn’t conform to what we have previously experienced in human relationships. What a relief God is.
Some Christians speak mainly of Jesus; others seem chiefly interested in the Holy Spirit; still others are more comfortable with speaking often of God the Father. It should be remembered that it was determined long ago by very wise counsels that orthodoxy is about giving very significant attention to all three.
Kuala bears have their Eucalyptus leaves, grey whales their amphipods, and humans their chocolate, root bear floats, cream puffs and frapachinos. The humans have the most reason to thank God.
Buckle your seat belt, grab firmly the door handle near you, place your feet squarely on the floor board and make sure your brain is lodged securely against the head rest – then read the words of Jesus.
When it comes to enemies, we think, “Get them!” while God thinks, ”Love them.”
