Knowing God part 2

Chapter 2 Knowing God through nature

In chapter one (my last blog post) I talked about how Dad taught me to love the Creator by showing me His creation, the natural world. You can learn a lot about the Creator God by studying and observing nature.
The Bible tells us that this is so:

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
Romans 1:20 (New King James Version)

I learned that God loves me by observing the beauty in the world around me. God didn’t have to make our world beautiful but He did because He knew it would bring us pleasure. He filled our world with beautiful scenery, amazing animals, sweet smelling flowers and the songs of birds all for us to enjoy.

I learned that God care about my emotional well-being. He created animals that would love us unconditionally, we call them pets.

I learned that God cares about my needs and my wants. He could have created one kind of food, but he knew we like variety. He created a variety of climates and landscapes for us to enjoy. And along with all this He created all the raw materials we would need to fabricate all the modern convinces we so enjoy.

I learned that God has a sense of humor. After all he created the kangaroo, the duck-billed platypus and the proboscis monkey.

I learned that God is omniscient by observing how each part of His creation is interwoven to make the whole. Ogden Nash wrote,

God in His wisdom made the fly
And then forgot to tell us why.

As much as we might dislike insects and other things we consider pests, God assigned each an important role in keeping our planet healthy.

I learned that God is omnipotent by observing the powerful things of nature: hurricane, tornadoes, earthquakes and tsunamis. These demonstrate the great power under His control.

Knowing God part 1

I picked up a little book by Beth Moore called Discovering God’s Purpose for Your Life. In it she examines Philippians 3:10

My determined purpose is that I may know Him that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person. Amplified Bible.

In chapter 2, Beth challenges us to write a book. A book called Knowing God. She envisioned an actual notebook but I decided to use my blog instead. So here goes…

Knowing God
By Miriam Richardson

Chapter 1 Knowing God through Family

I cannot remember a time when I didn’t believe in God. I was blessed to have a Christian family. I have often said I’ve been attending church since nine months before I was born. My family was in church every Sunday morning and night and every Wednesday night, all of my life. Unlike some parents who send their children to church, but seldom show up themselves, Mom and Dad always went with us to church. They were very involved, in fact Dad was a deacon and Mom was active in Sunday School, WMU, Bible School and many other activities.

I learned that God is my Heavenly Father. My natural father was not perfect (none of us are) but he showed me by his example that fathers are loving, that they discipline us when we need it and teach us how to live. So to me, viewing God as Father is a good thing. Dad loved to garden and taught me to appreciate creation and the Creator. He liked to travel and took us to many beautiful places that God created for our enjoyment. He taught me to tithe and to give over and above the tithe to missions and other church programs, but he not only gave his money but his time to the church.

Mom also set a good example for me to follow. She was always willing to play games (often Bible based), sing songs, was very caring and kind. She was also very soft spoken. I can’t really remember her ever raising her voice. She taught me to respect and care for older family members. When I was young my Great-Grandfather (her grandfather) and later my Grandmother (Dad’s mother) lived with us. She took care of them with patience and love. I’m sure that it wasn’t always easy and I may have seen life through the rose colored glasses of being the youngest in the family but my memories are of loving parents who loved God and taught me to love Him too.

Even my sisters taught me alot about how to live, sometimes as much by seeing what got them in trouble, as by their good examples. Being the baby in the family does have it’s advantages!