I Do Not Know God

If we insist upon trying to imagine Him, we end with an idol, made not with hands but with thoughts; and an idol of the mind is so offensive to God as an idol of the hand.  Knowledge of the Holy, Tozer, pg.8

I have followed Jesus for over 25 years now and I have taken for granted that I know God. But when I read this I am shocked back to the truth that I can not know God completely because he is far, above and beyond like anything on this earth. Anything I use as a reference will be a poor likeness of God.

I do not know God... but I want to.

In fact, I yearn to and it seems that there is a craving in each person to do so as well. They may not label is as wanting to "know God", but it may come out in other forms like craving purpose, meaning and intimacy. "The yearning to know What cannot be known, to comprehend the Incomprehensible, to touch and taste the Unapproachable, arises from the image of God in the nature of man... the soul senses its origin and longs to return to its Source." Tozer, 9.

So how can one know? Is it to read the Bible? Obey it? On its own - no.  We need Jesus. Without Jesus, there is nothing to bridge the gap that separates us from God in the first place - the reason why he is unapproachable in the first place.

But with Jesus we have access to know God. Then we can go on and do what Tozer suggests and instead of asking, "What is God like?" we should be asking "What has God disclosed about Himself that He has declared true?" Specifically, we know him by his attributes.

My plan is:

• Study God's attributes (i.e. read the rest of Tozer's book!)
• Do a word study on God's attributes as I learn about them
• Blog about each attribute
• Identify things I take God for granted for and erroneously applied to Him 

What are some suggestions that have worked to help you know God more by focusing on his attributes?

Photo by kloan

Think Rightly About God

Photo by jardek

Where do I get my concept of God?

In reading through The Knowledge of the Holy by AW Tozer's first chapter, I am challenged to think about how our concept of God is being shaped.  More specifically, how is my concept of God being shaped?

In my earlier years of following Jesus, I would say the physical local church that I attended fed my concept of God with small doses of the media.  They often competed, but I came out knowing God as a friend and forgiver.  But is that who God really is?

As I have been journeying through life and (hopefully) growing in my knowledge and relationship with God, I am realizing that I usually depend on other people's opinion and teaching to inform me of who God is.  Although this is not a bad idea in itself (after all, that is what pastors do for a living - tell others about who God is and those listening should be better for it), I do need to learn about God on my own.

But why do I need to know God on my own?

"Wrong ideas about God are not only the fountain from which the polluted waters of idolatry flow; they are themselves idolatrous. The idolater simply imagines things about God and acts if they were true." Tozer

My belief in God will influence how I live and represent Him.  In the past, I didn't think much of developing my personal, right thinking of who God is.  I have realized the error in that and trusting God know Him in the right way.

My plan is:

• read the Bible regularly - God has revealed himself in his Word.  I need to read the Bible through once every 2-3 years
• James 1:17 - thank God for every good and perfect gift.  This helps me to acknowledge the truth of God's blessing and takes my relationship with God to the realm of experiencing Him
• take faith steps that rely on God (i.e. I can't do it on my own).  Again, this takes my faith to the experience realm. 

What do you do to help you think and know God rightly?

The Pursuit of God: Chapter 1- Following Hard after God

We have almost forgotten that God is a Person and, as such, can be cultivated as any person can.  It is inherent in personality to be able to know other personalities, but full knowledge of one personality by another cannot be achieved by one encounter.

Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth.  

The evil habit of seeking God and effectively prevents us from finding God in full revelation.  In the "and" lies our great woe.  If we omit the "and" we shall soon find God, and in Him we shall find that for which we have all our lives been secretly longing.

There are many quotes in the first chapter of The Pursuit of God that I wrote down to comment on or to guide my first response to this amazing book.  I think I wrote down 7-8 of them.  I think 3 will suffice to help me respond to this first chapter.

I am guilty of complacency.  I have been that person that lived like I only had one encounter with God and thought that was enough.  I have bought the lie that I needed God and...  

I have many "and"s, but at the forefront is convenience.  I think inside of me, I believe that God and convenience will give me the satisfaction my heart is looking for.  But convenience is just the desire in me that leads to complacency - I just do enough to get by and I am content.  But I usually don't realize that I miss the opportunity and the joy that comes from going further to experience God.  My end goal was really convenience and not God.

picture by JPhilipson

I have not grasped what Paul said when he writes, "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." Philippians 3

Like a friend taken for granted, I do not cultivate my relationship with my Friend - I only do enough to get by.

So what needs to change?  I need to cast off complacency, not settle for convenience and be intentional in my communion with God (3 C's... that could be a sermon).  That is why my church's Prayer 41 is such a challenge and a great channel to break out of complacency. It is my hope my church's small group can hold me accountable to.