5 Qualities of God that I have Overlooked

Honest-

Titus 1:2: “[I]n hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised

I find tons of excuses to lie: They might get angry at me, I didn't want to hurt them, I didn't want to get in trouble and it's too insignificant to hurt anyone. God does not use any excuse because he does not lie. No matter what the cost, God will always be straight with you. The problem is that so many people have found that honesty VERY UNWELCOME.  And yet, God still loves us enough to tear the band-aids of truth off the hairy leg of deception. Jesus knew this admitted that his honesty would cause wars and divisions. I used to struggle with God because I never understood that my sin was fighting his truth.  He still spoke even though I fought back.  I rejoice in the fact that God loves me enough to share reality with me. Now I just have to find out how to take it.

Enduring

Ps 145:8
8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate,slow to anger and rich in love.

Hands down, we all agree that God puts up with a lot of our crap on a world scale. The most amazing part of this is that God is more than ready to walk the journey. You can doubt him, fail him and kick him and have a total God tantrum and he still will beckon you. It's only when you practice the art of ignoring his presence will he honor your decision and let you go (God forbid!). Many people put God in the judgement seat and give him the role of beating your sins out of you. Very rarily do we consider that God's will is to clean you up and build you up. The life of Jesus is testimony to this. He is slow to anger, which means that God doesn't have the agenda to destroy anyone who hiccups out of place. His joy is to endure us, clean us and rebuild us to our original mint condition and purpose.

Holy

Rom 3:22-23 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, NIV,

1 John 3:66 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. NIV

I absolutely hate trying to explain to people that we have failed God and have EARNED his righteous punishment. It sounds so manipulative to talk about punishment. Children need punishment--not normal humans. Talking about sin is the ultimate rain on the parade of life. On the other hand, God views a million humans making choices that don't represent his intentions on a grand scale. God has given us a beautiful piece of art as a gift and we only saw it as toilet paper. We often reject the notion that sin should be punished. Really? What would you do if the entire population choose the polar opposite of your government in every facet? Thanks be to God that he endured and gave us a redemption through Jesus so punishment doesn't have to be an option.

 Immutable

Malachi 3:6: “For I am the Lord, I do not change.”

Day 63 billion of God's intentions will be the same as Day One. The foundations at the Earth's infacy will be the same as the Earth's old age. This is a very true quality for a society that changes its ideas every generation. We cannot survive on a shifting reality--it's impossible  I have a lot of trouble with this because it seems that society has one thought process and God has another. Society has always been louder (not to mention society promises not to be your friend anymore if you believe different). One day I know that I will look at God's immutable nature and see the total logic of it all.

 Friendly

Zeph 3:17 17 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." NIV

We hear many verses on rejoicing in God, but rarely do we hear about him returning it. It always seems like a shock to me that God might be smiling, in a good mood or excited to spend time with me. Perhaps we see God as that super conservative who lives for perfection, works all the time and yells at CNN when it disagrees with him. I'm slowly trying to get it in my head that my bad moods don't necessarily dictate what mood God is in (he is immutable after all). God may hate sin, but he loves his creation and love and joy walk hand in hand. To quote my favorite devotionalist, A.W. Tozer, "When we lift our inward eyes to gaze upon God we are sure to meet friendly eyes gazing back at us, for it is written that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earthy."

1st Thessalonians part 2

1 Thessalonians 3:7-8 (New International Version)

⁷Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. ⁸For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.

Following the theme of 1st Thessalonians' encouragment theme, Paul tells his audience that Timothy's report gave his faith a boost. This is more than misery loves company. It's more like misery loves inspiration. God has built us in such a wonderful way that we will reenergize completely (no matter how bleak things look) when we receive a sign of encouragement. More so, our goals and strategies change when we see an example of selflessness or piety that we want to copy. The church was encouraged by Paul and imitated him, while Paul was encouraged by the church. This gives strength to how much we need each other.

1 Thessalonians 3:13 (New International Version)

¹³May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

The church needed most of its encouragement in the area of how it conducted itself. Judging from the letter, the church needed a reminder on appropriate sexual conduct. Paul tells the church to be Holy and Blameless, literally set apart and irreproachable. To be a Christian means to be an ant colony surviving the waves of persecution and the scrutiny of onlookers. We don't follow hard after God because of fear of getting judged by others, but because we know that a true relationship with God is measured in how much we love his conduct. You can't truly love someone and never listen to them. In our new mission we are to imitate Christ who provided a lifestyle of freedom and true life.

