Quiet Conversations: What God Wants You To Know About Him

By Kim Harvey Brannan

When we take an intentional, much-needed break from our busy schedules, our hearts and spirits become open to ponder the meaning and purpose of life. Kim Harvey Brannan's recently released book, Quiet Conversations

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kim Harvey Brannan, LLC
• Release date: Dec 20, 2022
• ISBN: 9798987438824

Kim Harvey Brannan

Kim Harvey Brannan has been exploring grace and faith most of her life. She has created Bible studies for almost four decades, serving as an inspiring teacher at her local church in Tampa, Florida. Kim is engaging, thoughtful and original in her approach to gleaning the truth of Scripture. Her enthusiasm for God's Word lights a passion within her to search deeply for the mysteries and wonders of God.Kim was born and raised in Tampa, where she currently resides within walking distance to beautiful Tampa Bay. She is a passionate reader and writer. She retired a few years ago from a successful career in legal marketing and now is an avid traveler, discovering the beauty and handiwork of God. It brings her great joy to share the fruit of her explorations with others. Her enthusiastic personality is contagious as she plants seeds in the hearts of many to seek a deeper faith. She believes that we can all know joy and peace living a life grounded in God's purpose and passion. In her debut book, Quiet Conversations, Kim helps guide readers toward understanding the unique ways that God expresses Himself in our lives. Her life experiences back up the validity of each aspect of God's nature. She shares stories with candor and raw emotion. Her book is a breath of fresh air, offering hope and personal peace amid life's challenges, disappointments and hardships.

Book preview

Introduction

The Bible is a hefty book. It can sometimes overwhelm or intimidate because of its sheer volume, archaic or obscure language and profound revelations. The Bible is comprehensive-–it is comprised of sixty-six books, written by forty authors, over the course of sixteen hundred years, composed in both Hebrew and Greek.

Many people wish they knew more about God and the Bible, but sometimes the task feels daunting. If you have thought this, or felt similar sentiments, this book is for you. I want to make the process simple. My intent is to introduce you to God by sharing what I believe to be the most significant things He wants you to know about Him.

I have studied the Bible for over fifty years. My knowledge and understanding have grown as I have matured. I have lived through experiences, of great joy and delight, as well as heavy heartache and pain, that have convinced me that the Bible’s universality and truth remain valid and timeless.

God reveals Himself to each of us in many ways. For me, I have personally come to know Him best by reading and analyzing the Bible. I have taught Bible Studies to adults for over thirty-five years, and nothing gives me greater fulfillment than to see someone discover a new spiritual truth. When we share God’s wisdom with one another, we all benefit. We can expand our understanding of God’s love and grace in new ways.

My lifelong journey of seeking to know God has blessed me with an ever-evolving relationship with Him. There are many dimensions to God’s personality, His ways of engaging with people, and the desires of His heart. I have found that learning these many nuances is a primary way to unlock the mysteries of God, to enable us to know Him, and to connect with Him, at a deeper level. I believe this is the secret to living an abundant life.

In the chapters that follow, I will highlight how God has worked through history, since the beginning of time, illustrating His many aspects with stories from the Bible and my own life. I have included questions for reflection at the end of each chapter to help you think more deeply about your relationship with God. I passionately believe that God intends for everyday individuals, like you and me, to know Him in a personal way and experience His transforming love.

My heartfelt hope as you catch a glimpse into the personality of God is that you will experience the joy of drawing closer to Him. I pray that you will discover the peace that comes from living a life grounded in God’s purpose and passion.

— Kim Harvey Brannan

CHAPTER ONE

I Long to Be Close

We use the word close in different ways. When a mover asks me, How close do you want the end table next to the couch? he is speaking about nearness in physical distance. When I proclaim, She is special to me. I feel very close to her, I am referring to a degree of familiarity and fondness shared with a treasured friend. When a mother sheepishly admits, My identical twins look and act so close that it is hard to tell them apart, she is referring to resemblance and connection.

The Bible is God’s story for humankind. From cover to cover of this vast spiritual book, we see God affirming His desire to be close to us. Close as in physical proximity? Yes. Close in familiarity and fondness? Yes. Close in resemblance and connection? Yes.

In the story of creation, God made humans after He created animals. This tells me that although the animals played a role in the new world He fashioned, God longed for more. He craved a relationship with a being more like Him. Genesis declares, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.¹

Animals are a beautiful part of creation, but they are led by instinct and lack the ability to think abstractly. As human beings, we innately sense the difference between our physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects. God gave us the gift of insight to recognize these distinct elements. We understand how these elements sometimes interconnect or overlap in our day to day lives.

Because God resides in Heaven and we live on Earth, we recognize from a young age that the physical distance between us is enormous. I feel very far away from God in this sense. Fortunately, He has taken deliberate steps throughout history to bridge this separation. The Old Testament has colorful examples illustrating how God longs to be close to us.

Early pagans believed in a variety of different gods of nature. Their understanding was that these gods created them and then once they were done with their work, they immediately released them into the Abyss. Clearly, this was not a close relationship between Creator and creature.

But in my understanding of the truth, the God of the Bible created the world, and He chose to remain actively involved in His creation. Our God desires to be an engaged, ongoing part of our lives. He longs to be close. How can we know this? Let’s examine some of the many ways He shows us.

