For Day 5 of our 2019 Wrapped plan, we asked our marketing team to identify the community’s favorite reading from this year. The winner was Day 1 of our Attributes of God reading plan, which explores God’s infinite and extraordinary nature and the gift that His people get to know Him and experience His love. This reading set us up for three incredible weeks studying different attributes of God.
Attributes of God Day 1 | God Is God
Whatever we think of when we think about God is, at the very least, incomplete. He is infinite, but our imaginations are limited. He is unfathomable, so our thoughts cannot plumb the depths. He is the Creator of everything, yet we are constrained by metaphors that come from the created world. The very idea that we might classify or categorize God is laughable. He cannot be tamed or studied. He is beyond our reach and beyond our understanding.
And yet we can know Him. He has graciously entered our world, time and time again, so that we might be His children and His true image-bearers. He was in the garden with Adam and Eve. He spoke to Noah, Abraham, and Moses. His presence filled the tabernacle and, later, the temple. He put on flesh and became one of us. And He has gifted His Spirit to His people, in order that we might know Him more intimately still. “The LORD had his heart set on your fathers and loved them. He chose their descendants after them—he chose you out of all the peoples, as it is today” (Deuteronomy 10:15).
We can know God because He has chosen to be known. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present. He is loving and just, merciful and good, and a thousand other things beside. “For the LORD your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awe-inspiring God” (v.17). Theologians have made many a complicated list of God’s attributes, filling thick volumes on shelves that occupy the libraries of this world. But those books amount to what we can know about God. We have been given an opportunity to go much deeper than that. We have been invited to love Him and be loved by Him—to know Him in a way that defies our limited capacity for knowledge and understanding and, in so doing, bring Him glory.
Whatever measure of knowledge we have about God is granted to us so that we might worship Him, not merely as admirers from afar but as dearly loved children.
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66 thoughts on "The Community’s Favorite Reading from 2019"
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I’m from Utah, I am a Jesus Follower. My family is lDS (not my mom&dad) it’s refreshing knowing that other people want to help them
Love that!
Praise be to God.
We are so blessed that God chooses to let us know Him.
Praise God.
Thank you
love
I love the deeper message behind the opening lines of the commentary!
“Whatever we think of when we think about God is, at the very least, incomplete. The very idea that we might classify or categorize God is laughable. He is beyond our reach and understanding.
And yet.
We can know him.
We can know him because he has chosen to be known.
He graciously entered our world so that we might be is children and his image-bearers.” (Paraphrasing)
That little “and yet” is our salvation. It’s the decision God made to create us, support us, redeem us, despite our sin and brokenness. All because He loves us.
Thank you Jesus! Even though You are far beyond our comprehension, You humbled yourself out of love for us. You broke yourself and came to save us. I’m so thankful I can know You.
Gods love is unfathomable & without limits. He always chooses to love us. So beautiful!
4One generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
5On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
How breathtaking when you think about it – the infinite creator of the universe sets His love on human beings, and not just His chosen ones as a group, but each individual one of us is chosen, known and loved to the level of knowing our every hair, breath and thought. What an extraordinary privilege to be His child. How I long to live more like a member of this family should live, to walk as Jesus walked. Help me precious Lord. Amen.
Arlene, I will pray for you and for healing in your marriage. I just walked through a very dark path in my marriage that started 3.5 years ago. I can finally see the beauty from the ashes – but it was such a hard time, and although I would never want to go back there, I am so very thankful for what I have now in my marriage and what God taught me along the way. My relationship with my husband is deeper and stronger, and my relationship with God is one of trust and faithful commitment. I was dealing with infidelity, and I felt like I was all alone sometimes. It seemed like everyone else had marriages that were so awesome and put together. It can be a very lonely place. But God was there for me (as well as a few very strong sisters-in-Christ) and we made it through. At times I felt like giving up, and a few times I almost did, but I am so very thankful that I didn’t and that I can see with my very own eyes what true redemption is and that in a small way, I could be part of that journey for my husband . I learned a lot about forgiveness and I also learned that I am not very willing to forgive. It was a hard lesson for myself and one that I am grateful for now, but in the moment, was very resistant. I will remember you in prayer. Marriage is worth fighting for.
Praying!
