He Has Character

That's just a snippit of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling -  the hand of God reaching out toward Adam's - one man's vision of the creation that doesn't match the Bible at all, but is a beautiful painting. God allowed but one man to glimpse Him as He left - and Moses did not leave a detailed description.

I have my own concept of God, gained by reading His word and my prayers to Him:

“For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12, KJV)

Indeed. Like Paul, I know Him. Another Paul quote:

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

The God I worship is all powerful, omnipotent, capable of keeping the life I gave Him even if I'm incapable of doing all He asks of me. In previous blogs I have included a few assurances verses. These two scriptures are specific assurances that God is capable of keeping our souls that we put in His keeping. 

Our Father has inspired a wide variety of authors to get His story to us. Some of the authors remain anonymous - such as the oldest book - Job. Even so, there is a wealth of information about God's character - even if we are left with questions about Satan's character, location, and relationship with God.

My resume has some unique businesses, but two of them remain international firms with a wide range of employees. One in particular offered a position where co-workers worshipped god's dissimilar to the Judeo-Christian God of the Bible.

Saddest in my view was one co-worker who had been raised in a Catholic family, left their faith to seek "something that was missing," and was open with their Wiccan beliefs. "As it harms none, do what ye will." It was understood there were spirits involved, which the Bible faced much earlier:

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. (1 John 4:1-3)

My co-worker specifically rejected Jesus as being any part of God, or their being a God who inspired the Bible. Another co-worker worships a variety of gods who report to a single, more powerful god - but definitely require sacrifices and worship for themselves. There are idols representing them, whether they be major or minor gods.

Some see Christians as worshipping a trinity of gods, but God is singular. I've written about that often, the most recent being last week's "Let's Start With Baptism" so we won't spend time there except to say Jesus was killed because He continued to equate Himself to God. God was here in a natural, human, body, and fulfilled all the scriptures that pointed to His coming.

Yet there are a couple of religions that reject that. One is actively growing today, the other was more active in the 18th century.  While Christianity is often thought of as a separate religion, it should be considered a branch of Judaism, a continuation of Jewish prophecy. When we read:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: (Deuteronomy 6:4)

We also read Jesus Christ's confirmation in Matthew 22:36-40 and again in Mark:

And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:29-31)

Thus, in a continuing story since the very creation of this world, a single deity has remained involved with His creation. God is a spirit:

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. (John 4:23)

That is where we are. Waiting with His commands in our lives for the remainder of the prophesies to be fulfilled. He has tasks for each of us. With His presence you will find your specific task. Do it as long as you are here. There's a marvelous reward for doing so.