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Let's talk about God...
I heard a man once say that everything important in life boils down to what you do, or do not
believe, about God and who He is in His very essence. Sure, in some ways you could conclude
that is an AA mantra or something like that. But think about it, I mean really think about it. Deity
or no deity, God or no God, humans, devil and angels... The essential questions boil down to
God, or no God, and if God what kind.
Why do good things happen to bad people? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why
did my parents neglect me, my siblings ignore me, and my friends and fiancé leave me? When
I ask those questions, I am really trying to figure out God. Who is He? Is He real? Is He a good
God or a crazy God? Is He just, fair, or honorable? Is He secretly out to get me, make me feel
guilty as sin every two seconds regardless? Is He trustworthy? How do I know? I will act
according to what I believe about Him. I will act toward myself and everyone around me
according to how I answer those questions.
I have also found that I believed a lot of things about God that weren’t anywhere near truth. I
took my experience and perception and tried to figure out God from my own vantage point. I
tested Him according to everything I knew from my own small life. He didn’t make any sense
according to my own standards. God made me mad according to my standards, God made me
furious according to the standards of everyone around me. And I lived in such a way that
reflected my fury...it was so very empty and discouraging. So I lived empty and I was
discouraging. Actions follow belief, and that’s one major reason why:
“Everything important in life boils down to what you do, or do not believe, about God and who
He is in His essence.”
I haven’t lived forever, and I haven’t studied or thought of everything, but I have found that
statement to be more true every day of my life. The following journal segment is really based
on how in-depth you want to look at yourself and your belief systems. Dig as deep as you can,
push yourself a little, even challenge yourself to go a little farther than you have in awhile.
Give yourself plenty of time to work through the questions. Are you defining God from what He
says about Himself in Scripture, or are you defining God according to what serves you best...
Journal time
Grab your bible, journal, pen, and maybe even your dictionary and concordance. Take some
time to think and journal about these questions
1. Growing up, how was God portrayed to me?
2. In my childhood, I would have described God as...
3. My experiences have taught me that God is....
4. Do I draw my conclusions about God from my friends, family, and experiences? Explain
5. Thinking about it now, I would describe God as...
6. What Scriptures do I use to define and describe God?
7. Am I interpreting those Scriptures appropriately or am I taking them out of context? Explain
8. When I weigh the influence of my experience, my friends and family, and how I was raised,
against who and what Scripture says God is, how do things stack up?
9. When I think about my current life, how am I acting on what I believe about God?
10. What is one thing I learned about God and myself through this exercise?
11. I want to share the following insights with my accountability partner
I heard a man once say that everything important in life boils down to what you do, or do not
believe, about God and who He is in His very essence. Sure, in some ways you could conclude
that is an AA mantra or something like that. But think about it, I mean really think about it. Deity
or no deity, God or no God, humans, devil and angels... The essential questions boil down to
God, or no God, and if God what kind.
Why do good things happen to bad people? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why
did my parents neglect me, my siblings ignore me, and my friends and fiancé leave me? When
I ask those questions, I am really trying to figure out God. Who is He? Is He real? Is He a good
God or a crazy God? Is He just, fair, or honorable? Is He secretly out to get me, make me feel
guilty as sin every two seconds regardless? Is He trustworthy? How do I know? I will act
according to what I believe about Him. I will act toward myself and everyone around me
according to how I answer those questions.
I have also found that I believed a lot of things about God that weren’t anywhere near truth. I
took my experience and perception and tried to figure out God from my own vantage point. I
tested Him according to everything I knew from my own small life. He didn’t make any sense
according to my own standards. God made me mad according to my standards, God made me
furious according to the standards of everyone around me. And I lived in such a way that
reflected my fury...it was so very empty and discouraging. So I lived empty and I was
discouraging. Actions follow belief, and that’s one major reason why:
“Everything important in life boils down to what you do, or do not believe, about God and who
He is in His essence.”
I haven’t lived forever, and I haven’t studied or thought of everything, but I have found that
statement to be more true every day of my life. The following journal segment is really based
on how in-depth you want to look at yourself and your belief systems. Dig as deep as you can,
push yourself a little, even challenge yourself to go a little farther than you have in awhile.
Give yourself plenty of time to work through the questions. Are you defining God from what He
says about Himself in Scripture, or are you defining God according to what serves you best...
Journal time
Grab your bible, journal, pen, and maybe even your dictionary and concordance. Take some
time to think and journal about these questions
1. Growing up, how was God portrayed to me?
2. In my childhood, I would have described God as...
3. My experiences have taught me that God is....
4. Do I draw my conclusions about God from my friends, family, and experiences? Explain
5. Thinking about it now, I would describe God as...
6. What Scriptures do I use to define and describe God?
7. Am I interpreting those Scriptures appropriately or am I taking them out of context? Explain
8. When I weigh the influence of my experience, my friends and family, and how I was raised,
against who and what Scripture says God is, how do things stack up?
9. When I think about my current life, how am I acting on what I believe about God?
10. What is one thing I learned about God and myself through this exercise?
11. I want to share the following insights with my accountability partner
are our mission
everything you are
You...
and everything you can become
| Having trouble finding things in your concordance? Click here Need some more in-depth Bible help? Click here Want to look up the meaning of words, or find related words? Click here Want an exercise that might help build life goals? Click here Questions, comments, suggestions about this series or others? Click here |