When one begins a search, he or she must know who or what they are looking for. You need a description of the individual or object. There is generally a desire to have as much information about the subject as possible.
As we begin our study now, we need to realize that God is:
a) omnipotent - Having unlimited or universal power, authority, or force; all-powerful
b) omniscient - Having total knowledge; all knowing
c) omnipresent - Present everywhere simultaneously.
Let us now examine some descriptions of God. Holmans Bible
Dictionary has an article with a brief description of God.
God is described as follows:
"GOD The personal Creator worthy of human worship because of
His holy nature and His perfect love revealed in creating
the universe, electing and redeeming His people, and
providing eternal salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.
God is unique in nature. No person, object, or idea can be
compared to God. Anything said about God must be based on
His revelation of Himself to us. Anything said about God
must be said in human terms, the only terms we have and
understand. The reality of God is always much greater than
human minds can understand or express.".
The nature and reality of God are described for our
understanding, through the revelations of His Holy Spirit
and in His Word. It is from this medium, we receive Paul's
thumb-nail sketch of God in his little psychology lesson of
Philippians 4:8 -
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever
things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever
things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever
things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if
there be any praise, think on these things."
In other words, as we realize that nothing is more true or
honest or just or pure, and certainly nothing is more lovely
or more virtuous or of better reputation , then we
recognize this to be a vivid description of our God. But,
"Where is God?", this is our question. Although we know that
we cannot bring God down to our level - else He would not
be God - we also understand that the human level is all we
have right now. So let us seek God from our vantage point.
As we begin to contemplate the presence of God, two of the
most important points to remember are God is Great and God
loves His creation. God blesses His creation. All good things come from Him. Remember when He said in Matthew 7:11 - "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your
Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? " and in James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning".
To really 'Get to know God', we must listen as He 'describes' Himself in many different ways as we search the pages of the His Holy Scriptures. In Revelations 1:8 we
find "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to
come, the Almighty."
God has claimed for Himself the title 'Almighty'. How very
appropriate this title really is. When you think of it,
nothing can better describe 'God'. If there could possibly
be anything or anyone more mighty, then the One we claim
would not be God, but such is not the case. God declared
Himself to have unlimited and universal power when He said
in Deuteronomy 10:17 "For the LORD your God is God of gods,
and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible,
which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:" and also in
Jeremiah 10:10 "But the LORD is the true God, he is the
living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth
shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide
his indignation."
Our God is all knowing. His having total knowledge is
saluted by the Psalmist when he said in Psalm 139:1-4:
"O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my down sitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my
tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether."
Jesus said in Matthew 10:29-30 " Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all
numbered."
Imagine! God knows when even a tiny sparrow falls and how
many hairs we have on our head. What a God - all knowing
and caring so much.
We must realize - to know where God is, we need to recognize
Him in an intimate manner. Intimate? - Yes, God wants an
intimate or close relationship with us, as shown in Exodus
34:14 "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD,
whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:" and in Nahum 1:2 "God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.". God will not share His people with any other gods.
We believe, of course as Christians, that God speaks to us
through the pages of the Holy Bible and some believe as the
poet when he says -
"He speaks to men in various ways,
From the still small voice, to the roaring waves".
There was a time when Jesus reprimanded His disciples with
the words of Mark 8:18 " Having eyes, see ye not? and having
ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?"
Let us now open our eyes and ears and jog our memories and
understand how God is always near.
Now that we have discovered, from God's Word, that He is all
powerful and all knowing, it is no problem to appreciate the
fact that He is also omnipresent. We can now realize that
the Lord is all about and involved with His creation. As our
hearts beat within our breast, even the rhythm cries out to
acknowledge God. You see, the rhythm is based on time and
our God even created time. Therefore as the Creator of
time, He is not subject to it. Our God is timeless. Now we
can understand how God can be omnipresent - that is to say,
present everywhere simultaneously . God is not limited by time nor space.
We can relate to the Psalmist as he writes in Psalm 139:7-8
"Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee
from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed
in hell, behold, thou art there".
Oh! how wonderful it will be, when even we will no longer be
subject to time and its limitations and ravages. Our God has
promised!!
One may ask, "How can I sense God?", or "How can I see or
hear God?". Another may ask "Can I touch God?" or another, "Is it possible to 'taste' God?", or yet someone else may want to know if God "has an aroma". To address this, let us join the poet and experience again some of the adventures of our senses.
In the early morning,
as I watched from my window,
I saw the sun as it began to rise,
starting yet another cycle to
brilliantly light the path for the new day to run its'
course. As I surveyed the scene, I saw a mockingbird as it
so deftly flitted between the trees and bushes to finally
perch upon the chosen limb - the limb which was to serve -
as this morning's stage.
Oh! The performance was exquisite. The score was truly
written in heaven. It rivaled a fine philharmonic orchestra.
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I believe that somehow in His infinite wisdom, God was in
that bird and truly the score that it delivered came
directly from Him. I want to put emphasis on the fact that I do not believe that the bird is God, but I know it was God who wrote
the script for the instincts of the bird and therefore in
part, the mind of God was in that bird. It was my God that
designed the bird and wrote the melody that it sang. It was
my God that created and grew the tree that served as the
bird's perch. It is my God that controls the sun and causes
it to bless the earth with it's sustaining light and warmth.
It is my God that puts a new freshness in the air - the
special perfume wafting on the morning breeze - ascending
upward from new blooms. It is my God that spreads in every
direction, the silent explosion of color married with the
sparkle of dewdrops, glittering, dancing from each sunbeam
to every flower. In this sense, I have seen God and I have
heard at least one version of His Song.
Jesus has promised us in Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the
midst of them. " and in Mark 10:27. "... for with God all
things are possible". With this in mind, we realize, we can
know our God now and from our vantage point. We can now
understand that we know where God is. God is in His Son and
His Son is in Him. God is in His people and God is in His
creation. God reveals Himself through the five ordinary
senses. Let us open our eyes to see God and our ears to
hear God. Let us appreciate that God is even in the
fragrance of the beautiful flowers. He is in the wonderful
taste of the food He has provided and in the touch of warmth
from the sunshine or the clasp of a friends hand. Truly God
is omnipresent. Let us not fail to worship Him.
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