Physical Proximity

In Genesis, we see God walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day, talk with them, and enjoy their friendship. We see God remind Noah that He was near to him and his family after the flood when he placed a radiant rainbow in the sky. We see God make a covenant with Abraham, promising the gift of land and a long line of descendants. God’s people no longer had to live like nomads; He gave them a place to call home and raise families. Through Abraham, God created Israel, a new spiritual nation. He challenged them, I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing…by you, all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.² Through this act, God demonstrates His desire to be near to the world and His people.

Many assume that salvation history began in the New Testament with the advent of Christ’s arrival, followed by His atoning death on the cross. However, I would suggest that God’s first step in redemption began when He created the nation of Israel. He ordained the expansion of His reach to include all the people of the earth—those beyond His new nation. His plan always included opening the gate wide, sharing His love and grace with the whole world. From its humble beginning, Israel was always charged to be a blessing, to serve as a catalyst for spiritual change.

In Exodus, we see God’s people enslaved in Egypt. He chose Moses to lead the Israelites and deliver them from bondage. God knew that Moses needed to feel His nearness in order to take on this tremendous challenge. As Moses shepherded his flock into the wilderness, God appeared to him in a flame of fire, which burned inside a bush; yet the bush was not consumed. Moses heard God call out his name and proclaim, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, assuring Moses of His identity.³ Moses saw the flames, felt the heat, heard the crackling, smelled the sulfur, and tasted the smoke of the fire of the burning bush. God captured Moses’ attention by using all five of his senses to demonstrate His acute proximity. He went so far as to command Moses to take off his shoes because he was standing on holy ground.⁴ We see how God draws near.

Moses was a faithful leader for God’s people. Through miraculous circumstances and trust in God’s power, Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. In their great escape, God parted the Red Sea, allowing Moses and His people to cross. God then folded the sea upon their Egyptian enemies, drowning them before the Israelites’ eyes. Once across on dry land, God’s people were safe, and they were keenly aware they were standing in God’s presence.⁵ Moses guided the people in their search for Canaan, the land promised by God in his covenant with Abraham. Traveling in the hot, dry desert, they were all dependent upon God for everything—food, shelter, and protection.

Their newfound freedom was initially exciting for God’s people; yet it was quickly overshadowed by the relentless challenges and discomforts of the desert wilderness. Until their deliverance from slavery, many had never known freedom as a way of life. They did not know how to live as free people.

God wanted to remind Moses and His people that even though they were far away from everything they knew in Egypt, they were not alone. God was with them. He stayed with His people throughout their journey. How did they know? God showed them His presence by a cloud that hovered over them by day and a fire that travelled with them by night.⁶ These physical manifestations were a clear reminder that God was near.

When I was fifteen years old, I became an exchange student. My family welcomed with open arms a Brazilian student, Marta, into our home for three months. Later, I lived with her family for three months in Brazil and knew a kindred spirit unfelt before. Our hearts were knitted together so quickly. She was so easy to love! My family became her American family, and hers became my Brazilian family.

Despite being continents away, for more than four decades, Marta and I never lost touch. We still think of each other as the sister God chose us to be to one another. Despite the enormous physical distance between us, we employed many ways of maintaining our closeness through the years. As the decades passed, technology grew, and our many hand-written letters turned into emails, and we now can connect by phone to chat for free instead of paying outrageous fees. We have both visited each other through the years when we could. A few years ago, my daughter Laura and I traveled to Brazil to attend the wedding of Marta’s daughter. Being with my Brazilian family again reminded me that with letters, packages, cards and phone calls, we have successfully bridged the gap of physical proximity necessary to keep the strong bonds of love alive.

Familiarity & Fondness

Sometimes in my life, I wonder why I don’t immediately sense God’s presence. It is often said that Hindsight is 20/20, and I believe it is true. I am sometimes consumed by my own thoughts and plans. God draws close and reaches out to me, but somehow, I miss Him. Later upon reflection, I realize God was there all along.

As I have grown older, I have grown in my faith. My relationship with God has evolved where I now recognize His presence more readily. How? I try to live each day expectantly, asking God to give me the eyes to recognize His involvement in my daily life. It is helpful to keep my mind and heart open to sense His divine nearness to me. This makes it easier to respond to Him when I am mindful of the warm, familiar feeling of His love and concern for me.

When I recognize God’s closeness, I am sometimes filled with a mix of trembling and intrigue. I am overwhelmed with emotion; yet, I often hold back, feeling tentative, despite the lump in my throat. I believe what I experience in moments like this is what the Old Testament writers called the fear of God. I am acutely aware of His intense holiness and His incomparable power and strength. The closer I am drawn in by His presence, the more I am reminded of the stark contrast between God and me. The larger God is, the smaller I feel. This is not a scary kind of fear but rather one that humbles me in a healthy way. I like to call this holy awe. I believe we can benefit from an ample dose of holy awe in our lives.

Have you ever had an experience that was so precious, so beautiful, or so tender that words alone could not begin to describe the moment? If so, these feelings can be an indicator that you are standing on holy ground, basking in holy awe, wrapped in the midst of God’s presence.

I felt this mysterious companionship with God the moment I first held my great niece, Sophie, when she was less than six hours old. Her mother, Katie, had experienced a very difficult, scary delivery; she had been dangerously close to losing her