One God: Celebration

"Thus says the Lord: 'Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love. justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.'" Jeremiah 9:23-24

A.W. Pink wrote that "God is only truly known in the soul as we yield ourselves to Him, submit to His authority, and regulate all the details of our lives by His holy precepts and commandments."

In other words a knowledge of God that does not leave our heads and flow into our hearts is not transforming knowledge. A knowledge of God that does not lead us to a love for our Father characterized by obedience to the Father is only knowledge that puffs up.

This week select a few of God's attributes from our study (or even some we didnt cover) and meditate on these. If anything is worth our time it is our Creator. Focus on the passages that describe our wonderful God. Think about Him. Think about how these passages should affect the way you live. Begin your times of prayer by telling God how great he is. Focus on him and not yourself in times of prayer. Ask him for a transforming knowledge of His character and that His word would capture your hearts.

More Thoughts

Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. The apostle Paul loved his Lord. Everything else paled in comparison.

When you look at the way you live your life, what do you value above all things. It is easy at church to say, "I love Jesus more than anything and he deserves all my praise." But when you look at your normal day to day life what do you see about what you love? Can someone on the outside looking in say "He counts all things as loss compared to knowing Jesus." Or is it more like, "He counts all things as loss compared to knowing/having ______________." (respect, money, easy life, nice stuff, friends, family etc.)

The point of "One God: Celebration" is to point ourselves and the students towards Jesus Christ by saying, "Hey, God is worth knowing and loving above all things in your life! Don't just think this but believe it and live like it."

Here are some of the attributes that we have talked about over the past few months. Pick one or two and meditate on them in Scripture. Be ready Sunday to share the impact these attributes have had on you.

God is faithful.
God is holy.
God is patient.
God is immutable.
God is all-powerful (omnipotent)
God is all-knowing (omniscient)
God is all-present (omnipresent)
God is loving.
God is gracious.
God is wrathful.
God is wise.
God is sovereign.
God is Father.
God is Son.
God is Holy Spirit.
God is good.
God is self-sufficient.
God is merciful.

At the end of our time on Sunday we will transition into a time of encouraging the students to continue their quest to know God and the best way to do this is through the Spiritual Disciplines (which we start on April 13.)