Knowing and embracing facts about God:

• Strengthens our heart.
• Gives understanding and peace to our minds.
• And keeps us focused on spiritual things.

So I believe all the Lord’s children benefit from these absolutes that remind our hearts and minds who God is and what God does. 

Facts To Know About God

(1.) The One true God. Oh, there are other gods. But there’s no other god like our God. “For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.” Isaiah 46:9b (ESV)

(2.) Living. Jeremiah compares man-made idols to the living God. “But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God.” Jeremiah 10:10 (ESV) How sad and foolish when we bow to idols without breath or believe in gods who are dead.

(3.) Creator. Genesis 1:1 tells us in the beginning God created…. God existed first. Then He created everything else, all of creation, and humans in His image. 

(4.) Holy. The Blue Letter Bible shares, “God is holy means there is no trace of evil in his character. Only God is holy.” Further, “There is no one holy like the LORD.” 1 Samuel 2:2a (ESV)

(5.) Sovereign. God rules as the supreme authority, doing what pleases Him (Psalm 115:3), His kingdom rules over all (Psalm 103:19). 

(6.) In control. “For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?” Isaiah 14:27 (ESV)

(7.) Majestic. “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Psalm 8:9 (ESV)

(8.) Almighty. “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’” Revelation 1:8 (ESV)

Absolutes That Make God, God

(9.) Love. “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8 (ESV)

(10.) Judge. God judges righteously, tests hearts, repays evil, and holds vengeance. (Jeremiah 11:20)

(11.) Most high. In Psalm 83:18, Asaph petitions God not to be silent against enemies, “That they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth.” (ESV)

(12.) Reigning King. The Lord reigns over all (Psalm 47:8), reigns forever (Exodus 15:18), and sits as King forever (Psalm 29:10). 

(13.) Light. “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5b (ESV)

(14.) Magnificent. Impressively beautiful, elaborate, or extravagant; striking (Google). “God is magnificent; he can never be praised enough. There are no boundaries to his greatness.” Psalm 145:3 (MSG)

(15.) Good. God is good and does good (Psalm 119:68); He is good and ready to forgive and abundant in lovingkindness (Psalm 86:5).

All the Lord’s children benefit from these absolutes that remind our hearts and minds who God is and what God does. #blog #GodIsGood @FridayKaren
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Facts About God to Celebrate

(16.) Merciful. “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” Psalm 103:8 (ESV) 

(17.) Faithful. “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:9 (ESV)

(18.) I AM. “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’; and He said, Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:14 (ESV). I AM comes from the Hebrew word (hayah) meaning “to be” or “exist” (Blue Letter Bible).

(19.) Omnipresent. “‘Can a man hide himself in hiding places So I do not see him?’ declares the LORD ‘Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?’ declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 23:24 (ESV)

(20.) All-knowing. Omniscient. God knows the number of hairs on our head (Matthew 10:30), counts and names the stars (Psalm 147:4), and knows all things (1 John 3:20).

(21.) Eternal. “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Timothy 1:17 (ESV)

(22.) Able. God “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” Ephesians 2:20 (ESV)

(23.) Unchanging. “For I the Lord do not change.” Malachi 3:6a (ESV)

Facts to Remind Us Who God Is

(24.) Father. “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:18 (ESV)

(25.) Provider. “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 (ESV)

(26.) Shepherd. Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (ESV) God as Shepherd makes me lie down in green pastures, leads me beside still waters, and restores my soul. (Verses 2-3)

(27.) Worthy. “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power.” Revelation 4:11 (ESV)

(28.) Warrior. “The LORD is a warrior; The LORD is His name.” Exodus 15:3 (ESV) 

(29.) Salvation. “Behold, God is my salvation.” Isaiah 12:2a (ESV)

(30.) Peace. “Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.” Romans 15:33 (ESV)

(31.) Refuge. “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1 (ESV)

(32.) Never fails. “Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.” Joshua 21:45 (ESV)

Read through these facts from 1-32, saying the fact (in bold only) and out loud. It does a soul good.

Also see, Know Jesus and Make Him Known.

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“God has something better than what you left behind.” — Anonymous

I’ve seen the meme circulating on social media through the years. It is a drawing of a little girl holding on to a teddy bear, while Jesus bends down with a stretched arm, prompting her to hand over the stuffed animal.

