Crazy Love - Chapter 1

I was packing up my books the other day, getting things in order for when I finish up my internship and head back to school, and I noticed something that kinda bothered me. I had probably no less than 20 books sitting on my shelf that I hadn't read yet...but this isn't really what bothered me. What really bothered me was that I noticed another 20 or so books that I have read...I couldn't remember a single thing about some and very few things about others. I spent hours reading those books and have nothing to show for it...what a waste of time!

I came to the conclusion that I needed to do something in order to better recall the things that I have read so that I can better apply them to my life. So I devised a plan. From now on I am going to read at least a chapter every day and sometimes more and then regurgitate what I read on my blog. My hopes are that I will be able to recall the things that I read and better apply them to my life. Also, I hope that something that I write on here will inspire someone else in some way.

Today I started the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I have heard great things about this book and am really looking forward to being challenged by its words.

Stop Praying...what a way to start a book.

Stop talking at God and take some time to actually meditate and focus on who He is.

This is a whole lot harder than you might think. Just thinking of God as "Creator" is most likely too much for our human brains to handle. This video kinda puts things into perspective a little bit. This universe that God created and its detail is a lot to take in. Just thinking about how no two snowflakes are the same or how God knows exactly the number of hairs on our head or how your heart creates enough pressure when it pumps blood through your body to squirt it up to 30 feet or how there are 228 separate and distinct muscles in the head of a caterpillar is simply amazing. And this is just a fraction of the tip of an iceberg.

I feel just like Chan when he said that when he thinks about these things he HAS to worship. How could you not? Check out Psalm 19:1-4. I feel a little left out at times when I read this passage. If all of creation is a constant testimony to to power of God and how truly BIG He is...why do I miss it sometimes? Why am I not constantly lifting God up in worship? Unfortunately I think that a lot of us struggle with just this. We forget God and who He really is. We don't often think about this because it is one of those things that is always around us and never leaves. We get used to being right in the middle of it and start to take it for granted...or forget that it is there...that God is with us...and that He is AWESOME!

Chan end the chapter by hitting on some of the key attributes of God that we often forget about...not because they are easily forgettable, but simply because we forget. We need to be reminded of these things so that we never truly forget who God is and what He is like.

• God is holy or set apart and perfect. Because of this there is no way that we can fathom everything about Him. There aren't enough words in our vocabulary to describe Him...in the words of Chan..."Isn't it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate?"
  
• God is eternal. That seems like a given, right? Just think about that for a while. In a world full of things that have a beginning, we have a God that doesn't. We have a God that came before everything and will be there long after everything is gone. Try to grasp everything about that...
• God is all-knowing. It is humbling to think that the same God who is big enough to have created everything in existence and is holy and eternal is also a God that wants to know the little things about us...and everything else about us for that matter.
  
• God is all-powerful. Everything was created for God. (Colossians 1:16) Yet we seem to go about our lives thinking that everything is here for us. Daniel 4:35 says that basically we are nothing and God is everything...He has ultimate power to do as He pleases. Who are we to tell Him any different?
  
• God is fair and just. He is pretty set in His ways. He can have no part of sin because He is holy. And all sin must be punished. Its as simple as that. The cool thing about it is this: God gave us His Son to take the punishment we deserve. Everyone is covered in that sacrifice...that's pretty fair. Yet Jesus took the punishment for something that had to be punished...that's pretty just. God hates sin and must punish sin. And He is completely fair and just in doing so.

It is an amazing thing to get caught up in everything that God is. I think that I need to take some time right now just to continue to take this all in...I encourage you to do the same. I know that I can't physically comprehend or explain God...but I need to try. Just look at it this way...we will NEVER run out of reasons to worship God. That is comforting encouragement to live a life of worship...finding things daily that are new and exciting about God.