4.30.2026 - Gladys DeBruyne
Christ - Submitted to the Father (Self-Control)
Thursday, April 30, 2026
My name is Gladys DeBruyne. I am a member of the River Church along with my husband who is the pastor of visitation. I am a retired educator, having worked over 25 years, primarily in kindergarten and first grade. We are natives of West Michigan living there for 35 years before we moved to California in 1991. We have two grown children, 5 grandchildren, and 2 great grandchildren.
Scripture: II Peter 3:18
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory now and forever. Amen
Acquiring deeper knowledge
This week, we explored just the beginning of the knowledge of God, how He knows us and how we can know him. Let’s explore the knowledge of God more deeply.
There are all different levels of knowledge - a fear and a reverence of Him is just the beginning. When I became an educator, we learned Bloom’s Taxonomy of learning - the acquiring of knowledge. There are six levels and each one builds a deeper understanding of knowledge. Let me briefly go over those levels.
Number one is the ability to remember and recall information.
Number two is a little deeper - to understand what is being learned.
3 - applying the knowledge to new situations.
4 - being able to analyze and explain the knowledge.
5 - evaluating the knowledge.
Level 6 is the deepest level of being able to create, to use that knowledge in new situations to form a new perspective.
Think of it as you learned math. In kindergarten, we learned what numbers look like and how to count, and also to write the numbers. That is level 1. But that is just a basic understanding of numbers, isn’t it?
Level 2- we learned to understand what that number represents, to count, one to one correspondence.
Level 3- in applying the knowledge of numbers, we learned how to use that knowledge to combine numbers to add and then the opposite to subtract, to compare numbers, to make groups with numbers.
Level 4 - We learned how to show our work - we can explain to one another the concept. We put the mathematical equations into concrete forms which then translate to pictures in our minds.
Level 5- we learned to use the foundation we had with numbers to look at an addition or subtraction computation and picture it in our head, conceptualize it to know whether the answer made sense. We can critique, debate and justify our answer.
Level 6- we applied that knowledge to a problem and use those skills to solve an equation in a real-life situation (as in story problems). The words used in level 6 are produce, expand, generate, and most interestingly, the word transform.
Do you see where I am going with this? Why do I go through these levels of knowledge? Because our knowledge of God is like that, isn’t it? As we grow in His grace, we develop a deeper knowledge of Him and all His attributes. In all levels, there is interaction with Him. You cannot learn math unless you interact with it and experience it. We cannot know God unless we interact with Him and experience Him. How do we do that?
We begin at level one and progress throughout our lives, to understand Him more. But we all know that we can get stuck at any one level. If we are serious about getting to know God more, we must be an interactive participant in the relationship. We cannot expect Him to do all the work and lay it all out for us.
To be in relationship with God means we need to work at that relationship. Let’s compare our concept of human relationships to our relationship with God. We need to work in our personal relationships here on earth - and the same is true for our spiritual relationship to God. He wants to know us intimately - it is up to us to continually say yes, to embrace that relationship, to be open to His presence in our being.
Will you be aware of God’s presence today as you go through your day? Can you ask Him to help you be in communication with Him and direct you in your walk with Him today? Pray that He is in communion with you today and that you grow in HIs knowledge of HIs will.