Shape of God – The Square

Psalm 23:5 says, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” Now, this is not a literal table with literal food. This is a picture for the fact that we can feast on the Lord’s presence and the peace that He offers us in His presence. What a beautiful picture this paints for us! In this world we encounter so much opposition and when we as Christians are feeling beat up by the world, God will lead us to green pastures where we can rest and again experience the peace that God offers us.

Now, the specific table we are learning about this week is the Passover table. In the Old Testament God called Moses to deliver the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt. The Pharaoh at that time was a very stubborn man and so God sent the 10 plagues against Egypt while keeping the Israelites safe. These plagues were to demonstrate God’s power and yet Pharaoh’s heart remained hard and he refused to let the Israelites go. The final plague was for the death angel to move through Egypt killing the firstborn in all families. In order for the Israelites to be safe they had to kill a lamb and put the blood on top and both sides of the door to their homes. They were given very specific instructions on what to eat and how to prepare to leave the country after Pharaoh finally let them go.

It is because of these events that the Jews celebrated the Passover and do to this day.

The very special menu for the Passover symbolizes the fact that the table the Israelites were sitting at was one of safety and the Egyptian tables were ones of death and destruction.

John 14:6 says, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me. This scripture leaves very little for interpretations. It means Jesus is THE WAY to eternal life…not one way, but THE WAY. He is truth and if we are searching for truth it is only found in Him. He is THE LIFE and the only life that leads to eternity with the Father. It is through Jesus that we find the Father.

The Passover table was an example of the table where we as Christians would need to sit. The lamb that was slain represents Jesus who was slain for our sins. This table is the one where we should be most comfortable. However, we can choose to sit at the table of self or at the world’s table. These choices lead to destruction and promise us no peace whatsoever.

There is a widely held misunderstanding in this world. It is the belief that one can be good enough for Heaven and that enough good works can be done to override the fact that Jesus has not been invited into one’s heart. The truth is none of us can ever be good enough to make it into Heaven based on merit. However, by accepting Jesus and choosing to sit at His table and follow His ways, truth and life, we can be saved.

Choosing to eat at the table of the world which is run by Satan, is the quickest way to wind up in bondage to sin. The things that Satan has to offer are just a counterfeit of the blessings the Lord has for us. Prosperity can be replaced with a selfish need for power and wealth, sex and intimacy in marriage gets replaced by cheap and empty sex outside of marriage etc. However, when we determine to feast at the Lord’s table we learn about holiness and that looks very different from the world.

The Lord’s table is one of love, peace and fulfillment. This week let’s be mindful of the different tables available to us and determine to sit at the right one.

Shape of God – The Square

We know who Jesus is, we know what Jesus said, we know what Jesus did, and we are trying to align ourselves with His purpose!

Shape of God – The Rope

The cross paid my price. The resurrection gives me hope.

Shape of God – The Circle

God Has Promises for You –

This week we look at the circle which represents the fact that we finish where we start. God takes us full circle in our lives and with His promises.

There is an academic phrase dealing with literature called “ring composition” and we are going to discuss it in regards to our circle shape for this week.

Ring composition is a technique that basically means the story will end up where it started. On the left side, you have the events building up to the arc, which is at the bottom. After the arc, the story starts making its way back around and back to an eventual close. Interestingly enough, there’s a parallel between situations going on, on the left and the right of the ring.

There are some amazing cinematic examples of this technique such as The Lion King. The movie starts with a baby and ends with one as well. On each side you have Scar…one side he plans to rule and plots to kill the king. The other side relates because Scar then does become the King. This is an amazing visual of ring composition.

You have heard the phrase, “It has gone full circle” before I’m sure. This basically means that something has ended in a similar way that it began. This is how our Heavenly Father works.

How does this all relate to God you ask? I’m so glad you did because here’s your answer. God is very much a “full circle” kind of God. If you are a believer and you have placed your trust and faith in Jesus, you can believe that the promises He has made you are “Yes and Amen!” II Corinthians 1:20.

