We strive to know God's character as best we can. But sometimes it's really difficult to even begin to try to fathom who He is. Even when it seems to be laid out in front of us, plain as day, we can't seem to wrap our minds around Him as well as we'd like to.
I finished reading The Organic God by Margaret Feinberg. Brilliant. I highly recommend it. In the last chapter, .010 Deeply Mysterious, Feinberg gives a list of things God does for us - according to the Bible. They're simple, two-word phrases (save one phrase). Better yet, she lists them in alphabetical order... always a good thing in my book.
God answers. Isaiah 58:9
God bestows. Proverbs 8:21
God blesses. Deuteronomy 14:29
God blots. Isaiah 43:25
God calls. 1 Thessalonians 4:7
God cares. Nahum 1:7
God cleanses. Jeremiah 33:8
God clothes. Isaiah 61:10
God corrects. Job 5:17
God counsels. Psalm 32:8
God covers. Psalm 91:4
God cuts off. John 15:1-2
God delights. Zephaniah 3:17
God delivers. Psalm 37:40
God detests. Deuteronomy 25:16
God disciplines. Proverbs 3:12
God encourages. Psalm 10:17
God fills. Job 8:21
God forgives. 1 John 1:9
God gathers. Deuteronomy 30:4
God gives. Matthew 11:28
God guards. Psalm 97:10
God guides. Psalm 73:24
God heals. Hosea 14:4
God hears. Psalm 69:33
God helps. Psalm 37:40
God holds. Psalm 73:23
God increases. Deuteronomy 7:13
God keeps. Deuteronomy 7:9
God knows. Matthew 6:8
God leads. Isaiah 42:16
God lifts. Psalm 146:8
God listens. Psalm 10:17
God loves. Psalm 37:28
God opens. Deuteronomy 28:12
God pours. Isaiah 44:3
God preserves. Psalm 41:2
God protects. Psalm 41:2
God provides. Psalm 111:5
God purifies. 1 John 1:9
God rejoices. Isaiah 62:5
God remembers. Psalm 111:5
God rescues. Psalm 91:14
God restores. Psalm 71:20
God rewards. Proverbs 19:17
God satisfies. Psalm 132:15
God saves. Isaiah 49:25
God speaks. Isaiah 30:21
God strengthens. Isaiah 40:29
God sustains. Psalm 55:22
God teaches. Isaiah 54:13
God upholds. Psalm 37:24
God watches. Genesis 28:15
God works. Romans 8:28
God wounds. Job 5:18
This list made a really big impact on me. It was yet another reminder of how big and small our God is. As I was reading these in The Organic God I was surprised at a couple: God cuts off and God wounds. I couldn't recall where these were in the Scriptures, so I was excited to see that Feinberg had included, in the back of her book, the list with where they could be found in the Bible. Context is key in a lot of cases regarding Scripture and that includes where in the Bible it says God 'cuts off' and God 'wounds.'
' "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." '
[1 John 15:1-2; emphasis my own]
'Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal.'
[Job 5:18; emphasis my own]
No comments:
Post a Comment