Awesome!

One thing I know about myself is that I am a person who loves to laugh. I see the irony in life all around me , and it never ceases to give me great joy. It is a blessing to be joyful and full of laughter and life. However, God has been speaking to ma about another aspect of my personality that is not as well developed – that being the state of meditating on the greatness of God and who He is. I realize that I’ve been too casual in my relationship with God. It is true that God is our friend and that He gives us joy through His Holy Spirit – joy is, in fact, a fruit of the Spirit. It is also true that God is awesome, awe inspiring, breathtaking, monumental and incredible. How easily we can use these words in everyday speech and belittle the immensity of their meaning. God is taking me on a journey of learning to hold both these truths in my hands – the truth of His Spirit taking great delight in the childlike joy and frivolity of pleasure while also stepping back to consider His magnitude and to fall to my knees with reverence and awe, fear and respect for His wonderful essence. I am learning that it is in these two truths that we recognize the depths of God’s character and His tremendous love for us. As I consider this and learn to walk it out, I also recognize the power of our own words. This is another area in which God has been teaching me and which I have been immersed.

Our words have the power of life and death in them…listen to that – the power of life and death – and this truth is one God really focuses on in scripture – there are literally hundreds of verses and teachings about our words, our mouths, our tongues. God used His words to bring for the heavens and the earth. Jesus used His words to curse the fig tree and cause it to wither. Likewise, He has given His Sprit unto us, and has given our words that same power. Thus, when I consider how I talk about God, or even to Him, I must confess that my speech does not capture who He is, nor can it. My words can be too casual, too familiar, and incapable of capturing the facets of Him. Likewise, this is true of other relationship and even how I speak of myself. God is fanning a flame within me that wants to bring back the understanding, the respect, the awe of who God is and share it with a generation that has forgotten what “awesome” really is, to understand the depths of God’s character, and the power of our own words. What a wonderful journey with God this continues to be! I fall short every day, but thankfully His mercies are new every morning!