{"id":102,"date":"2011-05-29T10:14:44","date_gmt":"2011-05-29T14:14:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beyondgorgeous\/?p=102"},"modified":"2011-07-20T10:55:27","modified_gmt":"2011-07-20T14:55:27","slug":"what-does-god-look-like-to-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beyondgorgeous\/2011\/05\/what-does-god-look-like-to-you.html","title":{"rendered":"What Does God Look Like to You?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00a0What is God really <\/em>like? \u00a0He isn’t what we make Him, or decide He should be. \u00a0He is. \u00a0What does He look like to you?<\/p>\n

Is he a kindly grandfather in the sky?\u00a0 A Santa Claus – type, watching out to see who has been naughty and nice so He will know who should get the best goodies?\u00a0 Perhaps the most well known picture is that of a helpless God, knocking and pleading for entrance into your heart\u2019s door.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s an appealing picture, because it makes you bigger than God.\u00a0 If He is standing outside and begging helplessly for you to notice him, that means you are really the one in charge — not God.\u00a0 And that\u2019s a pretty good definition of sin.\u00a0 Satan fell from heaven, because he wanted to be \u201clike God.\u201d (Is.14:12-14) He tempted Eve to eat the fruit because then she would be \u201clike God.\u201d\u00a0 (Gen. 3:5)<\/p>\n

And if you think you are the one holding the strings to your life and that you have God on hold,\u00a0 you are making the same mistake.\u00a0 You are not the God.<\/p>\n

I challenge you to look in the Bible for a glimpse of a bigger God. Don\u2019t gloss over the parts of the Bible that don\u2019t fit your picture of God, but look in the Scripture to find Him.\u00a0 He paints the picture for us.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s a beautiful picture!\u00a0 We see a perfect, holy God who can\u2019t bear the stench of sin.\u00a0 He is so clean and right and wonderful that soiled and filthy people can\u2019t come near him.\u00a0 (Psalm 5:4-5)<\/p>\n

We see that God looks at a spoiled world, a ruined people.\u00a0 All of us are like stupid sheep who insist on going the wrong way, hopelessly willful and selfish. (Isaiah 53:6)<\/p>\n

And we see love that endured hell itself to bring forgiveness.<\/p>\n

When we think about the horrible things Christ endured in his last days on earth — the betrayals, the beatings, the horrible painful death — we catch just a glimpse of His love for His people.\u00a0 But the horrible pain wasn\u2019t the worst part.\u00a0 There on the cross, Jesus became sin for us. (Romans 5:8 and II Cor. 5:21)<\/p>\n

Have you ever felt guilty? Ashamed?\u00a0 Think of what it was like for Christ to take the guilt and shame for all His people.\u00a0 Sin separates from God, and there on the cross the Father turned His back on his own Son. (Matt. 27:46) Jesus hung there in agony, burdened with the guilt of the sins of those He came to save — dying alone.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the worst of hell. It\u2019s a place where there is no God, made for those who say, \u201cNo God for me!\u201d (Ps. 14:1)<\/p>\n

Jesus overcame hell and death and rose from the dead. And He isn\u2019t spending his time now begging for people to notice Him. He\u2019s calling his own to himself. (John 6:37-40) No one comes to God because he is smarter than others or more spiritual. He comes because God calls him. (John 6:44-45) Those of us who are saved were dead people, called to life by Christ. (Eph. 2:1)<\/p>\n

We have forgiveness, not because we prayed a prayer or did good works, but because we believe that Jesus did it for us.\u00a0 We trust Him and surrender in obedience to Him. (Acts 13:38-39)<\/p>\n

If you have a desire for God, it comes from Him.\u00a0 If you want Him, it\u2019s because He wants you and is calling you.\u00a0 He is a good God — and He is the one who can give you true peace and joy.\u00a0 (John 6:35, 37)\u00a0 I know that for sure, because He has done it for me!<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t take my word for it, but check these things out in the Bible.\u00a0And let me know if you have questions or if I can help you in any way.<\/p>\n

Eating to live and living for Christ,<\/em>
\nSusan Jordan Brown<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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