-
How Do You View God?
December 19, 2010 - Comments (44)This was the question asked to me by USA and PBS. Here is a link to the article with my response. I would be curious to hear your response to the same question. Leave your comments here. -mw
POSTED BY:
matthew
44 comments
Comment
- @CabinMouse oh yeah, we'll if ur lurking, what did I have for lunch?
- @mandisaofficial The Price Is Right
- Excited to worship @peopleschurch !!RT @rickwhite: @matthew_west ok, bring that energy with you to TPC on Sunday. Looking forward to it.
- I know! May as well be Pig Latin... ight-ray?! RT @zacharyngarza: @matthew_west Nashville numbering?! That stuff confuses me. Lol.
- More..
Sun 19/12/10, 2:07 pm
I view God like this: He is the one that sent His only begotten son Jesus to die for us, so that we may have salvation. He will always be there for us & loves us with everything. He is the one who created life. He always has been & always will be forever regining! He is the one who fills my heart with joy & happiness!! The one that I know I can go to with anything & will always be there for me! The one Im going to see when I die! The one I love! This is how I view God!!!
Sun 19/12/10, 2:12 pm
I view God as our Creator and our Savior, the One we can give all of our problems to so they can be resolved, the One we can celebrate, the One we can praise, the One that listens when no one else will, the One that always has our lives in His hands, the One that blesses us with family and friends, the One that leads us, and of course the One that always forgives us for who we are and what we do.
Sun 19/12/10, 2:24 pm
There are so many things I could say in response to this, I have seen so much of His hand and His life,moving in me. I have seen miracles that could come from no other source, and pulled out from no resource, and so, I have seen God as Miraculous.
There are times when I have had doubt, struggled with finances, weighed my life and held to fragments of belief, when everything was dark ,hard, scarey, and I felt entirely alone, when suddenly I would feel the presence of God surround me in warmth, tangible as an embrace, in that place I found God, Intimate.
There have been times I have yelled to the re verb of my walls, at the injustice of hardship, trials, judgements, and rumours,where I had felt forgotten ,stilled in the storm in the soberness of my broken tears, and in that place I found God,Peaceful.
There have been times when I have seen no alternative, no hope, no way out of my financial hole, my broken marriage, my mindset of unrepairable loss, and in that place, I found God, forever Faithful.
How do I view God? I view HIM as everything. He has proven himself to me over and over, and I have most often not deserved it, So when I find myself find myself before God, I stand in awe of his beauty, in tearstained wonder of his grace, and forever in love.
Sun 19/12/10, 2:27 pm
In all His Amazing Awesomeness…that’s how I often describe God. I realize that awesomeness technically isn’t a word…but describing God is impossible as nothing does justice. My view of God is about the same…nothing really seems to do justice to describe it. I know God will provide…He is bigger than anything I’ve been through or will go through. My faith is my strongest gift at this point. I know all this stuff about God from the Bible and other Christian books that helps me have such a strong faith and I’m often reminded of Veggie Tales and their song about God is bigger than the Boogie man… to remind me of how big God is.
Sun 19/12/10, 2:42 pm
God is my world. I talk…God listens! Every word I utter, every prayer I pray, every thought that crosses my mind, everything I am and everything I’ve yet to become has been at his design. He has a plan for me. His love for me is immeasurable! He sent his son to die for me! He’s forgiven my sins. He’s provided me with a way to reach him; he’s provided an everlasting sanctuary within me in which the Holy Spirit dwells! There is nothing he can’t do and nothing I do will ever be good enough! He paints me beautiful sunsets, majestic mountain ranges and vast oceans to gaze upon. He brings me flowers every spring and snow every winter. He provides for my needs. He watches over me and comforts me when I cry out to him. There is nothing that touches me that has not gone through his mighty hand first. He guides my every footstep. He accepts my humble offerings. He blesses me with family and friends, with gifts and talents that I use for his glory – not mine. “He restoreth my soul”. He is my Creator and my Master and I willfully serve him. I would be content to be the street-sweeper in heaven because HE will be there! I love God with everything in me! Nothing I have on earth can even come close to that love, that feeling of belonging and that precious sacrifice given to me! I praise God every day for everything! He has seen the worst of me yet he still calls me his own! I am loved, I am blessed, I am God’s!
