My Glorious Crown

When I was younger, I always loved the opportunity to boast about my family.  Not in a "Guess what, guess what, guess what?!!!" way, but when the chance arose I jumped on it and was proud to share fun facts about my family.  My grandmother went to school with Johnny Cash.  My dad and brother are both pilots.  I'll spare you from more.  :)  It's always fun to have someone impressed by your family, you know?  It also makes you feel good when others boast in you.  We care about those close to us and we want to shout from the rooftops what they've accomplished because we love them and are proud for them.  This can be a great encouragement to others, so let me preface this post by saying that there is nothing wrong with this (in moderation of course).  Why are we so hesitant to do this about the One who means more than all others combined in our life, though?

Today in a Bible study I'm doing, my assignment was to read through a list of the names, titles, and descriptions of God and to worship Him for being those things in my life.  All I can think as I read the list is about how much more I should boast in My Father in Heaven then my father on Earth.  God is worthy of ultimate bragging!  Read just a few of the names for God found in the Bible:

A glorious crown
A refuge for the oppressed
A sanctuary
A shade from the heat
A shelter from the storm
Father of compassion
Father to the fatherless
God my Rock
God of all comfort
God our Father
God over all the kingdoms
He who reveals His thoughts to man
Him who is able to do more than all we ask or imagine (YES)
I AM WHO I AM
Lord who heals you
Lord will provide
Love
My advocate
My confidence
My song
My strong deliverer
Our Redeemer
Our refuge and strength
Rock of our salvation
The consuming fire
The God who saves me
The God who sees me
The living Father
The one who sustains me
The only God

WOOOOO!  Gets me all excited!  God has been the Father that I never had.  My earthly father has always been present in my life, but the relationship hasn't really been there.  It took me a while to figure out what a relationship with God was supposed to look like / feel like because of the example of the earthly relationship I had.  That is really hard to write because I don't want to hurt feelings, but it is the truth.  Human relationships are far from perfect no matter what your circumstances.  My Heavenly Father came along and revealed to me what a relationship with Him should look like / feel like, and I am praising Him this morning for that!  He is so good to me, and I will BOAST about who He is for the rest of my life and on into eternity.

You can know everything about God and go to church every Sunday, but if you don't know God for who He is in your life, if He isn't the things listed above in your life, then you are missing the ultimate relationship that brings salvation.  We seek the perfect relationship our entire lives here on Earth, and some will miss it entirely because they seek it in humans among them.  The God-shaped hole in our hearts can only be filled by one, THE One, so don't miss out on that because you think your head knowledge of Him is all it takes.  There must be a heart knowledge, that is how you truly KNOW Him.

Jesus said:  "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep.  John 10:14,15