PART 5: Profile...God Description...Comforting

Ahhh. Soft. Comfy. Cozy. Warm. A place where you can just sink into the warmth to get away from all days stress. It may be expensive but the time you spend there is worth it. It is also used to family times and your precious head will you take a nap even though you arent a child anymore. But about all else this thing brings you comfort even when your days dont. I hope i just described your favortie couch. When we do that running leap onto our favorite couch we dont even think about if it will be comfty because we already know that it will be. So we jump without the fear of falling. Just like we jump without the fear of breaking our couches we need to jump right into the arms of God without the fear of him dropping us. It might be hard to believe that such an important guy can comfort every single one of us, but he was made for that. we all go through those days that feel like life is worthless. And you wonder why you even are friends with those you call your friends. These are the times where you dont want to fight anymore and you just want to fall so someone can catch you. Chances are you dont have people that are running around waiting to hold you when your world crumbles. And even when you do, that doesnt always satisfy your hurt. We are to rely on people and be there for others so we can have relationships with our brothers in christ. But we are to be comforted by one that we cant physically see. When i go through those rough times i have some close friends that i can run to for a big comforting huge but that doesnt always satisfy me. There are times when i wish that i could just grab a hold of God so that i could just cry in his arms. We can! I know he isnt "here" like our friends are but he is in a different way. And i do "run into" Gods arms. It might sound dumb or corny but try what i do...when you lay down at night relax and just look up and close your eyes. Just talk to God in your head and just fall into his arms. Imagine that he has his arms around you and sooner or later you will feel a warmth take over your heart. When i do this, tears stream down my face because i know i am more than okay and i dont have even a 1% chance of falling once i am in his grips. God is our ultimate couch. He is beyond the quality of a lazy boy recliner without the extreme cost. The only thing you have to give up to him is your heart and he will craddle that with all of his love. this week think about what makes you cry out for comfort. Is it friends, love, family, school, sports, or just everyday life that tugs at your heart? No matter what it is we all need comforting even when we arent hurting. And its great to go to those that we have built a trusting relationship with. But this week whenever you need some sort of comforting, let go wrap his arms around you. Comforting is one of several characteristics that god carries around. We all have our own personality traits that describe each and everyone of us. But God has the characteristics that no human could carry around and that because he is the one that we get our personality from. We need to see that he has better insight and he wont drop us if he fall. so jump without the fear of falling. Word of the Day: "For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. " ~1 Thessalonthians 2:11-12

PART 4: Profile... God Desrciption...Loving

      One day you might describe your best friend as honest, loyal, loving, caring, and the best friend you have ever had. But the next you could be calling them rude, a liar, stupid, and the worse friend you have ever had. Here on earth humans cant keep a relationship without messing it up at least once. Think about all of your relationships you ever had...have any of them ever been perfect?? I know every single relationshipI have ever had has been far from perfect. And we should be glad they aren't perfect because when we go through trials in a relationship that allows us to have room to become stronger in ourselves and the ones we are close to. Right now evaluate your life...how much love are you getting from those around you? Are you getting sold short of the love you should be receiving from those around you? One solution to this problem is to show your own love so you can receive it. But did you know that there is one person that constantly shows you love without any delay? If you look at it this way, God was made to love us. And we were made to receive it and share it. "We love each other because he loved us first" ~1 John 4:19. This shows how we are to be expected to love each other. Going back to how we cant have perfect relationships...it is hard to love someone that can inflict any kinda of pain on us. We can love God, who we cant physically see but we cant love people here on earth which we can see. Do you see see pattern? God can love us unconditionally but we have kinks in the way we show love. We all know that God loves the world and everything in it. But I don't think we realize the impact of his love. If God never showed love...we would not be here. Can you imagine loving the whole world? That's a lot of stinking hugs and kisses! That seems so far fetch for us because we aren't expected to love the entire world perfectly. God is the only one that achieve that humanly impossible task. We are to look up to God for that and love as much as we can. Most people say they can't show love to a person because that person treated them wrong. Every half of a second someone sins and treats God wrong. But does he ever stop loving them? This is a harsh truth that we are faced with. Psalm 89:33 states the outstanding attitude that we should wear daily... "but I will never stop loving him nor fail to keep my promise to him." I mainly touched base on us needing to show love to others like God does. But also understand this, you need to love and respect yourself and God above all else before you spread it around the world. I don't want you to read this and think  " Wow Kaitlyn, this is a lot of rules I need to follow to just love people like God!" but don't think of love as coming with a manual because it doesn't! Nobody knows how to love. And that's okay! But I know this one big guy in the sky that does and when you rest your eyes on him, loving others even through the toughest times will become as natural as breathing. Gods character is based on love. If he didn't love us then he wouldn't be caring, faithful, forgiving, patient, or there for us at all. He is made for this love! Just think, if God didn't love us then he could of told Jonah "Hey get out of the whale yourself, whales gotta eat too ya know!" Or he could of told Noah "Oh yeah did i forget to mention there is gonna be a flood? Yeah...you should of built a giant arc and that's why all the animals came to you. Oops!" Yeah, God shows us love just when we need it. And that's why we need to embrace it and make it a part of ourselves and let that show through us above all else. If you ever think that God doesn't love you.... think again because your still breathing right? And he gave his only son for you and me. How is that love for ya, giving up your son? Once we don't feel loved or don't show it, we automatically drop our sense of realization. We drop our spirits and all that defines us because we don't feel loved. Not only is love a powerful 4 letter word, it also has a lot of power of impact on anything. If you feel loved in your life or not, this week I challenge you to evaluate your life and how love is incorporated in it. Once you find it, value that and expand that love. Next find how God shows his miraculous love to you even when you don't deserve it and hold on dear to that. It's inviting and comforting to discover the love shown to you in your life so why not find it. And once you find the one and only love of our Lord and Savior, you life will show you so many more open doors.