Sun 19/12/10, 2:49 pm
God is mystery, yet revealed through His Word. He is love, He is beauty!! He heart is all about restoration, redemption and life. I think the best representation of God is the Prodigal son. This is the only places where the bible refers to God as RUNNING to us. No matter what we have done, no matter what sins we have committed. We cant’ SHUT HIM OUT. HE IS PASSION…… we can’t stop HIS LOVE. HE CHASE US….this is too amazing for me to fathom. This news is too great for me!! We have sold him short. HE IS AMAZING!!
Sun 19/12/10, 2:52 pm
He is the One who is Love…. who creates…. who sustains… who is permanent. In Him we live and move and have our being… and apart from this, life has no meaning….
Sun 19/12/10, 2:54 pm
I may have a totally far out view of God, but I think God has a twisted sense of humor, ie: the duck billed platypus, and the kangaroo on the same continent. It makes me smile.
I survived a horrible car wreck as a teenager, and a two week coma after that, and many people have said that God must have a special purpose for me. But I think God created others with more of a purpose. Like the little girl I met as I assisted a photographer do charity work for the Canadian Red Cross. We were photographing this little girl with massive facial birth defects, she was born without ears or a nose. But as she would go through her countless plastic surgeries, she was a warm, cheerful little girl. She made everyone around her smile. The next year we did work for the Canadian Cancer Society…We photographed a camp for children with cancer. It was the same thing, all these kids who’s special purpose was to make others smile. I can simplify it into one word…Love.
St. Judes is the most wonderful cause.
Tell your family I said “Hi.”
Your friend,
Brent Whitmire
Sun 19/12/10, 2:58 pm
To me God is an amazing and wonderful but sometimes hard to see force in my life.His love is revealed through His word.He is EVERYTHING! He lives in all of us and He loves us dearly.He is beyond our wildest dreams.He can do anything and everything.He loves us so much that He sent HIS SON to die for us even though we are sinful,ungrateful,unjust,and not worthy of His love.He IS AMAZING!!!!! He is The Lord Almighty.He will always be there for us even when we have done something worthy of death.HE LOVES US!!!
Sun 19/12/10, 3:01 pm
I view God in a way that I dont know how to describe yet
Sun 19/12/10, 3:34 pm
How do I view God? Is it so important how I view God? If I desire to have a personal relationship with him it is. And in order to have a personal relationship with God, my view must line up with the truth about Him in His word. God IS love. He IS faithful. He IS caring. He IS compassionate. He IS just. He IS righteous. He IS holy. He IS full of glory. He DOES take sin very seriously. So much so that he DID come to earth as a baby to make way for us to have a personal relationship with Him. He GAVE His only Son in order for us to have this relationship with Him. It is not based on anything good in me. It is all based on what Jesus did for me when He willingly gave Himself as the sacrifice for my sins. God DREW me to Himself through the power of His Holy Spirit. It was necessary for me to repent of my sins. God WAS there with grace to forgive my sins. God IS now my life. He IS my peace. He IS my loving, heavenly Father. I DO have a personal relationship with Him through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. I am in awe of how He manifests His presence to me in all that concerns me. He IS ever working to build my relationship with Him. He WILL NEVER leave me or forsake me. HE IS LORD! And I love Him!
Sun 19/12/10, 3:44 pm
I’m only 13 years old…and I surely do not know as much as all of u guys…but I view God as the most amazing thing that there will ever be, beyond anything that we will ever know, and more beautiful than anything. Though we cannot see him, he is all around us, and some day we will be able to move on from this world and see what we r unable to. ANd with his grace, we will live in happiness forever.
Sun 19/12/10, 3:49 pm
God is my ever-present Father. He is my conscience and my guide; He directs the path I walk on. He allows me to choose and is happy when I follow His direction, but sad when I stray from Him. He is so giving that He offered His Son to be born on earth, to give me an example of how to live. He sacrificed His Son to die for my sins so that I might receive eternal life. His word is written for me to learn how to be closer to Him and to glorify Him in all things I do. He blesses me richly with all that I need to support my life. He comforts me, protects me with His angels, heals me, and allows me to suffer. He wants me to share His amazing gifts with others, so that they may know Him and accept Him as their Father, too. I look forward to dwelling with Him, when my days on earth are over.
