{Art print by Megan Gilger.}
***This was written 14 years ago - while I was a student at the U of A***
Mankind {for the most part} wants to create their own view of God. They might base their ideas on what they've read, heard, think or even how they feel. They have an opinion on how God should act; what God should be doing or what He should not be doing. They tell Him what He should be giving them and/or taking away from their neighbor. For the most part, man's view of God is based on man. Mankind wants to deny there is a God or they create their own view of God. They want to make God in there image instead of letting Him mold them into His image. We all limit our view of God {because we are merely man}.
I remember being in Jr high and trying to witness to some of my friends. My friends did not believe in God. It broke my heart. One night {after dinner} it brought me to tears. My friends opinion of God upset me {to the core} . As I talked to my dad at the dinner table that night, I realized that my view of God had changed.
That
evening at the dinner table, I was upset that my friends would deny
God. I was even {more upset} that my view of God had changed that
day. Their view of God weakened my view of God. Now {let me make myself
clear} they didn't weaken my belief in God. They
weakened my view of God.
As
my dad and I talked that evening, he spoke bold truth that changed
my life forever...
Read
the following passage from Isaiah 46:9-11 "Remember
the former things,
those
of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and
there is none like me. I
make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times,
what
is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will
do all that I please.’ From
the east I summon
a
bird of prey; from
a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said,
that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do."
What
does God say about himself in verse 9?
Based
on verse 10 and 11, can mankind change the plans of God or summon God
to do what mankind wants? Why?
...my
dad boldly taught me, “Amy, it doesn't matter what your friends
think. God is God. He doesn't change based on man's opinion of Him.
He never changes. He is God no matter what anybody thinks or
believes.” WOW!!! I had never thought about that before.
He is The Unchanging One
Read
the following verses and then write them in your own words.
Hebrews
13:8
Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Psalm
102:25-27
In the beginning you
laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of
your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out
like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be
discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.
Revelation
22:13
I
am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and
the End.
Malachi
3:6a
I,
the Lord, do not change...
How
has your view of God changed, now that you have read about His
unchanging nature?
How
have you found more confidence in The Unchanging God?
The
day that my dad and I discussed God's unchanging nature transformed
my life. I understood who God was. That day I understood {God
was in control}. That day I understood {man cannot change God}.
That day I {no longer had a weak God}.
God allowed me to see His unchanging nature {instead of man's weak
and ever changing view of Him}. I now understood I had a reliable,
unchanging, stable, and strong God. Whenever
you see God as the Unchanging One you cannot help but repeat the
words of 1
Timothy 1:17 “Now to the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
