Knowing God comes only through experience as He reveals Himself to me
p.72
Share to the group a statement or scripture that resonates with you from today’s reading and a responding prayer…
Knowing God comes only through experience as He reveals Himself to me
p.72
Share to the group a statement or scripture that resonates with you from today’s reading and a responding prayer…
“How did this college student know God could provide a husband? She claimed who God was and then watched and prayed as God acted toward her in that way.” Seeing the long list of names/titles of God was a significant reminder of how great He is in any and every season. I think my experience of God can be limited by not knowing all of those descriptions He holds, so I’m encouraged to seek Him more in every circumstance to see how He’s working and displaying His glory and will. Thank you Lord for how great and glorious you are, how You’re able to satisfy our every need and desire and so much more. Help me to see how the way You’re moving reveals your character so I can know and love You more
Today’s lesson reminds me how much God is heavily involved in our lives as he always provides for us. He was able to provide the women with an alcoholic father a loving husband who loves and fears God. She was able to receive this blessing that God has given her by claiming who God was as rlly as watching and praying to him. When I think of God I think of him as my strong deliverer, God of comfort, a sure foundation, and more. I can’t wait to see how else God will reveal himself to me as a experience him more throughout my relationship with him.
The scripture that stood out to me today was the verse stating that “The Lord is my Banner” as stated by Moses when the Isarelites were victorious over the Amalekites. I like the idea of God being my banner as well and I pray that I can live a life where people can see that God is my Banner as well. A lot of times it is easy for people to see that I go to the gym a lot but I would rather have people see that God is my Banner and that He is the one who makes me who I am and not anything else.
In our walks with God, we have come to know Him in many different ways as He reveals Himself to us. For me He is my Lord, Savior, Comforter, Wonderful Counselor, Refuge and Strength, Peace, Redeemer, Good Shepherd, and Heavenly Father. I pray as I continue to walk with Him I get to experience more of who He is.
““I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
John 10:11 NIV
Jesus, you are my shepherd, you lead me to green pastures, you feed my soul, you laid down your life for me. My life is not my own now, lead me to lay it down for your purposes. Does that mean setting aside a season of comfort in exchange for repeating 18 years of child-rearing again? Indeed and with great joy.
“To know God by name required a personal experience of His presence.” Names are powerful things and hold lots of meaning when you explore the “why” behind them. For example, lots of events in American history hold meaningful names that carry a wealth of history behind them. For the Trail of Tears, the name compacts the sadness and cruelty behind the displacement of thousands of Native Americans by the American Government. Even if you didn’t know the significance behind the event, the name implies enough for a general idea of what’s happened. Names are representative of personalized experiences and the act of naming compacts that significance in something as small as a single word. It’s interesting to read tonight that a personalized experience with God would garner the significance of naming, but after some reflection I realize that in all my time in the presence of God, I never considered to know God in those times by specific names. I’m realizing that each encounter with God is each their own unique thing deserving of their own names. In times of sorrow, I wasn’t hurting with God, I was being comforted by my Comforting in sorrow. For my future encounters with God, I’ll be more mindful with how He is with me when I’m in His presence so I can get to know Him as every relationship usually starts with getting to know each other’s name.
From Charlie
The story about how the Canadian church was founded in today reading remind me of the story that Bumble told about how he was woken up in the middle of the night to send money to a pastor at a church he never heard off in VN. Here is another similar experience. It is miraculous that when it is needed, God will provide the resources we need to do His work. I think many times, we could easily look back to what had come to pass and we can see His hands in our lives and we can thank Him but acting in faith when called even before the resource is available…that’s amazing. I know I don’t have that level of faith right now. I would worry and fear failures too much to just take the steps forward on faith alone. I would execute only if I can plan all aspects of the task. People always said that I’m too risk adverse to take the chance on new ventures. When someone lead, I can follow, but I can’t just jump ahead on my own. But in this case, I think I must come to realize that I’m not on my own and I don’t have to lead, I just need to follow where God led. This is the faith based on the understanding that God is leading and that in fact, I don’t need to take chances. I just have to believe and just walk with God. This though is not an easy believe to cultivate. But maybe that’s what this study is intending to do. To help us come to that level of faith. To be able to recognize God’s voice and to be able to see His path and to follow Him.
Dear Father, this is probably the hardest part of this study for me. To have such a close relationship with You that I can easily recognize Your calls and have faith to walk with you and not be constrained by fears and misdirected by my own desires. Please help me to cultivate the right characters and strength to be obedient and follow with surety rather then blind faith.