Sun 19/12/10, 4:03 pm
I view God as EVERYTHING and then some….Sovereign, Provider, Healer, Almighty, I AM, Ruler of the Universe, Lover Of Us All! Without Him we would not be here. He loved us so much He sent Jesus to not just pay the price for all of our sins, but also to be an example of how we should live and love. He is Righteous, Understanding, Peace, Holy, Just, Worthy of Praise….He is my world, my everything and I am but a humble servant. Yet He loves me as if He is an island and I’m the lone survivor. The more I seek Him and spend time with Him, the more I fall in love with Him. He wants ALL of us to experience Him and become so familiar with His Word and His ways, to turn to Him for every little thing (and every big thing too)….to not just turn to Him when we’re in trouble but all the time. Plain and simply….HE IS.
Sun 19/12/10, 4:49 pm
God is a loving father who loves his children deeply and he wants us to love him in return. Just like we love our children and love to receive their love and praises, God wants the same from us. He wants us to love, him, to praise him, to go to him for advice and guidance, and to seek his face. How would we feel if our children ignored us, cursed at us, mocked us, and looked to others for love and guidance? That’s how God feels when we do those things to him.
Sun 19/12/10, 4:52 pm
God is my heavenly father. He is my savior. He is my life. He is my everything. Just like Matthew West said ” You are everything”. Jesus you are everything. Well said Matthew west.
Sun 19/12/10, 5:03 pm
I believe that God is who HE says that he is. I believe that he is all knowing, all powerful creator of heaven and earth. I believe that scriptures are God breathed and his words are true..for everyone but me. I really struggle in my Faith when it comes to me…and I am just being honest. So I am asking God not to increase my faith, but to help me in my faith where I am now..
Sun 19/12/10, 5:04 pm
God is with us always. He is love, comfort, forgiveness and hope.
Sun 19/12/10, 5:40 pm
I can’t really describe how I view God in words. He is so much more than a teacher, healer, or King. His name is above ours, yet He appeared as a baby in a manger. He is Love, Light, and Joy beyond understanding!
Sun 19/12/10, 6:00 pm
God is called “Almighty” for a reason….
To me, God is my Savior. I know that, no matter what is going on in my life, He will provide. In my time of need, God has been my rock, my shield, and my strength. I am nothing without Him. I am no one without Him. He is always present – during our joy and during our greatest pain, He is holding us in His Hands.
I was given a terminal diagnosis this past year…I was and continue to be completely amazed at the response I get when people hear my ‘prognosis’ – much of it is pity, sorrow, and fear for what lies ahead for me. Some have asked how God would allow this to happen….
To me, I don’t see things in this light…I see all the amazing things that God has given me – an incredible family, 2 inspiring women, a husband that words cannot describe, a joyful heart, a place to call home, a voice and a gift of music, a heart for Him, a life still to live and honor Him with, peace in the storm, and a medical team that is without question one of the best!
God never promised us that we would be without struggle or strife if we believed in Him and gave our lives to Him – but he did promise that no matter what we would go through…He would be there…and I believe that with all that I am.
Do I have nights that I wonder ‘Why?’ – Of course…but in the stillness of the moment, He answers…He is there…and He is the Ultimate Healer and Giver of Life.
We are all ‘broken’ in our own ways – and it is in God alone that our ‘brokenness’ will be healed here on earth and ultimately in Heaven.
I know I have a purpose…I know I have a calling….and I know that, no matter what happens to me – 2 things are certain –
My God is amazing and just – He will never leave or forsake me
My God will call me home when my work her on earth is done and I will find the ultimate healing – there will be no more pain, no more fear, no more uncertainty.
AND…until then, I will continue to worship Him with my heart, my music, my words, my actions – until my final breath.
Thanks for asking this question – it’s been really uplifting to hear others answers!
Sun 19/12/10, 6:31 pm
For me at this point in my life I don’t know how I view god really. I was brought up in a church where god was vengeful and cruel and was out to get you if you were not perfect and didn’t do everything that you were suppossed to. I believe that at 5 when things in my house were so difficult I totally shut any idea of god out of my mind. Today at 35 I am coming to understand that the church that I was brought up in is not the way that things are suppossed to be. I just recently started going to a church and I am blown away by the kindness and genuine feel of this church. They don’t know me at all and have accepted me just because. I am on the beginning of a journey that I hope will allow me to see and experience things that I never have before. I have found people who have allowed me to ask questions about god and faith and to help me understand that sometimes there just aren’t any answers but I am never alone. I recently got your last two albums and thats all I have listened to the words in the songs speak to me and I want to know more, I want to understand about the kind of god that you speak about the caring loving god that helps us through that is the kind of god that I am desperatly trying to learn more about and understand. I look forward to where this journey is going to take me and where I will be even a year from now. Thank you for your work and for opening my eyes to see things I never before imagined. Have a very Merry Christmas ! Sherri
Sun 19/12/10, 6:42 pm
God is unending love, unimaginable mercy and forgiveness, never-ending grace, and an all encompassing presence of peace that began when I asked him to come live in my heart. Without God, I am nothing and with God I am everything He wants me to be, to do, to see, to feel, to hear, and to live.
