Knowing God

I’m reading J.I. Packer’s “Knowing God”…it’s really great. I wanted to share some of what I’ve been reading.

In chapter two, Packer talks about the “evidence of knowing God”…

1. Those who know God have great energy for God.

Daniel 11:32 (ESV) says “…the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.” The action taken by people who know their God is their reaction to the anti-God trends they see operating around them. People who know their God are before anything else people who pray!

2. Those who know God have great thoughts of God.

There is not enough time to share all that the book of Daniel tells about the wisdom, might, and truth of our great God. There is no more vivid presentation of the reality of God in the whole Bible.

Daniel 2:20-22 (ESV) says “…Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.”

3. Those who know God show great boldness for God.

Daniel and his friends were men who stuck their necks out. They weren’t idiots. They knew what they were doing and counted the cost beforehand. They knew what the outcome would be if God did not intervene miraculously (read about the lion’s den and the blazing furnace in the book of Daniel).

Paul said in Acts 20:24 “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”

4. Those who know God have great contentment in God.

Romans 5:1 (ESV) - “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew peace; that is why they were content to stand their ground in the face of King Nebuchadnezzar’s ultimatum (Daniel 3:15-18).

What can separate us from the love of God? Nothing.

  1. andyforman posted this