What Kind of God do You Believe In?
On Pentecost Sunday, one of our pastors gave a sermon that was well-seasoned with Scriptures. This is one of my favorite things about our church—it’s firmly rooted—it’s absolutely grounded in the Gospel. However, I wasn’t the most alert person on the pew that morning because I’d stayed up later than usual the night before reading a book I couldn’t put down. But I became more and more attentive during the sermon as I noticed an especially attractive attribute of God’s.
I’ll explain what I mean after I’ve shared some of what I scribbled down in my sermon notes. By the way, don’t be impressed I take notes—they help me pay attention—they help me with my struggle to fit in. I usually attend church alone, and this accentuates my nervousness.
Now, let’s dive into some stuff that’s based on the sermon notes I wrote down:
(You can listen to the podcast version of this blog post here: Will He or Won’t He? )
Pentecost Sunday is about a big change. It’s about when God moved His Spirit from “with us” to “in us.” Believers are filled with the Holy Spirit because Jesus promised we would not be left as orphans when He left this earth. Although Christ was sinless, He bore the sacrificial fire to cleanse our stains so we could be saints. He took the heat so our hearts could burn with the Holy Spirit’s fire instead of with the condemnation that would have sent us all into the fires of hell.
Pentecost Sunday is about the Holy Spirit’s peace, presence, and power empowering believers from the inside out to fulfill the will of God because God is a will-do God.
By trusting in His Son, we’re transformed from will-not obey sinners to will-do saints because we have the same Spirit in us that’s in Jesus—who is part of the triune personhood of God.
Will is a four letter word to love, enjoy, and appreciate.
God’s a will-do God. He does what He says He will do. His will… will be done. And this is the attribute I caught onto like I never have before:
God’s a will-do God
- He will not leave us.
- He will come to us.
- He will complete the good work in us.
He’s a will-do kind of God.
Too often I focus on and worry about what I will do.
- Will I pray hard enough?
- Will I believe big enough?
- Will I obey faithfully enough?
Philippians 1:6 NIV says:
Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.
Will.
God will carry on with the work until when?
- Until we stumble one time too many?
- Until we get one of the details of our particular churches’ doctrine wrong?
No. No. And no.
God will carry and complete us until Christ carries us Home.
John 14:16 NIV says:
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor
to be with you… forever—
Jesus said He will ask, and God will give believers the Spirit… forever. Forever. God is a forever will-do-what-He-says-He-will-do-God. It’s not about us… It never was.
Acts 2:4 NIV says:
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Did you catch that? Did you notice the last phrase?
“As the Spirit enabled them” is the key to a will-do walk with God.
We can’t do the will of God without the power of God in us. Religion is about man’s power exercised in an attempt to please God—not possible. A born-again Christian has a relationship with God through Jesus Christ that’s initiated, sustained, and completed by a will-do Father-God.
Pentecost Sunday is the perfect time for us to remember Who began, Who performs, and Who completes the good work in us. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the will-do Trinity we would be wise to worship and wait upon.
And then we, too, can say as David was quoted in Acts 2:25 NIV:
“I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”
Jesus is making me a will-do woman. How about you—are you a will-do believer?
Psalm 62:6 NIV says:
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
Let’s pray together:
Dear Lord,
Help us treasure what we have in You. Help us remember You will do what You said You would do. May we yield ourselves to Your perfect will so that Your peace, Your power, and Your provision will flow freely in every area of our lives.
In Jesus Name, amen.
And now I’d like to close with a short poem:
I will treasure God forever
For He’s worth more than all earth’s gold
And no one else compare’s with Him
Whose Word is honey for my soul.
Will-Do Blessings ~ Wendy
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What attribute of God’s have you especially noticed lately? I’m nosy-to-know what kind of God you believe in.
May I ask what church (denomination) you attend. I am seeking one at this time. Presently a Christian without a home church. Thanks.
I’ve been attending a Baptist Church for the last ten years. I’m equally at home in an Evangelical Free or similar style church too. I pray the Lord leads you to a fellowship that’s healthy and well-balanced. I don’t get concerned about minor doctrinal issues; I just want to see and hear Jesus preached in the same manner Apostle Paul would have done.
Thank you for your thoughts. They will help in my quest.
Here’s a link that introduces a series on how to find a good church. I trust this guy–a lot. 🙂 https://youtu.be/_IgUxIJVm8k
Wendy, I recently started following your blog. This post is beautiful! At this point, there are two attributes of God that I’m most attracted to: Jehovah-Rophe and God as my Father/Daddy.
Blessings!
