Bruce Bickel - God Is Amazing: Everything Changes When You See God for Who He Really Is

2014 by Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz

Print ISBN 978-1-63058-182-4

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Adobe Digital Edition (.epub) 978-1-63058-632-4
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Our world is an amazing place. But most people are either too focused on important things or with truly trivial matters to notice.

We understand that. When youre rushing around the house trying to get the kids off to school or running late for work because youre stuck in traffic, you dont consider the amazing fact that once again, for the umpteenth time, a massive ball of hot plasma 93 million miles away is warming our planet so we can live another day.

Its only natural to take nature for granted. But every once in a while we should stop and smell the roses. We should notice the astonishing wonders of the natural world. Even more, we should lift our eyes beyond the natural to the supernaturalto our amazing God, who created it all. He is the One who gives us life and breath and everything else.

Twenty centuries ago on the Sea of Galilee, a body of water in what is now Israel, twelve ordinary men were in a boat. A great storm arose, and the boat was swamped. The men panicked and sought their leaderwho was sleeping while the storm raged. Save us, Lord, they cried. We are going to die. Their leader got up, said Peace! Be still, and instantly the wind and the waves calmed. The men were amazed and afraidnot at the miracle they had just witnessed, but at the supernatural being in their presence. Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him? they whispered. The man, of course, was Jesus Christ, God in human form, who amazed people throughout His earthly existence by the things He did and the life He lived.

Like the men in that boat, we are too often focused on the circumstances around us, whether extraordinary or routine. We often fail to notice the amazing God whos right there with us. When the sea is calm, we take Him for granted. When the storm is raging, we forget Hes near.

How tragic! No matter what were going through, no matter how ordinary or how challenging life may be, we need to think about God first, realizing with every ounce of our being that God is amazing. Everything about Himfrom His amazing power to His amazing graceis absolutely real, not the stuff of myth or conjecture. He is as real as the beautiful world He made. He is more amazing than we could ever imagine.

In this book we want to encourage you to know and more fully appreciate your amazing God. We will consider Him from four different perspectives:

In , we consider the amazing characteristics of Gods being.

In , we look at the world God made and show how its wonders point to His wonders.

The theme of is Jesus, who astonished the world with His love and sacrificeand continues to amaze us today.

Finally, in , we show how Gods amazing grace is lived out every day in people just like you.

Its time for a bigger view of God. We hope youre ready to lift your eyes and begin to truly appreciate Him. And, in doing so, that youll truly love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

PART 1

AMAZING GOD

People are often befuddled when it comes to discussing the nature of God. We know how to describe most animate and inanimate items in our lives, but God seems to transcend the usual descriptive lingo we find convenient and informative when discussing other subjects.

Usually, the answers to a few standard questions can draw out all we care to know about a person or thing, whether thats an exotic automobile, the next-generation mobile computing device, or your best friend: What does it do? What does it look like? How can it benefit me? But such a simple line of inquiry is insufficient when considering an amazing God who is both infinite and mysterious. A simple question-and-answer checklist is woefully inadequate to offer an understanding of the incomprehensible.

Theologianswho are paid to know things about Godoften defer to a descriptive list of His attributes. But that seems to us a rather clinical and impersonal approach. This is not how people describe someone they find fascinating or captivating. Imagine a local television news reporter interviewing the groom during a wedding reception and asking a penetrating line of questions:

Why have you picked this woman to be your bride?

What do you find so fascinating about her?

What makes her character and personality so irresistible to you?

What do you find most attractive about her?

You can be sure this interview wouldnt make the evening broadcast if the groom replies with a dispassionate, Let me list for you her attributes, all of which I find admirable.