The God You May Not Know - Our personalities inevitably conform to our gods. We have witnessed this down through history. When we worship inferior versions of God – money, status, security, power, pleasure, you name it – we become like our idols. If your god is money, you’ll become materialistic. If your god is sex, you’ll become increasingly sensual. If your god is yourself, you’ll become more self-focused. But if your God is the almighty Creator of Scripture you’ve got a lifetime of joy ahead of you. So it is no exaggeration to say that the study of God is the supreme study of a lifetime. It lifts our thoughts, steadies our nerves, purifies our motives, expands our confidence, and strengthens our influence. It’s the greatest subject we could ever study, for God is the apex of all reality. One of the reasons we don’t love God as much as we should is because we don’t know Him as well as we ought. Trying to comprehend the person of God is like trying to capture all the galaxies of the universe in a child’s prism. Yet the Bible encourages us to try, for God seeks to be known. In this teaching series, I want to personally introduce you to the God you may not know—to His knowledge, holiness, all-pervasive presence, unlimited power, love, and the other qualities that make Him who He is. Knowing our eternal God changes our daily lives—and He is well worth knowing, for He alone is worthy of all praise!
The 4 Wills of God - Should you take the job? Quit the job? Begin a relationship? End a relationship? Move? Plant roots? How do we find God’s will for life's big decisions? What if you had total freedom? Emerson Eggerichs believes there is a clear answer to finding God’s will. The Bible itself reveals the clue–a secret hidden in plain sight. Before launching his Love & Respect marriage ministry with wife Sarah, Emerson was a senior pastor for nearly 20 years in East Lansing Michigan. Before that, Emerson and a friend ran a free counseling center called “The Open Door” in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. As Emerson navigated his career he found both he and the people he was counseling were wrestling with big decisions and knowing if that decision was really what God wanted. Immersing himself in God’s word for over 30 hours a week for 19 years, he discovered simple, clear truths that set him and many others free. There is a starting point to discovering God’s Will for your next decision and for your entire life. Begin here to read stories of people in the same situations you face today. You’ll be able to discover the freedom you’ve been searching for, and then, like Emerson, you’ll help others find that freedom too.
When I go to write these posts, I try to bring together books that are similar in context. And sometimes when I do posts on new books that come in, that isn’t always easy. So I was definitely surprised when both of this week’s books have to do with knowing God and His will. In David Jeremiah’s The God You May Not Know, it gives great insight on how he got to know God personally, and how we can take the journey from knowing about God to knowing God. One of the first things that he says in the first chapter (and I’ve heard about other people doing this as well), is how he has a special place out in the country where he can spend time with the Lord. I have spoken with people who call this their prayer walk time. They set aside 30 minutes or so in the morning or afternoon to spend time with God in His creation. “We are made to know God—to know about Him and to know Him personally.” How many of us have allotted time set aside to actually spend time with God? David Jeremiah had an analogy in his book which illustrates a tough reality. “Suppose the only time you communicated with your spouse was once a week (Sunday morning), and you gave them a box of chocolates or flowers. If your entire relationship with your loved one consisted of a box of chocolates every seventh day, the marriage would wither. That’s what some people do to God.” I know that was tough for me to read. There have been seasons in my life where I go into church on Sunday and I join in worship and listen to the sermon, but then wonder why I feel hopelessly lost for the rest of the week. Proverbs 9:10 comes to mind: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
Our other new book this week was The 4 Wills of God by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. This one really fascinated me, because it seemed to aid in answering a question I’ve had recently. “What is God’s will for my life?” What’s great about this book is: I’m not the only one who has asked this question. But most of the time, when people ask this, they want to know about their career, relationships, finances, etc. Here’s what Dr. Eggerichs says about that, “The question, ‘What is God’s will?’ explores what I call the universal will of God for all believers. I contend that the best way to know God’s unique will is to know and follow His universal will for all believers, and this book is about four universal wills of God, which serve as a great starting point.” The wills that he expands on are as follows:
Believe in Jesus Christ (John 6:40)
Abstain from sexual sin (1 Thessalonians 4:3)
Give Thanks in everything (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
Submit in Doing Right (1 Peter 2:13-15)
Now, Dr. Eggerichs makes sure to say, “Though all of God’s commands in the Old and New Testament that apply to the church fall under God’s will for us, God reveals in four passages, four specific wills. This doesn’t mean we can ignore the rest of God’s commands, only that we probably will ignore the rest if we ignore these four.” Then again, reading the whole Bible, along with these four verses would also be beneficial. But if you want to know more about what Dr. Eggerichs has to say about God’s will or even Dr. Jeremiah’s thoughts on truly knowing God, come on into the Cross Reference Library to check out these books.
—”Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” Hebrews 10:35-36