It's been a really long time since I've posted an Alphabet Attribute, so here it goes! I actually have a couple of awesome ones I haven't been able to choose between, so I'm going to try to post them all.

M - Majestic

The majesty of God is not something to come against. I mean, if you think about it, His majesty is His Lordship. He is majestic because He is King of Kings. He should not be tested or teased, but respected and pleased. He is worthy of glory, fame, majesty, praise, worship, love... When you walk into a room where royalty is, you stop, you bow, you speak when you're spoken to, but only when what was spoken demands a response. When God speaks, He always demands a response. When the Spirit of God speaks to your spirit, your spirit is immediately changed. Sometimes it takes your heart and mind a little time to follow suit, but you cannot be in the presence of Royalty and not be changed.

The majesty of God demands that we respond when He speaks to us. The majesty of God demands that we shut up and pay attention to what He is doing, because He is the most important Person in the room! There is none more important than Jesus at any given time! He is always to be the primary point of focus. He is always the Person Who should have the greatest influence on every decision. To place any portion of yourself, your logic, your emotions, your will, your desire, above Holy Spirit's direction, above the need to submit to Him is to be utterly in danger of the sin of satan (Isaiah 14:12-15). To place any person above the Most High (which is an awesome M attribute!) is idolatry. And I'm not here to point fingers or cast blame, to make you feel badly about your decisions, my point is to show you that He is the highest and all things should be submitted to Him. This is the natural order of things in the universe!

M - Mine

The awesome thing is that this God, The Majestic, Most High declares Himself to be personal and loving. We see it all over scripture, ways He decides to love His people! Look at the story of Hosea. God tells Hosea to pursue a woman who will seemingly never love exclusively just him. It's an allegory to the pursuit of the People of God by Jesus. To offer a life, and even the Life of God for the pursuit of His people is amazing. Look at the story of Samson and Delilah. As much as it's quoted to be the most destructive love story in the Bible, we see a man blinded (all puns aside) by Love for a woman who simply wants to deceive him. Look at the story of Moses and the Exodus. How a man is asked to lead a stubborn people out of their bondage and into a place where they can encounter their God.

In all of this, God is saying that we are His, but what right do we have to call Him ours? It's not like we can own God or have a monopoly on His presence! But He shows us in Song of Solomon 6:3, that we have the privilege of saying, "I am my Beloved's and He is mine." And it shows not only that we get to pour out our lives to Him, but He wants to pour Himself into us in such a way that we receive Him as a Lover.

M - More

As I've been thinking about this, I've been constantly wanting the "more" of God. Not that God is not enough, but I can always have more and there is always more to have! I will eternally be bewildered by how awesome my God is. This is the greatest part of worship! If my worship gets old, it's not because there's no more revelation, it's because I'm not looking, or not receiving the revelation He's pouring out on me. While He knows just how much I can receive, He's always willing to pour Himself out. There is always more to receive from Him. There is more that God wants to do in His people and we are not seeking the "more" of God.

I sobbed this morning on the way to work. Those of you who know me well, know that this is a feat. I was listening to the new Jesus Culture Awakening: Live From Chicago album (which I HIGHLY recommend!!!) and I started weeping uncontrollably... I've been dehydrated too, so the fact that actual tears were streaming down my face was weird. I was listening to the song Awaken Me and I remember saying to God, "You promised to come! You told me that You would come!" and I remember hearing, "But My people aren't receiving Me. I indeed have more for them, yet they refuse."

My point in saying all of this is, please, please, please start to yearn and desire the "more" of God. He wants to pour out His majestic presence on His people. He wants us to receive Him as our Lover, so that for our benefit and for the benefit of rest of the world, we can receive the "more" of God.

<sup>Those of you who know me fairly well (and even those who don't) know that I've been having a rough time... I feel like communication is broken with my Creator at times... Mostly for myself... When it comes to encouraging others and giving people words and moving in power, I've been able to do that even when I don't feel like I'm hearing anything from Holy Spirit for myself...

As a worship leader, I know I need to dig into the Psalms, maybe more than most people. So I asked God what Psalm I should read... He said 22. I thought He meant 23 because, well, I know it well and it's comforting to know that I don't need anything because He is my shepherd... So I corrected God (HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!) and He corrected me... 22 is what He meant... When I started reading it, I laughed... Not because they're the words of Jesus on the cross (that's not a laughing matter...), but because for a while, I've felt forsaken. Why? I don't know... Not like anything has really changed... I've wanted to worship through music by myself more, and yet time/distance doesn't always allow for it. I still worship soak, but that's not the same... I have to worship even when I don't feel Him. I have to worship even when I don't hear Him. I have to trust simply because He IS faithful, even when I feel like He's gone... Such a strange feeling... Anyway, Psalm 22:

1</sup> My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
         Why are You so far from helping Me,
         And from the words of My groaning?
 ² O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;
         And in the night season, and am not silent.
         
