He is... All-Powerful, part 1

key verse: "the magicians said to pharaoh, 'this is the finger of God.' but pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the LORD had said." Exodus 8:19

Exodus 8-9

God is sending the plagues on the egyptians. the pharoah's magicians were able to duplicate the first two (blood and frogs), but when dust -> gnats, they recognized that it was the Lord at work. pharoah didn't believe this, so the plagues continued. 

- God is far greater than anyone and anything in this universe. He will do whatever it takes to set me free (he already has through Jesus) and he will also do whatever it takes to wake me up. 

- i have to  trust in God's power to overcome evil.

- "open your eyes to see the finger of God at work in your life. recognize his power. He works miracles, he fights your hardheartedness, he breaks your addiction to having everything your own way. He is all-powerful, and he may be lovingly pointing his finger at you." [true.identity bible]

- my identity is found in Christ. he gives me the power to overcome evil.

my prayer is that God would open my eyes to his presence in my life, that he would show me that he is in control. i am also praying that when he does reveal this to me, that i would believe it with everything in me. i can see it all i want, but it doesn't matter if i don't believe, grasp, and hang on to it.

my study of this character isn't over yet. after grasping the basics of his power, i did a search on "almighty" and found scriptures from genesis to revelation that testify to his power. those will come soon...

He is...Creator

"in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." genesis 1:1

"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. and there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day."  genesis 1:31

the Creator of the universe cares about me...

"indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." luke 12:7

i am important to God. i am not just one person who is lost in the crowd of 6 billion on the earth. God loves me because he created me and he knows every little thing about me. i am important to him, just as important as anyone else. 

"it is a prime example of God's handiwork, and only its Creator can threaten it." 

job 40:19

the Creator is above all. even the strongest being can be taken out by its master and creator. admitting that God is my creator is admitting that:

1. apart from Him i am and can do nothing

2. he has the power to do as he wishes with my life. i am not in control, he is.

"haven't you heard? haven't you understood? the LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. he never grows weak or weary. no one can measure the depths of his understanding." isaiah 40:28 

God never gets tired, and he can even bring rest to others. He created rest. i grow tired because i am not the Creator, but because i know the Creator, i can have rest.

"what sorrows await those who argue with their Creator" isaiah 45:9

don't question Him.

"the LORD will surely comfort zion
   and will look with compassion on all her ruins;
he will make her deserts like eden,
   her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. 

joy and gladness will be found in her,
   thanksgiving and the sound of singing." isaiah 51:3

the Creator is in control. don't fear.

"they traded the truth about God for a lie. so they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen." 

romans 1:25  

spend less time focusing on the things God created and more time on the Creator! nothing is more important than the Creator himself!

the journey

here's the deal...

i have been a "Christian" for 13 years now, but have fought unbelief almost my entire life. i grew up in church and as a "good christian girl," but i just never got it. about 2 years ago, i got it. i understood what the heck it meant to be a follower of Christ. so that should solve doubts, right? wrong. 2009 was my year for the Lord. i grew and grew. in 2010, i spent the first 6 months doubting my salvation, doubting God's existence, doubting life, doubting purpose, you name it and i probably doubted it. i don't know what happened, but i was content for a while. i knew i had to be a christian because i was following the leading of something inside of me, which of course was the Holy Spirit. Then came 2011. Passion. on the second day of passion, God opened my eyes to some incredible things. He showed me that my life was not balancing out with the gospels and who i was in him. then he showed me just how precious i was to Him and how much He loved and adored me. seems like that would be enough to keep me going, right? wrong. just the next day i began doubting again. i lost that passion. that experience led to somewhat of a down-spiral of thinking that i was being brainwashed. that was my new theory. i decided that because i had grown up in church, i was never able to actually believe anything because it was just fed directly to me. i didn't need to believe. i knew the act i needed to play, and i played it well. everything i ever knew was only that because it's all i was exposed to. i had been brainwashed. i researched tons of things on brainwashed Christians and found plenty of atheists who were on board with my assumptions. this searching led me to a book which has the potential to help me become who i want to be. (this is not the point of the blog though).

but this is the point...i am now doing a study on who He is. there is a good chance that i have a misconception of who He is, and i am determined to get it right. i can see myself as a strong woman, full of the Holy Spirit, and just on fire for him every day. that won't happen until i know who He is. so that is my goal. over the next few weeks, months, years (who knows), i will be going through a study on who He is. i will be using the study that was created by the publishers of the true.identity bible, but will also be using many scriptures containing the character which i am studying.

i will most likely study a new attribute/characteristic each week, but in some cases i may spend longer if i need more time to absorb or understand what it means.

i will not be posting everyday. i will at least give the "He is" for the week and a few scriptures to accompany it. if God opens my eyes to something incredible, i will share it. along the way i may also include my opinions or questions about things. 

i am using this blog for accountability, but also as a means to keep my thoughts organized. though i am journaling everything, it is mixed in with many other thoughts, studies, prayers, etc. this blog will be my way to keep it together, and will really just be a quick summary of everything. 

if you're reading this, all i ask is that you pray for me. this has been a tiresome season of doubt, not only for myself, but also for those who i am closest to. there are some pretty incredible people who have stuck it out with me and who have pushed me to overcome this doubt. so, for their sanity and for my own, i want this doubt to end and for truth, wisdom, and a strong faith to come quickly. 

specific things you can be in prayer for: 

- that i will be open to whatever God shows me

- that the Holy Spirit would keep everything He shows me at the forefront of my mind

- that when doubt arises, I will keep pushing through and fighting to believe

- that i would start to turn to God with every doubt, worry, fear, question, etc rather than to people

- that i will be confident in God's power to shape me into the woman i can be in Him

- that i will not let school work and other responsibilities get in the way of this journey (i tend to be very school and work-oriented, so it is easy for my relationship with God to be pushed to the back burner) 

that's about it.