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"“'I am the God of your fathers, the God
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.' Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to
look.” ; "
-
Acts 7:32
Are you afraid of God?
Is God
approachable?
When you think of God – what does He look like?
Most people in our 21st century society have taken the image of God and conformed Him
into a mold of our own design. Minimizing His omnipotence to meet our
specific needs and rationalizing it based on His love for us. There are
some that would clearly state that God loves us so there is no way He would do
___________________________ (you fill in the blank). I was speaking with
my 7 year old son the other night about the Passover and Moses leading the
Israelites out of Egypt.
He was
captivated by the plagues that God brought upon Egypt, including the killing of
all the first born (Exodus 12:12) on the night of the Passover.
This is a very different image of God than
the loving portrait of Jesus Christ with a child sitting on His lap.
You can imagine how confusing this must have
been for a 7 year old, yet alone for you and I.
I have found that most of us put aside the authority and all powerful
God and focus on the forgiving, loving and peaceful image that conforms to who
we want Him to be.
A recent survey of
students at San Diego State University, performed by Kaleo Church, received
these answers when asked,
“Who is God?”
|
He is that Creator, that belief that guides you in every day life
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He’s like this higher spiritual being that created this earth and
all the things on it
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He’s the Father figure that takes care of us. He’s up in
heaven and all around us and takes care of us – I don’t believe in the whole
Jesus thing, but I do believe there is a higher being that takes care of us
|
Someone to look to for help, for peace of mind who’s always there to help
me out
|
A higher power above that takes care of us and knows everything
about us
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My best friend, my father, someone I look up to, he’s pretty important to
me, pretty much the center of my life
|
An entity in physical terms we can’t really understand. History has
given us many depictions of God all of them are different
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For me it’s very personal, it’s inherent, I believe that most people
believe in the same God but interpret Him
differently
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I’m a Christian – so I believe God is Jesus Christ – easy enough
|
God is an idea, often a good one, sometimes a bad one
|
It’s personal, it’s like believing in something like a higher power, something’s
out there watching over you, keeping an eye out for you
|
I don’t really believe in God, I believe in a higher power, but not
one thing
|
Whoever the individual feels it is. Each individual has their own
higher power
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I really don’t have a belief about God and the whole religious story
and all that
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It varies on where you are geographically and your upbringing and your
affiliation with institutionalized religion. Something created
the universe, but I don’t believe that thing is directly involved in our
lives the way Institutional religion makes Him out to be
|
Not a Who, but a What - a deity created by human beings to better
understand their relationship to the world, the ultimate form of good, necessary
for growth and human survival; an interweaving, a fabric of the universe,
much more than a person or a form
|
Quite a diverse set of reactions to a very profound question that has been
asked for centuries and millennia. These do not represent all of the
answers, but a strong snapshot of the misconceptions and lack of reverence for
who God is. There does not seem to be a fear of God, to the youth of this
day and age. There is this belief in something greater than what is
physically accessible, but there does not appear to be a fear of the
repercussions of not believing in God. Few acknowledged that Jesus Christ
is the only way to God and most believed it is okay to believe in any God,
whatever works for you. Many of our youth are confused about the
salvation, mercy and eternal grace available through the Savior Jesus
Christ. These young individuals are highly educated, filled with
philosophies of worldly religions that conform to their model of what a God
should be, regardless of accuracy or comprehension. Confusion is the tool
of the enemy and by the status of this survey, I would say that he is making an
impact.
So, who’s going to do anything about it? Who can we rely on to
propagate the Good News of Jesus Christ to these individuals? They have
come to the place they are at based on the sphere of influence in their life,
so taking everything into consideration do we believe that this same sphere of
influence is going to help them find “the light”? Do we expect the media
to help them find Christ? What about the televangelists, or the education
system, or their parents, or their Facebook groups? No.
Church, we need to take a stand here and
now. If you and I and everyone you forward this to take the initiative to
reach out to the community on behalf of Jesus Christ, there is no limitation to
the impact we can make in the world. You need to do some deep prayer and
thought on how you can make a difference in the life of one lost youth. I
pray that you will take this serious, and not discard it as someone else’s
problem to solve, it’s mine, it’s yours, it’s ours collectively.
PRAYER:
Lord,
We are troubled in our hearts. We long for the lost, the
broken, the confused and the struggling to find You. Do a miraculous work
through this group of individuals reading this to take a dramatic step in
spreading Your good word. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit, that we might be
on fire for You once again, and alive in Your will to carry the message to the
masses. There is a generation of lost souls and as a member of the church
body of Jesus Christ, I am seeking Your touch in my life to spread Your
word. Teach us, love us and comfort us to become soldiers for Your
word. For it is through Your Son Jesus Christ we pray – Amen.
