E103 - Hope’s Harbor Gritty Bible Devotions - The Attributes of GOD - Unchanging - All-Knowing - Perfect Wisdom - Part 4
Hope’s Harbor
Gritty Bible Devotions
Episode #103
Title: GOD’s Attributes: Unchanging – All-knowing – Perfect Wisdom – Part 4
Date: April 24, 2023
Contact: info@hopesharbor.net
Key verse(s): Are as follows…
GOD is unchanging: Malachi 3:6 - "For I am the LORD, I do not change; …”
GOD is all-knowing: Psalm 147:4 & 5
VS 4 – ‘He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name.’
VS 5 – ‘Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.
GOD has perfect wisdom: Romans 11:33-36
VS 33 – ‘Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
VS 34 - "FOR WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD? OR WHO HAS BECOME HIS COUNSELOR?"
VS 35 - "OR WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM AND IT SHALL BE REPAID TO HIM?"
VS 36 – ‘For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom is glory forever. Amen.’
Intro: I grouped these 3 attributes together because they are so closely related and explain something of the Mind of GOD. Since He never changes, it stands to reason His knowledge is complete. We cannot add knowledge to GOD because it would change Him. GOD’s wisdom is perfect because He has all knowledge. He knows how to apply His knowledge in the best way possible. This is what GOD’s wisdom means: perfect application of knowledge.
Devotion focus: An impenetrable defense against Doubt
It seems GOD will have me focus on doubt as the negative aspect of what happens to us when we don’t rest, fully dependent upon GOD’s nature of never changing. Also believing He has all knowledge and therefore I can rest in safety knowing nothing will ever take GOD by surprise. And knowing GOD’s wisdom is perfect, I can resist doubt when it comes through circumstances.
So, how bad is it to doubt GOD? First, let’s understand what it is to doubt.
The Biblical meanings are to waver, to hesitate, to stagger. Furthermore, doubt causes fear and fear is a primary cause of anxiety.
So far in this series on GOD’s attributes we’ve looked at the necessity of faith and the application of faith by how we trust GOD. Doubt is the antithesis of trust.
What does the Bible teach us about the need to trust GOD, to have faith?
Hebrews 10:38 – ‘” NOW THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; BUT IF ANYONE DRAWS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM."’
To draw back in this verse means to cower, shrink, or withdraw.
Hebrews 11:6 – ‘But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.’
In this verse, faith and belief are similar and yet used differently to make a point.
Faith pis'-tis From G3982; persuasion, that is, credence; moral conviction of the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly constancy in such profession; by extension the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself: - assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.
So faith in this verse is the moral conviction of truth. It is a mindset.
Believe pist-yoo'-o From G4102; to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), that is, credit; by implication to entrust (especially one’s spiritual well-being to Christ): - believe (-r), commit (to trust), put in trust with.
And believe is to entrust, to commit one’s spiritual well-being to Jesus. It is action.
Let’s make this real, right now. When Jesus said in John 15:9 - "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love,” we can know because of GOD’s unchanging nature that this truth still applies to you and me. Of course, we must choose to believe this and then go on to place trust in what Jesus said and choose to trust when circumstances rip our lives to shreds.
And then, to help us to trust, we must remember GOD is all-knowing. He knew your life and mine was going to suffer. He knew the exact minute everything would change. Forever. One day in 2001, out of the blue, my wife at the time told me she wanted a divorce. This was after 27 years of marriage. Within minutes my life went from normal to excruciating pain.
I can’t even remember the number of times I asked GOD ‘Why?” Throughout 3 years of separation, I came back to the Bible truth that GOD knew all along this was going to take place. And even with all the feelings of failure, I trusted Him in His Word about His knowledge of me, His love for me, and the hard-to-understand truth His wisdom allowed the divorce to take place, after 3 years of pain-filled days and nights as I wondered where and when it would end.
On the day my life changed forever I had been studying the Bible as a daily habit I started in 1983. I don’t want to consider what the outcome may have been without that foundation of Bible truth concerning GOD’s nature. Years before this, I read Tozer’s book, Knowledge of the Holy, and Pursuit of GOD, and these helped me build a foundation of trust in GOD.
I can tell you I had times of doubt. And when doubt came and I gave in to the feelings swirling around me, I considered suicide as a way out of the pain. But invariably GOD used His Word to bring me back. His word to me in those days was if I would give Him the pain and trust Him, He would restore me. And that’s what He did, although it took several years to do so.
Summary: GOD’s nature is for us to know and trust. If we do the work we build a wall of protection against doubt when it comes. The strength of your belief and trust will determine how well you survive life’s tragedies when they come.
Action to consider: In a Bible app, do a search for the word wisdom. Read through the verses that come up and take note of the context of each one. You may be surprised by what you discover.
Added bonus: Read Utmost for His Highest – 4/4, for deeper insights.
Next week’s devotion: The Faithfulness, Mercy, and Love of GOD