[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":164},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-is-god-like":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":7,"date":146,"description":147,"extension":148,"featured":149,"image":150,"meta":151,"navigation":152,"path":153,"scripture":154,"scriptureText":154,"seo":155,"stem":156,"tags":157,"__hash__":163},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-is-god-like.md","What Is God Like?","Christy Morrow",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":133},"minimark",[10,14,17,20,23,28,34,37,41,46,49,53,58,61,65,70,73,77,82,85,89,94,97,101,106,109,113,118,121,125,130],[11,12,13],"p",{},"What is God like? This is something I'm sure we have all asked, or at least, pondered. How can you know God when you cannot see him or hear him audibly talk to you? He provided the bible for us to get to know him. He teaches us about what he has done for us. This is where we start to learn about him. God wants us to know him—his character, his will, and his ways. But he also invites us to get to know him on a personal level. He wants us to not just know about him, but to know him intimately. He wants to be in a relationship with us. How do you build a relationship? You learn who that person is by spending time with them. The more you do, the more you learn their character and ways. The same is true with God.",[11,15,16],{},"He gives us verses that describe God directly. For example, God is love. He also gives us insight into who he is in all of scripture and also in the stories of people in the bible. You get clues to his character, will, and ways from these verses. As you learn more about him and learn who he is, scripture can become a treasure chest of delights! It will bring you more and more joy as you discover more of who God is.",[11,18,19],{},"Now, there is no way to fully know God. Just as there is no way to fully list out verses to describe God. I encourage you to read the bible and ask God to reveal more of himself through your reading the bible. Not only through reading the bible, but also through prayer. God wants to be known. Just like when we delight in a relationship with someone, it brings him joy when we spend time with him. He delights in us and loves us. He wants us to grow in our relationship with him and to delight in him, as well. This is a lifelong journey of growing closer to God and in your relationship with him. He not only invites you in, he is with you every step of the way.",[11,21,22],{},"Here are some verses on what God is like. This blog is longer than normal. You can read it all the way through in one sitting. Or, you can read a verse or two at a time. I encourage you to take your time and let God's word sink into your heart. I also encourage you start looking up verses about God. I also encourage you to ask God to reveal himself through all of scripture. He will gladly do so because he loves you so much!",[24,25,27],"h2",{"id":26},"_1-1-john-415-16","1. 1 John 4:15-16",[29,30,31],"blockquote",{},[11,32,33],{},"and so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in him.",[11,35,36],{},"In this verse, John reveals that God is love. We are told that we can know and rely on that love that God has for us. When you know someone—truly know someone—you come to trust them and ultimately, to rely on them. We learn to trust them and to rely on them because they have demonstrated their love for us. As we grow to learn God's love and to rely on it, we learn to live in that love and we learn that God lives in us.",[24,38,40],{"id":39},"_2-1-john-31a","2. 1 John 3:1a",[29,42,43],{},[11,44,45],{},"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are…",[11,47,48],{},"I love this concept! How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God! Think of your dad, or if you didn't have one or he wasn't loving, think about the ideal father. We are told that he is our heavenly Father. We learn this often times through our parents. Now, not everyone has ideal parents who love them and care for them. But generally speaking, parents should love and care for their children. We learn to trust them and to rely on them because they have demonstrated their love for us. God calls us his heavenly Father. That means he is the ideal Father. He loves and cares for us perfectly. We learn that he lavishes his love on us. To lavish means to bestow or pour out generously, extravagantly, and without restraint. So God lavishes his love on us. Why? Because we are called his children. He has made us his children. John repeats himself to emphasize that we are called children of God and that we ARE children of God.",[24,50,52],{"id":51},"_3-psalm-1038","3. Psalm 103:8",[29,54,55],{},[11,56,57],{},"The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.",[11,59,60],{},"I love this! The Psalmist describes the Lord in detail with these words. The Lord is compassionate. In other words, the Lord understands what we are dealing with and is compassionate. He is not harsh, judgmental, or condemning. He is compassionate. He understands us and our weaknesses. Psalm 103:13-14 says: As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. He knows our weaknesses and what we struggle with—he is not holding us in contempt. He is gracious. When someone is gracious, they are kind, generous, and