The Power of Knowing God

 

To know God personally is to relate to Him intimately as a man “knows” his wife (Genesis 4:1). This is not an intellectual pursuit, but an experienced unity. Knowing God provides us with eternal life (John 17:3). The Jewish culture looked for signs, and the Greek culture craved wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:21). When Christ came, He served as a stumbling block for both cultures; however, to those who are called in Christ, Jesus is both our power and the wisdom of God in us (1 Corinthians 1:22-24).

When I consider the size and magnificence of creation, I cannot comprehend it. It is too magnanimous for me to fathom. The heavens and skies declare the glorious works of God’s hands (Psalm 19:1). God uses creation to preach His gospel (Romans 1:20). Even in countries where missionaries have yet to preach, the heavens are proclaiming His righteousness and the people see His glory (Psalm 97:6).

Those who reject Christ are without excuse, and refrain from believing only because of their rebellion and pride (John 3:18). God does not need natural beauty, skill and talents, just a submissive person, emptied of him/her self. He does not want those who take the credit, only those who give Him the glory. He has no need for excellence, eloquence and elegance in His people. He simply looks for a surrendered life.

We labor with all the energy of Christ’s power working in and through us (Colossians 1:29). This is the same power, which raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him at God’s right hand (Ephesians 1: 19-20). Jesus knew Peter’s habit of depending on the flesh to fight his battles. That is why the transformation in Peter after Pentecost is so amazing! He learned that God needs no human talents or abilities, but only His Spirit working in and through us (Zechariah 4:6; Acts 2:14-36).

Prayer:

Father God, when I lay down to sleep, I remember all that You do for me. I meditate on Your goodness all through the night watches. You are my help, and I hide and rejoice in the shadow of Your wings. My soul clings to You for stability and comfort. You hold me up with Your powerful right hand (Psalm 63:6-8). You are my rock and You bring me true salvation. You are my strong fortress, which prevents me from being shaken by the storms and quakes of life (Psalm 62:2). I depend on You to move in me by the power of your Spirit.  

Thought for the Day:

As Born Again Believers, we walk in the power of knowing God.

The Wisdom of Believing

God knew that because of the wisdom of the world, people would not believe in Him. Therefore, He used the absurdity of preaching to bring eternal life to those humble enough to listen and to believe (1 Corinthians 1:21; 1 John 5:13). The law could not justify anyone, but those who believe that Jesus Christ is God who came in the flesh, will be justified through this truth (Acts 13:39). Despisers of God sometimes wonder about the truth; yet they will perish in the end, because they were not humble enough to believe God’s Word declared to them by God’s Saints (Acts 13:41).

The idols of greed, lust, worry and addiction blind the minds of those who do not believe in Jesus. They prevent them from seeing the light of the gospel of Christ, even though the image of our God through the life of Christ should illuminate God’s Truth to them

(2 Corinthians 4:4). It is only by the grace of God that we can believe, and by this belief are saved (Acts 15:11; 16:31). When we accept that God raised Jesus up from the dead, His spotless purity is imputed into our account (Romans 3:22; 4:24). Now, we are dead in Christ, but also live in Him as He lives within us (Romans 6:8; Colossians 3:3).

Many Believers not only live in Christ, but also suffer for His sake (Philippians 1:29). They received the Word of God, not as if it came from any person, but straight from God Himself. God’s Truth worked in them so effectively that they believe God even if they have to die for this belief (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Through their example of holy, just and righteous behavior, people everywhere know without a doubt that they sincerely believe that Jesus died and rose again (1 Thessalonians 2:10; 1 Timothy 1:16). They have the assurance that they will also be with God for eternity, even if they have to pass through the veil of death first (1 Thessalonians 1:7, 4:14).

Without faith, no one can ever please God; but if anyone comes to God, it is because they believe that He is and that He rewards everyone who diligently seeks Him (Hebrews 11:6). These authentic Believers do not draw back from living and proclaiming God’s truth; and their belief is what saves their soul (Hebrews 10:39; John 3:16-18). God’s exceedingly great power is given to everyone who believes in Jesus (Ephesians 1:19). Jesus is glorified in all of His authentic Believers. People admire and believe in Christ, because they see Him living in and through us (2 Thessalonians 1:10).

