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Northwest Church of Christ 3904 38th Street NW Canton, Ohio 44718 330-492-5523 Fax: 330-493-7119 |
“Discovering God: |
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I. Introduction.
A. You’re probably familiar with the phrase, “When all else
fails, read the directions.” That’s not only good advice.
For the more complex matters of life, it’s essential.1. To discover, and begin to understand, God’s ways,
to know Him (His thoughts and actions), to know
of His intimate love for each of us, we most need
to read, and study, His Word.2. That was Moses’ prayer, in Exodus 33:13: “Now,
therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your
sight, show me now Your way, that I may know
You and that I may find grace in Your sight . . .”a. Notice that Moses uses the phrase “grace
[favor] in Your sight” twice in one sentence.
He had one clear goal: to know God. He
wanted to understand God’s ways so that he
could know Him better.b. God had made His presence known to
Moses on several occasions, from the
burning bush at Mt. Horeb to the parting of
the sea in Egypt. God had manifested His
power and His ability to save Moses and the
Israelite people.c. All of these events, all the plagues and the
deliverance of the exodus, didn’t really tell
Moses what He wanted to know, the
personal, intimate, loving God who is more
than just an idea, or a power. The God who
is real, and a real presence in His, and our,
lives.B. How well do we know this real, powerful, yet merciful and
gracious, God? We read the Bible, we attend services of
worship and times of study, we give as God has
commanded us to do. But, do we really know God?1. Until we begin to understand His ways, a spiritual
gap exists in our life.2. We may know right from wrong, but do we know
why God wants us to live a certain way?3. What motivates God? Why does He do what He
does? Why does He respond as He does?C. As our knowledge of God deepens, our desire to please
Him increases. It becomes so much more important to be
pleasing to Him.1. You may hear someone say: “If I only knew what
God wanted me to do, I would do it.”2. Others try to make sense out of tragic, or
challenging, circumstances only to emerge from
that time more discouraged, or feeling more alone
than ever. Often, this happens because we are not
truly seeking to know God, and His ways, but are
just looking for relief from our emotional, or
mental, pain and stress.3. Before we can know God, we must surrender to
Him. That means we must desire to know HimD. Moses said: “. . . show me now Your way . . .”, and with
deep emotion, and conviction, David wrote: “As the deer
pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O
God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God . . .”
(Psalm 42:1-2). David’s enemies were in pursuit of him,
but fear could not conquer his heart. In his isolation, and
despair, he writes (read Psalm 42:7-11).E. The more we learn about God, the more our lives change.
We learn to take comfort, and confidence, in the fact that
He is at work. We learn that, no matter what happens to
us, and around us, He is in control. We learn that, no
matter how lost and alone we may feel, He is there to
guide us. In the knowledge of God is security, and peace.1. To know God, we may have to walk through life’s
darkest valleys. Could God have spared us the pain,
the disappointment, the heartache of these times?
Yes, but that was not His will, His way, or His plan
for our life.2. To know God, we have to learn of Him, and that,
often, comes through sorrow and suffering.a. “ ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and
show you great and mighty things, which
you do not know.’ ” Jeremiah 33:3.b. “Draw near to God and He will draw near
to you.” (James 4:8).F. The world may entice us to search for wisdom in a number
of different ways, but there is only once source of truth, and
He is waiting for us to desire to know Him so that He can
fully reveal Himself to us.II. Intimacy With God.
A. If someone were to ask you, “Tell me about God,” what
would you say? Could you answer with only superficial
details (there is only one God; He is in heaven; through His
Son He saved humanity from the consequences of sin), or
could you tell someone of your own personal relationship
with Him?B. The fact is many people know about God, but don’t have a
personal relationship with God. This is our greatest
challenge, to know God so well, so personally, so
intimately, that we love Him above everything else. If you
really want to know someone, you have to know them
intimately.C. The word “intimacy” has changed its connotation in our
language. True intimacy is to have a close relationship, or
fellowship, with another. It is really more than just a
friendship, but, often, less than physical contact of a sexual
nature.1. Friends can become intimate, and know one another
on a very deep, personal level.2. To know a few things about God is not to have
intimacy with Him. But, God made us to be His
intimate family. His children, and to have
fellowship with Him.D. God wants us to know that He loves us, and there is
nothing we can do that surprises Him, because He knows
all about us.1. He does not approve of our sins, but He still loves
us.2. He disciplines us when we yield to temptations, but
He never withholds His love from us.
