A High View
Week 2: Crazy Love
Chapter 1: Stop Praying
Who is God? All of us could give a great list of responses. If you were asked that question, what you say? Who is God? What has God been in your life? My guess is that our answers would look a lot like this. God is Holy, Good, Just, Love, Peace, Joy, Righteous, Faithful, Creator, Everlasting, Omniscience, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Eternal, Wise, and Great. He’s everything. God is my shelter, strength, provider, salvation, rock, hiding place, firm foundation, healer, sustainer, redeemer, friend, maker, Father, rebuilder, restorer, and rewarder. The list can go on and on. No doubt you have probably thought of a few names that I missed. The point is that we know this. Anyone of us can give these names/titles as a response to who God is and what He has done in our lives. He is God and we must have a high view of Him!
In chapter 1 of Crazy Love, Francis Chan challenges us to stop and really think about who God is. As mention before, we know those names and titles of God. We can sputter those things out at an instant, but Chan asked, “When was the last time we marveled at them?” When was the last time we really stopped and considered those names and titles we attribute to God? When we say, God is my redeemer? What does that mean? To say God is great? What do you think about? What does great mean? The problem with words is that if we are not careful, those words can lose their value. We mouth these titles so much; we hear them all the time and the reason we do not marvel at them as we should is because we allowed them to lose their value and become merely words. Stop and think. It’s amazing to think that God, who fits all of those descriptions, is crazy about you and desires a relationship with you. God wants you! Yes, He is all those things magnified to the greatest degree and all He asks of us is that we would know Him and love Him.
Chan talks about “spiritual amnesia” and how that affects our lives and nobody is above it. No matter how many times we have seen God at work, no matter how many times we have experience true worship, no matter how many times we utter the names of God and experience those attributes personally in our lives, we still forget. We live in a world of distractions; things that attract our attention and divert our focus off the things that are eternal and everlasting. Chan writes, “It confuses us when loving God is hard. Shouldn’t it be easy to love a God so wonderful? When we love God because we feel we should love Him, instead of genuinely loving out of our true selves, we have forgotten who God really is. Our amnesia is flaring up again.” Are there times where you don’t feel like loving God or perhaps maybe it’s just not at the top of your priority list, or you just don’t think about it? I admit, I’ve seen those days before. Chan concludes by saying, “In our world where hundreds of things distract us from God, we have to intentionally and consistently remind ourselves of Him.” We must make a conscience effort to place all that God is at the front of our minds. When we wake up, lie down, and go about our everyday lives, God must reign supreme in our lives.
Stop praying? Not really. However, before the next time you pray, think about who God is and what He is like and before you utter the first word, let those thoughts guide you through your prayer and life.
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For those of you who were in the group last night, thank you so much for a great time. I thought the session last night went very week. I would love to hear from you… even if you spoke up last night. I know there are a small handful of people who expressed interest in following the discussion on here (those who weren’t able to make and those who do not live near Nash to come). What are you thoughts on chapter 1 or about some of the thoughts I shared with you this post.
Blessings,
PastorPusch
