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Consider this: Everything we see and understand has to pass through the lenses with which we view life. As much as we would like to believe that we are objective, no one is completely free from bringing his or her own perceptions to a set of ideas. We also apply this same principle to our understanding of God. There's just one problem. God IS the ultimate objective truth in reality. Who he is and what he says supercedes any notions we may have about his character. With a God like this, we have two choices for our understanding. 1. We shape God into what we expect him to be, or 2. We change our perspective (and ultimately our lives) to seeing God for who is really is. The truth is, I believe we all struggle with limiting our perspective of God to who we want him to be. Having a God that exists beyond our understanding makes us uncomfortable and we do all we can to put God into our neat little theological boxes so that we don't have to really question our understanding. The problem with that thinking is that we are no longer worshipping the God of the Bible but the God of our own creation, which is idolatry. God has been revealed to us, and his name is Jesus. Albert Nolan writes: "Jesus himself changed the content of the word 'God.' If we do not allow him to change our image of God, we will not be able to say that he is our Lord and God. To choose him as our God is to make him the source of our information about divinity and and to refuse to superimpose upon him our ideas of divinity." Why do you think that the religious leaders of Jesus' day did not understand that he was God? Because they had their idea of who God was and Jesus did not fit into that mold. So, do you worship Jesus the Christ, God revealed? Or do you worship the man made God of your own perspective? If we worship the true God, then what he says will have much more bearing on our lives. Knowing God requires activity on our part as led by the Holy Spirit, as our study says: "We must endeavor to know Christ. We know him through the Scripture, prayer, obedience, service, and through participation with the Body of Christ, the church." As we pursue the knowledge of God together, remember his promise in Psalm 16:11 "You make known to me the path of life, in your presence there is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." The life that knows Christ and follows him IS the greatest life one can lead. Let's live it together. Peace, Jeff Moody
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