Not God Enough: Why Your Small God Leads to Big Problems
Pastor and author J. D. Greear reveals that the secret to a robust, passionate faith isn't getting all the right answers about God, but seeing God as the awesome, glorious, and infinite presence that He is.
We like God small. We prefer a God who is safe, domesticated, who thinks like we think, likes what we like, and whom we can manage, predict, and control. A small God is convenient. Practical. Manageable. For us, thinking of God as so infinitely greater and wiser than we are and who would cause us to tremble in his presence is a leftover relic from an oppressive, archaic view of religion.
But what if this small version of God we've created is holding us back from the greatest experience of our lives--from genuine, confident, world-transforming faith?
In Not God Enough, J.D. reveals how to discover a God who:
- is big enough to handle your questions, doubts, and fears
- is not silent
- is worthy of worship
- wants to take you from boring to bold in your faith
- has a purpose and mission for you on earth
- is pursuing you right now
The truth: God is big. Bigger than big. Bigger than all the words we use to say big. Only a God of infinite power, wisdom, and majesty can answer our deepest questions and meet our deepest longings.
God is not just a slightly better, slightly smarter version of you. God is infinite and glorious, and an encounter with Him won't just change the way you think about your faith. It'll change your entire life.
Top Highlights
“As Tim Keller says, ‘If our prayer life discerns God only as lofty, it will be cold and fearful; if it discerns God only as a spirit of love, it will be sentimental.’3 However, when we behold God as he really is—the Creator greater than the cosmos and the Savior of the cross—we become trusting, passionate, confident, zealous worshipers.” (Page 25)
“God doesn’t really want the guy who expects to be chosen. ‘Ahhh, God, . . . wise choice. Clearly you have an eye for talent.’ Nope. If you have a list of reasons why you think you are a good choice, then you’re going to clog the pipe. You’re not going to lean on God for his power, nor are you going to give him glory when you succeed. God prefers those who know they are weak. Those who have no choice but to lean on him.” (Page 208)
“In this book, he teaches us that our view of God ultimately shapes what happens in our lives. In the words of A. W. Tozer, ‘The most portentous fact about any man is . . . what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law . . . to move toward our mental image of God.’ In other words, when we imagine a little God, we assume he can only do little things.” (Page 12)
“His love at the cross didn’t move me because his magnificence in the heavens hadn’t humbled me.” (Page 24)
“J. D. writes, ‘In many cases, we have to live out our days not knowing the precise reason for terrible events. But the cross shows us what they cannot mean. They cannot mean that God is absent or out of control.’” (Pages 12–13)
Product Details
- Title : Not God Enough: Why Your Small God Leads to Big Problems
- Authors:
- Greear, J.D.
- Jeremiah, David
- Publisher: Zondervan
- Publication Date: 2018
- ISBN: 9780310337867