Knowing God
Each of us has a hunger in our soul — sometimes called a “God-shaped” hole — that can only be filled by God Himself. Two now classic books speak to this hunger, Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God and J.I. Packer’s Knowing God.
In my Heartlight.org post this week, Drawing Nearer, I begin a several week look at the different ways we can “know” God. Of course, Jesus made the clear the importance of knowing God in the following statement He shared with His closest friends shortly before the agony of the Passion:
“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3).
We will use what I call “Immanuel sayings” from the gospel of Matthew because they tell us four ways for God to reveal Himself to us in Jesus:
Through the story of Scripture with Jesus as a focus (Matthew 1:22-23)
Through radical forgiveness, accountability, fellowship, and worship (Matthew 18:20)
Through loving service to those in need (Matthew 25:40)
Through reaching past barriers and helping others know and live for Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20).
I would like to challenge you to think through some things and get your comments, especially if you have read the Heartlight.org post, to the following questions:
Do you think addictions spring from folks yearning to know God, but trying false ways of doing that and getting trapped by Satan?
What is the biggest difference between knowing about God and actually knowing God?
The term “knowing” is a very intimate term in biblical language (see Genesis 4:1, 17, 25 and Luke 1:34 where the term refers to the intimacy of a husband and wife: modern translations do not keep the metaphorical “knew” but look at the KJV.). Why would the Holy Spirit choose that term to talk about our relationship with God?
How does eternal life hinge on knowing God? (John 17:3)
look foward to this series, great timing for me. It is so true about the intimacy of God, I think we often misunderstand just how “soul deep” that is.
I’m not sure addicts are knowingly looking for God or spirituality. But I know from personal and ministry experience that we are trying to fill that void, that aching place of lonliness, that place that needs to be comforted, that place deep inside that gives us a feeling of worth and belonging.
whether or not it is a mind altering drug, success or unholy relationships~it is our “drug of choice” that we try to stuff into the void.
I believe that until we are introduced to the One True Saviour “Immanuel”, we naturally seek to fill this void with the resources we have, or believe will be the answer. Of course the enemy doesn’t mind offering any number of distorted options. A little distortion is as good as dead wrong, spiritualy speaking.
Our drug of choice depends on our circumstances, perceptions and the spirtual health of our surroundings and relationships.
I totally agree with you that God longs for intimate relationship with us, it is only natural that we long for that with Him. But we have so many options… For me personaly making some bad choices made making the right one ever sweeter, and I suspect it is that way for many people.
Sherry
5 Jan 09 at 8:49 am
Phil,
It is WONDERFUL to hear an exhortation to refresh our “knowledge of God” — a knowledge that is experiential and authentic and not just intellectual and informational. However, I find it a little inconsistent that at one and the same time you say two things in your Heartlight article that draw us in two different directions…
1. “So rather than settling for tired, stale, religious rituals and forms, let’s call each other to truly “know” God. But as my friend at the halfway house reminded me, we have to choose to surrender our preconceptions, biases, and traditions to Him, and let Him “draw us ever nearer”!”
2. “Through radical forgiveness, accountability, fellowship, and worship (Matthew 18:20) Through loving service to those in need (Matthew 25:40)”
You seem to be saying “get rid of the traditions” and yet you commend us to embrace the “traditions”… Which is it?!
As for me and my house, we will choose to keep the “stale rituals” and address the “staleness” with repentance and renewal. It is sad that you chose to so easily associate ritual with bias and preconceptions.
In the Old Covenant and New Covenant history of the Israel of God (the ecclesia), the call to “know God” is never understood to be fully enjoyed outside the context of the Holy Tradition… The passages in both the Old and New Testaments that link the “knowing God” fully with the living (contrasted with “stale”) Tradition are too numerous to mention (but you might try St. Paul’s repeated exhortation to “tradition” and Acts 2.42ff for starters).
It is very dangerous to commend the tossing out of the baby with the bathwater for the saking of a “fresh” knowledge of God. I know you know that to be the case and it may be (I hope) that you do not intent to commend us to do this in your first exhortation (#1). The criteria for an authentically “knowing God” ARE the very heartbeat of the tradition, and the rituals that comprise a portion of their content.
