God Revealed: Your Image of Him Changes Everything

This book is written straight from Graham Cooke's heart, if you have ever heard him speak. It is filled with little nuggets of truth to contemplate on and be encouraged by. It's a great book and one that I will go back to and refer to in my years to come.

It is so true that our perspective of God would determine our faith level of God, and also our relationship with Him. If we see that God cannot, then our faith would follow that direction... but if we see that He can, then we would begin to have faith and believe that God is able. This goes deeper than knowing in the head, but it is a knowing from the depths of our heart, coming from a relationship with God. Hence, "What we think about God is the single most important part of our spiritual journey. Our image of God will drive every single area of our life and declare how we show up in the world. Do we live a life of faith, boldness and conviction? If we don't, we need to examine our percetion of God." (pg. 11) Cooke states that whenever we move into a new phase of our life, we must take time to upgrade our relationship with God. This upgrade is basically a new perspective of God that will take us into the next phase of our life's journey. "If we enter a new situation without fully immersing ourselves in the stillness of God, we will live on our adrenaline and not out of our spirit... [hence] we must critically examine our current picture of God and determine whether it is strong enough for the next stage of our life and calling." (pg. 13-14) This book has caused me to think through my life and I have found what Cooke writes as a needful thing for every Christian. There were parts in the book where I had to just put the book down and take the time to reflect and ask God to "upgrade" my image of Him. Applying the practical aspects of this book would deepen your walk with God, and give you a foundation each time you transit from one phase of life to another. At the back of the book, there are 5 sections of practical applications to help us upgrade our image of God, and they are (1) A meditative journey, (2) Your picture of God, (3) Developing your relationship with God in a new season of calling, (4) An inheritance word for this season, and (5) Assignment. For example, the section on Your Picture Of God is a list of questions that helps us reflect and work out our picture of God and whether it is Biblical, and that is part of the process for us to grow in Him. Below are some of the other great statements that Cooke makes: - Whenever the Lord talks about Himself, take serious note of what He is saying (pg. 20). - Obedience is a key to the presence of God (pg. 22). - What you think about most is what you love the most (pg. 26). - If you are not consumed by who God is for you, then you're headed into idolatry (pg. 26). - Our intimacy with God should be our most intimidating weapon against the enemy (pg. 26). - What is your vision of God? How you see Him is how you see yourself (pg. 32). - Are you a sinner who struggles with the love of God, or are you a lover of God who occasionally struggles with sin? (pg. 33)