hospitable. He is slow to anger. That is reassuring! When we mess up, we often approach God in fear. We know we're in trouble. We know we've messed up. The Psalmist assures us that he is slow to anger. That definitely goes against the spirit of offense that so easily entangles us all in this culture. We are assured that he is abounding in love. That is also encouraging. It's not the bare minimum. His love is abounding. It overflows. When we mess up, we often feel bad. We can be assured that God is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love. That is comforting to know!",[24,62,64],{"id":63},"_4-isaiah-3018","4. Isaiah 30:18",[29,66,67],{},[11,68,69],{},"Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!",[11,71,72],{},"When we mess up, we often feel bad and fear upsetting our parents, friends, or someone we have wronged. This verse assures us that God longs to be gracious to us. When you long for something, you yearn for it. He longs to be gracious to us. He is not looking to \"zap\" us when we mess up. He rises to show us compassion. He rises implies that he is active in showing us compassion. He is not just passive. He looks for ways to show us compassion. That is awesome! We are assured that the Lord is a God of justice. When you think of an honest judge, that judge is just. He sees how someone has been wronged and makes sure that they get justice. We all want justice to be served in our lives. However, this also applies to us when we have done wrong. We deserve to be held accountable, to be punished, etc. However, God is loving and merciful. He loved us so much and had so much compassion on us that he sent Jesus to die for all of our sins. Hebrews 6:10 says: God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. He knows we are flawed and that we mess up due to sin. However, he also sees the good in us, as well. We are assured that we are blessed if we wait for him. Blessed—and not condemned. He doesn't just tell us this—he tells it with emphasis!",[24,74,76],{"id":75},"_5-luke-1511-32","5. Luke 15:11-32",[29,78,79],{},[11,80,81],{},"v.20: So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.",[11,83,84],{},"This is an example of a parable. A parable tells us a story that illustrates some biblical concept and that also describes God. You may have heard of it. It's called the parable of the lost son, or the Prodigal son. In it, a father has 2 sons. The younger son goes to the father and demands that his father go ahead and give him his inheritance. The son leaves and lives it up. He eventually squanders all his money and is forced to feed pigs to survive. He comes to his senses and remembers that his father's servants have always been taken care of and well-fed. He decides to humble himself to his father and concludes that living as his father's servant is better than where he is now. Verse 20 says: So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. Again, he was not waiting to \"zap\" him because of the many mistakes he made. He was filled with compassion because of his love for him. The fact that he saw his son from a long way off implies that he had been looking for him. I get the impression that he was looking for him daily, always wondering could this be the day he comes home? This is a great example of God showing us he is our heavenly Father.",[24,86,88],{"id":87},"_6-1-john-19","6. 1 John 1:9",[29,90,91],{},[11,92,93],{},"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.",[11,95,96],{},"When we mess up, we often feel guilt and shame. We feel separated from God and can feel regret. John says if we confess our sins, that God will forgive us of our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Why? Because he is faithful and just. He is faithful to his promises. In other words, what he said in his word is true and can be trusted—because he said it. If he said it, he will do it. When we confess our sins, we are acknowledging that we did not live up to God's holy standard. By acknowledging that, we recognize that his standard is true and good. We have what the bible calls a godly sorrow. 2 Corinthians 7:10 says: Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. The NIV study note on this verse says: Godly sorrow manifests itself by repentance and the experience of divine grace; worldly sorrow brings death because, instead of being God-centered sorrow over the wickedness of sin, it is self-centered sorrow over the painful consequences of sin. In other words, our motives matter. If we confess with godly sorrow, he will forgive us our sins AND he will purify us from all unrighteousness. The NIV note on 1 John 1:9 says on forgiveness: Will provide the forgiveness that restores the communion with God that has been interrupted by sin. We have access to God and communion with him because of what Jesus did on the cross. Sin breaks that communion. When God forgives us our sins, this restores that communion with him.",[24,98,100],{"id":99},"_7-2-corinthians-120","7. 2 Corinthians 1:20",[29,102,103],{},[11,104,105],{},"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are \"Yes\" in Christ. And so through him the \"Amen\" is spoken by us to the glory of God.",[11,107,108],{},"You hear a lot about the promises of God. There are many of them throughout the bible. 