Many times we behave like the Israelites who seemed to have short term memory issues. Got did so many amazing miracles for them and a few days later they were panicking because of something they needed. It’s SO easy to judge, but haven’t we done the same with the Lord? I know I sure have!

We can easily find ourselves getting weary in waiting on God’s promises, but we need to remember something very important. We are not waiting for God to “show up!” God IS time. Just because we don’t see things moving on our behalf doe not mean it’s not moving.

God already has the ending planned. The ending to this life and to everything He has started in you and for you. We need to remember that the answer we have been waiting on is already there. We aren’t waiting on God to show up, He is actually waiting on us to arrive.

God created man and woman to fellowship with Him in the Garden of Eden, but because of the original sin everything changed. However, because God always has an ending created with His beginning, He sent His Son to earth to pay for OUR SINS. If we accept the completed work on the cross, we will end up in Heaven spending eternity with God, just as He planned all along…full circle!

There is another important principle that we should remember and it is written in Galatians 6:7. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” Sometimes the delay to our promises or what we perceive as a delay is really the consequences of past decisions coming to pass. When we turn our lives over to God it takes some time for us to produce a good crop from allowing God to be in control.

When thinking about the many shapes of God, it is especially comforting to think of Him represented as the shape of a circle. There is no drop off point, no place for Him to disappear out of your life. Rest assured friend that God ALWAYS finishes what He has started!

Shape of God – The Triangle

The Godhead –

In the world of Christian theology one of the hardest things for us to wrap our brain around is the doctrine of the Holy Trinity! How is this possible and how can we EVER hope to understand?

At some point most of us in the church have heard a sermon or two on this topic and I bet almost all of them ended the same. We have almost all been told that “it’s just a mystery.” Now, don’t get me wrong it truly is far beyond our scope of understanding in its entirety.

Going back a very long time ago, after the original disciples went home to be reunited with Jesus in Heaven, men began searching for an explanation for how God could be One, yet seen as three.

Justin Martyr from the early hundreds described God as having “faces” or one God with multiple faces or masks.

Ignatius of Antioch from the third century described the Trinity as the “Threefold Splendor of God.” He was one of the first to use the triangle as a visual example as well. There’s Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, it’s one triangle, but there’s three points on the triangle and you can’t separate them or you don’t have a triangle.

Then towards the end of the second century, there was a man named Tertullian who was an incredible thinker. He settled on the Latin word “persona” to help better understand. Coming from the world of theater, persona is like a mask. So an actor, for example, would walk out on the stage and he’d be wearing a persona and he would embody that persona while he was on the stage. He could exit the stage and then return with another persona.

These are just a few out of many attempts to describe God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit being One. An issue that arises, one of many, is how words change through the years. The Latin word “persona” morphed into the word we now know as “person.” If we look at the Trinity as three separate persons operating as one, our brains cannot logically get it. Instead of looking at it as three separate people living and moving as one, it is more beneficial to look at it as three distinctions within One Being. These “personas” are distinct, but never alone.

So, around 700 A.D a theologian came up with the word “perichoresis” which means basically “the dance, the divine dance.” He talked about the fact that if he looked at one Divine Persona he could see another as if there’s life flowing in and out and between them. It’s like the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father, and the Spirit is in the Son, and the Son is in the Spirit. There’s really no way to divide that. It’s like you have this dance going on and they’re just spinning and going so fast that you can only kind of make out bits and pieces. This is the divine dance! What a beautiful picture of the Trinity. You can’t have one without the other.

Lastly, C.S. Lewis wrote in his book, Mere Christianity, “God is not a static thing, not even a person, but a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life.”

Imagine instead of getting overwhelmed and intimidated by the sheer magnitude of the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost, we allow ourselves to be amazed? This truly is such a vibrant visual of our God. When we need direction from the Holy Spirit, we can now understand that we can receive that and so much more! We also receive the power that comes from a living God and the love of Jesus as well!

God invites us to join the dance with Him!

For all of us, whether new to the family of God or if you have followed Him for years… it’s time to join the dance!

Shape of God – The Cloud

We have heard that God is like a prism and that He is like a cloud, but have you ever thought about a simple dot when you think about the Lord??

