We all have a tendency to create a God made in our image. Do we stop to consider who God is as revealed in scripture? This is of vital importance as we walk through life because without hearing from the Spirit of God through the Word of God in the midst of the people of God in regards to WHO God is, we can find ourselves projecting all of our own personal thoughts, wants and attitudes towards Him. We need to acknowledge that we have a tendency to attempt to make God into our own image. We should come to scripture with an open heart, and open mind, declaring God, show me who you are, who you say you are, and who I am because of who you are. God who created all things, he spoke, and life was created, he spoke, and all that is came to be. Death can not hold him. He brings kings to their knees and raises nations. He knows every bird of the sky, every hair on your head. He was, he is, and he will always be. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Upon him, all things depend. Beholding God, trusting God, and abiding in him all help us to see clearly the Power of God.

“If your god never disagrees with you, you may be worshiping an idealized version of yourself.” Tim Keller

When we consider God’s power, we see it in creation but we also see it from his perspective in Job 38. Where God highlights his power throughout all the universe. This is God’s response to Job and he does it with a litany of questions. They seem to just build upon each other in such a heavy way: Where were you, have you, do you, can you? God keeps going in the following chapters of Job but these questions are really rhetorical, with each one driving home the point that our God is an omnipotent, powerful God who is unparalleled and unmatched. They are meant to help Job see who God is and who he is in light of who God is. Hey Job, HERE IS YOUR GOD. Remember how small and frail you are, how much you don’t know, and how little you can actually do.

So what is our response to the Power of God? How should we, as the creation, respond to the Creator? Here are a few key things to remember. 

• Behold Him - Behold means to notice, to look upon, gaze upon, or commit your attention to. Biblical authors modeled how to behold the glory, the beauty, and the power of our God. We end up asking who am I, when we behold him. We echo the Psalmist’s cries in Psalm 8 ”When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers-the moon and the stars you set in place. What are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?” 
• Trust Him - When we behold him, we see that he loves us and cherishes us. we see who we are and that we can trust him. We can run to him with our anxiety, stress, doubts, hurts, and pain. He is our refuge and resting place. His resurrection power has changed everything, and because of that power, we can trust him exactly as we are. He is most worthy of our trust.
• Abide in Him - In John 15, Jesus reminds us that “I am the vine, you are the branches. The one who remains (abides) in me and I in him produces much fruit.” because of his power, we can abide in him as he abides in us. We are seen as Christ is seen and loved because of Christ. It is in Christ that we know who we are and who God is. Abide beloved in the one who came and died for you. Abide in the one who had the power to conquer the grave.

So then, what does it look like when a community of Christ followers Behold-Trust-Abide? It looks like a community of grace, passionately pursuing life and mission with Jesus. It looks like a group of people who long for those in their spheres of influence to know the peace and joy and rest that is found in beholding, trusting, and abiding in the One that holds it all together, for he alone created it and sustains it for his glory and his purposes.