Sun 19/12/10, 6:56 pm
I guess I view God as someone who is far out in space, but with us at the same time. Sometimes I think there are people who are far more worthy than myself of his attention. Like there is no way the God of all things cares about someone as insignificant as myself. But then I’ll go through a struggle and think I am alone in it…but I’ll be driving somewhere and turn on the radio and it seems like at that moment a song or something comes on…then I realize, that God…the one who created heaven and earth cares..and just when I begin to think he doesn’t…he’ll do it again…
Sun 19/12/10, 7:06 pm
God is everything. He is everything.
Sun 19/12/10, 7:45 pm
To me, god is someone I can always rely on. Someone who is there for me when evrything else is falling apart. I myself do not find comfort in going to church, and am not a die hard christian, but still, god plays an important role in my life and look to him when I am in need.
Sun 19/12/10, 8:04 pm
God is the creator of all things. He knew us all before the beginning of time and He knows exactly how it will all end. Whoever does not love does not know God because God is Love. (1 John 4:8) My life is full with God in it.
Sun 19/12/10, 9:07 pm
I know that how I view God is not how or who God is. I wish that I could say I view Him with awe and wonder but most days I still see my relationship with Him as strained and one sided. I would even say selfish. I know I need Him and desire to serve Him but there’s many times I wish I could hide from Him because I know I hurt Him with my thoughts, words and actions. I see God as forgiving and loving and most times I feel unworthy. So…with that…yeah…I see a chance to grow, heal and feel safe despite who I am because of who He is.
Jennifer M Krouse
Sun 19/12/10, 9:32 pm
How do I view God? He is my ever present conscious. He is the giver of joy such as for me are my son & husband plus health to wake every morning to care for my family and preserverence to continuue when so many rough winds come my way! God is light and love and all that is good on earth. I love Him!!!
Sun 19/12/10, 10:49 pm
Quite simply God is my heart. He breaths life through me and helps love to exude from me. He forgives my imperfections and allows me to learn from them. He is what links me with everyone else and who will be with me through eternity. He gave me all that I have and I can only imperfectly try to show that same love that He has shown me.
Sun 19/12/10, 10:52 pm
I see God everyday I live with my wife Melody. She wrote the story Matthew used for the song Survivors. She has been diagnosed with stage 4 Cancer….third time she has had it. Our children are 17,15,8,5….. Yet this Christ like woman is just that Christ like. HE came for a purpose and did not change who HE was because of circumstances. Melody is the same way! She is my example of Christ in this world…. I do not understand ” Why ” but I do see what is happening. She will go to Heaven someday… I just HOPE and PRAY it will be many years from now. I cannot control when but I can live each day for HIS glory and do all I can to LOVE and take care of my wife. I am showing my children what it means to be a Christian, a husband and a father in these hard times……….Thank you Matthew for this gift of song you gave to our family.
Mon 20/12/10, 1:32 am
GOD is my hope…He makes my tomorrow worth waiting and living for…Despite all my fears.
Mon 20/12/10, 9:28 am
I view God as a power greater than myself or any other human being. God provides me answers to my questions and gave me a brain to recognize the signals.
Mon 20/12/10, 7:00 pm
I view God as somebody who when you cry He both holds you and crys with you also as the only stable part of life and the greatest guide thru life if you will listen.
Mon 20/12/10, 7:33 pm
the way i view God is that he is love, a Never ending love that fills you with everlasting Joy fullness. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life…<3
Mon 20/12/10, 8:57 pm
Matthew, (Sorry, not answering your question.) We met you a few years back when you were in Phoenix after you had dinner with our friend, Haley Penny, who was 10 at that time. I fell in love with your new song One Less as we have been in the adoption process for four years. I received an email tonight from a friend who saw you on the Billy Graham network letting me know that you are in Bogota right now with Operation Christmas Child. So cool. We are in Bogota too, picking up our little girl. We received her on Thanksgiving Day, four years to the day we started the process. That night as we went to bed with a brand new 7 year old daughter, I told my husband, “there is one less broken heart in the world tonight!” Thank you for your music and passion! Feliz Navidad!
