Beyond the Weekend: GOD IS...
People have a lot of thoughts about God. Some say he is angry and vengeful. Some say he is a buddy or best friend. But what does Scripture tell us about God?
Understanding the character of God matters. It changes how we meet him in our everyday lives. It changes how we understand the world around us, and his work in it. And it changes our prayer life and how we talk and hear from him. Understanding the character of God leads us to living lives of obedience and worship.
Join Pastors Aaron Buer, Jeff Manion and Brad Holmes in our 10-week series GOD IS ..., a study on the identity and character of God, and learn how your faith can grow as you know God better.
God is Slow to Anger
Read: Exodus 33:18-20 Listen: Exodus 33
And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Exodus 33:19
Moses meets with God on Mt. Sinai and asks God to reveal himself in all his glory, but God refuses. If anyone were to look upon his face, they would surely die. Instead, God tells Moses who he is and how he should be understood. God loves people and punishes sin. He is both compassionate and wrathful. He is both gracious and just. Moses can trust the character of God because he is unchanging. What angers God does not change. He is both a loving father and a perfect judge.
How we perceive the character of God has a significant impact on how we interact with him. So, it is imperative to pay attention to what God says about himself. Life will test how we feel about God’s character. But we can’t rely on our feelings when trying to understand God. Feelings are fickle and fleeting, but God is unchanging. He tells us he is compassionate, gracious and slow to anger. The God of Moses is the same God of today. What he said about himself then is true now and will be forever.
TODAY: Read Psalm 103:7-10. Look for similarities with how God describes himself in Exodus. Does this description of God’s character match your understanding of him? Why or why not? Pray: “God, open my eyes to who you are and help me believe your words today. Amen.”
JESUS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT:
Read Psalm 103. Highlight anything that points to Jesus. Consider how his death on the cross fulfilled this Psalm.
