Thank you for listening to the Cultivating Growth Podcast. For each week we've been kind of tackling a subject. Um, and, uh, we have come to the end of the month as we have over the past several years, John and I have talked about. A various subject and we have invited a guest to join us the last day of the month to kind of go over that subject, uh, in its totality.

And we've been talking about who God is this month, uh, about hi. The fact that he's all knowing that he is all powerful, that he is all present and we are joined this week. We have the great joy to not have one Mr. Morgan with us as we normally do. But John's dad is with us, and so we have two Mr. Morgans with us today, so I'm excited about our conversation.

Let's get right to it.

Welcome to Finish Up the month. We're going to be summarizing. And concluding our discussion about some of the attributes of God that, uh, we've been focused on. Jeremy, you mentioned it in the intro. We've been talking about God's, uh, all knowing power, his power and his presence. And we're gonna wrap up that conversation this week.

And as you mentioned, uh, my dad is with us. Today, Phil Morgan. He has a name. He's not just, he's not just dad, although I may refer to him that way over the next few minutes, but, uh, we're glad that he's here with us. And so we're excited to, uh, wrap up our conversation this week with him. And so, dad, we gave you kind of the.

Uh, the preliminary outline of what we've been talking about this month. And so maybe you can kind of start us off with just some general thoughts around this idea of thinking about these attributes of God. I mean, the Bible says a lot about God and his nature and his character. Uh, these are three big ones that tend to, uh, come to mind when we think about, uh, his, his power and his knowledge and his presence in our life.

And so what, what are some maybe initial. Thoughts that you have on this type of a conversation? Yeah. Uh, well first of all, I'm gonna thank you both Abbi for, uh, the work you're doing, uh, these podcasts and for letting me be a part of that. And Jeremy, thank you for your kind words. And it's always fun to do something like this with some, with my son.

Uh, great. It is great honor and great privilege. Uh, you all told me ahead of time, of course, the, the subject and so I tried to give it some more thought and as I did, I was more and more impressed with, uh, how we all need to be not only aware that these qualities do define God, but I believe they. You really need to be on our minds a lot.

And as I thought not only about what they are, but why, why should we even talk about 'em? Seems like it affects every area of our lives, our prayers, our hope for eternity, um, our confidence who rules this world, and sometimes it looks so crazy. All of those things seem to resolve themselves in, uh, an understanding of the nature of God.

Uh, I was telling you all earlier, uh, there was a, a story that. A, a friend and, and my relation with him that really came to my mind as I was studying this several years ago. Uh, John, when you, and you know, Beth and the family, we all lived in Paris, Kentucky. There was an older man who had reached the end of his.

Ability to do the work of preaching. And he had been preaching for over 50 years. In fact, I knew him, uh, from Somerset, Kentucky when I first got started preaching. And he, he was so kind to me and his family, Paul Johnson. Well, when he was not able to preach anymore, uh, we invited him to come to, uh, Paris, Kentucky so that he could do whatever he could do in those later years and also be near his family.

Uh, where they could kind of take care of everybody. So he had an office across the hall from me, and he would come in and go in and work and we would often talk together. One morning he came in and he quietly went into his office and, and closed the door. And I, and, and you know, went to work. I guess I didn't know what he was doing and he left early for lunch.

Be ahead of me. And so curiosity got the best off me. And I thought, okay, here's this guy who's been. Taking this work of preaching and studying the Bible seriously for a long time. What has he been doing this morning? And so that's why I, I finally, I gave in and I got up and I walked over to his door and opened the door and turned the light on.

And. I saw on his desk in a semicircle around where he set piles of open reference books. And so I thought I, I'd like to see what is it he has, what is it he is studying? And I imagine, you know, some lofty grand theme. That only somebody who's been walking with God for all these years would, you know, he could think about these things, but I wouldn't even know how to ans you know, even ask the question.

I kind of thought that, you know, so I walked over and on top of this pile of reference books was the second volume of the International Standard Bible encyclopedia. And it was open and I thought, what is he studying? And I looked. He had an article simply called God, and on his notepad in front, he had written God and I and I, I want to tell you, I'm to my shame, I was disappointed.

