[Zach’s self-talk]

Haha. Shirley newly coined word stuck. If all my self-talk conversations were broadcasted, I have no doubt I would ended up in the nearest asylum anyone could bring me to. (Then again, Singapore only has one right...... get what I mean by self-talk?)

ANYWAY.... one of the self-talk conservations I had recently was brought to light because of Michael's preaching.

"It is prideful to think our failures are more powerful then God."
-Michael, Youth service 9 Dec 06

Indeed... who are we to say that God is not powerful enough? We all know that impossible is nothing with God. But I guess that is all to it that we know. "Whatever we say we are, we will become." Right? How many of us truly speak as thought God is exalted more then our failures? Why are we readily admitting areas in our lives that cannot be changed, easily throwing in the towel when faced with overwhelming problems in our group? We may agree on the mental knowledge of impossible is nothing for God, but verbally we are agreeing with the rest of world that God is limited to our natural ways. By this I am not saying we verbally voiced out that God is weak, but in our cries of "I never passed this paper before and never will", "doubt that I can get healed by tomorrow" and "logically, I cannot think of a way out" we have admitted more then we would have like to implicitly. And I bet many of you heard off these type of people. Perhaps, many of you like me... heard myself.

More then often, we give God the glory He deserve in church but yet strip Him of that glory in our personal lives. Why is that so? I gave some thought to this matter. Could it be something with our perspective of God?

Allow me to question you. Who is God to you?

An immortal? Someone who is more powerful then us? These answers may seem to describe our God, but I think they fail to give Him the placing and description He truly deserves. Save them for Hercules instead. Immortal merely means not human, never dying. More powerful is correct, but wrong characteristic of God. You do not compare power with God. He is not God because He is more powerful then us. He is God because He is power. He defines what is power. He is the source. Omnipotent is the perfect word used to describe because it is the only word suitable. If God is unable, He is not God. He set very high standards for Himself when He described Himself in His own word. He is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscience, love, immutable. Just this five characteristic is a bite off more then we can chew. Allow me to explain why.

Do we truly understand the concept of immutable? He will not change but more importantly, He CANNOT change. For if He change, He is not longer God, and He is no longer worthy to be worshiped. Due to the fact He is immutable, He will be forever omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscience (Lets call it the 3Os.... I am getting tired of typing.) Without being immutable, He can stop being the 3Os, yet still be called God. Imagine it as an ON/OFF switch that He can toggle between. "On" meaning He has the 3Os, and "Off" meaning He took a break and is no only the 3Os. Switching on and off a lamp does not make the lamp any less a lamp, thus if God did not claim to be immutable, He can be powerless at times without breaching the rule of not being God. However, God did not make things easier for Himself. He declared Himself the 4 characteristics together with his immutability. This means that anytime He is not loving, or powerful enough, He is not God. If He is not with you, He is not God. If He does not know something, He is not God.

This is the definition of the word God. Do not let household legends and myth dilute your understanding on the word that is ascribed to Him. He is G-O-D. The Almighty, the Alpha, the Omega. With such understanding, questions such as "who made God?" will be meaningless. For God cannot be surpassed and created by a higher being. If someone made god, then that someone will BE God.

Among the 3 Omni-s, the one that is held under scrutiny the most is obviously the omnipotent aspect. People ask if He is truly all mighty, why can’t He heal me, help me in this... etc. The issue is not He cannot. If He cannot, He is not God. The reason is He chose not to. So perhaps the better question is why He chose not to. Even then, He has already replied us.



[Isaiah 55:8-9]
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.