“Just trust Me,” the caption says.

The words above the teary-eyed little girl show the reluctancy of her heart: ”But I love it, God.”

From the spectator’s viewpoint, the graphic shows what the little girl cannot see. Jesus has a much bigger, nicer teddy bear hidden behind His back.

The concept has been heavy on my mind lately.

My family and I just moved to our dream home. The house is not extravagant, by any means. Still, it certainly fits our family beautifully, and it offers amenities that we never imagined we would enjoy at this point in our lives. Indeed, friends and family who know our story understand that this home is nothing but a gift from God.

Years ago, we lost a substantial amount of money when we had to sell a business at a significant loss. Soon afterward, my health took a turn for the worse. I had three major surgeries in six years, one of which was due to cancer. These valleys greatly impacted our family in many ways, especially financially.

One of our spiritual practices as a couple has been to pay tithes to the church. My husband and I committed to starting tithing early in our marriage and have continued to do so, even during bleak financial times. It is a practice that often did not make sense, but we chose to follow God’s ordinance and trust Him for the outcome. We opened our hands and gave up financial comfort and pleasures, believing that God had “something better” behind his back.

And he always did. Indeed, I could write a book about the incredible, often supernatural ways God has provided for my needs during difficult times and how life’s setbacks became a channel through which God strengthened my faith. But perhaps the best lesson in the process has been to experience the results of trusting God when he closed certain doors.

As a single adult, I felt like the little girl in the meme when my boyfriend of four years cheated on me with one of my closest friends. I felt like the rug was pulled from under me when the man I believed was my soul mate and the friend I confided in broke my trust. At the time, I did not understand it, because I firmly thought that I had the most lavish teddy bear in my arms. But all along, God knew better. The teddy was second-rate. He had something far better behind His back.

And then there was the time we started the process of selling our home to move closer to my husband’s job, only to watch God close that door. Not long after that, his employer implemented a workforce reduction initiative, thus eliminating his 12-year career in that firm. We didn’t understand it. In our hearts, we wanted to hold on to a puny teddy bear, not realizing that God had a much better job behind his back. He rewarded our faithfulness with the job that would allow us to be in a position to move to the home we never imagined we could have.

As you read this column today, you may find yourself in a situation where something or someone you love is slowly (or rapidly) slipping through your fingers. Or maybe you feel convicted to open your hands and give away something that you think you cannot live without. If that is you, I hope my story and the popular meme about God’s gifts encourage you to open your hands, surrender whatever you are holding on to, and realize that God is not saying “no” to your dreams. He’s just saying: “Trust me. I’ve got something better.”

God is not saying 'NO' to your dreams. He's just saying: 'Trust me. I've got something better.' @AJC #MondayMotivation #Mondaydevotional #Godisincontrol #Godsbest
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Coming from someone who has proven and tested this truth time and again, I can certainly tell you: You don’t want to miss it.

This article was originally published on Patricia’s column for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Saturday – August 15, 2020. 

'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.' Isaiah 55:9 @AJC #MondayMotivation #Mondaydevotional #Godisincontrol #Godsbest
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The boundaries of the ocean.

I closed my eyes, saying a prayer of thanksgiving, as I remembered a verse that talks about the relation between God’s handiwork and wisdom: “The Lord possessed me (wisdom) at the beginning of His way, before His works of old … when He set for the sea its boundary so that the water would not transgress His command.” (Prov 8:9)

I meditated on that truth for a while, as I thought about a trial that my family was facing. I was reminded of the countless times that those words of old proved to be true in my life, while experiencing God’s protection over and over again.

Over my health… Over my finances…. And over my family.

When I went to church the following Sunday, my mind once again went back to the waves on the Saint Augustine beach touching my feet. I stood in the central rotunda with a good friend who was also a cancer survivor. She reached out and touched my hand while asking about my next scan. She knew that I had been in a time of waiting for answers for the previous five months, and had been faithfully praying for me during that time.

As she started to share her update, my heart sank to find out that her scans revealed new growth in her body. As my eyes filled with water, her hand squeezed mine a bit tighter, and a broad smile filled her face as she said:

“I am at peace. And I know you KNOW that peace.”

The peace that surpasses all understanding. Yep. I know it.

