In a world that is driven by social media and the number of likes on those posts that supposedly quantify how popular a person is, the thought strikes me…is any of it real?

What does a “like” on my post really mean? Does it really indicate someone actually cares about me or just that they have “seen my story” or given me a nod with “a thumbs up” or “heart” reaction?

Don’t get me wrong…I use social media to stay connected with people around the globe, but I believe it takes much more for us to show we care than just to “like” a post. 

When I struggle with questions like these, I believe the best way to find an answer is to go to God’s Word looking for a model or a pattern of how Jesus would have handled these situations.

We have reached the final part of the series I started two months ago considering the seven “God Is Not…” statements found in the Bible.

We have looked at God is not:

• A man - Numbers 23:19

• The author of confusion - 1 Cor. 14:33

• Mocked - Galatians 6:7

• Unrighteous - Hebrews 6:10

Let’s finish with the last three statements today.

God is not:

• Ashamed to be called their God.
• Slack concerning His promises.
• Willing that any should perish.

Read 7 Things God is Not (Part 1) here.
Read 7 Things God is Not (Part 2) here.

Last month, I shared the first part of this three-part series considering the first two “God Is Not…” statements found in God’s Word. We looked at the first statement in Numbers 23:19 – God is not a man. And the second one was found in 1 Corinthians 14:33 – God is not the author of confusion. Let’s continue into the next two times the Bible tells us something that “God Is Not.”
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Statement #3 – God is not mocked.​

​Statement #4 – God is not unrighteous.

Several years ago, I heard a sermon by Steve Anderson, a field administrator with Baptist World Mission, in which he delineated seven times that the Bible states, “God is not….”

I have spent countless hours studying what the Bible says God is and how His character is revealed through His Word, but I had never considered the clear statements that declare what God is not.

Over the next three blog posts that I write for InstaEncouragements, (third Friday of each month) I plan to share with you these seven statements and how they should challenge us as believers in our walk with the Lord. Since every Word of God is true and we know all of God’s Word (including these specific statements) has been given to us for our learning, (2 Timothy 3:16) let’s see what important truths we can glean and learn from these statements.

Have you ever looked up at the night sky and just wondered in awe about the stars and all that we see there? God tells us in Psalm 8 Whom we have to thank for these wonders in the night sky!

This is a familiar psalm that I have read scores of times in my life. But recently, the Lord encouraged my heart with some new thoughts about how He reveals His glory to each of us. ​

Have you ever noticed that much of the Bible and the lessons we learn from it are centered on suffering and people’s response to suffering? It is hard to find a story in the Bible of some saint who did not endure suffering. Peter spends much of his two epistles speaking of the inevitability of suffering for God’s people.

Many people have attempted to answer the question of why God allows suffering. I believe the Bible clearly answers this question in several passages. Elizabeth Elliot, the wife of missionary martyr Jim Elliot, spoke and wrote often about the suffering God allows in our lives because she said that abundant life is only borne out of suffering and death.

​I am not going to attempt to comprehensively answer this question today, but I want to highlight one major benefit of suffering in our lives – the comfort that only comes from God!

Have you ever done a study on the attributes of God? If you have, you may have come across some big theological words like:
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• Omnipotence
• Omniscience
• Omnipresence
• Immutability
• Transcendence

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​Maybe those words scared you off a little from that study, or maybe they challenged you to dig deeper into the character of God.

I love words! I love to take a word apart, figure out what it means, and then incorporate it into my vocabulary. ​

​Let’s take one of these big words, omniscience, and do just that today!