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Why We Must Think Rightly About God

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yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
(Proverbs 2:3-5)

I thought this quote from A.W. Tozer was a good supplement to our ongoing blog series on the Attributes of God:

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.

The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.

For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but of the company of Christians that composes the Church. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. She can never escape the self-disclosure of her witness concerning God.
…
Without doubt, the mightiest thought the mind can entertain is the thought of God, and the weightiest word in any language is its word for God. Thought and speech are God’s gifts to creatures made in His image; these are intimately associated with Him and impossible apart from Him. It is highly significant that the first word was the Word: “And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” We may speak because God spoke. In Him word and idea are indivisible.
…
A right conception of God is basic not only to systematic theology but to practical Christian living as well.

—from The Knowledge of the Holy (New York: Harper Collins) – available at the BLB bookstore

What about you? Why do you think it is import to think rightly about God?

Comments

  4. To think rightly about God is important because those thoughts are what intimately connects us with the heart and mind of our loving God and Savior. To be completely assured that our Father is who He says He is in His Word is absolutely necessary for our ability to access His attention: “we both (Jews and Gentiles) have our access in one Spirit to the Father.” Eph. 2:18 and “in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.” Eph. 3:12.
    Without a correct knowledge of the Holy the destiny of mankind will be to walk “just as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them,..” Eph. 4:17,18.
    As Jesus said: “This is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, And Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.” John 17:3.

  5. lets us know how fragle we are and God is not breakable or can not be shaken. how can we not! we can not go before Him any other way. With fear and trembling, but also falling into a love that gives and never ends. why do we hesitate so much at times? when our minds are not right with God!

  6. For as he thinketh in his heart, so [is] he: Pro23:7
    And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.Rom12:2
    And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; Eph4:23
    A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Luke6:45, Matt12:34-
    For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,..2Cor10:5
    Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind..Mat22:37
    Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]: because he trusteth in thee…Isa26:3
    Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 1Pet1:13

    • Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, [there] thou hast [that is] thine.His lord answered and said unto him, [Thou] wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:……And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Mat25

  7. Amen ! I couldn’t have wrote it better! I will add, To me God, is love, he is Abba, Daddy, He is savoir, He first loved me.

  10. Many people seem to only focus on one or two aspects of God. These are usually the more ‘positive’ aspects such as love, mercy, grace, which are absolutely wonderful characteristics of him.
    However, many seem to forget, even fail to recognize, that God is also just, holy and righteous. The Bible even calls him a terrible God (not the way we use ‘terrible’ today – Deuteronomy 7:21; Deuteronomy 10:17 KJV).
    There are those who say that we should not fear God, which is true in a sense, however, we seem to be missing the mark on reverence when it comes to thinking about him. Remember the power that created the world, the power that divided the sea and allowed the Israelites to walk on DRY land, the power that came down from heaven and burned not only the sacrifice, but the stones and all the water too, the power that preserved three men in a fire that was SEVEN TIMES hotter than it normally was and consumed men at the mouth of the furnace, the power that healed the multitudes, fed the five thousand, BESIDES WOMEN AND CHILDREN, the power that walked on the stormy waters and then calmed the wind and the waves? That same power is present every time a new testament church or local assembly meets. We have been granted free access into the very HOLY OF HOLIES by the blood of Christ. No one would have dared enter in this chamber without preparing himself properly with washing, proper clothing, sacrifice and incense. How can we not ‘Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God,'(1 Peter 5:6)?
    Oh, it is true, he is a gracious Saviour to save us to the uttermost, yet he is still that high and lofty one that Isaiah saw when he said, ‘Woe is me! for I am undone.’
    The Lord bless his word to the honour and glory of his holy name.

    • Peter, I agree with your comment.
      The blood of Jesus gave us access to a holy God but we often identify God with only the attributes portrayed in the life of Jesus. We forget that God is mighty, sovereign, just. More often than not, Christians see only the attributes of God that “benefit” them and make them feel good about themselves and their life. But if we could see ourselves as we truly are (all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags) we would fall down in gratitude and humility, thanking God for covering us with the blood of Jesus.

      • Cindi,
        This is exactly what I have been learning for the last several months. If we saw the same vision that Moses or Isaiah or John saw, we certainly would be humbled and fall as dead men on our faces and say, ‘Whoa is me, for I am undone’ (as I noted above). This would affect every area of our lives (what we wear on a daily basis, the places we go, the things that we do, the things that we see and hear, the choices we make regarding TV, movies, magazines and so on.
        May I encourage you to reread my post.
        The Lord bless.
        Peter