 ³ But You are holy,
         Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
 ⁴ Our fathers trusted in You;
         They trusted, and You delivered them.
 ⁵ They cried to You, and were delivered;
         They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.
         
 ⁶ But I am a worm, and no man;
         A reproach of men, and despised by the people.
 ⁷ All those who see Me ridicule Me;
         They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
 ⁸ “He trusted^[b] in the LORD, let Him rescue Him;
         Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”
         
 ⁹ But You are He who took Me out of the womb;
         You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.
 ¹⁰ I was cast upon You from birth.
         From My mother’s womb
         You have been My God.
 ¹¹ Be not far from Me,
         For trouble is near;
         For there is none to help.
         
 ¹² Many bulls have surrounded Me;
         Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.
 ¹³ They gape at Me with their mouths,
         Like a raging and roaring lion.
         
 ¹⁴ I am poured out like water,
         And all My bones are out of joint;
         My heart is like wax;
         It has melted within Me.
 ¹⁵ My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
         And My tongue clings to My jaws;
         You have brought Me to the dust of death.
         
 ¹⁶ For dogs have surrounded Me;
         The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
         They pierced^[c] My hands and My feet;
 ¹⁷ I can count all My bones.
         They look and stare at Me.
 ¹⁸ They divide My garments among them,
         And for My clothing they cast lots.
         
 ¹⁹ But You, O LORD, do not be far from Me;
         O My Strength, hasten to help Me!
 ²⁰ Deliver Me from the sword,
         My precious life from the power of the dog.
 ²¹ Save Me from the lion’s mouth
         And from the horns of the wild oxen!
         
         You have answered Me.
         
 ²² I will declare Your name to My brethren;
         In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
 ²³ You who fear the LORD, praise Him!
         All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
         And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
 ²⁴ For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
         Nor has He hidden His face from Him;
         But when He cried to Him, He heard.
         
 ²⁵ My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
         I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
 ²⁶ The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
         Those who seek Him will praise the LORD.
         Let your heart live forever!
         
 ²⁷ All the ends of the world
         Shall remember and turn to the LORD,
         And all the families of the nations
         Shall worship before You.^[d]
 28 For the kingdom is the LORD’s,
         And He rules over the nations.
         
 ²⁹ All the prosperous of the earth
         Shall eat and worship;
         All those who go down to the dust
         Shall bow before Him,
         Even he who cannot keep himself alive.
         
 ³⁰ A posterity shall serve Him.
         It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
 ³¹ They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
         That He has done this.

I’m not sure how many times I’ve heard people say things like “Well, yes, God is love, but God is also just…”

It’s almost like they are afraid that if people believed that God really loved them fully, that they would take advantage of that and immediately run out to go on a sex and murder spree or something.  It’s almost like they believe that love is only this shallow, timid fondness that is easily conquerable and trampled over.  They say it kind of like a person saying, “well, yes she is pretty, but she is smart too..”

They say this in an attempt to communicate, “I don’t want you to misunderstand me here and think that God is ONLY loving…because then you will probably not be afraid of him and just go out and do whatever you want to.”

I think that this view demonstrates a shallow and inappropriate understanding of both love and justice.

Love can be ferocious.

I love my wife and my baby girl, Amelie,  and if anyone would try to do something to hurt those girls, I would ferociously try to protect them.  If Amelie tries to stick her fingers in an electric socket, I would be ferocious in making sure that she didn’t.  If I needed to, I would yell, or slap her hand away or do anything I needed to do to make sure she didn’t get her fingers in there.

Love IS just.

If my neighbor is being unjustly accused of something by the law, and I don’t step up and seek for his justice, then I do not love my neighbor.  If that woman can not feed her children, and the people around her love her, what do they do?  They seek justice for her.  They help her provide for her children. This is just.  This is loving.  They go hand in hand.  Justice is about setting things to right, and love always seeks justice for those who need it.

It is for these reasons that I believe that God is ONLY loving.

“Loving” doesn’t mean weak or passive.  Love is strong.  Love builds what he needs to build and destroys what he needs to destroy for the sake of his beloved.  Love is passion.  Love is justice.  Love is wrath.  Love is kindness.  God IS love.

Perfect love casts out fear.  This is because love is better than fear.  Fear gets you to obey the speed limit if you suspect that there may be police around, but love for the passengers in your car makes you drive carefully.  Fear can get you to obey rules, but it cannot transform your heart.  Religion that is based in fear says things like “well, yes God is love, but….”

No.  God is love.  Period.