Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Tuesdays Top Ten [God Attributes to Help Quiet the Soul]

This post has been in the works for nearly a year. It took me forever to write because I had so many passages for each quality that I finally had to pick. Plus I have so many attributes that this post could go on forever; again, I just had to pick!

As a result of writing this top ten, God has revealed so much of Himself and I -again- cannot fathom His greatness.


As I read through Scripture I mark my Bible with the following color code:
Black = Notes
Purple = Sovereignty
Green = Purpose/Theme
Blue = Gospel, Grace/Mercy
Red = Important
Brown = Human Depravity
Pink = Prayer or Wisdom
Yellow = Wow! (because some things are just, wow.) and I also mark God's Attributes in yellow highlighter as well.
Orange = God Said. (Sooooo ya better listen.)

Obviously, you do not have to follow this color code, but I do encourage you to mark your Bible in some way so that you are focused on God and His sovereignty, His purpose, His theme, His gospel, His grace and mercy, His way of life, and His attributes. It takes the focus away from self and onto Him, the Author. I have learned more about God than ever before! And each time I read I mark something I missed the first and second time through. God is forever opening my eyes to His greatness!

Another reason I encourage marking your Bible is that you can open it to any page, any book, and see purple, proving He is in control. Or blue to remind me of His amazing grace in light of human depravity. I also love opening my Bible to yellow and reading the qualities of this AMAZING God I serve, which is the focus of this post. All of these qualities (with the exception of #8), and the verses given, are highlighted yellow in my Bible because they reveal the attributes of God. They also have the "wow" factor. Reading about God puts me in a state of, wow! Just wow!

1. God is aseity. Aseity is a latin term that refers to one who is able to exist in and of itself. He exists from himself and He is dependent on nothing to exist. He is self-sufficient; completely independent of all things, "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14). He is complete in and of Himself. The source of His existence has always been, always is, and always will be Himself. The exact definition is as follows: existence originates from and having no source other than itself (www.dictionary.com).
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." Revelation 1:8
Knowing that His existence is not determined by anything or anyone should put us in an incredible state of awe! He needs nothing to sustain His own existence! In fact, when Elihu speaks the truth about God he says this about God's existence and how it's tied to the existence of everything else,

"Who gave him charge over all the earth, and who laid on him the whole world? If he should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust." Job 34:13-15
No one but God gave God charge over all the earth. Therefore the entire earth is dependent on God for our very existence. That's why Elihu answers with, if God set His mind to it and took his own breath everything would cease to exist. God is depended on nothing to exist, but we are wholly dependent on God for our existence. Which leads perfectly to this next quality...

2. He is the creator and sustainer of life. I believe in God's aseity, which goes hand in hand with this next quality. He needs nothing to sustain Himself, but His creation needs HIM in order to even exist. The very first thing said about God was that He created (Genesis 1:1). And He created it from His own thoughts, His own imagination! Just look at His creation - the stars, the mountains, the waterfalls, the trees... newborn babies... and marvel at this quality! Scripture proves that since He created it, He also sustains it,
"In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind." Job 12:10 (In addition to Job 12:10 are Job 14:5 and Exodus 23:26, which are two - of many - examples of this quality if you want to look them up.)
"Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created." Revelation 4:11 (bolded and underline mine.) By His will His creation exists! He is not dependent on anything, but every single thing is dependent on Him.
So much peace is found in those verses, especially when I think about the death of dear family and friends and also when I consider the day that I die. God has my breath, and the breath of all mankind, and all living things in HIS hand. Because He sustains life, I am at complete rest in HIM.

(This quality was written months before experiencing the loss of a very dear friend. As I reflect on this quality of God and also on this friend, I am blown away by the peace I have in God. Knowing Him helps me grieve. Knowing who He is gives me joy in the midst of tears. Learning who He is according to His word comforts and encourages me. As does knowing the big and powerful God I serve has all things under His control - down to our very existence.)

3. He gives all things because all things are His to give. He created it, therefore, He sustains it and He gives it, because all things are His.
"Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine." Job 41:11
This truth is outlined in many places, one of them from David in 1 Chronicles 29:14 with David's prayer of thanksgiving after the Israelites tithed for the building of the temple - realizing that what they gave was from God in the first place. To Job 1:21 when Job lost everything - still blessing his name through a phenomenal statement, the Lord gave and has taken. To Matthew 6:25-34 where Jesus taught us that we shouldn't worry about the clothes we wear or the food we eat, because He gives those things too!

4. He is wise. We will never understand His thoughts or His ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). He is all-knowing and full of wisdom. Pay attention to the questions He asks in Isaiah 40:12-14 that illustrate this quality in such a thought provoking way (I've underlined my personal favorites),
"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? Who did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?"
To answer those questions: No one is able to measure the Spirit of the Lord. No one can offer Him counsel. He goes to no one for consultation. And not one piece of His creation has given Him understanding. No one taught him the path of justice or knowledge or shown him understanding. Because wisdom came from God and He gives it to whom He will. See Job 32:8-9 or read Proverbs 2:6,
"For the Lord gives wisdom, from his mouth come knowledge and understanding...
5. God is faithful. To be faithful is to be strict or thorough in the performance of a duty, or to be true to one's word, promises and vows, or to be steady in allegiance or affection, to be loyal, reliable or trusted, and to be one who adheres to a standard. God is all of this and more. When I searched for each statement revealing this truth I had so many that I finally had to pick. When Moses was giving the Israelites his final address before passing away, he sang a song. In that song is this statement:
"The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he." Deuteronomy 32:4
Paul also reminds Timothy of God's faithfulness in his second letter to Timothy: 2 Timothy 2:12-13, which is also debated to be a hymn of old,
"If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful - "
That statement, if we are faithless, he remains faithful, was one that cut me to the core. We are faithless. Yet, He is faithful. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). That is faithful.

