THE LORD HIMSELF

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.  (Romans 12:1-2)

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.  (John 16:33)

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15-17)
This week we’ve invited you to consider what impact your worldview and your experiences have had on your perspective. We live in a world that distracts us and causes doubt to rise in our hearts with regard to just how loved and welcomed we are by God, and just how much a life as his child can be marked by joy and confidence.

In order to keep reminding ourselves who we are in Christ, it is vital that we make regular pitstops to seek revelation of who God is and what He says about himself. Who we are flows out of who he is!

Hopefully today’s devotional encourages you to do just that! It brings stability to our heart, mind and soul when we remember just who God is, and therefore who we are as Christians. The Apostle Paul encourages us in Romans 1:20 to look around at creation and to praise the Lord for all that it tells us about his character. He encourages us in Colossians 1:15-17 to look at the life of Jesus in the gospels and to praise him that Jesus is the perfect revelation of God’s glorious character. These two things, put together, provide the framework for what we are living for as Christians. We need reminding that God reigns powerfully over our lives, but also walks humbly beside us as well.

A key factor in getting our worldview aligned with God’s is growing in our understanding of what he says about himself. He has given us a book (the Bible!) from which we can learn the truth about him, about how he says the world works, and how we fit into his amazing story. It is as we get to know the character of God more deeply that we begin to have our worldview aligned with God’s, and we begin to live life differently.
  1. If you had to choose 5 words to describe what God is like, what 5 words would you use? Write those 5 words down and then write a short sentence alongside each of them describing what those attributes say about God.
  2. Now take a moment to consider how those attributes of God are experienced in your own life. For example, if you wrote ‘Provider’, how have you experienced God as your Provider?
  3. What have you believed to be true of God that you no longer believe is true of God? It may be bad things – lies that you once told yourself about God that you now know are not true. Or it may be good things – truths that you used to believe about God, but which you have been worn down into doubting.
  4. Bring those things to God right now and be really honest with him about your developing grasp of his character.
Father God, I acknowledge that you are the Sovereign Lord over my life, and yet you invite me to know you personally as your friend. I thank you that you have invited me into a relationship with you and that your delight is to reveal the goodness of your nature to me. I thank you that you want me to grasp that you are incomparable to anything else in my life. Help me today to see fresh aspects of you that I’ve either forgotten or never understood before. Amen.
If you have time, consider carrying on your conversation with God using one of our helpful Prayer Pathways.
Today’s Everyday Devotions have also inspired a devotional video that you can watch on our YouTube channel.
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