2009 – Day 87.Mar. 29 – A God Too Small

2009 – Day 87.Mar. 29 – A God Too Small

Passage of the Day: Exodus 19: 1 – 15 … Link to Exodus 19 …

My Journal for Today: Pastor Swindoll ends his devotional entry from Exodus 19: 1 – 15 today with two questions, which I repeat here:
>>> … What has been your concept of The Lord?
>>> … Who is your God?
These questions must be answered by today’s Christian because Swindoll posits, and I agree, that many, if not most, Christians today trivialize God, trying to make our Lord their buddy … their “papa” … the “big guy in Heaven.” As Swindoll points out, these days we’re trying to bring God down to our level, rather than bringing us up to His level. In today’s passage from Exodus 19, God made it clear, through Moses, that where He was mankind could not even walk for fear of death.

It makes me uncomfortable when I hear some of my dear Christian friends praying to “Papa God” or when contemporary praise songs sing words like, “My God, … He calls me friend.” Now, I know that God’s word [as in Romans 8: 15 - link provided] does say that we can think of our Heavenly Father as “Abba, Father,” and that does refer to a close, loving relationship of a father to a child. And Jesus did say that we could call Him friend [see John 15: 14-15 - link provided], which was Jesus’ attempt for us to be able to relate to the relationship we now have with God because of what Jesus would do for us on the cross. We no longer are God’s enemy if we receive His saving grace through the shed blood of the Lamb of God for our sins. But going back to the passage in John 15: 14 [see above link], we need to remember that we can only be His “friend” when we obey His word and live according to the will of our God. And as “a friend,” He’s not our buddy, buddy; He’s the “FRIEND”, Who is our God, … our Lord.

So, … these truths do not give us license to trivialize our relationship with the sovereign, holy God Who created the universe. Somehow, even though we can go right to our Lord’s throne of grace; and because of Jesus’ complete sacrifice to His Father, we can be with Him anywhere … anytime, we should not try to bring our Lord down to our level in our minds. He is still Jehovah, the eternal Holy One … a God to be exalted above all that we tend to make holy in our lives. We still serve a God so Holy that any concept of our Lord is exalted above any concept of self.

So, when you think of your “Abba Father,” [i.e., “Papa God”]… do think of Him as a loving Father; but don’t forget that He is also the infinite pinnacle of holiness and hates all that is sinful in our being. He is the One Who created all the billions of galaxies in our heavens. He is the Father Who gave His Son so that we could call Him “Friend.” Our God is THE WAY BIG GOD; and we must always keep that in our minds as our hearts seek after His love.

My Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, … You are my LORD! You are my God, and I’m so grateful You have made it possible, dear Jesus, to come to Your throne and worship You with my life. Amen