I thought, you know, come on. I was expecting better than this. And I say that to my shame, and in a little, a little while, I realized how arrogant and shortsighted and spiritually immature my reaction was. And so now I hope that when I get to be, if I live to be as old as he was and preaches along, I hope that the last subject that I study.

Is God, I hope the book, somebody finds a book open on my desk that finds me studying God because there is no subject more fundamentally important, no more subject, more profound. Mm-hmm. And so you guys, in, in the, the theme of this month, you all have struck gold here. This is, this really needs to be understood.

So I, I, I, I'm, I'm eager to listen and, uh. And pitch in on this something too. Yeah, I mean, we've talked about the scope of the subject itself, and we've made reference several times throughout this month. You know, when you think about these, you know, kind of omni words when it comes to God, I. That e even our, our human minds really aren't equipped to grasp the totality of it.

Yeah. And, and we've talked a a lot about that. And so that, you know, that, that tells me that there's not enough thinking then, you know, because I'm not even equipped to get to the end, uh, of, of the totality of understanding. And so that tells me it's something that I, I can be thinking about and meditating about, and dwelling on.

For the entirety of my life because I'm not even equipped to reach the totality of that understanding. But the, the subject is so vitally important. I know John made mention, you know, of, of how it is even with our prayers, I. The importance of prayer. And nobody's gonna argue with the importance of prayer, but then of really kind of trying to understand God and who he is and what he's all about, and then the impact that that can have even on prayer.

It, it, it's, it's, it's the everything. Yeah. And, um, I mean, it, it is, it's a strong subject certainly to be thinking about, not just. This month, but you're right to never leave the mind of the Christian for sure, and not to the middle of the mind or the back of the mind, but in the very front of the mind always contemplating God and who he is.

I think the complexity of this topic is seen as the biblical writers explore it. Themselves. You know, we mentioned, we were talking beforehand about Psalm 1 39, and that's a psalm that we referenced several times over the course of the past few weeks. And that, that's just one example of, uh, someone like.

David trying to put words to God's power and to God's presence, and as eloquent and equipped as David was in the written language, even he's falling short of being able to adequately describe and comprehend God's presence and his power and his capabilities in his life. And. And every one of the authors that attempts to do that in the same way that you and I do, we do today, will try to use language and story and word to illustrate and communicate and teach and understand God's character in a lot of different ways.

And we're going to continuously fall short because yeah. That, that's the, the journey that we're on. And I, I think that's what God wants from us. He wants us to keep striving, keep digging, keep learning. And so that's why, you know, when somebody is, uh, spent the, the majority of their life dedicated to God's word, they're still working on it, even to the very end.

That's a sign of spiritual maturity. Mm-hmm. That's one of the lessons I learned, you know, uh, John, when you're talking about, uh, Psalm 1 39, uh, I, I was thinking how important those, those thoughts were to David and, but even his attempt to describe the undescribable, but, uh, by my estimation, best I can tell David was running for his life, uh, from Saul for about 10 years.

And lots of lonely times, lots of times by him, lots of times in danger and fear and uncertainty. So could there have been any more single important thought to David than no matter where I go, no matter how alone I am or feel God is with me? Mm-hmm. And no matter how strong Saul might seem, you know, at this moment.

God is stronger. Mm-hmm. And he has not forsaken me. He loves me. And so, how can I say it? Inadequately? That's the answer. Inadequately, but I've gotta say it. Mm-hmm. Because everything depends on it and, and so it seemed like David's life. It just exemplifies in such a helpful way, what can be a blessing and a comfort, you know, to, to all of us.

Yeah. I mean, comfort is the word we've used a lot this month, right? Mm-hmm. Especially in reading a passage like, you know, Psalm 1 39, we begin to think about, you know, God and that he has all the knowledge that there is to have, including everything that there is to know about me. David makes mention of that, certainly in Psalm 1 39, that he has all the power that there is to have and that he is.

Ever presence, no matter where I am, he is there. You know, there, there is a temptation to be thinking about that and, and to be fearful of that. Not from the respectful, reverent way where we need to be, but the fearful way, like when we were teenagers and the thought that, you know, our parents may find out about, you know, something that we've done or some places that we've gone, but yet the biblical writers, when they write about.

