The Character and Nature of God

This week I learned about how the world can taint how we view God's character. We sometimes take what we have experienced in people or situations on earth and view God in a negative way. Our generation is the least discipled generation in all of history leaving us apathetic. The enemy has planted the lie that following God is not worth the hardwork or that we are not worth it. In the new testament we are repeatedly told to go out and share the gospel yet, we tend to hide away in our comforts and stay where we are. Where does it say in the scriptures that the body of Christ is to live a comfortable life? We should not be praying should I go out and preach the gospel but should we stay home?

Our speaker was John Bills, he taught on God's Authority, Faithfulness, Generosity, Affection, Attentiveness, and Acceptance. The question was asked, do you fear man (and his/her opinion of you) or do you fear God? God is ultimate authority. We often let Him be our Savior but do we let Him be Lord of our lives. In the bible, Savior is mentioned 37 times and Lord is mentioned 7,836 times. Lordship means to let Jesus rule over area of your life. He is faithful because He never changes, never lets us down or leaves us, He is not mean or poor. He is faithful and accepting without any reason or expectations of something in return. Can you imagine the God of the universe wants to spend time with you? He knows the hairs on your head and created you in your mother's womb. We are attractive to God, there is something in us that turns God's heart towards us. God does not want distance from us, if He created something in His image He would want to be close to it. He is like no man on earth so His authority cannot compare to any authority on earth. Ask yourself the question, what do you think of authority? If it is negative, God is none of these. He is love therefore, He cannot do anything that is not loving. He loves us with an agape love. An agape love is an unconditional love, it expects nothing in return. This love is the greatest commandment and it is mentioned 8 times and is one of the most repeated commands in the scriptures. Why can't we love others the way God has loved us?