Prayers for reconciliation and healing in my marriage, please. I am usually quite and most days I just do the devotional and skip the comment section all together, but I really need prayers during this dark time in my life! Thank you all so much! I know He is in control and is working even now as I am hurting.
I’m praying for you, Arlene. May God’s presence and love be with you in a powerful way.
Praying over your marriage, Arlene. May God strengthen and repair that relationship as you continue to draw closer to Him.
Dear Arlene, I am vacationing by the ocean today. Praying for you. In this season of darkness and confusion – May you be flooded with a keen sense of God’s love for you and his presence in the middle of heartache. I am praying that you have moment-by-moment trust and hope in the God of all creation, who made you and knows you – full well. Grief and pain can be so isolating. Thank you for trusting us with your need for help. Bless you sister.
Ashley P. Share with your friend this website: http://www.adamsroadministry.com
This is a group of 4 former Mormons who were saved out of Mormon beliefs and lifestyles some at great personal cost, some whose families followed to belief in Christ.
They spread the gospel through music and their testimonies.
I am sure that he could relate to their life stories and find that there IS a way to The Way !
Praying for him and you.
Tina:
Thank you for sharing your beautiful memories of your daughter and your heart with us.
How amazing is it that we have a God who wants to know us and is always just a breath away! Reading your comments and this devotional has made me realize that you’re exactly right, we simply cannot fathom and explain everything because we are limited by design. Sometimes I do catch myself thinking that it is hard to feel His presence as others do but know that He is working in His own way in my life and we all have our own unique relationship with Him. It’s easy to compare yourself to others which is something I am trying to work on in this new year! I pray that I continue to seek Him in my daily life and come to know Him more and more!
This is a a needed reminder and good to start the new year.
Ashley P, I think you did a great job of presenting the gospel to this man, maybe not with words, although it sounds like they were good too, but mainly with how you interacted with him. That’s an inspiration to me as I frequently feel inadequate to talk to someone with such strong beliefs like that, but like you showed, it is not always about the words we say, but how we say them. I will be praying for this man. Thank you for sharing.
“ We can know God because he has chosen to be known,” What a great God! He didn’t just create us and leave us to navigate life on our own. Rather, He chooses to reveal Himself to us and to have relationship with us. It’s beautiful. I had a conversation with a guy the other day and he shared with me that he used to be Mormon and is now agnostic. He explained, passionately, how he tried hard and he studied scripture and did all the right things but he just never felt God. He just didn’t believe. He was all ready to defend himself and his family’s religion, quoting scripture to me to convince me that the two religions are really the same and he doesn’t adhere to either, and he was clearly expecting a fight. I mostly listened, disagreed at times but realized he would just try to debate me with all these lofty arguments, so I mostly stayed calm and listened. Honestly, my heart was breaking for him, this man who fought so vehemently against God because he was so frustrated that he never felt God the way others claim. I shared with him that it’s not about church, or doing the right things, or reading scripture—those are important, but it’s about a relationship with God, and while He doesn’t speak audibly to me, I have His grace, peace, and joy and have faith that He’s with me. At the end of our conversation, he admitted that he didn’t usually talk so long or so openly on the subject because Christians get mad at him long before and he stops talking. He also told me I’m “good people” (he said it kindly) so, while I honestly have been worrying that I didn’t say enough or say the right things to explain my faith and want so desperately to have represented Jesus well, I hope that above all, He felt God’s love through me. SRT sisters, will you please join me in prayers for him? He’s moving to a new state and he and I aren’t close, so we’ll likely not stay in much contact, but I will continue praying that God puts others in his path that will show him the love of Jesus and that his thick walls will come down.
Praying for your friend. May God lead into the truth, dislodge all the confusion and disappointment he likely carries from his past. Put people in his path that point the way to Jesus as it is Jesus and only Jesus who saves. Your time with him is a but a stepping stone to him finding his way. ❣️
Thank you Cathy for the suggestion of this app. I downloaded it and listened to today’s prayer. Thank you, thank you!
This is a great reminder for the new year. I love this
Thank you thank you She Reads Truth! Found this site in time for advent and making it my devotional for the New Year. Loving it! Just read comments and Psalm 104. So grateful for all of you!!!
A great reminder that He keep us each close, gently leading when we are with our young, and carry when we need carrying. Our hearts need to be open to him, cutting away our own stubbornness and welcome him. Soften your heart to others.