Well, for starters, what is a dot? It’s a precise point at the end of a sentence which is probably the most common form of a dot. It is very precise right? It is the smallest of details.

When God says something you can know that He is very precise with what He means. He is very much into details including the details of our lives.

Details, some of us run from them, and some of us live for them.

I love the fact, that the God of all creation, the Alpha and the Omega cares about the simple details in our lives. The Scriptures tell us that God knows the very count of the hairs on our head. (Luke 12:7) Think about that for a second, 8 billion people in the world and God knows the number of hairs on our heads. He also knows the number of every grain of sand in the world. How can we not be comforted by the fact that God knows each and everything about us, and cares about the things that seem insignificant to us.

Have you ever had a time where you were blessed with some thing That the average person would not get excited about, but because it was some thing specifically designed to bless you, you realize that it was God? I have had countless blessings in my life that I knew, for a fact were especially curated for me, and would look like an ordinary thing to anyone else. Those moments show us that things that are important to us are important to Him as well. I like to compare it to the fact that as parents we all know some thing special that means a lot to our kids. You could get some thing for one child because you know it’s special to them, and it would mean absolutely nothing to another. I feel like God is the same way.

God has a way of surrounding us with details for us to enjoy and for us to recognize His work. How wonderful is it that our God is not just concerned with our obedience to Him, but He cares that we feel connected to Him in all sorts of ways. One of the easiest ways is to take time each day and think about God’s goodness in your life. It’s a great way of building your faith for the times in life that are a bit tougher. Being mindful of all the big and small ways by which our Heavenly Father loves us helps to increase our faith.

What this means in a practical sense is that we need to remember that the love of God is so deep and so profound yet so very simple at the same time. Sometimes I feel we approach God as if He is aloof and almost frustrated by our prayers. Well, not only is God the opposite of aloof because He is an ever-present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1) but I believe it brings great pleasure to Him to answer our prayers.

All throughout history we can see examples of how God showed up and completely changed someone for the rest of their lives. Look at King David, Esther and so many others! God speaks into lives and they change which causes a chain reaction. When the Lord speaks and we listen it not only affects our lives, but those around us as well. Remember today that God is in the details of your life, don’t be afraid to talk to Him about them as well. Just as a dot or period is to the point and completes a thought, God is very precise in His words, His instructions and His thoughts towards us.

Shape of God – The Cloud

There are so many things about God that are too amazing for our human brains to
comprehend, but one that tops this list is the fact that God is omnipresent, (everywhere at once)
omnipotent, (having unlimited power) and omniscient, (knowing everything.) How is this even
possible?

In the Old Testament God took the form of a cloud during the day and fire at night to lead
the Israelites. That is a pretty amazing thing to read about, I can’t imagine how it was for the
ones that actually saw it. I think it is a cool analogy to think of God as a cloud, there are some
really appropriate correlations. When it comes to actual clouds there are several different types.
There are three different levels of clouds, and based on how far up they are the less we can see
them on earth. However, think of the lower level clouds that we have seen our whole lives and
think of how we like to compare their shapes to something familiar. You know you have done
this, especially when you were young. It was great fun to lie in the grass with your friends and
try to find the most outrageous shapes in the clouds. Well, just as the closer the cloud the more
familiar it becomes, God becomes more and more familiar to us the closer WE get to HIM! He is
always there and always close, we just don’t always feel it, because we are the ones that move
away.

We could never come close to containing a cloud and in the same way containing God is
not possible. How could we hope to contain God when He is everywhere at once? This is
mind-boggling, but so very comforting at the same time. I think in our finite minds we can easily
forget the massiveness of our God, we can’t afterall begin to really fathom the extent of this fact.
I will give you just one example that is so outrageous yet it still doesn’t come close to a
true example. So, let’s start with us on earth…huge already, but just get ready! Earth revolves
around the sun and the sun is an average sized star among a hundred billion stars that are in
the Milky Way Galaxy. The Milky Way is one of billions of galaxies in the universe that is
expanding. So let’s talk about a billion, not even 100 billion, just one billion. Let’s say we want to
become a billionaire by saving $100 a day. If you divide a billion by 100 you get 10 million days,
10 million divided by 365 means it would take you 27,397,26 years to reach 1 billion. That is
27,000 years at saving $100 a day to reach our goal of 1 billion dollars. Now remember that we
are talking about the fact that God the creator of Heaven and earth has placed us in our homes,
in our city, in our state, in our country, on our continent, on the planet earth which is orbits
around a star that makes up 100 billion stars in one of billions of galaxies. By now you should be
able to get a small picture of how BIG and how POWERFUL our God is!

