Yes, that is correct. One must choose the right God. There are a lot of gods out there that we tend to lean to, but there is only one God. James MacDonald indicates, “When someone tells you he believes in God, as him to clarify which God he believes in.” This will allow them the opportunity to not only give you there belief, but also give them a chance to reflect for themselves which God they choose.
MacDonald, in the study I am doing, gives 4 “fake gods” that we tend to believe in. The gruff God, the game God, the guessing God, and the genie God. Each of them we attribute to God Himself and as such are skewed by who God really is.
The gruff God is the one that is always irritable and in a bad mood. I will say that I am currently in a season of being this way personally, but God is not gruff. He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil and is merciful.
“35But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” – Luke 6:35-36 (ESV)
The game God is the one that is playing games with you. He is hiding from you. It may seem as thought He is this way, leading you a certain way only to bring you hardship on you way. But God is not here to trick you. He is here to lead you in the righteous way through teaching and experiencing.
“16All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)
Then there is the guessing God. This is the God that would seem to change with the wind and keep you off balance, not knowing which way to go. But God does not change and there are no variations of Him. He is the same today as yesterday and will be the same tomorrow.
“6For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” – Malachi 3:6 (ESV)
“17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” – James 1:17 (ESV)
The genie God is the one who we take out when we need Him. We find ourselves with a need of some kind and take Him out so that He will grant us a wish and then put Him away for next time. The thing is that God is with us always and provides for our needs and He is there when we need Him most, likely doing all of the heavy lifting for us. See the end of the poem by disputed authors “Footprints in the Sand” to see where God is.
“The Lord replied, ‘The times when you have seen only one set
of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.’” – disputed authorship
I choose God. Not a conditional God. I choose God with the greatest of all descriptors, Love. God is love and that is the only God I need, and frankly the only God that matters.
“8Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.” – 1 John 4:8-9 (ESV)
Which God do you choose? Are you even aware that we may find ourselves believing in a fake God? What if you were to believe in the kind, merciful, teaching, unchanging, always present, loving God?
Trevor's Thoughts 