He Is

something I've been thinking about a lot:  Who is God?  What is He like?

Part of this comes from my incarceration.  Most of my fellow inmates don't have any idea who or what He is, they have never been to Sunday School or Church; a lot of them never made it to High School.

If you ask a typical Christian or Bible Student who or what God is, you often get some of the standard list of the attributes of God:

Wisdom
Infinitude
Holiness
Sovereignty
Trinity
Omniscience
Faithfulness
Omnipotence
Self-existence
Self-sufficient
Justice
Immutability
Mercy
Eternal
Goodness
Omnipresence

But if you ask them to explain this in terms that my new acquaintances would understand they can't give an answer.  I think that too many self professed Christians, when they are talking about their God or their religion really do not understand what they are saying; and I think that too many of us have made Christianity into a "Mystery" religion, one where everything is full of mystery and ritual, where only the "initiated" or "chosen" can understand what is really happening.

And this is wrong.  Yes, Moses was raised and trained to be a Prince of Egypt, Daniel was evidently a member of the upper class, and Matthew had some mathematical ability and political acumen as a tax collector, but many of God's chosen people were nobody special.  Peter, James, John, and Andrew were simple fisherman, most likely illiterate, with no education beyond what was needed for mending nets and finding and selling fish.

So, for the last couple of months I've been making note of some of the things that mean "God" to me.  And the first thing I noticed was that when I try to do this for a person, I might say that a particular person is pretty or handsome or smart or a good mechanic, but I generally do not particularly note more than a handful of things that stand out.  As I get to know a person better, I will take note of more things.  And so it is with God, the better I get to know Him the more I notice.

My Avenger Deut. 32:35
My Father Matt. 6:9
My Rest Matt. 11:28
My Comforter Jer. 8:18
My Shepherd Psa. 23; John 10:1-18
My Bread John 6:35
My Light John 8:12
My Life John 14:6
My Vine John 15
My Water John 7:37-38
My Teacher John 14:23-24
My Peace John 14:27
My Counselor John 14:15-17; Psa. 32:8
My Glory John 17:22
My Healer Mark 6:56
My Help Psa 63:7
My Lover Psa. 13:5
My Strength Psa. 118:14
My Song Psa 118:14
My Defender Prov. 23:11
My Creator Isa. 43:15
My Salvation Isa. 43:3
The Still Small Voice in the silence
The Calmer of the Storm
My Foundation
The Word that created this world and will create the world that is to come
The Filler of My Heart
The breath of life
The Sacrificial Lamb
The High Priest
The fire by night
The law giver
Kinsman-redeemer
King
Rebuilder of broken walls and lives
Morning song
Wisdom's cry
Lover's dream
Prince of peace
Stranger in the fire
Forever faithful
The Arms that carry me
Strength
Shield
Fire from heaven
Glorious treasure
Healer of the sick