I AM

Good Morning! I'm in love with today. Another day to learn more about God, to spend time with Him, to spend time with others, and to go to church!

Over the past year and half probably, my view of who God is has changed drastically. When my grandmother began to get really sick and it became obvious that she wasn't going to get any better here on Earth, I really struggled with prayer. God was saying no to my petitions, so I gave up. I didn't want to talk to a God that didn't listen to me. Then, last semester, the daughter of the sweetest couple was diagnosed with Leukemia. With an army of prayer warriors behind them pleading with God to heal her, He still chose to take her home to Him.
I have also had the opportunity to share my faith to a dear friend over the coarse of the last year, and this has also brought a change to my view. While trying to explain His sovereignty and His power and His wrath and His mercy and His love, I had to really stop and I think if I truly had a grasp on those things myself.

Needless to say, all of these things and more have really rattled my cookie-cutter, Sunday school view of the Almighty. And I am thankful for this. We are supposed to grow in our faith and in our understanding of the Lord.

My Structural Materials professor said one of the wisest things I've ever heard last week. He had a brain tumor last year, and a student was asking him if it changed his outlook on life. He replied by saying he did think about his children and his more and how they would've lived without him there, but he knew that God's sovereignty would not be changed whether he lived or died. God would still be God. Wow, what an amazing example my professor with an amazing testimony and an inspiring view of God.


Last night, I started re-reading a book I had picked up at the beginning of the school year. I saw my friend reading it yesterday, and was inspired to check it out again. It's called "How to Stay Christian in College" by J. Budziszewski. In the second chapter, the author does his best to explain God with words:
"God is like nothing we could have imagined. God is utterly other than us --other in a way we express with the word holiness. Yes, He dwells within each Christian, but He's not you. He isn't the same as you, He isn't a part of you, and He isn't a "higher" you. Yes, you're made in His image, but you're not Him. You're not the same as Him, you're not a part of Him, and you aren't a "splinter" of Him--nor will you ever be. He doesn't depend on anything else because He is what everything else depends on. He can't be explained by anything else because He is what everything else is explained by Although we can know what He has taught us about Himself, we can never comprehend Hem completely because He is greater than our minds. anything He will, He can do. He not only hold supreme power but He also uses it. Nothing can defeat Him and nothing can happen contrary to His will. He is also supremely good--light with no darkness. Although evil is real, He detests it and brings it to judgment. He knows everything, He pays attention to everything, and nothing escapes His notice. He's not just a What and a Who, like me or like you, but one What and three Whos--one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There is no one like Him. He is set apart. He is what He is, and there was never a time when He was not."

There's something for me to chew on for awhile! This week, I hope everyone will examine their view of God. Where did that view come from? Is it what God tells me He is in His word? Or is it just what I want Him to be?

Thank you to my sweet friend Amanda Cofer, who sent me a wonderful commentary on yesterday's passage. I pray that each of you has a beautiful day!