A Good, Good God
#2 in the Series: My Daddy Is…
I hope you took the
time to do the last assignment. If you
did, you discovered that we have
a good, good God. Here is a picture of my quick list. It is no where near a complete list, but the
process really gets you thinking.
This assignment was
inspired by the discovery of a couple of other lists I have stumbled upon. (Read
that: the Holy Spirit brought to my attention!)
One was a devotional called “100 Descriptions
of God” available on the YouVersion app.
The other was in the Bible study book Experiencing
God by Henry Blackaby. It
contained 350 names and descriptions of God. Neither list is complete. I have looked for particular words of
description that have not shown up on even the long list and the short list has
words not found on the long list! (No, I
didn’t cheat when doing the assignment.)
There are some
amazing contrasts portrayed in God’s names and characteristics. On the one hand we have the Creator of the
universe, awesome in power, mighty and majestic, terrible and fearsome;
Commander of angel armies, protector, avenger, conqueror! On the other hand we have the Advocate,
Comforter, and Friend; Abba (Daddy), Father; kind, slow to anger, abounding in
mercy, tender, caring, and loving.
We are going to look
at some of these characteristics, descriptions, and names over the next days, weeks, or months? Only HE knows
how long it will take. This seems like
the best place to start for you to discover yourself as his child. How can you know who you are apart from
knowing your heritage? So keep your
journal handy! You will get much more
out of these posts if you actually DO the exercises. Think of it as increasing your spiritual
fitness. Often exercise seems arduous
but when you do it with a friend, both of you benefit and it is easier to stay
accountable.
Here
is how it will work. Each post will have
a characteristic or name and at least one scripture reference. It may also contain other information to jump
start your meditation process such as dictionary definitions, a parable,
original language explorations and/or scripture translation comparisons,
etc. Then you will be encouraged to pray
and ask Holy Spirit, The Teacher to highlight something from the post. You will write that in your journal and
comment or respond to it in prayer. In
this way you will be applying the things you have learned and experienced in
the Daddy, It's
Me--Conversations of an Ordinary Person with an Extraordinary Heavenly Father series. You
will experience conversations with your Heavenly Father
through the mind of Holy Spirit.
“these are the things God has
revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep
things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within
them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of
God.
for, “Who has known the mind of
the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 2:10-11,
16 NIV
“But the Helper, the Holy
Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and
bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
John 14:26 ESV
“When the Spirit of truth comes,
he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own
authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the
things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and
declare it to you.”
John 16:13-14 ESV
When you receive an
insight from scripture through the Holy Spirit, that IS an experience with
God. That IS God speaking to you. It doesn’t have to “jump off the page” though
sometimes it will seem that way.
Sometimes it is subtle, a whisper, a wink, perhaps a highlight or just
that your eyes keep falling on a particular sentence or passage.
My prayer for you as
we go into this time of discovery is the same as that of the Apostle Paul:
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources
- He will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit and that
- Christ will make his home in your hearts
- You will trust in him.
- Your roots will grow down deep into God’s love and keep you strong.
- You will have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
- You may experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.
- As a result of experiencing his love, you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (From Ephesians 3:16-19 NLT)
“Fullness of
life!” That is true freedom for your
mustang heart!
Now…pray and ask
Holy Spirit to highlight something from this post. Be silent before him for a minute or two…or
more. Listen. Open your eyes and peruse the post. What does your eye see or your ear hear? Write it in your journal.
Why does it seem
important? You could even ask: Father/Jesus/Holy Spirit, why have you
brought this to my attention? Write the
answer in your journal.
Make it a
prayer. Pray the scripture (and/or it’s
insights, questions, or comments) back to the Father. Write this in your journal.
How are you going to
be different after this experience with God?
What does he want you to be or do as a result? If you are not sure, ask him. Write this in your journal.
It is ok not to have
a response to one of these sections occasionally, but if you find that
happening frequently, perhaps you need to slow down and be more patient. You will get much more out of this if you
actually DO write your insights, prayer, and responses. Then you will have a record of your journey
and experiences with God. When the evil
one comes to lie to you about your relationship—and he will!—you will have
proof of God’s love and care and communication with you.
I look forward to
this adventure with you! Onward to
freedom for your mustang heart!
P.S. I cherish your comments and emails at:
joyfullcoyote@gmail.com. Share on social media. If
you receive this in your email, you may need to visit the webpage (link is in
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your email, sign up for auto delivery at the top right hand column of the
webpage. Be blessed today!
I love the fact that even though we cannot fully understand Christ’s love, we CAN experience it!
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