(Deuteronomy 4:31: “(for the Lord your God is a
merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy
you, . . .”). This truth never changes, for God is
righteous and steadfast.E. There is, within every person, a space that only God can
fill. We may try to fill it, to be satisfied, with different
things (possessions, pleasures, work, other relationships),
but, until we come to a point of intimacy with God, we
remain vulnerable to fears, feelings of discontent, selfish
desires, pride, and all the other circumstances and emotions
that consume us, but leave us unfulfilled.1. Fellowship with God shifts our focus from being
“me-centered” to being God-centered.2. Fellowship with God drives out fear, as we are
surrounded by His love and care. (I John 4:18:
“. . . perfect love casts out fear . . .”).F. How do we begin our step-by-step walk with God? How
do we develop an intimate relationship with Him?1. You begin with prayer. The greatest desire of God
is that we would want to know Him, and build an
intimate fellowship with Him. That brings us back
to James 4:8: “Draw near to God and He will draw
near to you . . .”2. The quiet moments we share with “. . . ‘Our Father
in Heaven,’ ” (Luke 11:2), are when we draw near
to Him, and when He reveals Himself, and draws
close to us. With our minds focused on loving, and
praising, and worshipping Him, we sense His
nearness.3. Moses wanted to know God, not simply gain some
additional type of human knowledge. He wanted to
know God as a personal, righteous, and holy friend.
And, God wanted to show Moses how to live in the
light of His favor and blessing. (Read
Exodus 33:9-11). The word “friend,” in verse 11,
here means “intimate companion.”G. The closer in friendship we become with God, the more we
will trust Him. The more time we spend with Him, the
more we will learn of Him, and rely upon Him. As trust
grows, we will find ourselves opening up and praying
more, talking more openly about the feelings we have,
and the challenges we face.1. As we encounter challenges to our peace and
security, our trust in God can guide us in our
responses. One of the greatest experiences we
can have is to come to realize that we can be
ourselves before God, and He will love us and
accept us as we are.2. When God was in the world, in His Son, Jesus,
the Christ, He made Himself available to all
types of people, but people had to choose,
themselves, to come to Him. They had to
“Draw near to God, . . .” before He could help,
and heal, them.3. The time Moses spent at the burning bush was
crucial to everything that followed. Had he not,
“. . . turned aside to look . . .” (Exodus 3:4),
Moses would have missed the wonderful
opportunities he was given. Here is where Moses’
personal relationship with God began. Here is
where Moses began to discover there was much
more to knowing God than he could imagine.a. The relationship between Moses and God
spanned decades, and included times of
heartache, joy, sorrow, celebration,
frustration, friendship, and deep, abiding,
love.b. The moments spent in God’s presence were
an important part of Moses’ journey to
greater wisdom, and knowledge of God
Himself, and His ways.III. Conclusion.
A. In reading, and studying, the Bible, we may wonder, “How
did the apostle Paul experience such sustained suffering
without abandoning his faith?” Or, “How did David not
only survive, but thrive during the years he was pursued
by King Saul, a man obsessed with David’s destruction?”
The answer is the same for these, and a multitude of other
examples. These men maintained their faith through
fellowship with God. They survived, and thrived, by
focusing on Him and not solely on themselves and their
situations. To recognize the power of such a fellowship
is to destroy the effectiveness of fear to overwhelm, and
destroy, us.1. David writes in Psalm 18 (read verses 1-3).
2. Paul writes in Romans 8:35-39 (read).
B. God’s love, power, strength, and care are anchors to our
souls in time of great distress. If we know Him, and are
intimately involved with Him, we can stand firm in our
faith. We can distinguish Satan’s lies from God’s truths.C. Seek to discover, and know, God and His ways. That’s
the essential requirement for living now and forever.