Knowing God Lesson 19

      Jesus tells us in John17:3(Amp), "And this is Eternal Life (It means) to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the Only True and Real God, and (likewise) to know Him, Jesus, (as the) Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah) Whom You have sent."

     Knowing God is far different from only hearing about Him from someone else's idea of Who He is.  Many have heard about Him and have accepted Jesus as their Lord, but they still don't know Him.  We need to have a personal relationship with God.  We need to know His heart and His character.  This is an awesome privilege, which many of God's children don't take part in on this side of Heaven.

     Many have failed to go to God's Word and come to the place Jesus described in John15:15(Amp), where He told His followers, "I don't call you servants, but I call you friends."  A friend knows us by relationship and not by what others say about us.  We need to make and spend time in fellowship with the Father, so we understand and know Him on a personal level.  This personal relationship comes by His Spirit and His Word, because "God is a Spirit (a Spirit Being) And those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (reality), John4:24(Amp).  

     Many of God's children only know God after the flesh or senses and haven't learned to know Him after the Word and the Spirit.  We still have the idea that we must be moved by the flesh, in order to be led by God the Father.  This idea of how  God deals with His family, has been passed down from generation to generation.  Rom.10:17(Amp) says that, "Faith comes by hearing."  This isn't just true about faith in God, but faith in anything.

     What we listen to the most, is what we will finally believe.  The doctrines that say, "Those things are passed away and not for us today, were only for the early Church and were only for the Apostles," have taken root in God's people because we've put faith in hearing and hearing by what we've believed is God's Word.  The family of God must have a personal relationship with Him, in order to know Him for ourselves and not just what we've heard from others.

     It takes time and effort on the believer's part, to spend time in God's Word and listen to His counsel.  We've accepted more of the doctrines of men, instead of the doctrine of the covenant.  Just because most in you church don't believe in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in other tongues, doesn't mean it's not for us today.  

     We don't build a personal relationship with God and His Word, in order to make us feel superior to others, but to make us secure in Him.  The same Jesus Who our Lord, is the same Jesus Who is their Lord.  All of God's children received the same Lord and inheritance in Christ Jesus.  The difference is that some don't know Him as their personal friend and Father, as much as others do.  We're still waiting for Him to lead us by the senses and the flesh.  We've deceived ourselves, believing God still deals with us like He did with those under the Law.

     Much of what we've been taught comes from the old, first covenant and the four Gospels, instead of from the new covenant, which came after Jesus' death and Resurrection.  Paul preached and wrote about the Revelation he received directly from Jesus.  This was about how God deals with His new creation family, through His Word and Spirit.  God had to deal with the people under the Law, from the outside-in, and not from the inside-out.  We must learn and know God, by renewing our minds by "God's way of doing and being right," Matt.6:33.

     God delivered His people, even under the first covenant.  When the plagues came upon the Egyptians, God's people were spared.  Today, we see judgment upon certain things in this nation, but God's people should take heart that He will keep and watch over us even amidst them.  We must come to know God for ourselves, so we won't fail to submit to the Word and allow the things of the world to come upon us.  We must stay under the Blessing and not go under the Curse, which is still here and active today. 

     Prov.17:10(Amp) says, "A reproof enters deeper into a man of understanding, than a hundred lashes into a self-confident fool."  God's new creation children must turn at the reproof of His Word, so we don't become fools and fall into trouble.  2Tim.3:16(Amp) says, "Every scripture is God-breathed (given by His Inspiration) and is profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error, and discipline in obedience, and for training in righteousness, in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose and action."

     The accepted reproof of God's Word will keep us from suffering the consequences of the road we might be on.  If we listen to God's Word, then it will direct our steps from the traps the enemy has planned for us.  Psalm 23 tells us that, "He leads us in paths of righteousness, for His Name's Sake," but we must follow where the Word is leading.  When we stray from that path, God's Word will reprove and direct our steps.  We must not wait until calamity befalls us, but listen to the reproof and instruction instead.

     Is.1:19(Amp) says, "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land."  What if we're not willing to receive the reproof of God's Word and are unwilling to be obedient to the Holy Spirit's leading?  Does this make God's Word void or do we need to be obedient?  We must listen to the Word and the Spirit, in order to stay under the covering of the Blessing and avoid the Curse, which is always trying to claim and devour us.  The Curse is still here, but God's Blessing is now ours.  We still must choose to follow the Truth of God's Word, in order to avoid the enemy's pitfalls.  We must choose to renew our mind and learn who we've now been made to be in Christ Jesus.  Rom.12:1-2(Amp) says, "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to it's external, superficial customs."

