More Than an Average God: 28 Little Chapters to Remind You of What's Important

by Karen Adams

Overview

This inspirational collection presents an assortment of twenty-eight thoughts, observations, poems, and analogies in celebration of God’s love for us.

Our twenty-first-century lives are filled with many societal gods, such as money, fame, food, drugs, material goods, other human beings, and ourselves. We turn to these gods in hopes of finding fulfillment. They may fulfill our earthly needs for a short time, but these gods share a common bond—all are fleeting. Even so, we are blessed with a God who is more than average and loves us without question.

In More Than an Average God, author Karen Adams presents a month’s worth of thoughts, observations, and poems that illustrate God’s love unwavering love for us. Through twenty-eight chapters of scriptural examples and stories, she communicates a message that can help you to add joy, meaning, and lasting happiness to your life.

Showing God in a new light, More Than an Average God holds that false gods cannot bring peace and eternal life, but that following in and believing in the one true God can bring lasting happiness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781475967241
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	01/10/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	114
File size:	273 KB

Read an Excerpt

MORE THAN AN AVERAGE GOD

28 Little Chapters to Remind You of What's Important

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By Karen Adams

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2013 Karen Beckwith
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-6726-5

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Chapter One

Trivial Pursuit: Board Game or Bored Game?

Board games are fun. I grew up playing those games in a pre-PS2 world. Trivial Pursuit hit the market in the eighties when I was in college. As I reflect on the words trivial pursuit, I have to ask myself, Are our lives a trivial pursuit? Are we pursuing trivial things? Are we buying material, trivial things to the point of excess?

Does this in turn make us angry at trivial things such as the driver in front of us who's going the speed limit when everyone knows it's proper etiquette to go a collectively agreed upon minimum of 5 mph over the speed limit? The nerve of that driver! And then we begin to take it personally. "What the heck is wrong with that person? Why is he or she out to ruin my day?" Or do we come home from a long day at work and go into anger orbit because we can't get online quick enough?

We pursue various things in hopes of finding happiness, and because we aren't finding it for very long, we are angry—angry at anything. And when trivial things don't fulfill us, do we begin doing not-so-trivial things, such as harming our physical bodies? I keep using the word things. That is exactly what we are doing: pursuing things. We are on a "trivial pursuit." The phrase trivial pursuit took on a new meaning for me. It soon described a bored game.

"Trivial pursuit" soon described a bored game.

However, we do have certain needs in life that need to be met. We need a place to live, food to eat, clothes to wear, personal essentials, a car to drive, etc. What we have to guard against is when trivial things become an obsession and are seen as the only road to happiness.

Let's go back to the notion of the bored game. When we search for trivial things in life, we wander from one category to another, content for only a short while with a given category, and soon we are searching for another category to provide happiness. And so the game is played on endlessly, the players never content with any category for long. The word category can be replaced with specific words such as toy, person, drug, diet, even job, house, etc. Hence, we can say people are wandering from toy to toy, or person to person, or drug to drug, etc. These people are still not finding contentment, and this makes them angry. They are bored. They may be busy, but they are bored.

Looking to trivial things doesn't bring contentment; it is an endless game. Contentment comes only through a working relationship with God.

Blessed are the people of whom this is true; blessed are the people whose God is the LORD. (Psalm 144:15)

Pursuing a relationship with Jesus leads to happiness, peace, and contentment. Pursuing trivial things leads to nothing. It is an endless game of categories. After a while, the game is boring.

Pursuing a relationship with Jesus is never boring. It is extremely fulfilling. Jesus gives us talent, ambition, laughter, happiness, excitement, wisdom. He gives us so many blessings we can't even begin to list them all. Most of all, he gives us love, forgiveness, and eternal life. And then, when we do acquire something that we've worked hard for, we enjoy it! We have the perspective to know that this was only made possible through God. Arrogance and boastfulness are not issues, because we have cultivated a heart that is truly grateful for our blessings. We are free to enjoy what we have because we are not thinking about the next best thing.

As Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians:

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him [Christ] who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:11–13)

Notice that Paul learned the secret of contentment. It's not like you're either born with it or you're not. "Darn the luck. Sorry, folks. I'll never be content." "You see; I can't help it—I was born this way." Thank goodness contentment can be learned. How? A relationship with Jesus Christ brings peace. That relationship is imperative to your sense of well-being and contentment.

Notice also that Paul called it a secret. A secret implies that this is not common knowledge; this is not something everyone knows. Many people, who seemingly have everything they could possibly need, are not content. But again, Paul said that contentment can be learned. And he tells us how: through Christ.

