Roses of Grace

What makes something (or someone) beautiful?  If you ask this question to a variety of people, you'll get a wide variety of answers. Beauty is something that almost all of us think about, and there are many different answers.  There's physical beauty, of course. But beauty ideals have shifted over the years, and focusing on how beautiful you are never helps anything. And everyone has different taste in what's pretty, so it's hard to pin down a definition.  But there's a difference between what the world calls beautiful and what God calls beautiful, and beauty has one purpose: to glorify God.    False beauty (Note: The Bible doesn't specifically say "false beauty" or "true beauty" in the verses I'm citing, but there's definitely a distinction in the ways the word "beauty" is used.) False beauty is what the world calls beauty. And—not much of a surprise—it's a lie. When the world says that a person is beautiful, they usual...

God is all-powerful. God is all-knowing.  This would be extremely bad news if he wasn't also good.  The Bible makes God's love and compassion abundantly clear. 1 Chronicles 16:34 says, "Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!" And Psalm 33:4 reiterates this by saying, "For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness." Why is this so important?    If God wasn't perfect: Imagine something with me for a minute. Imagine a god that is omnipotent, and that knows every single one of your thoughts. Imagine a god that is in total control of your life.  Then imagine that that god also doesn't care about what happens to you in the slightest.  Or worse: he not only doesn't care, but he actually isn't admirable. He's petty, envious, and selfish. He doesn't keep his promises. And he kind of dislikes you. Wouldn't you get a little worried?  I know I would. Because the god ...