2 Corinthians 1:20 assures us that for as many promises that God has made, they are all \"yes\" in Christ. In other words, they will come to pass. Isaiah 55:8-13 tells us about God's character and the certainty of his word. Isaiah 55:10-11 says: As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. In other words, God's promises will come to pass—no matter how long it takes or appearances saying otherwise. We are told in Isaiah 55:8-9: \"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,\" declares the Lord. \"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.\" His timing is different than ours. He knows the perfect time to bring about his promises. We are often like Veruca Salt from Charlie & the Chocolate Factory: \"I want it…NOW!!\" But God, being a loving Father, knows the perfect time to bring about what he has promised. Think about a time when your parents told you that you were going on a trip to Disney World. As a kid, we think now is the best time. We don't see all the factors involved. We trust our parents that it will happen, but we are not always patient until it happens! This is how we are with God a lot of the time. However, we can trust God that he will bring all these things to pass. We can praise him when it happens. This brings glory to God. However, we can also praise him before it happens. Why? Because we know for certain that it will come to pass if God promised it. We can look ahead to when it happens and how we will feel, and go ahead and praise God for it.",[24,110,112],{"id":111},"_8-micah-718","8. Micah 7:18",[29,114,115],{},[11,116,117],{},"Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.",[11,119,120],{},"In our Christian culture, it can be strange to read verses like this because we acknowledge God and that he is Sovereign. But we have to take into account the culture that scripture was written. In Micah's time, there were other religions. Most \"gods\" were local deities that were over a certain town or area. They were powerful but only in their area. They didn't speak. According to Scripture they were mute idols. So to acknowledge the difference between our God and these \"gods,\" was highly significant. It is the acknowledgement that our God is unique in that he pardons sins and forgives our transgressions. He does not have to be \"appeased\" with offerings. We are assured that he does not stay angry forever. Most \"gods\" were portrayed as angry and that you had to do a lot to get back in their good graces. This assures us that not only will he not stay angry forever, he actually delights to show us mercy!",[24,122,124],{"id":123},"_9-ephesians-23b-4","9. Ephesians 2:3b-4",[29,126,127],{},[11,128,129],{},"…Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.",[11,131,132],{},"No one who is not holy will ever see God (Hebrews 12:14). He is too pure to look on anything that is not holy (Habakkuk 1:13). There is a lot of scripture that shows the loving and gentle side of God. However, it is truthful and important to show the other side. When Adam & Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they became objects of God's wrath. As an extension, all of humanity became objects of God's wrath. Why? God is perfect. He created humans to exist in perfect communion with him. When we sinned, we broke that communion. We could not be in his presence anymore. Why? According to Habakkuk 1:13a: Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong… According to Hebrews 12:14b: …without holiness no one will see the Lord. So, as objects of wrath, we were no longer allowed to be in God's presence. But that was not God's original plan for us. He knew there was no way for us to be in his presence anymore—we couldn't save ourselves. We are told in Ephesians 2:3b-4 that because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions. He did this by his grace. We did not deserve to be in his presence. We deserved eternal separation from him because of our sin. But God loved us so much that he could not bear the thought of eternity without us. So, he made a way for us to be in his presence. We can't make our way to him—we can't earn it, work for it, etc. We have to receive his gift of grace and mercy humbly and acknowledge that there is no way to save ourselves. We have to look to God and depend on him to do for us what we cannot do. He does this willingly and gladly because he loves us so much!",{"title":134,"searchDepth":135,"depth":135,"links":136},"",2,[137,138,139,140,141,142,143,144,145],{"id":26,"depth":135,"text":27},{"id":39,"depth":135,"text":40},{"id":51,"depth":135,"text":52},{"id":63,"depth":135,"text":64},{"id":75,"depth":135,"text":76},{"id":87,"depth":135,"text":88},{"id":99,"depth":135,"text":100},{"id":111,"depth":135,"text":112},{"id":123,"depth":135,"text":124},"2026-07-27","What is God like? This is something I am sure we have all asked, or at least, pondered. How can you know God when you cannot see him or hear him audibly talk to you? Here are some verses on what God is like.","md",false,"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fsunrays-god-like.jpg",{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-is-god-like",null,{"title":5,"description":147},"blog\u002Fwhat-is-god-like",[158,159,160,161,162],"character of God","love","grace","scripture","faith","yug_LjibaEZ__xjoP3tA7vGTA_5hYvZodGCl3zzlx6s",1785510915479]