Trivial pursuit: the board game or the bored game. Which would you rather play?

Chapter Two

The Gift of Money

Money is a very strange thing. It is a system society has developed in order to measure, buy, and sell goods and services. We need money to survive in society, yet society is quick to label a person based on how much of this "trading tool" he or she has. Societies and cultures will even form opinions about a person based solely on money, totally disregarding any other qualities a person may possess.

Everyone is a child of God. This in and of itself makes us all equal in God's eyes. We should treat each other with love and respect simply because we are all God's little ones. We are on the earth to spread the good news of Jesus. To accomplish this, God gives each of us gifts. One of those gifts is money.

How should we view money? Just as talent and children are gifts from God, so is money. God has entrusted these gifts with you for a time here on earth. They are only on loan, and he trusts you to care for them wisely.

He trusts you to use the gift of money wisely.

God gives you a mind to make sound decisions on the use of money: giving, saving, planning, providing. It should be thought of in no other spirit. It doesn't really increase your happiness—that comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ. If you utilize all your gifts, including money, in the spirit of nourishing your heart and soul, then happiness and contentment will be achieved. Money is not a bad thing, but the all-consuming love of money is.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)

God promises to always be there for us and take care of us. Loving money is like not trusting God to take care of us. We think we are our own god, and we don't trust him to provide for us, and so we cheat, steal, and lie to acquire more and more of this stuff instead of putting our trust in God. He will provide for us if we put in an honest day's work—he really will. And we get the opportunity to show him that we can be responsible with the money we are given. If we don't acquire it by honest work, and if we are not responsible with it, then we will eventually feel pretty rotten about ourselves. In 1 Timothy we read:

If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to Godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:3–10)

Put in an honest day's work, come home, relax, and enjoy your life. God will take care of you. Sleep tight.

Chapter Three

Maslow's Need Hierarchy Is Altered

Abraham Maslow, a famous psychologist, introduced a need hierarchy in 1970, as shown below (Baron et al., p. 325).

Higher-Order Needs

• Self-Actualization

(includes need to know and understand, to create and to appreciate beauty)

• Self-Esteem

(includes need for competence, independence, and selfworth)

• Belongingness and Love

(includes need to belong to family and other groups, to love and be loved)

Lower-Order Needs

• Safety Needs

(includes need to avoid pain, fear, and insecurity)

• Physiological Needs

(includes need for food, water, and air)

If lower needs are satisfied, there is a natural tendency to move upward to meet the next level of needs. If lower needs are not satisfied, there is a natural tendency to return to these levels until the needs are met.

"Abraham Maslow proposed that human beings respond to a hierarchy of needs that involve a natural progression from lower to higher motives. The lower-order needs are more powerful and must be satisfied before we can grow toward the higher-order ones. Also, no matter how far up the hierarchy an individual has progressed, if a lower need is frustrated, he or she will move back to the lower level until the need is met" (Baron et al., p. 325).

I like this hierarchy. However, upon careful study, I would like to add one more item to the list. Spiritual needs must be included in the hierarchy, either as a foundation or as an all-encompassing bubble. Pick whichever visual works best for you.

Certainly, satisfying spiritual needs is the cornerstone of our existence. Man has been made with an instinctual need to believe in God. Until this need has been met, we will search everywhere in order to fill this void, and we won't be truly at peace until it is properly filled. We may try to fill it with other things besides God, but we won't be content.

Until a relationship with Jesus fills this innate and inherent spiritual void, we will feel empty.

As human beings, we have many needs. I don't take issue with Maslow's hierarchy. I agree with it. As I reflect on my life, I can see when I was at different stages and when I slid back and forth between needs. It actually helps me clarify my own life and helps me understand what was happening at different times in my life.

The hierarchy without God still leaves a void, an unsatisfied feeling with each and every need. However, the hierarchy with God ensures that the needs can be fully met. In the following Bible passages, God promises to fulfill all of the needs as articulated by Maslow. Consider the lowest need on the hierarchy, the most basic need for any human being: food, clothing, and shelter.

So do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?" For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:31–33)

Moving up the hierarchy, the next need is that of safety; the need to avoid pain, fear, and insecurity. There are numerous times in the Bible where God tells us not to be afraid or to "fear not." Here is one of them:

For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. (Isaiah 41:13)

And of course there's Daniel in the lions' den. God kept Daniel safe and free from pain because Daniel believed in him. Here is a refresher of that account. We pick it up at the part where the king had no choice but to sentence Daniel to the lions' den:

So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions' den. The king said to Daniel, "May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!" A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel's situation might not be changed.

Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep. At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions' den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?"

Daniel answered, "O king, live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king."

The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. (Daniel 6:16–23)

Not only are there accounts of God keeping specific people safe in the Bible, God also promises to keep all of us safe.

There shall be no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. (Psalm 91:10–11 KJV)

The need for belongingness and love is the next level on the need chain. We are all God's children; we belong to God. We are part of his family and his Kingdom. What better place or group to belong to?

God also promises to love us; however, we may not be tuned into that love unless we are in contact with God. We need to hear of God's promises to love us. We need to talk with him so that he can reveal that love to us. Many Bible passages speak of God's love. Here is a short, obscure one that I enjoy:

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

This brings us to the need for self-esteem. God satisfies our hunger for self-esteem. God frees us from guilt, shame, insecurity, fear, and boredom. God offers a life of security, serenity, stimulation, and self-esteem.

We can feel great about ourselves because God loves us and he put us here on earth at exactly this time and place because he has a plan for our lives. God has a specific plan tailor-made just for you and another specific plan just for me. No one else—repeat, no one else—could take our place or God wouldn't have put us here. He wants us to be here, and he needs us to be here. That validates our self-worth, our self-esteem.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

Finally, the need for self-actualization tops the need chain. A similar word for self-actualization is wisdom. Where does wisdom come from? God. Wise people have a great perspective on life. They create and delight in created things, and they appreciate beauty. Wise people ask God for wisdom and understanding.

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5)

Another good verse is:

My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:2–3)

Clearly, God promises to fulfill every need articulated by Maslow. Additionally, he will fulfill even more needs than are on Maslow's hierarchy. Our individual needs vary; God knows this. In fact, only God knows this. A basic psychological theory is a great tool to explain some things, but it doesn't fulfill our needs. And it doesn't take into account all of our differences as individuals. My needs may be slightly different than your needs; only God knows this and only he can fulfill them. The theory written on a piece of paper is inactive, but God is active. God actively works in our lives to satisfy our needs properly.

Which brings me to another point: each of Maslow's needs is righteous and in good conscience. The fulfillment of our needs, as articulated by Maslow, does not require us to sin! We can satisfy all of our needs without sinning! (I like this guy!) Are we gonna mess up? Sure. Did we have to? No. Just know that we have a choice. We don't have to choose the wrong path; we can choose the right one. In fact, choosing the wrong path won't fulfill our needs at all. It will frustrate those needs, and we'll begin the slide downward.

Make spiritual needs a top priority, and God will act much as a flipper on a pinball machine would. If we begin the slide downward, he will alert us to the fact that all is not well. Things are not as they should be. And then through prayer, God will help us identify what changes need to be made so that we can begin the ascent again.

If we don't make spiritual needs a top priority, who acts as our flipper, our safety net? Who's going to keep us from going down?

Spiritual need—the most basic human need. Embrace it. Act on it. Fulfill it. Enjoy the ascent.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from MORE THAN AN AVERAGE GOD by Karen Adams Copyright © 2013 by Karen Beckwith. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Preface....................vii
Introduction: The Title....................xi
1. Trivial Pursuit: Board Game or Bored Game?....................1
2. The Gift of Money....................5
3. Maslow's Need Hierarchy Is Altered....................9
4. The Craftsman....................17
5. A Wiser Sight....................21
6. Quiet and Simple....................27
7. The Gift of a Preemie....................31
8. The Hinged Door....................35
9. The Crisco Pit of Depression....................39
10. Rowboats....................43
11. Self-Esteem via the Devil vs. Self-Esteem via God....................45
12. It May Not Be Our Position, It May Be Our Perspective....................49
13. What's Down the River?....................51
14. Pray with the Cards Faceup on the Table....................53
15. God's Energy....................55
16. God's Timing....................57
17. Then a Miracle Occurs....................59
18. How Can I Be Positive When I Just Got a Speeding Ticket?....................63
19. I Got a Postcard from Jesus!....................65
20. I Fell Down....................67
21. The Grinch....................71
22. Just Believe....................75
23. My Body Has Scars....................77
24. The Puzzle Peace....................81
25. Unconditional Love....................85
26. Deny, Use, Glorify....................91
27. The Phases of the Moon....................95
28. Did You Ever See the Sun Rise with Your Infant?....................97
Bibliography....................99