Oh my goodness. This week of teaching was full of truth that I understood. Carolyn Ros is so gifted and, later, she returned during our debrief with her husband, Johan. She began by drawing a tree. The roots are beliefs, trunk is world view, higher is values, branches – behavior, and top, with leaves, is actions. This is the journey of discipleship. God has the biggest story and how we view God is going to affect everything starting in Genesis – how we understand the relationship of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit for instance. Psalm 29:3-9 ascribes the following to the Lord; thunder, powerful, majestic, breaks cedars, flames, shakes, and deer to calve. We are made in His image – male and female. How God engages His creation begins in the Old Testament, then to the New Testament, and now in these later days. God’s motivation is always love (Ps 9:10, Prov 18:10, John 3:16 – an anchor, 1 John 4:7-19, Eph 3:20, I Pet 5:7). More names for God are found in Ex 34:5-7. We need fresh encounters with God to exchange the lies we live with in the world for God’s truth. Back to Ps 103 to further open our eyes to the identity of God. He is, among other qualities; Raah – shepherd, Rapha – healer, Nissi – banner, Tsidkenu – righteousness, shalom – peace, Jireh – provider, and Shaman – present and presence. God has many covenant names. There is no place where God is not. Because of who He is, this is who we are. Ps 37:3, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness”. Ps 23:4, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for Thou art with me;”. This may sound familiar to you but to me it was an avalanche of good news.
