Calling to Mind Who Our God Is
What Gives Me Hope
There are many things we can call to mind to have hope. These three are most helpful to me:
- God’s steadfast love.
- Who God is.
- What God does.
When I am discouraged, when I need hope, when I need to seek God and find my rest and peace in him, those are the things I try to call to mind.
In my previous blog, I wrote of calling to mind God’s steadfast love. Today, I will write about calling to mind who God is.
The Importance of What I Think Of
The Bible has many commands and encouragements on what I am to set my mind on or think.
I am to set my mind on things above.
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Colossians 3:1-2
God gives peace to those who set their mind on him.
You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you
Isaiah 26:3
Choosing What to Call to Mind
Because I am prone to become depressed, it is critical what I choose to call to mind. I can choose to call to mind what gives me hope what gives me hope.
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:21-23
These verses remind me, that when I think about God’s steadfast love and his mercies, I can have hope.
Seeking God; Seeking Hope
In my struggle with depression, I’ve come to realize that when my only real hope comes from knowing Jesus. Because of him, I have the sure and certain hope of eternal life. It is what God promises me, and I trust in God and believe in his promises. When I call to mind who God is, it renews my sure and certain hope in God.
Who God Is
The Bible gives us so many words that describe God. These words aren’t parts of God. God is all those things at the same time, perfectly, completely, thoroughly, and never stopping to be. For example, God is caring and loving and righteous and just all at the same time, never stopping being one to be another. Another way to say this is God is indivisible. He can not be broken into smaller parts not equal to each other.
God is infinite and perfect and good in all that he is. My words are an attempt to say who God is, and describe him so you can see why, when I set my mind on him, I have hope. But know that God is so much more than I write here.
God is the Great I AM
God is the I AM. This stands by itself. I AM. When I think of God declaring this, I want to bow before him, and give him glory and honor. Below are some I AM verses.
God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
Exodus 3:14
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
John 8:58
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6
God is the Creator
God created all that is from nothing. He created the universe and all the diverse living organisms and all the diverse nonliving things all around us. He said, “Let there be light,” and there was.
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
Isaiah 40:28
God is Sovereign
God is the supreme ruler over all. He has the right to do as he pleases according to his good pleasure.
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.
1 Chronicles 29:11-12
God is Omnipotent
God is omnipotent or all powerful. He has the power to do anything he chooses to do. His power is infinite and doesn’t get used up.
‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.
Jeremiah 32:17
God is Love
God loves us infinitely and perfectly, thoroughly, and completely. All that God does is loving.
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
1 John 4:14
God in Righteous and Just
The Lord God is righteous and just in all that he does. He does nor allow for sin to go unpunished.
Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.
Jeremiah 9:23-24
God is Our Father
Jesus suffered and died for us, so that those of us who believed in him, asked forgiveness for out sins, and chose him to be Lord of our lives, were given the right to be called children of God. We can now have a relationship with the Father, and we will spend eternity with him. This is the hope to which we are called.
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.
1 John 3:1
Jesus is God
Jesus was the Father’s Son, fully God and fully man.
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Titus 2:11-14
The Holy Spirit is God
There is a third person revealed in the Bible who is distinct from both the Father and the Son. He is known as the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is also referred to as being God. The Holy Spirit is not an influence but rather a distinct personality.
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Genesis 1:1-2
God is the Lord God Almighty
God is our Lord of Lords, and Kings. He is to be worshipped and adored. We glory and delight and find our satisfaction in him.
And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
Revelation 4:8
God is Holy
God is completely separate and exalted over all of the universe, over all of mankind and over all that he created. He is morally perfect and pure. Nothing and no one is like him.
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
Isaiah 57:15
Calling to Mind Who God Is
When I call to mind who God is, I am humbled before him. I am so grateful for who he is and that he sent his Son, Jesus, to suffer and die for me, so that I might have eternal life with him. This is my hope. This is what I believe and hold on to. When I am discouraged, I call to mind who God is and once again I have hope. I have hope in God.
A Prayer
Dear Father God,
Thank you for the honor and privilege of prayer and for being with us in a special way when we pray.
Father, we thank you for your Word in which we can come to know who you are. And Jesus taught us the most precious words in John 17:3. “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Eternal life is knowing you. Through your Word, we have eternal life now.
Father, please help us to call to mind who you are when we are discourage so that we may have hope.
You, Father, are sovereign. You are omnipotent, all loving, righteous, and just. And you are holy. We praise you, Father God, and we love you. Thank you for being our God.
It’s in the name of your Son, Jesus, that we pray.
Your grateful daughter,
Joy