We are living in the end times. God is sending strong delusion into the world, so that people who turned their hearts against Him will now believe Satan’s lie (2 Thessalonians 2:11). They disdain the marriage vows and forbid people to eat certain food, which God created for every one to enjoy. God is the Savior of all men, and especially those who believe in Christ and trust in the living God as we labor and suffer reproach in His name (1 Timothy 4:10). Those who believe and who know Jesus as the truth receive His good and perfect gifts with gratitude filling our hearts (1 Timothy 4:3). 

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, many people reject You; but to those who believe, You are our precious corner stone of the building, which God is making without hands (1 Peter 2:7;2 Corinthians 5:1). Believing and hoping in the one God, who raised You from the grave, is the first step in the salvation process, but even the demons believe in You and tremble at Your greatness (James 2:19; 1 Peter 1:21). God also calls us to surrender our will to His and to love Him with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind (Luke 10:27). Then, we will dwell as Your Body in the earth. By our love for one another, others will see and believe in You as well (1 John 3:23; John 13:35).

Thought for the Day:
Don’t believe everything you hear, but align it with God’s Word first, because many deceiving spirit’s are rampant in our world today.  - 1 John 4:1





Thank you, Vickie Liu, for the use of your photo.

Spiritual Growth

Read: Matthew 20:1-15

“And he personally bore our sins in his own body on the cross, so that we might be dead to sin and be alive to all that is good.” - 1 Peter 2:24

There comes a time in everyone’s life when we come to a crisis point. We are at a crossroads and we have a decision to make. We can either remain with the crowd traversing the wide road, or proceed along the narrow road instead. We have a choice to lay down our life and to take up the life of Christ, or to reject the Son of God and to continue on in our sin and misery. The tragedy is that if we choose to maintain control over our own life rather than surrendering it to Jesus, we will eventually lose our life for eternity.

Salvation includes two steps: 1.) Believing that Jesus is God who came in the flesh. 2.) Repenting of our sins, which means surrendering our life to Christ. Surrender is the part of salvation that most people ignore. You see, at the moment of salvation, your spirit, which was once dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1) is now alive in Christ. It is no longer us, but Christ living in us (Galatians 2:20). Our true life is now hidden with Christ in God.

Once we are saved from sin and eternity separated from God, the process of sanctification begins. God’s Spirit rids our soul of carnality and replaces it with holiness. This takes a lifetime, but it is a daily process. We are rewarded in heaven for our holiness here on earth; plus, we are so much healthier and happier in this life, without the consequences of those sins ruining our life.

Those who belong to Christ Jesus die daily to our carnal, fleshly nature with all of its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24)  As far as God is concerned, our old life is already dead. Now, Christ is the center of our new life. We live each day without participating in our former behavior with our old, carnal friends; and we have nothing to do with any moral perversion or sin of any kind. We take off the old nature and put on the new Christ-like nature just like we change our clothes at the start of each new day.

We now consider ourselves dead to sin of any type and alive in God through Christ (Romans 6:11). As we grow in Christ, sinful behavior no longer appeals to us. Sin and its lust have no power to deceive us any longer. We have no desire to allow our body to be used for sinful purposes. Instead, we put our lives in God’s hands for Him to use for His purpose (Romans 6:11-14). We now live productive lives for God. We are not bound to the letter of the traditions of the law, but we are free to serve God in the Spirit of truth and righteousness (Romans 7:4-6). God has no desire for us to be just good enough. If we cooperate with Him, He will make it perfect.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, help us to take up our cross daily and to crucify the flesh, even though this is the hardest thing we ever have to do with our life (Matthew 16: 24-26). To die to self, when everything in us is crying out to live life in our own way, is impossible to do in our own strength. We know You do not want to torment us, but to kill us…and our old, sinful nature. You are not happy with half-hearted devotion from us. You want all of us and You give us all of You in its place.

Thought for the Day:

God is not just interested in rewiring us or replacing our plumbing, but in making us into a completely new temple in which He can dwell.