Fill the blank: God is_______________ to me.

Who do you believe God to be?

This past Sunday and again today I was reminded that I needed to ask myself “who is the Lord to me?” Our Senior Pastor is leading our congregation through a sermon series titled “Labeled”.  In his opening comments over the past three weeks, he’s mentioned that we live in a “Labeled” world. It’s the truth and to represent this, each week we’ve watched a video of a man walking through his day (coffee shop, work, etc.). During his walk, he is handed “labels” from other people i.e Nerd, Loser, Freak, Weak, Clumsy, etc. The man’s body is full of negative labels until someone hands him a new label. The label simply reads Loved. As he accepts this label, the other labels fall off of him.

Isn’t this representative of how we walk through life? People use their words and actions to label others or themselves and what’s sad is the label they believe to be true, determines their (our) future and ultimately how they see themselves (we see ourselves). It’s so easy to get caught up in the “label-making” of life…but why? What purpose does it serve? The only label we need to put on ourselves or others is the one Jesus died to give us…LOVED. This truth is found in John 3:16 (NCV) “God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life.”

As I read the verses in 2 Samuel 22, I discovered who the Lord was to David. David wrote this song of praise after God rescued him from those who were trying to persecute and kill him. To David, God was:

• His rock, fortress, and deliverer (v.2)
• His refuge, shield, horn of salvation, stronghold, Savior (v. 3)
• The One worthy of David’s praise (v. 4)
• The protector who fought all David’s battles (v. 5 – 16)
• His life-preserver (v. 17)
• His support (v. 19)
• His rescuer (v. 20)   
• The reward/gift giver (v. 25)
• His lamp in the darkness (v. 29)
• His helper (v. 30)
• He (God) gave David strength and security (v. 33)
• The provider of David’s success (v. 34)
• David’s teacher (v. 35)
• David’s shield (v. 36)
• David’s path (v. 37)
• In God, David finds freedom (v. 49)

David believed all the above mentioned things to be true about God. Therefore, he felt secure and loved in all of the circumstances he found himself in…good or bad.

So who do you believe God to be and how do you see yourself as a result?

Perhaps you see God the way David did, a shield and protector. But maybe you’re not there yet and haven’t experienced or don’t feel worthy of His love. I just want to tell you that you are LOVED by the God of the universe.  Again, I just want to reference John 3:16 here. This time, I want to give it do you in the Message paraphrase.

John 3:16 – 18 (MSG) “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

I can not reiterate this enough...  YOU ARE LOVED.... believe it and wear it so that through you others may know they are LOVED too.