The peace that no money and no good health report can provide. It’s the peace attained when one sees God’s hand at work in the direst circumstances, and feels His presence in the fiercest battles.

It’s not anything a person can understand, unless they have experienced it. It is the product of a life that has experienced time and again that God sets boundaries for every trial, and that His sovereign love sustains us through it all.

“Against facts there are no arguments,” the old maxim says.

I believe that is why so many people are undeniably passionate about their faith. To some of us, God has been so intrinsically involved in our daily lives, so real, His word so true and without contradiction, that we can simply stand on what it says and believe it for the next trial. And the next. And yet, once more.

How can we face trials such as cancer, unemployment and the death of a loved one, and still have unshakable peace within our hearts? It’s crazy, I know. That’s why many people believe we are out of touch with reality.

But that is simply not true.

It’s not that we don’t know the severity of our problems; neither do we choose to hide our heads in the sand at the sight of trouble.

It’s just that, when we choose to walk closely with God, we soon realize that we have enough factual proof in our past to trust Him for our future. And against those facts, there are no arguments.
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We simply … believe.

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The agile creatures stole anything loose they could grab. We tried to ask how to get our stuff back. A tour guide laughed. No one owned those monkeys. No one controlled them. He suggested we try trading goods with the animals.

In the end, he might as well have said this favorite phrase of mine:

“Not my circus, not my monkeys.”

I’d love to give credit to the person who created this phrase, but I haven’t figured out where I first heard it. Regardless, this lighthearted idiom makes a big difference when I get heavyhearted about what’s out of my control.

We all deal with monkeys that aren’t ours to control:

• Other people’s actions and attitudes
• Natural consequences
• People’s perceptions of us

Plus, we all cycle through circuses that just can’t be controlled:

• Circumstances like weather or health
• Unexpected things and unknowns
• Timing

God’s will and plans make both these lists, too.

There’s a lot outside of our control, isn’t there? Praise the Lord!
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Praise the Lord (even you fellow control freaks holding your breath right now.)

1. God does not hold us accountable for things we aren’t responsible for

2. God’s grace is enough to work those monkeys and circuses for good

3. God is sovereign over all the monkeys, circuses, and you know- Even us.

“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” –Colossians 1:17

When we feel like something is just plain out-of-control, we need to remember the truth. These isn’t a thing out of God’s knowledge or reach. Even the things He seems to have “lost” (like that apple Eve bit into,) are included in His “all.”

All things work together for good. All God’s plans are accomplished. All is fit into His purposes. Even the wild and wily.

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” –1 Peter 5:6-7

The second verse- cast your cares- is popular. But sometimes we forget what comes before it: humility. Part of surrendering control is being willing to say “I need help” and “that’s not mine.” If it’s not our circus and not our monkey, we can stop trying to take responsibility for it.

It’s tough when we care a lot to let go of what isn’t ours to manage- but that’s part of “cast your cares!”

Let’s praise the Lord of ALL today. What’s one thing you’re thankful isn’t your responsibility?

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Standing at nearly ten-foot-tall, the man must have looked like an armored tank to young David. He wore a helmet of brass upon his head and a coat of scale armor of about 125 pounds of bronze. The bible describes the armor and war tools in details, giving us a vivid picture of Goliath’s fearsome stature and strength.

David had come up from Bethlehem with the mere purpose of bringing food to his brothers, who were battling the Philistines in the valley of Elah. But as he arrived at the camp, he heard Goliath’s defiance and blasphemy against Israel’s God.

And thus the battle became his.

As David goes before Saul to ask permission to fight Goliath, his small stature surprises the king. He was but a boy, compared to the giant. Saul didn’t see how he could win.

And then David tells him the story.

“Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.

The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:34-37 NASB)

WOW.

As I read this story for the umpteenth time this morning, my heart filled with new wonder.

I imagine that the whole incident with the lion and the bear back in Bethlehem made more sense to David when he stood before Saul and pled his case that day.

The lion and the bear were an instrument, an opportunity disguised as danger. Indeed, David must have realized that the fight with those strong and mighty animals were but an exercise to prepare him to fight the enemies of Israel.

And to equip him to become King.

He knew he couldn’t have killed a lion and a bear… And yet, he did.

There was only one possibility.

His deliverance back in Bethlehem’s pastures did not come from his own strength. It had to be supernatural. God’s own weight brought the wild animals down to protect his anointed one.