Word of the Day: "I have always loved you" says the lord...
                                                                   ~Malachi 1:2

PART 3: Profile...God Desription...Not of this world

      

    Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. You hear the soothing sound of the waves of a lake break the silence as a boat streams by on a Sunday afternoon. The sound is so beautiful. You begin to slip away. Surrounded in the fresh breath of life that the breeze is breathing into you so you can stay afloat in this life that is drowning you…How can something so beautiful be created for us?

    A lake looks so simple and you might think…it’s just water in a giant hole. But have you ever stopped and looked at that “simple” lake? I mean really LOOK at that lake. Where I live, there is a lake that’s a bike ride away from my house. I never took advantage of it. Yeah I always thought it was pretty and I wish I could go boating or just have fun on the water. But I never really stopped to realize how truly beautiful the lake was. The lake is now my place to connect with God during my quiet times and it’s also my go to place when I need God’s beauty to surround me. Just like the lake, there are several earthly items that get called beautiful but never get admired. Right now I want you to go outside and look very closely at a tree. I know I know, you’re probably saying “Yeah okay, I’m just going to keep reading. I know what a tree looks like.” Just do it! I will wait…….

   Vastly winding in a dark manner as the abundance of life consumes every corner. I see a splash of beauty. Its detail is unlike any other. The veins of small growing portions are over flowing with life. These leaves show me I have a God. This detailed trunk shows me I have a God. These invisible roots underneath my feet…show me that I have a God. This is what I see when I look at a tree. Did you see how much detail and thought is in one simple tree? When God created the earth He took His time. He knew what He was doing and just like how we all have little details about us, so does our world. But, did you know that the creator of the earth is not of our world? Chances are… you know that. BUT, did you know that God walked the earth but He is not of the earthly flesh?  “My kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36) In this verse, Jesus tells us that his kingdom is considered, not of this world. Now, put two and two together. The nature around us seems so amazing and our God is not of this world. Yes! He created all of that but His creations declare the mysterious about Him. Now I’m not saying that God is an alien because He is anything but. I challenge you this week to stop and smell the roses. Really dig deep to see how God is not of this world. Once you do that you will discover that Gods love, character, hope, and even His life are like no other. Remember that you can’t get a love like the Lords anywhere else. Our Lord is like no other, HE IS OUR ONE AND ONLY LOVE!!!

 

Word for the Day: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weakness, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet he did not sin.”

                                                                                ~Hebrews 4:15

 

PART 2: Profile:God...Description: Patience

  Patience. " The power or capacity to endure without compliant something difficult or disagreeable: forbearance, long suffering." Was there ever a time when you just reached the breaking point with someone or something and you ended up saying something you shouldn't of said? I know I have and you don't recognize it as a bad thing at first. When we are faced with difficult times we automatically go into "beast mode" or "shut down mode." Some people can deal with difficult things, not always the right way, and some people just totally give up on the challenge they are being presented. I mean, who would find a difficult situation and say "Oh hey I am just gonna suffer through this long and hard time!" Yeah...I don't think any of you would volunteer for that. But did you know who did? Of course you guessed....God. " And remember, our Lord's patience gives people time to be saved..." (2 Peter 3:15) Of course God showed patience while He once walked the earth through His words and actions. BUT, did you realize that He still shows that same patience to us every single day? Its so mind blowing to think that, even though we can't find the smallest ounce of power of endurance through hard times, God cast patience on us. When God showed patience in 2 Peter 3:15, He used that time to allow people to be saved. Can you imagine if we suppressed our feelings by a matter of seconds and being patient with people, how many people we could save or come closer to? Its very hard to stay calm and be patient when something doesn't go your way. And you might be thinking, "Well its a lot easier for God to be patient with us and others because He is God!" Well that's true because He does not sin, BUT it is not impossible for us to have His patience. Once you realize the patience that the Lord shows in our everyday life I think it will become a lot easier for us to find our own patience. If the Lord did not show us patience we would not be here today. If God did not wait upon US, back when He was on the earth, when we did not believe in His glory we would of all been left behind...even if you were a believer. As average citizens we all make mistakes and that requires patience on both our parts and Gods part in our lives. We have to have patience with ourselves before we can see that God has patience with us the whole time. The bible always shouts out about how we need to be more like God and reflect that through our everyday lives. So this week I challenge you to first find how God is patient with you. How are you patient with yourself? And do you show patience to those around? This is gonna be hard to submit yourself to patience but don't look at it as a burden, look at it as a lifestyle as being a child of God. Pray that you can find the strength to be more like God everyday and be patient in order to see a whole new side to life and your relationship with God.

