"What Version of God Are You Believing?"

Recently I posted a verse on social media that packed a punch. I knew it did because when I read it it hit me, taking a hard line our humanity is not comfortable taking. It's the kind of verse that makes us squirm and ask questions about God we, in truth, would rather avoid.

Not long after posting it an individual vocalized their offense towards me for posting it. That lead to an exchange. The net result was they went their way, remaining in their offense.

Among my initial thoughts after surveying the conversation was "They don't really know me. They don't know my heart is for them."

And then a very interesting thing happened.  My thoughts didn't progress to another thought.  They lingered over those two thoughts, and that's when I heard Him whisper:

"They don't really know ME. 

They don't know MY heart is for them."

To know God we must be willing to remove the comfortable confines we have built.  The most effective tool He uses is His Word, and when we come upon a passage that makes us squirm, we must learn to discipline our flesh, embracing what His Word says, liking it or not.... hovering on it until the flesh stops squirming and the knowledge of what He is trying to impart takes root.  Fruit will never come if roots do not come, and roots will not come if we are not actively tending our soil!

Growth in God must be deliberate, not passive, and it comes through God's Word.

It is often very uncomfortable because God's Word confronts our carnality which must die. 

As I told my offended reader, "God's Word is going to offend, convict, and possibly hurt the unbeliever, as it surely will the believer. It is, after all, a Sword, but I wholly believe the yield can be nothing but the most excellent since He is the Originator." 

If you simply stay with a few verses that bring you comfort, you will not grow as a believer. You'll enter heaven as a Kindergartener. 

I challenge you today to ask yourself: 

"What version of God am I believing?"  

But don't stop with that question. Go on to petition God to reveal an uncomfortable dynamic of Himself you have resisted embracing in the past. 

The more of Himself God has shown me through His Word, the more my love has increased towards Him, and I find I stand in ever increasing awe of Him with my passing days.

The benefits of knowing Him are endless, but in these upside down days we are currently living in, peace is a big one.  So many people want peace, but they don't want to know Him....or if they do, they want to go on believing their version of Him and not the real Him. 

To know Him is to trust Him.

To trust Him is to know Him.   

Determine to really know Him....not who you want Him to be or think Him to be based on emotion or a few comforting verses. 

You CAN trust Him deeply, but it does no good for me to simply tell you that you can. You must do the work yourself, digging into and accepting the full counsel of His Word.

Godspeed.... always.