Infinite Infinity

Who is God?

Often, we have all the right answers.

At least, we think we do.

But the truth, the key to knowing God, is in fact knowing we cannot know God.

Why?

He is beyond knowing.

He stretches out infinitely in an infinite number of directions.

Imagine. A road stretched out in front of you, on which you can travel for years and still be no further along then when you began.

Now multiply that by infinite number of roads, in an infinite number of directions.

That is God.

And we, regardless of what we may tell ourselves, are finite.

God created us that way on purpose.

Yet, with Jesus' sacrifice, we are infinite in one direction- time.

If we make the choice to accept Jesus' sacrifice, we will forever have the pleasure of exploring and discovering the depths of who God is.

It is through this lens we should view His other attributes:

His holiness. Righteousness. Love. Grace. Humility.

Isn't He beautiful?

I Will Yet Praise Him- A Prayer

God, I praise you, for you are worthy of our praise. You are gracious and merciful, even when we don't deserve it. You are holy and you are just - no wrong will be overlooked; you will right every wrong done against us, and every wrong done by us.

You are righteous - you never maliciously hurt us.

You are loving at your very core, and only make decisions in our best interest. Your decisions are not based on our meeting your needs, for all your needs are met by your own nature. Rather, you choose to meet our needs even when we least deserve it.

You are Creator of this wonderful universe, and you did it for our enjoyment, for you are not simply a practical God, but an extravagant God.

You are gracious, merciful, holy, just. You are righteous, loving, selfless. You are Creator. You are so much more than we could ever imagine, though we have eternity to learn. And because of all this, you are more than worthy of our praise.

This prayer is a sequel to this post.
Have your own prayer of praise you are willing to share? I'd love to hear from you!

Christmas Morning Joy

Remember Christmas morning as a child? I certainly do. It was almost magical. My mom always woke up early to prepare our Christmas breakfast tradition: her amazing cinnamon rolls, and I would hear the noise and wake up. In our family, we weren't allowed to immediately start opening gifts once we woke up. Instead, we had to wait. And wait. And wait. I would look at the mountain of gifts under the tree, then at the bulging stockings.  I would smell the incredible aroma of cinnamon rolls baking in the oven. And then continue to wait. Finally, the oven would ding, and Mom would take out the cinnamon rolls. And guess what? We would wait just a little longer for them to cool. Finally, Mom would put a candle in one of the rolls, and we would sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. We kids would finish the cinnamon rolls long before the adults, then hurry in to the living room to wait for those slow-pokes to hurry up and finish so we could open gifts. Finally, over an hour after waking up, it was time. We finally got to unwrap all those mysteries under the tree.

What if this was the kind of joy and anticipation of life we as Christians felt all the time? What if we waited as eagerly for the kingdom of God as we did as children waiting for time to open gifts on Christmas morning?

In Luke 18:16-17, Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

Harsh words, but let's face it. As adults, we tend to get a little overconfident of ourselves, of our knowledge and wisdom and capabilities. But children are a little unsure of themselves, yet eager to explore and learn everything there is to learn. They are also trusting of the adults in their lives. To God, all of us, even those in their eighties and nineties, are mere children. Let us act then, not immaturely, but eagerly and with childlike faith. Let us find excitement in seeking out God and His Kingdom, as children eagerly waiting to tear into their Christmas gifts.

Is there Joy Beyond this Wall?

I'll be honest, lately I've been stuck in a rut of feeling sorry for myself. The past year or so hasn't been easy, and I've allowed bitterness and untrust to build up in my heart. Lately, though, God has been highlighting joy. I resisted it for a while- being joyful requires the wall of bitterness and untrust to come down, and part of me liked the sense of security that came from that wall. But the wall has not only kept me from being joyful, it has sucked the life out of my relationship with my husband, with God, and ultimately left me exhausted.

About two weeks ago, I decided that the wall MUST come down. I've started doing morning devotions, on a journey to creep beyond the fortitude into the joy that I know the Lord has for me. At first, I sort of felt like I was jumping off a cliff, putting myself in a position where I MIGHT get hurt again. But now, I'm finding that I am starting to dream again. I wouldn't exactly call myself joyful yet, but I know I am on the right path, and with God's help I WILL reach my destination.

"Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10

If you're currently on a similar path towards joy, or have been on this path before, I would love your input! Feel free to comment with any scriptures verses or truths God has revealed to you!