IS YOUR GOD TOO SMALL?
by Francis Frangipane

(used with permission)

Too many Christians serve a little, prepackaged god who, along with a hymnal and bulletin, was given to them at church years ago. Today, "little god" still sits in their minds, blocking their capacity to see the true God for who He is. "Little god" asks nothing of his followers except they try to be good, and he promises that everyone will go to heaven regardless of what they believe. "Little god" is harmless, nice and safe. Unfortunately, he is also an idol that dwells in the church and needs to be cleansed from our thought life.

The true God is bigger, more wonderful than all that we could possibly ask or think. He is quite likely to surprise us with His power and interrupt us with His plans. The real God is not satisfied that we have doctrines about Him; He desires we actually, personally know Him as He is.

Of course, I am not anti-doctrine. Our doctrines satisfy our mind's quest for knowledge; they help organize and define our information about spiritual things. However, for our faith to truly work, we must allow God to be GOD. We must be rid of the manageable little god and pursue the reality of the Eternal I Am.

The Lord says of Himself, "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being," declares the Lord." (Isaiah 66:1-2).

If heaven is His throne, think how big His home must be!

Beloved, a religion hasn't entered our lives, God has! The Master of the heavens and the earth, who made all things, does not need our good ideas, clever plans or human advice. He simply desires that we discover Him for who He is. He is more marvelous than all we can imagine. This wonderful God wants our attention, our focus, and our minds to open up and trust the greatness of His glory.

We understand the nature of God by studying the person of Christ. To know Him is to know three things: what He taught, what He did and who He is. We can read what He taught and we can study what He did. It is 'who He is' that I am speaking about.

The Amplified Bible tells us that Jesus is the "...appointed heir and lawful Owner of all things, also by and through Whom He created the worlds and the reaches of space and the ages of time --
[that is,] He made, produced, built, operated and arranged them in order." The text continues saying that, right now, Christ is "...upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power." (Heb 1:2-3).

It is this Almighty, Omnipresent, Omniscient God, who became our Savior. He is the glorious King who ". . . made purification of sins" (vs 3 NAS). A man didn't die for our sins - the Creator Himself paid our moral debts!

When we pray, we are pouring our hearts out to the High Ruler of the universe, the Redeemer King who died for us. Our cry is heard by the Lord of all things, who can easily change all things.

Where is He? He is not far from each of us, for "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28 NIV). We do not need a special building to find Him, for He is everywhere all the time, totally powerful and fully available in every situation. Right now, He is surrounding you, within you, ahead and behind you. He is the life in which your life, and all life, exists.

He is the source of power, of righteousness and of love. When we intercede for another, even while our words are still in our mouths, He is already ministering to those for whom we pray. As He sustains the universe by His mighty power, so He sustains all who come to Him as well!

He speaks, and universes flow from His mouth; He utters His command and from dust we arise in His image! We have no failure He cannot redeem; no illness He cannot heal; no depression He cannot relieve. God always wins; His love never fails. And His favorite pastime is waiting until things look perfectly impossible so He can manifest Himself as perfectly wonderful. In fact, one of His names is Wonderful (Is 9:11).

"Every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is in My mind" (Psalm 50:10-11 margin).

Everything created is His. All things exist "...in [His] mind." He doesn't have to go anywhere to see how we are doing, for we are right now, alive in His conscious mind. Our world is His thought. To change our world, He needs only to change His mind.

Matthew 10:29 tells us that a sparrow will not fall to the ground apart from Him. Our God knows everything and can do anything. He delights in seeing righteousness prevail and people healed. He has joy when we forgive. He loves restoring marriages, healing families, resurrecting churches and reviving cities. When one sinner repents and returns to Him, He laughs with joy. And when GOD laughs, heaven laughs as well.

When you are in an "impossible" situation, God has already created the solution. He's in our lives to produce good things, righteous attitudes and holy hearts. Beloved, be free forever from "little god" and accept the true God for who He is!


Cease Striving

"Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." (Psalms 46:10).

You and I are the "earth" He will first be exalted in, but His exaltation shall continue until the universe is filled with His glory (Eph 1:9-10). Our circumstances are merely His opportunity for exaltation. Don't allow your soul to be trapped by the illusion of the enemy. The devil is real, but what he says is a lie. The more we magnify our problems, the greater they possess us, so come, let us magnify the Lord!

God's word tells us, "In repentance and rest you shall be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength" (Is 30:15).

Be quiet. "Trust is . . . strength." Don't let your words deplete your spirit, for the more you talk of your problems, the more peace you lose. Be slow to speak and quick to praise. You are thinking too much and thanking too little. Enter His gates with thanksgiving.

Keep your soul focused on the Lord and develop a listening ear to His voice. Before you can speak for God, you must learn to listen to God. We must also learn what not to speak, for life and death are in the power of the tongue.

If you know who God truly is, anxiety will fade into trust. Therefore, cease striving about your life! Cease worrying about what you will eat and what to put on! Exchange your feeble strength for God's great strength and you will walk in His great victory! Again I say, trust the Almighty One! God allows the devil to exist only to perfect our character! The God of peace will soon crush Satan beneath your feet! (Rom 16:20)

Cease striving, it only leads to evil doing (Ps 37). Be calm and become what God has promised. Talk to the Lord and then quietly listen. Take walks, stroll into His presence. As you do, your spirit will expand from the shrunken place of unbelief and fear, ever upward into the dwelling place of God. Yes, repent of following "little god;" submit afresh to the great I AM.