In the short time I’ve been engaging with you all at SRT, I have come to love how so many of you express such a loving embrace of God’s word and understanding of his unsearchable character. It’s apparent to me that to grasp anything about the Lord we need humble hearts and minds which surrender to the Holy Spirit to bring about revelation. Recently, I’ve been in the presence of conversations in which others are wrestling with the paradoxical truths about God’s character (e.g. his triune nature, his election in salvation). What is common in these strugglers is a desire to use human logic as the end-all of understanding. But, through my own similar wrestling, I’ve come to see that human logic can never be enough; not only because our minds are finite trying to figure out an infinite God, but also because our minds have been tainted by the Fall. Oh how we need his mercy even to let go of holding our reason up to a level of superiority that it cannot achieve! Not that we aren’t to use our reason at all for the Lord does call us to “reason together”. Yet, we need to come to him with child-like faith, believing that he will show us what we need to know in order to grow in his love thus becoming obedient children. May the Lord grant us this humble state today!
Mari, will be praying.. from the moment I wake up…
Hugs..with love wrapped hugs and prayers.. x
Mari V and Melany- praying for you both; that God fulfills your needs and brings peace to your hearts.
Mom to Many- I like using https://www.blueletterbible.org and https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/ahlb/1-strongs.html to look the meanings of words, and find commentaries. Blue Letter has all the concordances on their site so it’s super helpful.
How amazing is it that we are sought out and pursued by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords for a personal relationship. And yet at times I push that relationship aside for social media, tv, my to-do list, etc..Lord you are my source, my God..help me to run to you in praise and in need daily. I am in a season of change right now. Hubs and I are looking for the right state to move to, the next job opportunity and to finally be a part of a community. Please pray that the Lord would lead us and we would be still to listen to His direction. Thanks.
Mari, I’ve made note of your request and I will be on my knees intercediing on your behalf.
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Our God has chosen to be known. I love this reminder and Truth. I’m so grateful for all of you here as we get to know Him “together”. Have a blessed day my dear sisters. Dear sisters, without getting into details, your faithful prayers are appreciated for tomorrow at 10:30 AM.
Will be praying!
Prayed.
Will be praying.
Praying!
Reading today’s scripture brought to me the awesome magnificent God we have. Sometimes I tend to forget about His greatness and how blessed I am that He chose me. It brought back that feeling of overwhelming awe that you get when you can feel and see Him working. Thank you!
❤️ this truth!!
Beautiful acknowledgement!
So true! I remember being struck when reading Psalm 104 too! It’s amazing to read and think about all He does and how He cares for His creation. If he didn’t, they wouldn’t be able to survive! If you haven’t read that Psalm in a while, it’s worth checking out!
Wow, God is just amazing! As I read in Isaiah today, I felt convicted. All to often I forget how awesome God is. I get too caught up in life and my feelings about what is going on. I need to instead camp on how great and awesome God is.
I too have been waiting for the Lord to show me “what’s next” and I must admit to getting discouraged and frustrated. I am a “do-er” and I think the Lord is trying to teach me stillness and I am not a good student.
May I ask what tools you all use for your devotional time besides SRT and your Bible? A favourite journal? I have tried and not been very successful at journalling but wonder if it might bring some freshness to my quiet time.
I also use a journal in the same way as Cathy. It has been so encouraging to look back at my old journals and see God’s faithfulness. I have also been using the Enduring Word Bible Commentary app. It has a lot of good commentary on Bible passages and helps you to understand the meaning.
Hi! There’s this book calling ‘having a Mary heart in a Martha world’ that I would recommend reading. It explores the balance of being a “do-er” and being still. Using a journal has really helped me too :) God bless xx
“He has graciously entered our world time and time again.” Ive been asking the Lord for over a year now to move and work in specific ways and He hasn’t yet. I know I’m not alone in waiting for the Lord to stretch out His arm and do what only He can do. Sometimes I feel forgotten. I wonder if He will ever do what I plead for. And then this verse (Deut. 10:15) reminds me that it’s about more than just a transactional relationship. God has entered my world over and over and over, with the sole purpose of knowing and loving me, just as I am today ♥️
I heard a pastor once say, “If God we’re small enough to be understood, He would not be big enough to be worshipped”. I wrote it in my Bible and it has stuck ever since! It’s not about me….it’s all about God!