As a priest and longtime advocate of “AA” for example, I know the value of rituals and deeply held convictions that are not stale. When things get stale in the realm of the Spirit we must, I agree, ask the hard question, “Is this ritual of God’s design or man’s design?” The same is true of our preconceptions. But, lets be careful how quickly we begin “tossing stuff overboard”, lest we toss the “bailing bucket” and the drinking water!!
I look forward to where you go with this series…
Your devoted reader,
Fr. Thomas
frthomas
6 Jan 09 at 9:44 am
I was wondering if someone on your end reads all of the messages before I pour my heart out. I am an alcoholic and an addict and I have been clean and sober for just over two years. It’s not a big “Woo Hoo” since I should have never allowed the addictions to rule my life…But I could not stop. The sickness had overcome me and took me to a place where there was nothing left. Every day I would ask myself, “Why am I poisoning myself again” as I took those gulps of Vodka straight from the bottle. But through all this, the Lord has such a strong presence and drew me back to himself. Yes, I became addicted even while being a Christian. There is so much hurt and pain, but…There is so much more healing through my Lord today. So…Let me know if you would like to talk. I have an interest in writing a book from compiled letters that I wrote to the men that come to the “Tables Of Faith” while I spent eight months in a recovery facility. I’m due to be divorced on Feb 18 from a wonderful Christian woman who’s trust in me has been completely shattered. Our Lord is sovereign, I trust Him in everything and even though my desire is to have her back, I thank God that He knows what’s best and I pray that His will is to be done.
Blessings
David
703-403-5458
David Hutz
10 Jan 09 at 7:39 pm
David,
I hear your heart through your words as I am currently struggling with finding my way back to God in my daily life & choices after finding out about my husband of 24 years affair with a childhood friend that lasted over 2 years. It has now been 3 years that I\’ve seesawed back & forth between times of forgiveness, times of pain, knowing His grace, and then not knowing how I can make it through another day. I still find myself slipping back to old addictions. Then, when God convicts me, I turn back to Him, only to eventually find that I have made my way right back to the other side of the seesaw. I\’ve stayed with my husband, which makes it harder since he continues to bring alcohol into the home and is not participating in my attempts to bring Christ back into the center of our marriage & home.
The Good News! After reading what you, Phil & others wrote, and through writing to you just now, my eyes have been opened to God & what He has shown me. I am reminded of how 30 years ago I just knew of God and prayed for my daughter\’ recovery from spinal meningitis. And, it was through the pain of losing her and 5 years of searching for comfort through drugs, alcohol & sex that I came to really KNOW God–His unconditional love, His beauty & compassion and security knowing that I was in the hands of the Almighty. Just like back then, my tears of pain have turned to tears of joy. Yes, the pain of losing something precious to me, like my daughter & the sanctity & intimacy of my marriage, will continue on. However, even in times of turmoil & struggles with addictions & sinful meanness, my joy & security in Him overshadows any past, present & future challenge that life dishes out. And, best of all, the battle has already been won!
God bless you,
Leslie
Leslie
12 Jan 09 at 4:35 pm
\"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation\"—Thoeau.
We are all looking for \"someting\" to fill an emptiness that exist, beyond our knowledge. In a recent survey of our congregation, using a scale of 1-5 to grade the question \"rate our Sunday worship service with \"5\" being very spiritual and\"1\" barely spiriual. We averaged approx 3.6. I would feel from this that even in \"our\" efforts to fill this void on Sunday morning that we are not been sucessful. If that is the case then how miserable are we failing to help those who do not know God?
In our jail ministry I have been privilaged to see the transformation of lives that were turned around when the light finally came on and they allowed God to direct their lives. We must find better ways to get out to those who are in \"desperation\" that we are not reaching.
I believe that it is not the \"ritual\" that is at fault; it is our failure to demonstrate true committment to God. We need more prayers from the heart not from a book. We need more \"testimonals about what God has done for us and less bland sermons that reallly go no where. We need to be totally committed to our faith in God and therby reach out to those who are desperate (with out God).
Thanks for your comments
C.M.Callan
C.M.Callan
23 Jan 09 at 8:21 pm
Funny that we both require and repel from ritual. If we get too close, we grow bored of it. Yet if we get too far away, we become uncomfortable-even frightened! However, God wants us to feel neither of these but to long to spend time with HIM.
Michael O'Briant
24 Jan 09 at 6:14 pm