God explodes with patience...can we just have an ounce of it???



Word of the day: " We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience that you need. May you be filled with joy."
                                                                  ~Colossians 1:11

PART 1: Profile:God...Description:Faithfulness

  Before you buy a book or a movie you always read about it or you hear all about from friends or its all over the media. Most times, when you just go and buy a random book or movie you have a 50% chance of hating the whole thing. And once you realized, "Wow maybe I should of read the huge paragraph on the back cover" or "Gee I guess watching the previews for that X-rated movie would of been better before watching it with my teenage son." We all look into the whole story before we engage in it to prevent ourselves from being disappointed or being taken by surprise. Just like there is so much you can find out about the next best thing in the media. You will hear about the many different characters of God one way or the other. Believer or not, I am sure that you have heard some talk about this Jesus guy. I know that when I hear about God I hear people say "Oh yes! Jesus is just so loving, patient, faithful, comforting, and is just beyond our words!" Or in other cases, people question those characteristics by saying "I don't know why everyone bows down to this God, yeah He sounds perfect but if I am not perfect then how come this Jesus guy gets to be perfect." If your one of these people or the person that glorifies God...do you really know the true meaning of Gods characteristics? When I got the idea of writing this series for the month I got excited. Because I realized the true meaning of my blog and that is to not to just know God but to hear Him and love Him while being rooted in His love for you. I know this series is going to be eye opening and exciting because while you may be really looking into Gods characteristics I am too! I am always one of those people that praise the Lord and I think I just picked that philosophy up from others who praise Him. But I just realized that beyond the words of faithfulness and loving and comforting...I have no clue how that defines God. I am talking beyond the original bible stories of Jonah and the Whale or Daniel in the Lions Den. I'm talking about every single day of His life, and ours, and why He was created with those characteristics and how he shows them to us every single second of our lives. This week we will be talking about the first characteristic which is faithfulness. I'm sure you have already heard about how faithful God is to us and He will never leave us, this IS true but lets look deeper. Lets define the definition of what it means to be faithful. I looked up faithful on freedictionary.com and found these words, "Adhering firmly and devotedly, as to a person, cause, or idea; loyal. Having or full of faith. Worthy of trust or belief; reliable. Consistent with truth or actuality." Now take those words and connect it with your life. Have you every felt like God was being loyal to you? Like He is always consistent no matter what? Like He was reliable even when you weren't? That is the exact works of Gods faithful characters taking the stage in your life. The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, "Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness." (Exodus 34:6) When I first read this I thought... wow God sounds really confident in Himself there and it almost makes me feel a little downgraded. But then I looked deeper. Gods purpose of this message was not to be arrogant and make enemies. He wrote this with a hidden message of that we should look to Him as inspiration. He has compassion and mercy just like most of us do here but do we have that 24/7...nonstop?? No, I think I can easily say that most of us do not. But most importantly it says how He is filled with faithfulness. We need to look at God and follow that. He is faithful and He will show that once we keep His words in our lives!! Psalm 25:10 it states, " The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep His covenant and obey His commands." Again this shows that God is faithful but He will only lead those faithfully that keep His words and actually care about Him. God posses this faithful characteristic in hopes of passing it down from generation to generation. But we need to see it and accept it for it to be passed down. So Gods faithfulness is defined by the actual dictionary words...consistent with truth or actuality, reliable,worthy of trust or belief... All of these human generated words describe God and I can only expand it to a certain point. I don't know how Gods faithfulness shines in your life but I bet if you dig deep down, you will find it. I challenge you this week to take a small piece of paper and write down the definition of faithfulness above and copy it down and stick it somewhere you will see it everyday. When you see those words think of one way (a new way everyday) that God is faithful in your life. And before you know it, you will become one step closer to actually knowing what people mean when they say "God is faithful".

Word of the Day: "Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds."
                                 ~Psalm 36:5