God’s attributes

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April 17

Thursday, April 17th, 2025

“My hope is built on nothing less/Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness/I dare not trust the sweetest frame/But wholly lean on Jesus’ name/On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand. When darkness veils His lovely face/I’ll rest on His unchanging grace/In every high and stormy day/My anchor holds within the veil/On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.” (Traditional)

I hate to say it since I am a contemporary worship kind of guy (except for most songs from Hillsong, Elevation, and Bethel), but sometimes the old hymns have it all over the newbies. Whether it is sung in a more traditional way and setting or in a more uptempo style, there is not much more that can be said about what this song is teaching. In his devotion for today, April 17, Paul David Tripp wrote this:

Thankfully, God is not like me. Nothing can thwart His will, nothing can challenge His rule, and nothing can stop the march of His grand redemptive plan. The hope and spiritual security of every believer rest on the fact that our Lord cannot be stopped. His rules rules. (Everyday Gospel Devotional-p.133)

That first phrase strikes a chord in me. “God is not like me.” I cannot even find the words to express my joy in them, other than to say, “I am so-o-o-o-o glad He is not like me.” I make a mess enough of things without doing it on a grand scale. When I am faithless, He is faithful. When I am fearful, He is fearless. When I am blind, He is light. When I am wishy-washy, He is ever true. Nothing moves Him. Nothing overwhelms Him. Nothing overcomes Him. Nothing surprises Him.  He never has to say, “Ooops.” He never has to say, “My bad.” He never does a face plant. He never slaps Himself on the forehead and says, “I should have had a V-8.” 🙂

God is always the same. He never changes. He never waffles. He never has to say, “I forgot about that.” God is my hope. God is my rock. God is never-changing. God is my firm foundation. (Check out this song). This Resurrection season I pray you know that truth because that truth is the anchor for our hope.

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April 10

Thursday, April 10th, 2025

“God doesn’t really care.” If I have heard that once, I’ve heard it a thousand times. (It may or may not have slipped from my lips a time or two in the past. Just sayin’) 🙂

Last night during my Wednesday Night Conversation class, this was the topic of discussion. Everyone there acknowledged what I just said: they had heard (or used) it before.  We also came to realize that much of the belief in that lie is too many think that God is just like we are. He has failures, limitation, and weaknesses…just like us. We sometimes give off the idea that God is prone to doubt, questioning His actions, and even prone to regrets that He could/should start all over again. Here’s truth: God is not like me. God is not like you. He is God, and I am not, neither are you (even though we act like it sometimes).

With that in mind, let’s take a look at what God is like. I called these 3 non-negotiables + one:

God is Omnipotent. God is all-powerful. He can do everything-possible or impossible. He is not limited. He never gets tired. He never forgets. Take a moment to pick up a Bible and read Psalm 115:3 or Isaiah 40:28.

God is Omnipresent. This is an easy word to figure out. God is all-present and everywhere present. He cannot be confined, either in heaven or on earth. He is not confined to a building, nor is He removed from our lives. Wherever you are He is there. Psalm 139:7-12 will blow your socks off.

God is Omniscient. He is all-knowing. He knows all that can be known. He knows all thoughts, all desires, every unuttered secret (hence my mom’s words: “You can’t hide, Bill. God knows what you are thinking.” (Thanks mom for keeping my “guilt alarm” on high alert!)

God is Omnibenevolent.  Yeah…I know it isn’t a word. God is all-loving. He loves perfectly and is full of love.  His love never runs out and never lessens. He doesn’t need us to feel satisfied, but we need Him to be fulfilled.  “For anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (I John 4:8 NLT)

So what does this all mean to me, to us?  Four things:

  1. God has proven Himself.  He has nothing more to prove to anyone.
  2. God always keeps His promises. Take that to the bank.  What He says, He will do.
  3. God has come and will come again. The first time He came as a baby; the next time He will come as conquering King.
  4. God’s presence always brings a presence of peace. In spite of the circumstances, His presence will being peace and calm.

I hope this encourages you today.

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February 26

Wednesday, February 26th, 2025

“God is a bunch of contradictions.”

So some say. They have trouble reconciling a God of love with a God of justice. They have issues with God being a God of love and yet demanding we, human that we are, live a life of purity and sacrifice. “How can a God whom you say is One of love send anyone to hell?” “If God is a God of Omniscience (all-knowing) how can He forget my past sins?”

I don’t pretend to know all the answers (how foolish would that be?). But in Numbers 35 there is a unique set-up put in place by God that shows His character. Please keep in mind that “God’s attributes never work in conflict with each other.” (Tripp-2/26-p.70) If you yawn, I mean read through Numbers, 🙂 you will find yourself approaching the next to last chapter in chapter 35. In this one incident we see God’s attributes working in tandem with each other. It is true that God expects His people to act differently. We see His love working in tandem with His holiness. We see His justice working with His holiness. We see His patience working with His desire for the salvation of His people.

In Numbers 35:6-12 God establishes what are called “cities of refuge.” These cities are designed to be just that…refuge. But not refuge for the brokenhearted, or the sick, or the dying, or anyone who is seeking rest. No. The cities of refuge were designed for those who accidentally killed someone. Not acts of anger or revenge, but accidents. I swing an axe and the head flies off striking you and killing you. We are joking around and I push you and you stumble and fall, hit your head and die. Justice by the family or even townspeople would likely be swift and “an eye for an eye” type of revenge. But cities of refuge were for those who accidentally caused the death to flee to until he/she could get a proper hearing. There were certain rules to abide by and they could not be broken. For example, the person was required to stay in the city. If he left for any reason and was found by a member of the family, his life could be taken. Sounds harsh but in reality it wasn’t.

Here is the point I am trying to make: God is uncompromisingly holy and sin is an affront to Him and needs to be dealt with. But this is not one of those situations. A city of refuge provides mercy where mercy is needed. God’s holiness and mercy are not in conflict but actually in tandem with each other. We see these two attributes come into play thousands of years later when a man who was more than a man (He was the Son of God) makes His way to a cross. God’s justice for sin is taken care of in this divine act of mercy.

Contradictory? Nope. I’m thankful for mercy and justice working together.

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