These aspects of God, it is from that comfort side, right, of that if, if I have a relationship with God. When I think about the fact that he is all, everything, it, it is an incredible blessing. It's an incredible, uh, comfort that God knows all things, that He is all powerful, that he is ever present, that there is a comfort that comes from that, not, not a fearful.

Thing, but a comfort and a piece that, you know, that transpires from, you know, those kinds of thoughts. I think that's the progression of maturity in this. It is in this topic. Yep. At the outset, when you tell someone who's new to this, that God is everywhere and sees everything and knows everything, he's always watching, he's always watching.

You know, there, there's understandable fear when you hear something like that, and the progression of maturity over time. Then turns that fear into a comfort that says, I wouldn't want God to be any other way. Mm-hmm. I want him with me at all times. I want him to know the intents of my heart. I, I want him, I.

To, to be there with me and, and working for me in this world at all times. That, that's the progression that I think we're intended to, to go on so that as our spiritual lives continue to progress and mature our relationship with GR God grows closer and closer. And these attributes that once were sources of perhaps fear, apprehension, are now the very things that we take the most comfort in.

So, you know, if, if you're listening to this and wherever you are on that spectrum, just understand that that's okay. But there is intended to be a progression in maturity that leads us to embrace these attributes of God and find just great amounts of comfort in them. Yeah. When, when someone grows to want to please God and ultimately to be with God, to walk with God in this life when they come.

To think that through and for that to be their real and personal conviction, could there be anything more helpful to them than to know that God is all knowing and all powerful and ever present mm-hmm. Could that, that not only matches what their goal is, it leads them mm-hmm. In the pursuit of that goal.

But, but I think you guys are right that, um, it takes. I mean, somebody's gonna have to sit down and think about God and, and be honest with the, the brokenness of this world and the brokenness of their life. Be honest with all that. But if the outcome of that is I need God, then these things that we're talking about today, they become ever more relevant.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. I mean, there is, you know, I don't want to get into the mindset of Jonah from chapters three and four. We don't have the time to dive into that, but you know, certainly in chapters one and two, you see a. A progression of this exact same thing that we're talking about where clearly he has an understanding of God's presence in chapter one and tries to run away.

And he understands you can't do that because even going in an opposite direction on the sea, God is there and God is still operating. And so he comes to that realization. He's thrown off that boat and he's swallowed by that fish and. But then in Jonah chapter two, he still has that realization that God is everywhere.

But yet his mindset is very different. Where at the beginning of Jonah, chapter two, and we've talked about it, you know, here on this podcast where, you know, he makes reference that from the belly of the fish, he. Raises his voice to God and God is there to, to listen to him. And so here he is, someone that is literally at the lowest, physically, literally the lowest point in the belly, at the fish of the bottom of the sea.

He cries out to God. And guess what? God is, right. He's right there. And Jonah has that realization. And now that becomes a great comfort to him. And he, he talks to God in a very real way. You know, there in chapter two, again, we won't dive into his mindset in chapters three and four, but yet you, you do see that progression of his, his understanding of God's presence and the impact that that can really have and certainly in a time of need, certainly in a time of need or in a time of darkness or depth or, you know, however you wanna call it.

Uh, Jeremy, I have, I have been amazed and wondered so many times at the people that God, I. Chose to use in, in the Bible story, and I, I just trust he's doing that in the world today in ways that aren't quite so obvious. But, and, and in the, almost the characteristic. The thing that will always be true is he's going to choose the smallest, the weakest, the most remote, the most unlikely person or, or male or female to put into service in his work and its plan.

And for all us little people who just spend our little lives doing the best we can. That's a great encouragement. Mm-hmm. But it also. That's the right way to begin because such people can are, they're going to see nothing other than the power of God, the plan of God. He's gonna care for them. He's going, he's going to do amazing things because it really is about God and who best to, you know, who best to illustrate that than to take a shepherd boy who for 10 years ran for his life and make him the man after God's own heart and, and the Old Testament character who best.

Shows us the coming Messiah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Wow. What a, what a wonderful person to start with. Yeah. We, we had a similar conversation around, uh, job In in, in job chapter 38 and 39, where so much of the middle of that. Book was Job and his quote unquote friends, uh, questioning why all of this has happened to job, what has he done, you know, what, what's going on?

