Well, seeing that we're all obsessed with facebook, I wanted to post something tied to it, maybe we could all understand something more about God... This might help us to learn something new or remember about something God showed us ages ago and we kinda forgot it or let go of it..maybe sometimes He seems distant, but He's also got a facebook :P so keep in contact with Him ;)
What is God's Facebook status?
Ali Martin [soul survivor]
I have to confess to being totally addicted to Facebook and particularly to reading my friend's status updates. It got me thinking; if God had a Facebook what would his status be? He remains the same, so it wouldn't be a case of one day he was feeling this and another day feeling that but what are some of the things he could put as his status? There are so many characteristics of God (you could literally spend the rest of your life looking at who God is!) I thought I'd pick eight of my favourite ones could be used as God's status.
God is faithful
As I started looking at all the references to God's faithfulness in the book of Psalms I had to give up there were literally dozens and dozens of them. This book of worship talks about God being faithful in all he does, his faithfulness being so infinite it reaches to the skies and God's faithfulness being a defensive shield.
So what's so exciting about faithfulness? It's essential to a healthy relationship but we know we're not able to stay faithful to God. Proverbs 20.6 says 'Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find?' We are by nature flighty and fickle but God is completely faithful to us and that's what keeps us in relationship with him. The amazing promise in 2 Timothy 2:13 is that even if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
God is unchanging
Going back several years, my favourite band used to sing 'Everything Changes But You'. They were singing about some girl but that's rubbish as none of us stay the same -we go up and down, have good moods and bad moods the only one we could ever say 'everything changes but you' of is God. Malachi 3.6 says 'I, Yahweh, do not change' and in Hebrews 13v8 we read that Jesus is the same, yesterday and today and forever.
Being around someone who is utterly consistent is so safe and peaceful because we don't have to worry about where we stand or what's going to be thrown our way. And that's what we have in all perfection in our God. As we approach him in prayer and worship we don't have to worry that he might be in a bad mood with us today - we know our God is unchanging, always the same.
God is the rock
As we look through the Bible we find tonnes of references to God being a rock but why do we celebrate that? In the bible the words 'rock' and 'refuge' (or fortress) often go together or are used interchangeably. We talk about God being the Rock on which we stand (e.g. Psalm 20v2) meaning he is secure and dependable, a safe place of shelter and protection that does not move. The ground is constantly moving beneath our feet and things can go from great to awful overnight as well as turn around for the better in an instant. We can't count on anything but God. He is our safe ground on which we stand firm, our hiding place of security, so that while everything else is changing and moving around us we can know his peace.
God is mighty to save
This summer we saw 2400 young people become Christians at our events which completely blew us away. So who was responsible? Was it all of you who had the courage to bring your non-Christian friends? (We think you rock by the way!) Was it J John who shared the gospel so well? Was it us at Soul Survivor who can take credit? Of course not. It's only God who can rescue people from sin and give them new life and new hope. It's our God who is mighty to save, our God who had a plan for salvation right from the beginning, our God who forgives and offers mercy freely. As Zephaniah 3v17 says: The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save.
God is forgiving
In Daniel 9:9 it says 'The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him' and I think this so important in our understanding of a forgiving God. Too often we listen to the lies of the enemy who will try and convince us that this time God can't forgive us as we've gone too far or exhausted God's forgiveness. But the eternal truth of the Bible, the eternal character of God is that he is forgiving and as we have seen he doesn't change. God is always forgiving.
God is patient
While God is patient, I'm definitely not. When I want something I want it now. I'm rubbish at taking the long view, at waiting and seeing, and holding on. And although I know that lack of patience is a particular weakness of mine, I think a lot of us struggle with this. But God doesn't. He can hold on and wait and give us time while we work things out, in fact 1 Timothy 1v16 talks about his 'unlimited patience'. He doesn't lose his temper when we fail, he doesn't get frustrated when it takes us a while to work simple things out: like the fact that he loves us and knows what's best for us. He isn't drumming his fingers, sighing loudly, fidgeting in his throne. If we are ignoring him, he is waiting patiently for us. If we are making mistakes, he is patient with us while we learn. If we are frustrated with ourselves he is not. As we stumble and fumble our way through life our God is and always will be patient with us. And thankfully patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit and he is able to grow it in us too!
God is compassionate
Psalm 103:8 says: The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. This means he feels and is moved by what he sees and hears. We read in the gospels that Jesus had compassion for many including the sick, the people of Israel because they were like sheep without a shepherd and even the hungry! (I like that!) Jesus shows us that our God is compassionate He engages with what is happening. He is moved by the cries of his people, by the things that trouble us. We don't pray to someone who is dispassionate, unfeeling or separate but his heart is involved.
God is perfect
Lastly, God is perfect and he is always right.
We tend to think that our view is the right view but God knows his is the right view all of the time. Deuteronomy 32v4 says: He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. Everything God has ever done is right and perfect not once making a mistake, not once compromising, not once just slightly off centre he is always right, totally perfect in all his ways and all his actions.
This is just a glimpse of the God we worship and we're hoping to cover a few more of his characteristics in other articles over the next few months. One thing I found amazing as I wrote this is that so much of the Old Testament is where we find the proclamation of who God is and so much of the New Testaments backs that up but then assures us that he is making us more like him. We see in Galatians the fruit of the Spirit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control all amazing characteristics of God and we have the knowledge that with our cooperation he is growing and developing that very same fruit in us. We belong to an amazing God and (for our last Facebook status), God is in the business of transforming us into his likeness.