1 Thessalonians 4:5

"Not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God."

The pagans that resided near the church of Thessalonica had a much different lifestyle than the Christians. They had no problem with adultery and giving into the feelings of lust. One thing a Christian understands when he is under God's regime is that letting loose your hormonal tendencies is a trap. This is a big conflict in a culture that likes to pick and choose its own limits and boundaries. Our culture has muddied the line between true love and emotional chemical releases (myself included). I think that sex and love have very different agendas. Love is the act of building up, acting out, committing and following through. You must make a conscious effort to love someone. Sex is all about giving up, surrendering and giving into. You release your value into someone. Don't get me wrong: sex is the final "thank you" to God for the wonderful gift he has given in a partner, but I think that our culture is ready to give up and surrender too easily with very little built up and committed. That is why Christians have chosen marriage as the great boundary line--its the absolute highest commitment someone can give.

^{1st Thessalonians 5:7-8}

⁷For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. ⁸But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

Paul talks about sleep in two ways. Sleep means a temporary leave from this Earth until the day Christ comes back and resurrects the world. Sleep also means the state of a believer who has given up on his faith. In both ways it refers to death. Like a lightbulb that has faded out; it is useless to everyone. How did the believers fall asleep? According to the context they slowly slipped into a coma from giving into sensual desires. We are not darkness, a time of motionless sleep, deterioration and ultimate stasis, but we are the day, a realm of clarity, action, energy, vision and life. I love this metaphor because it draws a line between those who follow God and those who don't. Christianity is not just a lifestyle in a sea of millions. It is, in fact, the only life that is the polar opposite of death.

l Thessalonians Part one

First Thessalonians is the anthem to hardwork and inspirational posters. Paul addresses his church to keep on keeping on in the face of persecution.

1st Thes 1:12

Work produced by faith, labor prompted by love, endurance inspired by hope in Jesus Christ

Paul credits the church for using these three qualities. Thessalonica had shown their faith by working hard. They were inspired to work because they had a true compassion in their labor. They were able to endure suffering because of they believed in the end of their goal. These three qualities are what a human needs to truly enjoy their career. If you believe in your work, care about your work, and have a goal; you truly have a career worth keeping. The spreading of the Gospel produces these three attributes. True faith in God's mission prompts one to work, true love overrides the pain of long monotonous labor, and one cannot endure any goal without knowing that the end justifies the means. Jesus' promise to restore the world to his followers helped Thessalonica to be a church that could work on the goal.

"Gospel came with power, with the Holy Spirit, with conviction."

Paul talks about how his presentation of the saving power of Jesus was not just a sales pitch, but was something that the Holy Spirit had worked through. The New Testament shows a theme of the Holy Spirit intervening whenever the apostles evangelized. This goes to show that the race is not won by the fastest, smartest, most logical, but to the faithful. All in all, it's God's power that works through the heart. This is a Gospel of conviction, which means that those that cling to Christ are truly in it to the end, won over to make this a lifestyle.

"Imitation despite severe suffering"

In return of Paul's missionary services, the church of Thessalonica imitated Paul's qualities and convictions. The only problem was that this came with persecution from the enemies of Christianity. Paul is impressed that they continued this action even when the going got tough. Christians fall easily when they surround themselves with pleasure and suddenly destruction comes and they don't know how to deal with it. I met a girl who worked on an island with me. In the beginning of her career, she and God were best friends, but after the long winter of loneliness she replied, "God just doesn't work for me." Endurance and suffering acts as a litmus test to see who is in it till the end and who was just in it because it was convenient. I often wonder what keeps me from giving up and hanging the towel up. Somedays Christianity seems like the worst lifestyle in the universe. My only helpful hint to my audience is beg God to make it right when the times are getting tough. But perhaps for this reason that is why Paul is writing this letter. No church is an island; we are all connected together. We need each other to keep strong in the faith. Without our loving brothers and sisters encouraging us, we are only recieving half of God's love.
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We need each other to keep strong in the faith. Without our loving brothers and sisters encouraging us, we are only receiving half of God's love.
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