God’s Indescribable Gift

By Jeffrey Cantine

This book is designed to help the reader get to know God on a deeper spiritual level. In addition to this, the book is meant to address A.W. Tozer’s observation that the modern-day Christian is taught to be content with very little of God’s presence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973647652

Jeffrey Cantine

The author grew to know Christ in adulthood. He has been involved in various ministries over the years, including serving as a Sunday School teacher, an elder of the church, and a deacon in the Southern Baptist Denomination.

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Copyright © 2019 Jeffrey Cantine.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-4764-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4763-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4765-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018914411

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/12/2018

CONTENTS

Foreword

Chapter 1: God’s Eternal Purpose

Chapter 2: Salvation: A Means to an End

Chapter 3: God’s Word: The Foundation

Chapter 4: Citizens of Another Kingdom

Chapter 5: Choosing Our World

Chapter 6: For the Joy Set before Us

Chapter 7: Praying According to God’s Will

Chapter 8: The Power of His Resurrection

Chapter 9: The Fellowship of His Sufferings

Chapter 10: The Sovereignty of God

Chapter 11: The Sabbath Rest

Chapter 12: A Heart of Wisdom

FOREWORD

In his classic work, The Pursuit of God, author A. W. Tozer states that in our relationship with God, the contemporary American Christian has been taught to be content with very little. I agree, in that our knowledge of God in some ways seems to have been reduced to clichés and catchphrases. God has placed eternity in our hearts so that we would desire to know Him above all things. This book is a practical guide to knowing Him through meditating on His Word (see Psalm 119:99) and is a call to increased fellowship with Him. This is not a devotional but lays out concepts from God’s Word that point the way to greater understanding of Who God is and what He is about.

Several years ago, I was working with the youth of our church. We were annually involved in an event to minister to the communities neighboring a host church through service projects. Our youth pastor was unavailable one year and asked if I would be willing to be responsible for getting our group to the event, which I agreed to do. I had not realized the extent of the logistics involved in this endeavor and soon became overwhelmed with all it entailed. We were ushered into a worship service, but my head was so full of concerns that I was paying attention to everything except for what was happening in the assembly.

I was totally immersed in details, and it wasn’t until the worship band started to lead us into one of my favorite songs, Here I Am to Worship, that God grabbed my attention. He seemed to ask me point blank, What are you doing, Jeff? At that point, I realized that I was in the presence of almighty God but was paying no attention to Him. I asked His forgiveness and began to worship. Immediately, a verse flooded into my mind: Call to me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things which you do not know (Jeremiah 33:3). I responded by praying, Lord, I don’t know what to ask, but because you’ve told me to do so, I’m calling to you now. Please teach me what it is You want me to know.

The heavens didn’t open to a flash of lightning, and there was no immediate revelation, but over the next few months, God began opening my eyes to truths that I had never seen before. As I meditated on these things, He began revealing things about Himself and His ways that I could never have understood on my own. This book is the result of much meditation and prayer; it’s an attempt to put into words and thoughts what I’m beginning to learn about the greatness of our God.

My desire is for readers to take what has been examined and make it the subject of their own meditation and prayer. With this in view, I have not attempted to exhaust any of the subjects or to take them to a final conclusion. Also, there is no universal method or correct way of applying the principles I have laid out. God is a creative God. While He has created us with the same basic needs and make-up, He has not made us all alike. We are hardwired with different personalities, thought processes, and learning styles. Also, God does not have a universal blueprint for drawing us to Himself, developing our faith, or involving us in building His kingdom.

That being said, however, I do believe that God does have universal principles for drawing us into greater fellowship with Himself. As we learn and obey His commandments, He will make Himself known to us in different ways and on deeper levels (see John 14:21). I have tried to lay these principles out in such a way that there is something to be gained for the newest follower of Christ as well as for those who have been walking with Him for many years. My guide and textbook is the Bible, and I have attempted to explain and reinforce each concept from what God has stated in scripture. Along with that, I am also indebted to authors who have had a profound impact on my thinking, most notably, J. I. Packer through Knowing God and Tozer’s The Pursuit of God. I have tried to avoid direct quotes except from scripture but want to acknowledge the influence of these two authors in particular, as well as some others.

At this point, I would like to issue two disclaimers. The first is that I am in no way anything special. The principles and insights that God has provided here are in no way the result of my spirituality or my intelligence. This is one of the central messages of this work: that God has given us information about Himself and principles for drawing near to Him. These are drawn from scripture, and I have given many passages and references to support them. These things are available to every one of His children. The main point I am attempting to make is that the way to knowing God and His ways is based on reading what God says about these things and then responding to them in the way that He directs.

The second disclaimer is that I am nowhere near as consistent in living these things out as the book may suggest. God has given insight in His Word, which leads to knowledge, but all these things need to be grown into. I am still in the growth process and am not at all content with my level of personal holiness. But the dream comes through much effort (Ecclesiastes 5:3), and to give up because of difficulty or little obvious progress would be a tragic mistake.

There are two other important points that need to be made. First, I have not engaged in apologetics as regards defending my faith or proving the validity of scripture. All the conclusions and applications are based on a belief that the Bible is true, the very Word of God, and is His continuing Word to His children. Also implicit in this work is that Jesus Christ is God made flesh and the only way to reconciliation to God. The proof of the validity of scripture is found in the words of Jesus regarding the Word; the proof of the deity of Christ is found in His resurrection from the dead.

Lastly, as previously stated, I have not attempted to explain or apply these principles to their conclusion. We are all at different points in our relationship with God, and God has different ways of relating to us and our circumstances. I have presented arguments and sometimes applications based on verses that contain multiple implications. These are like signposts that point the way to greater understanding and greater fellowship with God. My hope is that the reader will make these concepts the focus of subsequent meditation and rely on the Holy Spirit for leading into all truth. This takes time and effort, but the knowledge gained directly from God is much more valuable than the knowledge itself. God desires that we would know Him in His glory, and this goes hand in hand with our growing in spiritual maturity. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, a little here, a little there (Isaiah 28:10).

CHAPTER 1

God’s Eternal Purpose

God has placed eternity in their hearts.

—Ecclesiastes 3:11

B efore my retirement, I worked for a number of years for a highly successful transportation company. At one point in their development, they purchased another company, and on the surface, it looked like a poor business decision. They purchased an established transport company that was struggling. This transaction included a fleet of aircraft that was badly in need of repair. Because of government regulations, these planes required either immediate attention or immediate removal from service. This requirement meant a huge expenditure in a short amount of time, or else there would be much less return on the investment due to retirement of a large number of planes. This decision led to a tight financial situation for a number of months. If viewed solely in light of this development, the purchase would appear to have been ill-advised. The underlying reason, however, was to acquire the rights to air routes owned by the purchased company. The acquisition actually saved millions of dollars and years of negotiations to secure the rights and to move the company into a much stronger position as a global corporation. While on the surface, the decision did not seem to make sense, understanding the ultimate purpose of the purchase showed it to be an excellent business strategy. The difference in perspective gave a true evaluation