Peace ~ Linda
Mon 20/12/10, 9:20 pm
I view God as my director,my provision,my road map my Father. in 2 Corinthians 9:15 KJV Paul calls Him an unspeakable gift.Paul with all his knowledge and wit couldn’t come up with the words to describe my God.And He thought enough of us to give us this gift of his son ,how unworthy we are sinners without hope and He sent part of Himself to die to make a way for us to live with Him for eternity.He is really showing up in my life right now, earlier this month on Dec.7 I was inducted into my schools (Central Baptist Academy)chapter of the National Honors Society the next day in our Bible class I and the rest of the high school body learned that are school would be closing at the end of the year. A blow to the heart only God can fix I’ve attended there my entire school carrier and I’m going to have to graduate from somewhere else next year . I got on here searching for some encouragement because of this situation that the school is gonna stay open for the rest of the school year they are gonna be in debt $50,000 so we are trying to conduct letters to send out for help and I’m running the show so to speak.So I’m at a loss for words for this letter I’m writing and I have found encouragement in just pouring out my heart about this and pray for me and my school as we try to pick up the pieces. Love In Christ
Tue 21/12/10, 11:12 pm
Is it just my computer or is the link broken? I can’t seem to find the link to the article.
Thu 23/12/10, 2:28 am
How do I view God? Well, in one sense, I view God when I look around me – when I see the poor, the needy, because Jesus told us that when we help the least of those around us, we are doing these things to Him.
If what they really mean is what do I make of God – how do I explain His actions to myself to justify life as it happens around me, then what I think is that God is a great Creator who has provided the ability to each one of us to treat those around us in a kind and loving manner. When that doesn’t happen – when we don’t treat each other as God wants us to, then pain and suffering is the results.
When some people seek to blame everything around them as actions of an angry God, I tend to see a universe which is operating and in which things happen to the good and bad people alike. Jesus talked about this – when a group of people died in a terrible tragedy, He said that “the rain falls on the just and unjust alike”. When He was asked who was being punished when a man was born blind, His response was that neither the man nor his parents were being punished, but that the incident occurred providing both an opportunity to exhibit faith in God.
Too often people want to blame God for the bad things, and praise themselves for the good things.
Fri 24/12/10, 2:14 am
the way i view God is that he is love, a Never ending love that fills you with everlasting Joy fullness. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life…<3
Sat 25/12/10, 12:41 pm
I view God as the father i never had.
Tue 28/12/10, 8:59 am
I can’t seem to find the link
Tue 28/12/10, 8:09 pm
He is my light, my foundation my everything!
Sun 16/1/11, 10:57 pm
Xpressionsbyvalerie a survior’s story, ARDS
On February 26, 2010, I was admitted in the hospital with double pneumonia and by March 1, I was placed on a ventilator, strugging for each breath. I had developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, which the survival rate is less than 30% in most cases. Through faith in Our Lord, Jesus Christ, and endless prayers, my life was spared. We can only thank the Lord, Our God and his healing hans and the wisdom given to the doctors and caring hands of the nurdes, respiratory and physical therapy departments and countless staff members for my return home on May 7, 2010. Working with my hands has been a passion and it has given me an opportunity to help tackle an enormous debt to those who helped in my recovery and to be self-sustaining in my disabilities. Thank You Jeseu.
Sat 5/2/11, 1:34 am
God is love in purest form. God’s love for us is boundless. Yet, He has His limits and will tolerate our disobedience only up to a point. During these times His love for us is no less than it was at creation. I am free and can boldly go to Him thanks to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. I can sit on His lap and call Him Daddy. He enjoys our discussions and never has too little time for me. He scratches His head when I don’t follow His advice. He chuckles when I zig and I should have zagged. Or when I finally get what He’s been trying to tell me. He cries when I cry and laughs when I laugh. His mercy and grace reaches my inner being with warmth and gentleness that is indescribable. He loves to hear us sing His praises; sounds of Heaven with lyrics of love. All that I have said here is true because I have experienced all that I have spoke about.