They're trying to figure out why did these bad things happen to job? I mean, that's essentially what that middle section of job is. Why did these bad things happen to job? And then God comes on the scene in chapter 38 and he's like, you're gonna sit down and you're gonna listen for a minute. You know, where were you when I created the world?

Where were you when I measured out the depth of the ocean and all these questions that God asked? And it, it's, it's similar in what you were just describing where Job. And his friends. But here specifically, job needed to be reminded that he is just a small piece in this great plan that God has, no matter how important he may think that he was.

And Job was a really wealthy man, extremely wealthy man, and an extremely righteous man. But even with all of those wonderful characteristics, he was tiny. When it comes to God and his power and his capabilities, and Job needed to be reminded of that. And we need to be reminded of that too. And I think that's what studying this type of a topic does for us in a lot of ways.

It, it, it is not escaped my notice and, and more, and more, more my concentration, Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount, his very first words. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs Is the kingdom of heaven spiritual the awareness of our spiritual? I. Poverty. We are destitute before God. That's where we begin.

Mm-hmm. The kingdom cannot exist. The kingdom cannot thrive. Kingdom cannot accomplish the work that, and unless it's made up of people who start exactly, you know, where you were describing, uh, to recognize their spiritual poverty. Yeah, I mean, we, you see this in Isaiah 40. I mean, it is very similar to what you have with that conversation in, in Job as well, where you have this realization of God and, and again, it, it's almost the inadequate words to describe, you know, his greatness and his power.

And, and at the beginning of that chapter is all about, you know, who God is and how big he is and how strong and how powerful he is. And then you get to a verse, you know, certainly at the end of verse 28, you know, uh, you know, have you, have you not known, have you not heard the everlasting God, you know, the creator of the ends of the earth.

He neither faints nor is weary. There is no searching of his understanding. But to the point that we've been talking about over the next couple of minutes you have there in 29. He is the one who gives power to the weak. Mm-hmm. And to those who have no might, he increases strength. And of course, verse 31, that well-known passage, if you wait on the Lord, he is renewing your strength.

And so this one who has all power. Is willing to share that he, he's willing to, and, and that brings us back to, you know, prayer for me in a lot of ways. I mean, this, this whole month has brought me to prayer in so many different ways. Mm-hmm. Whether it's God and the fact that he knows everything that tells me my prayer.

I, I might as well be honest with him then. He already knows that. You might as well be honest in the way that you pray. Well, God is all powerful. Don't be afraid to ask for something then. Mm-hmm. There there's nothing that he cannot do. Don't be afraid to, to ask. Well, he is ever present. There is no place that I am and no spot that I find myself, that I cannot reach up to God and he is there.

Uh, all of those things together. It, it's, it's the peace and comfort. Uh, you know, that comes, and again, it's one of those topics. I, I just can't, I can't comprehend it. I can't grab hold of it in, in Ephesians three verse 20, uh, I know a passage. Mm-hmm. Okay. You guys know it very well, and I, I, I know that. But it says, uh, now to him who is able to do far more abundantly.

Beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works within us. You know what a, what a comfort. When we pray to know that no matter how aggressive or how bold or how outta the box, as long as it's within the will of God, uh, my prayer might be God nods his head patiently and thinks, you know, he hears my prayer.

But he knows that he is able to do far beyond that. And now I know. Mm-hmm. And so, but, but Jeremy, just like you were saying, our, our confidence in prayer, how we pray, it depends on us understanding the, uh, the omnipotence, the all powerful nature of God who can respond to my prayers and, and take 'em there.

So I, I've actually. Consciously try now when I pray about something to end by saying, I know you can do far beyond all that I'm asking. So really what I'm asking is that you'll take this subject or I. These people, and you'll take us where you want us to go. 'cause I don't even know how to ask for that.

Right. But that's where I want to go and I know you can do that. So please take me there. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and that's the, the last part of that verse that you read is Power Works in us. I mean that, that's what he is essentially saying is that this power that we're all sitting here inadequately trying to comprehend, God says he's gonna work through us with this great power that he has.

And so we don't ever want to be the hindrance to God's power working through us because we're reliant on our own capabilities or our own words, our own thoughts, or the smallness of our faith or the smallness of our faith. Yeah, we can. We can then hinder this great power that God wants to work through us with.