That’s an amazing thought Verna, thank you!
This was really speaking to my heart today. I need reminders that God is the almighty. He is the Lord of lords, King of Kong’s, He is the God of gods. When I question my future and whether I’m on the right path, I pray and remind myself that His ways are higher then my and His ways and thoughts are not mine. they are much higher than that. Thank you, God for loving me despite myself!
Churchmouse and Tina, I just want to say how thankful I am for each of you. Each morning I look forward to spending time in Gods word with SRT and my beautiful sisters in Christ. Thank you both for sharing the wisdom, love and understanding of Gods word. May God Bless.
I second this!
Yes, thank you!☺️
Good words my sister’s. What a God we have that draws us to Himself with unfathomable love. Love that embraces, strengthens, grows and heals us. So thankful for you Jesus. Be with us this day. Help us to know your depths, wrap us in your light and lift our voices to proclaim your love and glory. Hallelujah to the King.
John 1:14 (The Message): “God became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.” Our one true God is not distant nor disengaged. All His interactions are truthfully and well recorded. We need only read His Word to get to know His character, His thoughts, His desires, His plans. He chose to walk this earth as one of us. Because He came to our neighborhood then and still comes today, in us and through us, we can know God incredibly intimately (This is not something to take lightly. He is after all God. And He pursues relationship with us. So amazing!). We can know Him as well as we know our next door neighbor-even more so as a best friend and better yet as a constant companion. The more time we spend with Him, the more we know and the more we want to know. Knowledge of Him is limitless because He is a limitless God. I pray that each of us discovers more about Him this year than we did last. And I pray we fall more in love with Him Who first loved us. Not just head knowledge but heart knowledge.
My prayer, also!
Yes!!!
I had my daughter when I was 17 years old. Though I was the mother, barely a child myself, we grew to be the very best of friends. We talked about everything and anything as she got older. We shared my bed when she visited, holding hands if we fell asleep! We shopped, we laughed. We cried. We loved. We lived.
My beautiful girl was called home in 2004, leaving me a grieving mother and one who had lost her best friend and champion.
In the months and years that have followed, I still hear stories and things about her that I didn’t know. Things that, not so much shock me as stop me in my tracks to say… “What, I’ve not heard that before,” or “I didnt know that.. ”
We talked about everything, I mean everything…! I make no judgement on the things I hear,,1)She was my girl..and 2)I love to hear the stories of my beloved one no longer here..
Here’s the thing.. i thought i knew my daughter, i thought i knew her way of thinking, i thought i knew her pretty well, we spent so much time together.. and yet..
How much more God..
How much more God..
In my journeying with Him, I have learnt not to box Him in, not to limit his power to my ‘mustard seed’ size power, I love, oh how I love, But God… He loves with an everlasting love, a love so pure, so unconditional..
I have learnt that though I dream and hanker after things, Gods plans for my life far out weighs my thinking and dreaming..
What is it Paul said..
..So that it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. This life that I live now, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me.
Galatians 2:20 GNB
I will never truly understand Our God, but I know Him. Here’s the thing, do I need to understand Him? Do I need to figure Him out?
Absolutely not!
He lives in me. He gave His life for me. He loves me. He watches over me. He is present for me, in all things.. Oh my goodness, He sings over me..! Zephaniah 3:17 tells me..
The LORD your God is with you; his power gives you victory. The LORD will take delight in you, and in his love he will give you new life. He will sing and be joyful over you,
What else do I need to know?
Amen.
Thank you lord God. With all I am Thank you, that you chose me.. Thank you..
Love wrapped hugs Sisters, for a fabulously God blessed Friday.
Tina, although I’m sorry to hear she has passed, what a beautiful story. I lost my mom when I was 11 and have regrets of not knowing her the way you and your daughter knew one another. You’re right, how much more the Lord! Much love to you ❤️
Much love and many prayers coming across the pond to you, Tina! ❤️
Thank you Tina for sharing your beautiful story of this beautiful relationship with you and your daughter. With God by my side I am striving for this relationship between my daughter and I. I am an older mom but I love my daughter dearly. Many times I just stay silent and listen.
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