A.W. Tozer’s deep desire to know God intimately led him to study God’s attributes. And because he wholeheartedly believed that the strength of God’s people (the Christian church) depended on their concept of God, he was compelled to share what he found to be true about God through his teachings and writings.
What nurses believe about the fundamental concepts in nursing (including nursing, humans, health and environment) greatly influences how they function and respond as nurses. In the same way, what people believe about God (or do not believe) greatly influences how they live and how they respond to their opportunities and challenges.
In The Attributes of God Volume 2, Tozer expressed his personal concern that the faith of believers had become anemic and thin. This concern motivated him even more to help people deepen their faith in Almighty God and experience his love, power, and grace.
For over a year I have shared some of A.W. Tozer’s insights on twenty attributes of God, from his infinitude to his love, but we have barely scratched the surface of what can be known about God! So let’s reflect. How many attributes or qualities of God can you list? Name your top five favorites and why you like them the most.
And how is your faith? Is it vibrant and rich, soggy and runny, or anemic and thin?
In 1 Chronicles 28, King David told all the government officials and military leaders of Israel that he had it in his heart to build a house for God, but God told him otherwise. He heard directly from God that his son Solomon was to build the temple, not David, because he had been a warrior and had shed blood. David heard God speak this message to him. Before King David gave Solomon his plans for the temple, he instructed him in how he should live.
“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary. Be strong and do the work” (1 Chronicles 28:9-10).
David also said to Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished” (1 Chronicles 28:20a).
Unlike King David, I’ve never heard God speak aloud to me, but I’ve heard him speak through his Word and through the spoken and written words of others. Reading these verses in 1 Chronicles is instructive to me, just like they were to Solomon.
Reading Tozer’s writings has also stretched my thinking and helped me begin to grasp the greatness and the majesty of God. I long for you to understand more of God as well. How can you know more about God? What can you do to give your faith a boost and keep it strong?
Consider this. Choose a brief daily devotional by a well-respected Christian teacher that includes at least one Bible verse and a specific application to your everyday life. Make it simple. Download an app to your phone. Subscribe to an email service. Read a printed message before you become consumed with your responsibilities and the people in your care.
Try reading Psalm 145 in the morning and Psalm 23 before going to bed. Always ask God to reveal himself to you through his Word and the words of Spirit-led teachers, and be surprised by what he will do!
–by Jane Hall, NCF National Director All quotes from: A.W. Tozer, The Attributes of God, Volume 2 This is the twenty-first post in a series by NCF Director Jane Hall on God’s attributes. She is inspired by the writings of A.W. Tozer in The Attributes of God, Volume 2
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