Wed. Morning Impact

I think this Wed. was great. I got to speak to both groups. I haven't spoken to the high school in months, and now I've got to teach 2 times in a week.
I spoke about God. I think a lot of times, we put God in a box and think we have Him figured out. I think we take him for granted. In Deuteronomy 10, it says that the Lord asks us to fear Him, which is to have a reverence, an awe, a respect for God. I don't think we, the typical American Christian, have this fear. Every time it rains over a weekend, we know that attendance is going to be down. People don't want to get out to worship when it rains. But there are people who will go out in -10 degree weather and take their shirts off and paint a big green "G" on their belly to scream for a football team. We show up late to church. But if you go to a movie, you make sure you're on time, and get their early so you don't miss the previews. We skip quiet times because we get too busy or we forget. We choose sin; we know that God doesn't want us to do something, and yet we choose to go ahead and do it. This doesn't show that we have a fear of God; and I say "us" because I do every one of these things.
So here are some things about God.
1. God is holy, which means set apart. In Revelation 4, it talks about the glory of God. The author, John, couldn't even describe God and his glory because he is limited by language. We don't have the words to describe how beautiful and majestic God is. He says things like, he looked like jewels, and his voice sounded like a trumpet. God is so beautiful that he can't even begin to be described by the words that we use. And he has angels around him who continually say, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." When a word is said 3 times to describe something it means it is perfect. God is perfectly holy. So perfect and so good and so beautiful that words can't even begin to express how great he truly is.
2. God is eternal. He has no beginning and no end. He just always was. This messes with my mind a lot. I can't wrap my mind around this. Everything else has a beginning where it was made on a certain day, except God. He doesn't exist in time, because he created time, and so he just was always here.
3. God is all-knowing. You can never hide from God. In Psalm 139, David talks about not being able to go anywhere to hide from the Lord, and how he knows everything. He knows every thought we've ever had, every action, every word we've said. He even knows how photosynthesis works.
4. God is all-powerful. All things were created by God, for God. Sometimes we get this backwards. We think God is there for us. He's there to make us happy, rich, and fat. He's there to help us in our troubles and when our friends and family are in trouble. But God is not a genie. He wants to help us, and loves to, but he's got a purpose that is beyond our understanding. Daniel 4:35 basically says that God doesn't have to answer to anybody. I'm glad God doesn't have to ask for a human's permission before he does something. It would be like my 22 month old son coming up to me and telling me that he thinks we should move to Turkey. I would tell him to go sit in time out. I wouldn't listen to him. Why should I, he can't even get colors right. I ask him to pick up the blue block, and he brings me a yellow one, and he says red. Why would I listen to him about where we should live. His understanding is limited. God is all-knowing, so he could tell us his purposes, and we would have no idea what he was talking about. Sure, we might nod in agreement to his plan, but our understanding is limited, God is unlimited.
God is fair and just. God alone is good. He alone sets the standards for good and bad. He sets the standard for rewards and punishment. And he absolutely hates sin. No sin goes unaccounted for or unpunished. Sometimes we go easy on sin because we don't see the consequences. It's like we got away with it. Maybe you got drunk and didn't die in a car crash, or get caught by parents. But no sin goes unpunished. God hates sin so much that he sent his Son to die for us to pay for our sins. So every time we tell that little lie and don't see the consequences, it's because Jesus suffered it.
This God who created the billions of galaxies, who created all the animals, insects, rocks and plants still loves each of us individually. So much in fact that the Bible says he knows how many hairs are on our head. And he wants to have a relationship with us and wants us to pray to Him and tell Him what's going on in our lives, and yet we take God for granted and don't fear him.
I showed this video at the beginning. It's from Francis Chan, who I admire, and a lot of this message came from his book that I've been reading and thinking about. But I want you to see this video and think about how big God is and how insane that it is that He could create all of these things and be so big, and yet still love us so much individually.