- A. W. Tozer

The vast majority of you reading this probably believe in God, but we may think of Him in different ways...which affects how we respond to Him and consequently, how we live our lives.

The following is a basic list of various concepts of God that people have (props to Louis Giglio for the list!). Are you one of these 11?

1. The faceless, nameless, distant force God - There's this thing, this force, out there that just feels right and good...I don't know what it is, but something is making all this happen.

2. The OnStar God - He's always there when I need help or some direction...but I really don't pay too much attention otherwise.

3. Granddad God - He's a really really gentle and sweet old man. He may have lost a step or two (since He's been around for SOOO long), but He's always there for me and may even slip a $20 in my hand from time to time.

4. Scorekeeper God - All He cares about is the number of good things I've done verses the number of bad things I've done. If I'm above a certain number of points, I'm in. If not...well...I'd just better be sure I do enough good things to make up for the bad and hope for the best.

5. The Doomsday God - God is actually is rooting for me to mess up...to fail so He can clobber me.

6. Stained Glass God - God lives at the church, loves the organ and doesn't like a lot of ruckus and noise. I can kind of live however I want...but not in God's house. There, I must be still and shut up, and sing music that I don't like but apparently God does. His house, His rules.

7. Homeboy God - God's a great friend. I don't see His as all that powerful and wrathful. But He's a really great friend who's always there for me that I like to hang with.

8. E-bay God - God is where to go to get stuff that's hard to find and get rid of stuff I don't want anymore.

9. ME God - I call the shots for my life. I'm in charge and I decide how my life is going to play out.

10. No God God - God doesn't exist. At all. And it's incredibly frustrating to me that in order for me to even say that I don't believe in God, I have to say the word "God." People only believe in a higher power because it makes them feel better.

11. PC God - I believe God is non-offensive, non-abrasive, non-absolute. I choose what I like about God and ignore what I don't like about Him.

Whichever of these views you of God you adhere to, it affects everything else in your life. You choose how to approach situations in your life based off your understanding of who God is and what He's like. The real question is, "How does GOD want us to see Him?"

And I think the answer is pretty clear in Scripture. Read the New Testament and you'll see a constant theme. God wants you to take all His attributes and wrap them up in one clear picture:

12. Loving Father - God is my Dad. He adopted me as His own and even promises that I am heir to His thone! He wants what's best for me...even if I don't understand why He does the things He does. He's not some distant force out there. He's not there just to help me from time to time. He's not slipping in His old age, He isn't keeping score, and He definitely doesn't want to destroy me. He is everywhere, not just at church. And And He's so much more than just a good friend or a guy to go to get rid of my guilt or to make me feel better.

He is the one and ONLY God who loves me UNCONDITIONALLY....even though He sometimes may seem abrasive and offensive. After all, we're just kids. We think we know everything when in reality we don't see the whole picture the way Dad does.

Whatever you think about who God is and how He works dramatically affects how you live your life. Even if you don't realize it and even if you refuse to admit it.

On a side-note, if your view of God is incorrect then it only stands to reason that you will respond to God incorrectly. So...we'd all better think long and hard about this one. We can't just assume we've got God pegged. There is nothing more important, no higher priority for your life than for you to figure out who God is.