     Let's listen to the reproof and correction of the Word and Spirit and remain under the Blessing.  If we miss the mark, then we must repent, correct it and return to the covering of the Blessing where we belong.  It's difficult to stay under the correction of God's Word, if we don't spend time to know and understand what it says.  Remember Jesus' Words, where He says, "This is Eternal Life (it means) to know God, to understand, be acquainted with and perceive, recognize You, the Only True and Real God."  Jesus said, "My sheep know My Voice."  We need to know Him in this Eternal Life we're now living in, on this side of Heaven."

    

    

Knowing God Lesson 18

     Jesus tells us in John17:3(Amp), "And this is Eternal Life (it means) to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the Only True and Real God, and (likewise) to know Him, Jesus (as the) Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah) Whom You have sent."

     The greatest honor, privilege and expectation any human could possibly hope for, has now been made available through our salvation and Jesus.  Knowing God our Father, the Creator and Eternal Being, is more than we've dared to believe.  We've been taught through the years that no one can really know Him, His will, His Voice or even His Word.

     God and His son Adam, walked together and Adam explored all that God made, according to Gen.2:19-20(Amp) and the Father brought all the beasts, birds, and every living creature to Adam, so Adam could name them.  Adam and the Father walked in perfect fellowship before Adam's transgression in Gen.3.  They walked in "unbroken fellowship from the beginning of man."

     We are now not just forgiven, but have been created new in Jesus Christ, according to 2Cor.5:17, which says, "Therefore if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and Spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."

     We still see our old selves, instead of the new creations we've become in Christ.  In God's eyes, the old persons no longer exist and we have no past.  We couldn't be new creations, if we were left like we once were.  Jesus prayed in John17:17(Amp), "Sanctify them (purify them, consecration, separate them for Yourself, make them holy) by the Truth; Your Word is Truth."  Malachi 2:6(Amp) tells us that, "The Law of Truth was in Levi's mouth" and he "spoke only God's Word."  God's Word isn't only "a Truth," but is THE TRUTH.  God's Word tells us that speaking contrary to His Word is "perverse and twisted speech."

     God's Word is more Truth than what we feel or think.  It's absolute Truth.  Jesus tells us to Matt.6:33(Amp), "Seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His Kingdom and His Righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides."  The Kingdom of Heaven is a place where God resides and the Kingdom of Heaven operates by God's way of doing and being right.

     When God's new creation people ask Him about His way of doing, He will always bring us back to His Word, because this is how His Kingdom must work.  God's way of doing is based on the Truth of His Word, which is the Law of His Kingdom.  John3:34(Amp) says, "For since He Whom God has sent speaks the Words of God (proclaims God's Own Message), God does not give Him His Spirit sparingly or by measure, but boundless is the the Gift God makes of His Spirit."

     If we lined our words with God's Word, then do you suppose the Holy Spirit could use us more?  Instead of speaking what men say, you must speak Truth after what God says, so things would work differently in our walk with Him.  God watches over His Word "to perform it," so our words should line-up with the Word.

     We need to put aside many of man's ideas about God and accept what God says to and about us.  We need to learn to know Him as "Father."  We need to live in the new and Last covenant God has made through Christ, instead of expecting God to deal with us like He did with those in the old covenant.  We are new creation beings and God deals with us in the Spirit.  

     We cannot and never will know Him by our flesh, because He is a Spiritual Being, according to John4:26(Amp), where Jesus says, "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (reality)."  God considers it worship, when we approach Him in Spirit and in Truth.  There are many ways to worship Him, but all must be in Spirit and Truth, in order to be received.

     Tithing is a form of worship, when it is one in and by, the Spirit and Word (Truth).  Offerings are a type of worship, when done in Spirit and Truth.  Singing is a type of worship, when we do so in Spirit and Truth.  When we do these things because taking up a collection and singing is just tradition, then we're not doing them in Spirit and Truth.  Doing this is more of an individual act and not just as part of the congregation.  God knows which is done by His Spirit and His Word. 

     This might upset some people, but God guides His people through His Word and His Spirit.  We should put money in the offering plate and offer it as worship unto God.  We mustn't just give ten percent of our income, but tithe by our words and His Words, as worship.  You might ask, "Aren't they the same amount?  Yes, but "those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth."  Jesus says in John4:23(Amp), "The Father is seeking just such people as these, as His worshippers."

     Jesus told the people in the Temple, who were offering sacrifices, that "by their traditions, they made the Word of God of no effect."  Many today are making God's Word of no effect, by their traditions and rituals.  I seek to know God and not just know about Him by religion.  I want to know Him like Jesus knew Him and as Adam knew Him before his transgression.  I want to walk with God as my Father and hear Him when He speaks to me.  I want to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, instead of being in the dark about Who He really is in me.  This is Eternal Life.  It means to know God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  What an honor.