And so we have the responsibility to, I think, do exactly what you were just describing, do our best to communicate with God, what we're feeling, what we're experiencing, what we're wanting, all of those things. But then make sure that we leave room. For God's power to take us even further than we may have imagined possible in the first place.

And when you all were, uh, in, in the last month, did y'all talk about the people who were by themselves and God was aware of them and, and cared for them? Uh, I mean, you, uh, Jeremy, you mentioned Jonah. Mm-hmm. Uh, I thought about, uh, Hagar. And, and Ishmael who are out in the middle of, I don't know, out in the middle of nowhere.

Yeah. In a desert place, trying to find some shade under a scrawny little tree. And, and yet, not only did God know where they were, he knew what their needs were. He knew what their problems were. He had a plan for them, he had promises for them. And, you know, you, you all have been in situations where you feel so lonely, so d you know, like, oh, you know, you're overwhelmed.

In, in the midst of some kind of loneliness. And the thing that makes those times most painful for me in retrospect is that those. Aren't combined with adequate faith. And that's why I feel, you know, so overwhelmed or so long. But when those times are met with the confidence that, okay, nobody else may understand or nobody else may be here, but the one who is supremely powerful, he is right here.

Mm-hmm. And he does know, and he does care and he has a plan. Mm-hmm. Okay. It then, you know, all that goes away. But it, it, it's gotta be in the. Uh, accompanied by a, a real and working faith that knows these things to be true about God. You, you mentioned an, as you were talking, another story that came to mind was, Elijah, is he's.

You know, running for his life. And he's just at the end, I mean, he, he's literally essentially telling God, just kill me now. I'm done. I've, I've got nothing left and this is, uh, uh, I'm just, I'm done. And God takes him and he says, why don't you sleep for a little while? Why don't you eat? Why don't you drink?

And then we're gonna talk again. And because you, you got work to do. You've got work to do. And again, that, that's a, a situation where Elijah, in his. Limited capabilities, even as a prophet of God, he's like, I'm done. I mean, I, I've surely I've done everything you've asked me to do. Like I'm at the end and God says, not yet.

You know? 'cause I know more than you do. I know better than you do. I have work for you still to do. I'm gonna provide for you as as you need. And then we're gonna get back to work. And. Again, that's just another one of those situations where, uh, if it was up to Elijah, it would've been all over right then and there, and he felt all alone and like nobody was there with him, but God was, and God had prepared other people to be with him and work for him to do, and he just needed Elijah's faith to match God's ability to equip him.

I think that, that you've illustrated the difference between Judas and the Apostle Peter, because both of them had failed. And miserably and in shameful ways. It just, it just tore 'em up. But, but Judas response to that was very self-focused and there was no apparent crying out to God. And in, in Peter's case, there was brokenness, I think maybe even backing away from some of his responsibilities.

But Jesus met him and he was honest and he was broken. And when, when he. Came to grips with all that in the presence of the Lord. Then Peter was ready to go, follow me, were the last words. I think that Jesus spoke to Peter there and, um, yeah, that's, that's where we, that's where we can find our most usefulness.

Yep. Jeremy, any last thoughts on this before we put a bow on this month? Well, the only thing I'll say here at the very end is, I mean, it, it comes down to faith. I mean, that, that's really what, especially on topics like this that are incomprehensible in their totality, it, it comes down to faith and it, if you, we can grow our faith.

The attributes of God can make an immediate and profound impact on your life as a Christian. And, um, and, and, you know, it just comes, you know, down to, you know, those kinds of things. Well, let's, let's finish this month up in Psalm 1 39. I think unintentionally that's almost become kind of our, our key, uh, passage of scripture for the month.

And I think it just summarizes a lot of what we've been talking about as. And David seeks to put words to some of these, uh, realizations he has about God. And so we'll finish, uh, with the first two verses of Psalm 1 39 for this month. Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know, my sitting down and my rising up.

You understand my thought of far off. You comprehend my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my waves.

Thank you for listening this week. If you haven't already done so, we'd appreciate it if you would take just a second to subscribe to the podcast, whatever platform you're listening, rate and review the show so we can continue to spread the good news of Jesus widely. And effectively as possible. Thanks again for joining us this week, and we'll talk again next week.