There’s a lot of people out there doing a lot of things in the name of God, which I firmly believe the God-Who-is-Love and God, Who He really is, does not have anything to do with, nor would He want to be associated with them, much less held responsible for them.Sometimes, in order to discover Who God really is, we first have to clear away the rubble of the images we have made ourselves of Him, and define what God is not:
God is not a harsh dictator or cruel, merciless tyrant Who judges the innocent.
He is not the cruel Father as which some would depict Him, Who gives us the greatest gift ever given to man, namely Salvation through the blood of His Son, only to take it away from us again if we don’t behave.
God is not partial. He does not side with the rich and powerful, even if they claim to be His children, as long as those “children” of His use their power and wealth to exploit their poor and weaker brethren.
“Love thy neighbor as thyself” still goes hand in hand with “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.” We cannot love God, Whom we have not seen, if we cannot love our brethren, whom we have seen, and from the way some treat their neighbors and brethren, it becomes obvious that their supposed love for God is a farce (Mt.22:37-40, 1Jn.4:20).
God is not exclusively the God of the rich and powerful. “The meek shall inherit the earth. He filleth the hungry with goods, but the rich He hath sent empty away” (Mt.5:5, Lk.1:53, Jam.5:1-3).
God is not mute. It’s not true that He has stopped speaking 2000 years ago. He still says, “Call unto Me, and I will show you great and mighty things which thou knowest not” (Jer.33:3).
God is not responsible for the countless people who starve each year when it’s within our financial power to save them from starvation (Jam.4:17).
God is not blind to the circumstances which have brought an unbeliever into His current state. If someone refuses to believe in Him or His goodness because of the sheer lack of any of His qualities in His earthly representatives, then He will not hold the unbeliever responsible, but those who claimed to represent Him.
God is, quite simply, not like us. He lacks each and every one of our negative human qualities which influence our way of seeing things: He is not stingy. He is not self-righteous. He is not a liar. He doesn’t side with the strong and powerful to get an advantage out of that acquaintance. He quite simply doesn’t need their help. He prefers to side with those who need His (Is.55:8-9; Num.23:19).
He is also not the prudish God as which some portray Him, since He Himself is the One Who equipped us with our means of procreation, a task apparently so important to Him that it was the first commandment He ever uttered to man (Gen.1:28).
God is not a fool. You may be able to fool most of the people most of the time, but you can’t fool Him (Gal.6:7).
God is not a conservative, stale, brittle preserver of the old, much less of any man-made status quo, but says, “Behold (look!), I make all things new!” (Rev.21:5).
God is not a respecter of persons, including their rank, status or achievement, which may only make us more accountable in His eyes, whereas He calls the children His own, and that “of such is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Acts 10:34, Jam. 3:1, Mk.10:14, Mt.18:1-6).
God does not run a One-Man-Show, nor a 3-Man-Show, merely assisted and applauded by the angels, but His theme has always been Family and teamwork, and He gratefully takes all the help He can get (even yours, if you will). If you don’t believe it, just have a look at creation, which describes the way He is (Rom.1:20). God seems to be constantly recruiting workers for His harvest, obviously due to the lack of them, and sometimes it’s those one would least expect to, who wind up doing the work (Mt.9:37, 20:1, 21:28-31).
Finally, God is not nearly as fond of pompous buildings as we may think He is. In fact, He quite simply does not live there (Acts 7:48-49). You can’t put Him in a box, no matter how pretty you try to make it.
God is not a harsh dictator or cruel, merciless tyrant Who judges the innocent.
He is not the cruel Father as which some would depict Him, Who gives us the greatest gift ever given to man, namely Salvation through the blood of His Son, only to take it away from us again if we don’t behave.
God is not partial. He does not side with the rich and powerful, even if they claim to be His children, as long as those “children” of His use their power and wealth to exploit their poor and weaker brethren.
“Love thy neighbor as thyself” still goes hand in hand with “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.” We cannot love God, Whom we have not seen, if we cannot love our brethren, whom we have seen, and from the way some treat their neighbors and brethren, it becomes obvious that their supposed love for God is a farce (Mt.22:37-40, 1Jn.4:20).
God is not exclusively the God of the rich and powerful. “The meek shall inherit the earth. He filleth the hungry with goods, but the rich He hath sent empty away” (Mt.5:5, Lk.1:53, Jam.5:1-3).
God is not mute. It’s not true that He has stopped speaking 2000 years ago. He still says, “Call unto Me, and I will show you great and mighty things which thou knowest not” (Jer.33:3).
God is not responsible for the countless people who starve each year when it’s within our financial power to save them from starvation (Jam.4:17).
God is not blind to the circumstances which have brought an unbeliever into His current state. If someone refuses to believe in Him or His goodness because of the sheer lack of any of His qualities in His earthly representatives, then He will not hold the unbeliever responsible, but those who claimed to represent Him.
God is, quite simply, not like us. He lacks each and every one of our negative human qualities which influence our way of seeing things: He is not stingy. He is not self-righteous. He is not a liar. He doesn’t side with the strong and powerful to get an advantage out of that acquaintance. He quite simply doesn’t need their help. He prefers to side with those who need His (Is.55:8-9; Num.23:19).
He is also not the prudish God as which some portray Him, since He Himself is the One Who equipped us with our means of procreation, a task apparently so important to Him that it was the first commandment He ever uttered to man (Gen.1:28).
God is not a fool. You may be able to fool most of the people most of the time, but you can’t fool Him (Gal.6:7).
God is not a conservative, stale, brittle preserver of the old, much less of any man-made status quo, but says, “Behold (look!), I make all things new!” (Rev.21:5).
God is not a respecter of persons, including their rank, status or achievement, which may only make us more accountable in His eyes, whereas He calls the children His own, and that “of such is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Acts 10:34, Jam. 3:1, Mk.10:14, Mt.18:1-6).
God does not run a One-Man-Show, nor a 3-Man-Show, merely assisted and applauded by the angels, but His theme has always been Family and teamwork, and He gratefully takes all the help He can get (even yours, if you will). If you don’t believe it, just have a look at creation, which describes the way He is (Rom.1:20). God seems to be constantly recruiting workers for His harvest, obviously due to the lack of them, and sometimes it’s those one would least expect to, who wind up doing the work (Mt.9:37, 20:1, 21:28-31).
Finally, God is not nearly as fond of pompous buildings as we may think He is. In fact, He quite simply does not live there (Acts 7:48-49). You can’t put Him in a box, no matter how pretty you try to make it.
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