Monday 12 October 2009

God's Own Take on What God Is & Isn't

The journalist Christopher Hitchins has written a book called God is Not Great. I have it in audio and hope to listen to it some time before 2020!

Here is God's own record of what "God is not"

Numbers 23:19

God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?


1 Corinthians 14:33

For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.

Hebrews 6:10

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.


Hebrews 11:16

Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.


It's only on negatives like these that I'm willing to bank my hope.

And now for something a little more affirmative... God's own record on what God is:

Deuteronomy 4:7

What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him?


Deuteronomy 4:24

For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.


Deuteronomy 4:31

For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath.


Deuteronomy 7:9

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.


Deuteronomy 10:17

For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.


Deuteronomy 33:27

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemy before you, saying, 'Destroy him!'

Joshua 2:11

When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.


2 Samuel 22:3

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior— from violent men you save me.


2 Chronicles 2:5

The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods.


2 Chronicles 13:12

God is with us; he is our leader. His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you. Men of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.

2 Chronicles 30:9
If you return to the LORD, then your brothers and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will come back to this land, for the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.

Ezra 8:22

I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, "The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him."


Job 33:12

But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than man.


Job 36:5

God is mighty, but does not despise men; he is mighty, and firm in his purpose.


Job 36:22

God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him?


Psalm 7:11

God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath every day.


Psalm 14:5

There they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous.


Psalm 47:7

For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise.


Psalm 47:8

God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne.


Psalm 48:14

For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.


Psalm 54:4

Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.


Psalm 62:8

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.


Psalm 68:20

Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death.


Psalm 73:1
Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.


Psalm 73:26

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.


Psalm 76:1
In Judah God is known; his name is great in Israel.


Psalm 84:11

For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.


Psalm 89:7

In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him.

Psalm 99:9

Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy.

Psalm 115:3

Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.


Psalm 116:5

The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.


Proverbs 30:5

Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.


Ecclesiastes 5:2

Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.


Isaiah 8:10

Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us.

Isaiah 12:2

Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.

Daniel 5:21

He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like cattle; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes.


Daniel 9:9

The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him;


Daniel 9:14

The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.


John 4:24

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.

Romans 8:31
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?


1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

2 Corinthians 1:18

But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No."


2 Corinthians 9:8

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.


1 Thessalonians 2:5

You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness.


2 Thessalonians 1:6

God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you


1 John 1:5
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

1 John 4:8

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.


Amen!!

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