From time to time I think we all have some pretty funny misconceptions about God. It’s easy to picture a grandfather figure with a flowing white beard shaking his head in disapproval or anxiously waiting to scold us when we screw up. As a kid I envisioned God more like Santa Claus. In my mind I imagined him updating his “naughty” and “nice” list more often than Seth updates his twitter.

Bottom line, I just didn’t want to make him mad or even worse get a lump of coal in my stocking.

Sometimes our perceptions can simply be that God is too holy and perfect to waste time with lowly mortals like us. Whatever the case, God isn’t always the way we think he is. He is Bigger that our understanding.

There is a new song we have been playing as a band that depicts what God is really like. It’s called “The God I Know.” It begins, “I was quick to anger and my love was slow,” describing how we sometimes act, and then continues, "afraid to become just like the God I know."

I think deep down we know what God is really like. He’s divine, but He is approachable. He is someone close, like a friend, brother or even a father. He is quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.

The song also reminds us that God not only accepts us as we are, but has the power to change us. The song says “complacency can be the worst disease."

We know that Jesus was a miracle worker. He made the blind see and the lame walk. If he can do that, then surely He will comfort us in our loneliness or instill empathy within our hearts.

God also has a dangerous personality, as He isn’t afraid to go against the flow. Jesus was the kind of guy that hung out with "sketchy" people. He was having dinner with bums, prostitutes and tax collectors. He healed the sick on Sundays (gasp), walked on water and flipped over the tables in the temple when he was angry. He didn’t always color inside the lines but lived and loved in such a way that caught people’s attention.

Love like this can only be described as a fire. A fire that should never go out.

We need to kindle this flame and let it burn away our insecurities and fears.

Here are the lyrics:

I was quick to anger and my love was slow
Tried to keep from danger to protect my soul
Afraid to let a neighbor in my home
Afraid to become just like the God I know

Walked on water, sank when I looked back
I forgot that faith is not a matter of fact
Jesus showed me something different

THERE IS ONE THING I KNOW FOR SURE
I CAN'T LET FEAR HIDE MY FAITH ANYMORE
THATS NOT THE GOD I KNOW

He touched my eyes and I can finally see
That love is a dangerous philosophy
You and me have been hurt before
But that doesn't mean we keep closing the door

Complacency can be the worst disease
The cure is here, believe the mystery
That Jesus' love is so much different../

CHORUS

Love's like a fire, let it burn
And Don't ever let it out
Let em know what it's all about

So give whatchu got and you'll find
When we're livin dangerous
All of us, can change this town


Click here to read another great Me In Motion devotional on their song "Losers."