Made in His Image

I am taking a class this semester that all DBU students are required to take, called Developing the Christian Mind (DCM). This class is focused on preparing Christians to intellectually develop their faith so it is based upon truth that they have thought out and worked out instead of just believing generalities and not digging deeper. At least, I think that is what the class is about. Regardless, today we were talking about creation and how in the first three chapters of the Bible, we are able to answer the four questions that every person longs to know. Who am I? Where am I? What's wrong (with the world)? What's the remedy? We were on the topic of "who am I" in regard to Adam and Eve. We were talking about how they were made in the image of God. Then, the professor asked the question of why God was so against the Israelites making graven images or idols. One student said that the idols could take the place of God in our lives and become the receptor of our praise instead of God. That is true. Another student said God cannot be confined to human efforts of craftsmanship and it is a disgrace to attempt to. That is true as well. But then it clicked. God made humans in the image of God. We are to be the representation of God on this planet because we have his characteristics and attributes to a certain extent. We shirk our duty of being the physical representation of God in this world and put it upon other things, but God designed us to be His graven image. Not so we can receive praise, but that people may see who God is through their fellow human which will lead them to a relational powerful God. Humans are the only creation made in God's image, so we have a innate duty to display who our creator for his glory.

What's That You Say?

When I was living in Houston I went through a time when I wanted to hear God's voice more than any other voice in my life. Many voices are always speaking to us trying to get heard above the others. These voices include family, friends, world, Satan, even our own. They try to tell us what we should do and how we should live our lives. As children of God we should desire to hear God's voice rather than man's so we may please Him and bring glory to His name. So at that point in my life I was fed up with hearing any voice besides my God's. So I did what any normal person would do when they want to focus, I went to the streets to get away from people and fasted to be able to hear God's voice. After being on the streets for about 2 weeks I eventually went back to the house that I had been staying at without any clear direction from the Lord or an ability to hear him better. I was discouraged and disappointed in not being any closer to God than in the beginning. I think it is obvious to say that the ability to hear God's voice grows over our whole lifetimes. Yet I wanted a huge jump so I would know exactly what He wanted. I wanted to skip the lifetime of learning and just have it. Sounds like a lot of things in life. We do not like to wait or grow into something but we just want to have it. Anyways, I was speaking with a friend of mine and he was sharing this same desire causing me to recall that time in Houston. As I recounting my experience, God spoke. When I went to the streets I was wanting God to speak louder than any voice in my life. I wanted him to be loud and drown out the other voices, to make it easy for me. That is not how He works. He allows those voices to be heard, yet He grows us to be able to discern His voice above any other voice. He does not out yell the other voices. He does not compete with other voices. He speaks at His normal volume and gives us the grace to discern His voice. It takes no skill to be able to hear a person shouting at you in a room of normal conversation level. Let me put it this way. Sunday morning, the praise team was singing which includes six or seven different people. Yet even amongst all the voices I was able to distinguish to voice of Haley Till. It is not because she was singing louder than the others but because I was familiar with her. We have been friends for many years and that intimacy allowed me to discern her voice out of the others. God wants us to grow in intimacy with Him so we are able to distinguish His voice out of the sea of voices. He wants us to be familiar with His ways and nature. He wants a personal relationship that is growing deeper and deeper. ...and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. John 10:4