TRANSCENDENCE AND ME

Among the best quotes of the week from Tozer's book The Attributes of God would be this:  "A great gulf lies between me and the transcendent God, who is so high I cannot think of Him, so lofty that I cannot speak of Him, before whom I must fall down in trembling fear and adoration.  I can't climb up to Him; I can't soar in any man-made vehicle to Him.  I can't pray my way up to Him.  There is only one way: 'Near, near thee, my son, is that old wayside cross.' And the cross bridges the gulf that separates God from man.  That cross!"  Oh my, this is truly amazing.  

This Thursday morning we will discuss the transcendence of God.  That may sound lofty and beyond your expertise, but, it absolutely isn't.  See you on Thursday.

Also, don't forget there is a baby shower for Courtney Myers this Saturday at 2 in the Fireside room.  Sunday evening will be the sending service for the Caleb Suko's headed back to Ukraine. And the Ladies Night Out on Monday evening at 6:30 will be a great time of fellowship with other women, homemaking skills, and encouragement concerning Biblical relationships.

GOD'S SELF-EXISTENCE VS. MY SELF-WILL

This beautiful amaryllis currently brightens my kitchen no matter how dark the day; such beauty, and it is all God's doing.  Embracing the character of God brings even greater and longer lasting beauty to our lives than seen in this stunning flower

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When we first meet someone we may have a guess of their character, but, only time and honest references bear out the truth of what this person is like.  I’m afraid most people guess concerning the character of God based on various experiences of their own lives.  But, God’s character (being eternal) vastly exceeds any qualities we could come up with in our finite little minds. Just as with any person we want to get to know, we must spend time alone with God reading His words and expanding our view of His character.  As we have already studied during our Thursday mornings together, He is infinite, immense, good, just, merciful, graceful, everywhere present, holy, perfect, and yet very near to us; those qualities alone should cause us to totally put our confidence in Him and not in ourselves. 

Since the beginning of time mankind’s biggest problem has been that he has not known God. Our self-will and self-indulgence has for millennia caused misery and sorrow; yet this continues to be the bent of generation after generation. Only one solution exists to correct this blight on the human race and it is found in Psalm 9:10.  “And those who know your name put their trust in you,…”  For a fuller meaning we could say, “And those who know your “character” put their trust in you,…”  

I’ll look forward to seeing you this Thursday morning as we begin our second volume by Tozer on the attributes of God.  If you don’t have a book, no worries, I’ll have some on hand.

THE BEAUTY OF GOD'S PERFECTION

Psalm 50:2  "Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth."  

God's perfection--is this a concept we can grasp even a small piece of?  We know a bit about "perfectionism," but, God's perfection has little to compare with this term.  Instead we find that perfection in God's character produces and is beautiful.  All that truly honors God is beautiful and in contrast, nothing bad is beautiful.  Think about real cases of this that you have observed in your own life and be prepared to share those as we meet on Thursday morning.

Now consider this:  "It's not the external beauty that is beautiful but the internal beauty.  Heaven is beautiful because it is the expression of that which is the perfection of beauty. And while that is true of heaven, I must also say that hell is the place of unrelieved, monstrous ugliness, because there is no perfection; there is only monstrous moral deformity.  There is nothing beautiful in hell.  And in heaven, of course, there is supreme beauty."  AW Tozer, The Attributes of God

As we complete Volume 1 of our study of God's attributes this week, join us to sink into trying to understand better God's perfection. Also, I will have available our new study books that we will begin next week.I'll look forward to seeing you.