Thank you, dear Kim. It’s nice to meet you. I looked up Jehovah-Rophe and was delighted to learn it means “the God who heals.” His healing of my of eating disorders in 1983-4 boosted my faith in Him exponentially. <3 He's a wonderful Father. By the way, I needed your recent blog post about decluttering. Thank you. 🙂
You’re welcome. It’s nice to meet you, as well, Wendy. God’s healing is the best, isn’t it? And it does amazing things in growing our faith! I’m blessed (and thrilled) to know that my recent post on decluttering was something that you needed. I sensed that someone (or several someones) needed to read that post (again). 🙂
Trust me—I needed it. 🙂 Thanks again.
Thank you for sharing my post, dear Karla. <3
Amen Wendy!
I was thinking about Peter, before having the Holy Spirit “in him,” he denied that he even knew Jesus. After the Holy Spirit was “in him,” he proclaimed Christ in the midst of thousands of people!
Why do I have hope – “Christ in me, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)
Thank you, Bill. Your example of the before and after picture of Peter is perfect for demonstrating “the hope of glory.” I’d be lost in so many ways without the Holy Spirit’s indwelling guidance, transforming power, and loving comfort.
I read your comment that said,I don’t get concerned about minor doctrinal issues, I couldn’t agree more, I just want to hear about Jesus and his salvation for us. Blessings, Laurie
Me too, Laurie. Unity in the essentials and grace in the non-essentials of Christian doctrine works for me. The Apostle’s Creed must be adhered to, but much of the other stuff is too small to be splitting congregations over unless it’s as plain as the sun in the sky which interpretation makes sense. May God’s love be the power behind each church pulpit.
I too take notes in sermons. I like how I can review it for later, be inspired for other topics to write about, and for God to reveal new thoughts/lessons to me. 🙂
I agree T.R. Taking sermon notes is a wonderful way to discover a rabbit trail to blog about. I imagine my pastors might wonder how I get what I did out of their sermons; however, inspiring each other to dig into the Word is always a good thing. 🙂
Yes, definitely 🙂
Wendy I loved this post so much! The attribute that I have noticed lately is His tender nurturing of his flock…His little lambs and their love for each other and for us staff members… that I see at the group home where I work.
Love,
Theresa
Theresa, I love your comment. God’s love is on my mind this morning too. <3 My special-needs sister taught me a lot about unconditional love. Your job sounds awesome.
Beautiful, Wendy…I seem to fall into the pit of letting things around me get to me be it a messy house, life drama, etc. I am missing the most important part of all…God’s unconditional love. How to slow down and keep my life in perspective to HIM!
Susan, I know what you mean. A recent car accident I suffered seems to have helped me slow down more. Although I don’t have any serious injuries, my husband noticed I’m more laid back. Small stuff doesn’t ruffle my peace anymore. Any day–any moment we may be called Home. <3
That is absolutely the truth! Thank you for sharing this…we have only a moment at a time.
Lately I’ve noticed that God has cleared some debris from my path, providing me with a clearer view of what lie ahead. I’m thankful for His timing.
Love the photos of the Butterfly Bush. Mine is the same color and every year I watch for the Hummingbird Moths that the flowers attract. Do you have these moths up north by you?
Thank you, Gene. Yes, I’ve seen some pretty big moths on our island; however, I don’t think I’ve seen the one you’re talking about since moving to town. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for one now.
It tends to hurt when God “cleans some debris from (my) path,” but I’m slowly learning to trust He’s making something good. And–sure enough–He does. 🙂
Wendy, what a beautiful post! Your pictures are, not surprisingly, stunning. I’ve always held onto the “will” promise is Phil 1:6, but the way you took that even deeper to remind me and put into words the truth that God is a Will-Do God really has me thinking. And celebrating. Because it’s true. He is.
Thank you for sharing your insights, my sweet friend!
Thank you, dear Jeanne. It’s amazing how powerful one positive word can be when we focus on it. He’s a Will-Do God who helps us do all things in Christ. <3
I believe in a God that is synonymous with life, truth, love, principle, mind, soul, spirit. Thank you so much for this blog, I truly appreciate when you wrote, “God will carry and complete us until Christ carries us Home.”
Thank you, dear Cheryl. Amen to God always completing what He starts. 🙂 It’s nice to meet you.
Wendy in my life God is love, if I think of him and how I deal with most tough situations it comes down to love. The love from God helps me to love others, love myself and trust in the journey playing out in my life. Its pretty basic for me but thats how I see it. Have a great day xxx Kath
Love is the greatest thing to focus on, Kath. You’ve chosen well. <3 Amen to "God is love."
My father who had a very strong faith, now gone, use to say it to us all the time and when I told him my husband was not brought up in our faith or believed in God the way we did, my beautiful father broke it down like this. He said when you read the kids baby books and what my husband wrote in there about our kids…. he said its all about love and God is love and so he believed my husband still had God in him because he’s a loving gentle man. I will never forget that chat I had with my beautiful dad Wendy xxxx
<3
In a loving God who is unchanging even when I’m faithless
Amen. 🙂