And now, David knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the same strength and guidance that made him kill the bear and the lion… would be with him in the valley of Elah.

He drew strength from his past… and aimed for the future. With one small round stone, righteous indignation and zealous love for Yahweh, he pointed and shot.

God took that small stone and made it hit Goliath with the weight of a boulder.

“This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.” (vs.46)

Can you picture this small-framed young man standing before the giant with the boldness of a man holding an AR-15?

I smile because I think of the repeated trials in my life… and how each victory has strengthened my resolve to proclaim to the world:

It’s ok… God’s got this. Been there, done that. Have the T-shirt to prove it.

And the scars to remind me.

David drew strength to defy his enemies from the battles he saw God fight in his place. He didn’t draw strength from his wisdom, his power, much less his circumstances.

He drew strength from realizing that each time his life was in danger, each time his provision seemed not to be adequate, each time his enemies seemed to be more powerful and his deliverance uncertain, GOD would show up and do what only God can do.

Ohhhh! It’s a halleluiah moment on my desk right now!

Because I may not see my future, but I know this much:

The same God who delivered me from the bears and the lions in my past….

The same God who provided manna in my desserts…

The same God who opened the Red Seas of impossibilities before me over and over again…

He’s got this! Praise His Name!

The same God who delivered me from the bears and the lions in my past, the same God who provided manna in my desserts, HE'S GOT THIS!
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That’s why I can boldly look at any enemy in the eye, and proclaim to any circumstance I may face:

“As for me, everyone will know that there is a God in Heaven and that it is not by worldly measures or power that He saves. For the battle is His, and he will deliver me from this circumstance.

Yet, AGAIN!”

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A second health care worker in Texas is diagnosed with Ebola. ISIS allegedly has control of chemical weapons. Border security agents are struggling to maintain enough manpower to contain the influx of undocumented immigrants from Mexico. Is it any wonder that worry is permeating our society as never before?

The harmful effects of anxiety are well known to the medical community. In the U.S. alone, 40 million adults suffer from anxiety disorders. When our bodies are under stress, our nervous system responds with a reaction known as “fight or flight.”

There are times when this physiological reaction is a healthy defense mechanism, such as when a person feels threatened by imminent danger. This reaction tells us when to move out of an unsafe part of town, or it incites us to run when spotting a poisonous snake on the ground. We were born with this important trigger to help protect us from threats.

However, the fight or flight response was never intended to be an ongoing reaction to our problems. Indeed, chronic worry and emotional stress breed terrible health problems. Continuous fight or flight responses cause our body’s nervous system to release stress hormones such as cortisol, which can boost blood sugar levels and triglycerides. These hormones cause harmful reactions such as dizziness, increased heartbeat, fatigue, insomnia and headaches. Needless to say, the long-term effects can be devastating, including suppression of the immune system, digestive disorders and heart disease. In other words, it’s not stress that’s making us ill. It’s our response to stress that is killing us.

I wish I could say that worry and anxiety stopped at the door of our sanctuaries. But we all know that’s not true. If anything, many people of faith are fretting more than ever. Entire websites are dedicated to disaster preparedness and to tracking events around the globe linked to end-times prophecy. As a Christian, I have studied these prophecies and believe them. But I don’t think this is a time for panic, worrying or fear.

Rather, I’m reminded that one of the most popular commands found in the Bible is “Fear not.” It’s found in almost every one of the books of both the Old and New Testament. Fear Not. I’ll never leave you. Fear Not. I believe these words. Through my hardest trials I’ve experienced them to be true. I know it won’t be different now.

There is no question that we should be concerned about our society. We cannot pretend that Ebola is not here, or live as if nothing bad will ever happen. We are not immune from terrible harm or unspeakable evil. We’ve seen it. We know it. We should certainly be vigilant, but we should not allow our spirits to be on constant fight or flight mode. Either we believe that God is in control … or we don’t.

I’m speaking with the authority of a recovering worrier. I’ve experienced firsthand the bitter effects of worry and anxiety. I don’t want to tread that ground again. What I’ve learned is that worry is a choice. Therefore I deliberately choose to turn off the fight or flight mode for things that I cannot control. I choose to turn to God instead, for direction, protection and peace. I choose to pray and trust. I choose to Fear Not.

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