6. God is holy. If you want a small taste of God's holiness, go to Revelation. He is the only one who is worthy of songs like,
"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!" Revelation 4:8 
"Great and amazing are your deeds,
O Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways,
O King of the nations!
Who will not fear, O Lord,
and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.
"

Revelation 15:3 (bolded, underline mine)
He is the only one worthy of such worship because Jesus alone is pure. Faultless. Immaculate. Spotless. Holy. Holy. Holy.

7. He is powerful. Creation stands as an awesome testimony to the power of the almighty God we serve (Romans 1:20). If you look at the stars, that He holds in His hand and knows them all by name, you catch a small glimpse of His power. If you attempt to climb a fourteener (a mountain with an elevation of 14,000 feet) you'll stand in awe of His might.  If you visit the west coast and try to wrap your arms around a giant sequoia tree, His greatness will become unfathomable.  It wasn't just in creation that He revealed His power. The Bible illustrates His power from Genesis, with His creation, to Revelation when HE WINS over Satan. He reveals Himself in powerful ways from beginning to end; with His revelation of His sovereign attributes when He speaks to Job out of the whirlwind in Job 38-41, to the destruction of the Egyptians in Exodus (read 14:31), to His destruction of the Baal god in 1 Kings 18:20-40 when fire rains down from the heavens so hot a drenched altar does not stop it, to Jesus' healing power when He raises Lazarus from the dead (John 11) or how the very touch of His robe heals a 12 year ailment (Mark 5:24-32) to the very gospel of Jesus Christ when He defeated death by His death on the cross and resurrection! And is now seated on the throne as King, reigning over all, and through all, and above all, and above every name that is named (Ephesians 1:17-23)
"He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs." Hebrews 1:3-4
I had the hardest time picking a favorite verse to illustrate His POWER, so I just picked one from the bunch: Psalm 19:1-6, 33 (WOW!), 65, 66, 89, 115:3, Jeremiah 10:6, 32:17-19, Job 9:12, 11:7, Exodus 14:31. I finally picked a praise psalm that illustrates the fact that we should tremble at the presence of the Lord - His power is that great!
"The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back? O Mountains, that you skip like rams? O hills, like lambs? Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water." Psalm 114:3-8 
Or that His power does not rest. He is at work from the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun...
"The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting." Psalm 50:1
8. He is sovereign. The word sovereign can be either a noun or an adjective, and I think they both apply. Noun: a monarch; king, or supreme ruler. A person who has supreme power or authority. Adjective: having supreme rank, power, or authority. Greatest in degree; utmost or extreme. Being above all others in character, importance, excellence, etc. Some synonyms solidify the meaning of sovereign: absolute, commanding, directing, majestic, independent, self-governed, supreme, unlimited... . Anything that I read that reveals His sovereignty is in purple. Purple for royalty. So if I come across passages like Psalm 139:16 written by King David,
"Your eyes saw saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." 
I highlight it in purple and double underline the strong verbs (in purple) that reveal what God does. I have Ecclesiastes 3:14-15 thumbed as a favorite because it is one I go to often when I need a clear reminder that God is sovereign and I simply need to rest in HIM,
"... whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people ear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away."
When I listened to a sermon series on the book of Ecclesiastes there were many things I wrote beside this passage: What God does is eternal. "Life's mystery: God is on control. What He does He does eternally and He can be trusted." He does things for His purpose and for His own glory. "God has decreed everything that is going to happen. And my note for the final statement, God will go and get an event and show how perfectly it fits into His plan. 

Ecclesiastes teaches an excellent lesson. Since God is in control, we should enjoy life all the more,
"Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil - this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy is his heart." Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
Soul satisfaction settles in the source of sovereignty. If you want your soul to be quiet and at rest, know God. Know that He rules His creation. He is in control.

9. His love is steadfast. In fact, He is love. But think about that word steadfast in a world who's love is conditional. His is unconditional. We sin, He forgave. We fail Him, He remains faithful. We neglect time in His Word, in prayer, in praise, but we are always on His mind. We become lazy, He is always at work. We are impatient, He is patient. He is always kind, even when we are not. That is love and even though we are like Israel in Hosea - rejecting, neglecting, and unfaithful - His love never changes.
"The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and fourth generation." Exodus 34:6-7 (Also, 
10: He is unchanging! God is immutable, everlasting. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) He says it of Himself in Malachi 3:6, "For I, the Lord, do not change." Everything I just listed will never, ever change! He has always been and all that he has ever been, He will always be. He is perfect. He is faithful. He is holy. He is sovereign. He is powerful. He is without limits. He has no beginning and no end. He knows-all. He is beyond measurement. And He is all these things from before time began, and He will remain these things for all eternity. He will not change. And that should bring us comfort in a world that is limited, imperfect, and fragile - a world He created for HIS purpose.
"I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witness! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any." Isaiah 44:6-8
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Do not underestimate Him, for He is unfathomable. His holiness, wisdom, power, sovereignty, all of these qualities are immeasurable, and are perfect, and will never, ever change. No matter what happens, knowing these things about Him should help you sleep well at night. Take a deep breath and praise God for giving that breath to you. And then rest. Be at rest because you serve a big and powerful and amazing God.

Knowing God according to His word quiets our soul and the bible states that He finds that beautiful.

And just when we think we might understand Him consider this,

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, 
so are my ways higher than your ways 
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9

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