“There’s a difference between knowing God and knowing about God. When you truly know God, you have energy to serve Him, boldness to share Him, and contentment in Him.” J.I. Packer

God wants us to get to know him

A few days ago I wrote about the possibility of a great awakening. Traveling along that same vein, I wanted to talk about knowing God. As a child, I felt that God was this distant entity that you could never know, nor get close to. He was too holy, too big for me to know Him. While God is holy and big. He also wants us to know Him. After all, He knows how many hairs are on our head. Wouldn’t it be just and right to get to know Him?

Throughout Biblical history God walked with those who were willing in spirit

If you are in a background of faith, think about all the stories that you learned from the Bible in Sunday School. One such story comes to mind is that of David, the man after God’s own heart. David who was an adulterer, David who had a man killed so that he could have someone else’s wife. David who slew the giant. He had some very high moments with God and some extremely low moments. He was kind of like us, walking through humanity with all its highs and lows. I am a bit partial to the Apostle Paul (we have a son named Paul), he started as a great persecutor of Christians and transformed into an apostle of God. He wrote many letters to churches and walked closely with god. 

God walked with many women too, last week I wrote about them. The sister of Moses, Miriam. I am also partial to that name, my youngest daughter has that name. She was the first prophetess in the Bible. She helped Moses lead the people out of bondage and on to the path to the promised land. She had a heart for knowing God. Esther, the queen who was brave and helped save her people from extinction and Deborah, prophetess and judge who led the Israelites to victory. All of these women had a desire to follow God and to know His wishes. 

How do we get to know God?

A lot of people say, “Well, read the Bible.” Yes, that is true. I would take it a step further. Start to research God’s names that He is known by in the Bible. 

-El Eloah, God mighty and powerful. 

-Elohim, God the creator, powerful and strong.

-El Shaddai, God Almighty

-Adonai, Lord

-Yahweh, The I am. I am that I am. The proper name for God.

-Yahweh-Jireh, The Lord will provide

-Jehovah Rapha, The God that heals.

-Yahweh Nissi, The Lord our Banner

-Yahweh M’Kaddesh, The Lord who makes holy

-Jehovah Shalom, The Lord our Peace

-Yahweh Elohim, The Lord God

-Yahweh Tsidkenu, The Lord our Righteousness

-Yahweh Rohi, The Lord our Shepherd

-Yahweh Shammah, The Lord of hosts. He is the God of all angels and humanity. 

-El Elyon, Most High God

-El Roi, God of Seeing. He sees us. 

-El Olam, Everlasting God

-El Gibhor, Mighty God. He’s bigger than we think. 

All of these names describe God’s character, that is His gift to us to get to know Him. I’ve shared over and over that I have been in a pretty worried state. Next week, I will have 2 sons deployed for the Army. I have a lot of kids in the military, the state of the world makes me wring my hands. Rather than stay in a state of worry, I’ve decided to get to know God. This is a good place to start. I hope that this will be a good place of peace for you too, dear readers.