Know God Deeply

 

Most of us have met people and felt as if we didn’t really know or understand them. Either they were silent when it came to revealing themselves and how they think about life, or they put on a layer that covered up their actual thoughts so we saw only what they wanted us to see.

I read a book on encouragement that introduced me to the idea of layers and began to see it, not only in myself but in others. Some behaved in certain ways when we were alone together but changed if more people were around. Some seemed to have a persona that differed depending on the topic of discussion.

Then I noticed how much I was drawn to people that are transparent, easy to get to know, without layers and consistent in their personality and way of life no matter what was happening. I also noticed that these transparent people made me comfortable to share my true self as well. On the other hand, people with layers had me unsure of how to behave around them.

Taking these thoughts and applying them to knowing God brings out a truth that is vital. That is, the better I understand who God is and how He thinks, the easier it is to be who I am. Everything about me seems related to knowing what God is really like. If I understand that He created me, put me in my present environment, and I am absolutely in His power, and that He is good and kind, I feel free to be who I am. I know that I am cared for and happy.

If I met a person who was obviously lying to me, telling me untrue things about themselves, or I suspected they were evil, I would not want to be around them. My knowledge of that person, right or wrong, would affect the relationship, even end it.
It is the same concerning God. If my thoughts of Him are based on the idea that He is cruel or unkind or anything negative and He didn’t want the best for me, this would also affect any relationship I might have with Him. Like Eve in the garden, I would be thinking He didn’t care and lose my trust, even go hide from Him.

Everything I know about God also affects everything I understand about life. How vital to have the right knowledge. If for no other reason, this motivates me to read the Bible and find out who God is, what He is like. I cannot let the serpent lie to me, or let circumstances form my opinions. I need the truth about God and knowing that truth is better than anything else I might possess.

Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:23–24)

This is the reason for morning devotions, prayer, Bible study, going to church, studying life — to know God. Not only does it bring delight to Him, but it also greatly affects me.

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5:20)

PRAY: Jesus, thank You that You came to bring me the knowledge of God. Your Word is clear that  grace and peace are multiplied to me in that knowledge (2 Peter 1:2) and that knowing You means I have eternal life (John 17:3) Just as getting to know another person takes time and involves increasing depth, knowing You involves layers of knowledge, but none of them are put-on cover-ups. Instead, You are the true God who gladly reveals Himself to those who seek You.

Spirituality?

A young member of my family calls herself and her friends “spiritual” people. I know the Bible definition, but wondered about her understanding of that word. My online dictionary says spirituality is about the spirit or soul as distinguished from the physical nature. It often pertains to spirits or to spiritualists who are considered supernatural. This definitions shows how people can be “spiritual” without any interest in the Creator who is Spirit, or in His spiritual realm, the part of His creation we cannot see or experience unless He grants new life to us. This regeneration is needed because sin has made us “spiritually blind” even dead to that realm.

The apostle Paul spoke on Mars Hill to the people of Athens. He understood that they too were spiritual, but not in the same way as Christians are spiritual…

Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us… (Acts 17:22–27)

These were tactful words. These people knew there was more to life than the physical, and that a God existed that was beyond their knowledge. They wanted to worship this God, perhaps because the worship of their gods left them empty, but they didn’t know who or what it was that tugged at them. They called it the “unknown” God because that is what He was to them.

Paul spoke to them in love. He was bold in declaring God, yet his feelings for these people would not allow him to do anything less. They needed to hear about this God that they did not know.

He also knew they were close. They felt the mystery of life and built their altar to this unknown something. They were on the brink of faith without believing, close to it and to true spirituality, yet they missed it and even knew that they missed it.

Today’s devotional reading says that I could take two views concerning their darkness (and that of my family member). I could consider such a view of “spiritual” as being frivolous and insincere, even mocking true spiritual truths. Or I could be impressed with their reverence and feel compassion that they are so near yet so far.

What makes the difference between these two views? If I take the first one, I see no God, only vain and aimless dissatisfaction that is contemptible. Such a view makes me look down my nose, forgetting that I once was like them.

If I take the second view, it is because I can sense God is at work in their lives. He is making a claim on them and drawing them through His Spirit. They feel this wooing God, even though they do not know that it is He whom they feel. This makes their restlessness, desires and doubts significant, and thinking this way makes me pray for them and worship the God who is seeking their hearts.

Paul essentially tells the people of Athens, “You are restless and discontented. Your restlessness, your impatience, your discontent, however petty the forms it takes, is serious and not petty to me because of what it means. It means that God is not far from every one of you.”

As I pray for those who consider themselves spiritual but have rejected or neglected the God of spirits, I need to remember that they are at least acknowledging the desire of their hearts. God put in them the knowledge that there is more than they can see. In this claim of being “spiritual” they even might be seeking Him.