Knowing the Rescuer

I’ve known God for twenty-two years, but I’ve been in a season of getting to know Him more deeply. I’m amazed as Christ-followers we get this opportunity to know the Creator and Savior of the world in an intimate way that goes far beyond factual knowledge.

In her new study “This I Know: Trusting Your Unknown Future to a Known God,” Laura Dingman teaches about the Greek word “epignosis,” which is an intimate, experiential knowledge that certainly isn’t void of facts but also involves a deeper understanding. That’s the kind of knowledge that gives power to God’s children – the same power that raised Jesus from the grave.

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” – Colossians 1:9-14

Did you hear that?

He has rescued us – from the darkness, from trying to acquire knowledge on our own, from fruitless work, from despair. Those verses from Colossians are words I want to pray over my family and friends more often. God gives us knowledge that propels us to live the life He wants for us.

We get to live rescued.

{Tweet that.}

This is my focus for the year. Working through “This I Know” has echoed what God is teaching me. This study has been a practical application of how and why living rescued needs to be my perspective.

(Read more about what living rescued is about for me this year.)

About the book

In “This I Know: Trusting Your Unknown Future to a Known God,” Laura Dingman leads women through a six-week Bible study focused on biblical truths about the trustworthy characteristics of God, how better knowing God leads to a life free from anxiety and fear, and encouragement to step confidently into an unknown future. The study also helps women better understand how we can grow in both our factual and experiential knowledge of God.

• Week 1: A Known God: How we can grow in both our factual knowledge of God and our experiential
  Knowledge — the only knowledge that can give true power
• Week 2: What Do you Really Believe?: How to move from thought to action in our beliefs
• Week 3: Cornerstone: What foundation is our life built on?
• Week 4: Our Eyes are on You: What to do when we’re staring into the unknown, facing giants and enemies too powerful for us.
• Week 5: Regardless, You are Good: How do we respond when our unknown becomes the known we feared?
• Week 6: I Will Remember: The significance of remembering in our relationship with God and our experience with fear and anxiety. Remembering what God has done changes our view of everything.

Each week is broken into a detailed introduction, followed by daily studies. Five days include Scripture passages, teaching, interactive questions, prayer related to the study, a space to write a prayer, and a journaling prompt. The sixth day serves as a day of reflection and an opportunity to review what was learned that week, with helpful questions to journal and think through an action plan.

“When we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, instead of on our unknown future, worry dissipates. Anxiety melts. Hope solidifies. Faith grows. Life changes,” Laura said in a press release. “Of course, times of pain and fear and suffering still come, but what we do with it — in the midst of it — is different because we are different. Because our view of God is different.”

This is Laura’s second title in Moody Publishers’ Bible study line for women. This 256-page paperback study is published by Moody Publishers (Jan. 2, 2018).

About the author

Laura Dingman spends most of her time creating and leading worship experiences that help connect people with the story of God. She has served in vocational ministry as the creative arts director at The Creek, a large church in Indianapolis, for more than a decade. She loves to show people where their story intersects with God’s story. She is the author of “Life Rhythms: Learning to Live in God-Centered Time” and “I Am Found: Quitting the Game of Hide and Seek with God and Others.”

She enjoys belting Broadway, laughing hysterically, reading great books, and living life with her favorite two people in the whole world, her husband, Matt, and her spunky daughter, Abigail. You can learn more about Laura’s journey and connect with her at www.lauradingman.com.

Giveaway

I have two copies of “This I Know” to share! On behalf of Moody Publishers, Sidedoor Communications invited me to giveaway one copy in addition to the one provided for me to review, but I ended up getting two complimentary copies, so I’m giving away one of those too! TWO WINNERS! One winner has to live in Murray, Kentucky, so I can deliver. The second winner can live wherever because that copy will come in the mail. Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter between now and when I choose a winner Monday, March 19.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*****

I received a complimentary copy of “This I Know” from Moody Publishers to review. I’m actually working through it as a Bible study in my own time and have been encouraged as I learn.