How amazing is it that with the absolute awe-inspiring size and scope of God, He
created us and is so closely connected to us and so deeply in love with each one of us. Have
you ever built something, created or baked something that you were so very proud of? You
know everything about this thing you created right? If you are a carpenter and you build a shed,
you know everything that is great about it and you also know every weakness as well. You may
have discovered that the wood is buckled in one area, or the foundation isn’t as solid as you
thought.

Shape of God – The Prism

As Christians, we know that God is a Spirit and that He is love. However, do you stop and consider that God is light? James 1:7 says “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” What a great way to describe our Heavenly Father.

How then, do we open our spiritual eyes and see the light of God?

For starters just look around you and take in the majesty and wonder of all the things that God created. We have to acknowledge the Creator when we see His creation.

We can also learn to become students of God, where we read about God, talk about God and meditate about God. This, by the way, is called theology and is an important part of the Christian faith. It doesn’t take a Bible degree to be a theologian of God’s Word. Just remember that the Word of God is our roadmap, love letter and instruction manual and is meant to guide us through life on earth.

We can allow our eyes to be opened to all that God has done on earth and even through us. Not only can we begin to take in this light, but we can also learn how to reflect His light.

What an amazing opportunity we have as followers of Christ to be a reflection of Him. Just imagine what the world could see if we were constantly allowing our walk with the Lord to be a reflection of His light in the darkness.

As we think about reflecting light, let’s look at the shape of a prism, or even better, a diamond. This beautiful crystal structure that has got latticework of molecules that are very strong together..

Holding a diamond in the light you can see a rainbow of color that comes off the diamond. This is one of the ways a diamond is classified, by the amount of fire that can be seen in it. What an awesome illustration of how God uses His people on earth. He shines His light through us and into the world in many ways.

One of the ways that this happens is through the gifts of the Spirit that have been given to the church. Now the fruit of the Spirit is primarily the effect of the Spirit. It’s how it makes us feel and what we experience internally.

The gifts of the Spirit, however, are the works of God and what He can do through us.

So remember that God is light and He shines down on us His people and then we shine and sparkle to the world as we are the reflection of our Heavenly Father.

You can find the list of Spiritual gifts in Romans 12:6-8 and they are: prophecy, acts of service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, mercy. Also in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11, we read about words of wisdom, words of knowledge, special faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, interpretation of tongues.

It is important to note that there is not one of these gifts that is more special than the other, therefore all gifts are needed to reflect the light of our Father. Some gifts might appear more valuable because they are done in what might appear a more grandiose way.

That being said, the young man that shows up to church early to set out chairs is just as important to the work of God as a pastor. Just as the grandmother who picks up the phone and calls someone in her church to encourage them during a hard time is every bit as valuable in the eyes of the Lord as the prophet who addresses a congregation.

Don’t let fear keep you from operating in the gifts God has given you. It may seem scary to step out, but your Heavenly Father wants you to walk in faith. Also, guard your heart from pride when He starts using you. It is afterall Jesus working through you to do these things.

Lastly, there are also five roles within the church that make it possible for the church to show the many facets of Jesus. These are the apostles, evangelists, pastors, teachers and prophets. It is amazing when you think about the fact that it literally takes this many people to show all the wonderful attributes of our Savior to the world.

We should all take a moment to pray that we are willing vessels for God to pour His light into us so that it can reflect from us to this lost and hurting world we live in. Try to keep this in mind when you are out amongst those that don’t yet know Him. Shine brightly, friend!

Super You

We need a fresh wind to blow. We need a fresh revelation. We need a wind of revival! 

Super You

The Power of Unity