simply, honestly, not because we feel that as evangelicals we ought to,
but because it is a plain matter of fact, that we have known God, and that
because we have known God the unpleasantness we have had, or the
pleasantness we have not had, through being Christians does not matter
to us? If we really knew God, this is what we would be saying, and if we
are not saying it, that is a sign that we need to face ourselves more
sharply with the difference between knowing God and merely knowing about him.”
-J.I. Packer in Knowing God
What would it be like to no longer complain, to quit fixing our eyes on “stuff” and weld them to Him? Knowing Him fully (and you can never know all of Him) makes those things so much smaller…
I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE how creative and just plain smart the Lord is. I love how He can make many seemingly seperate truths all come together. I love how he takes those truths and makes them experience, illuminating and revolutionizing how I see things and do things and understand things.
“The word of the Lord is LIVING and ACTIVE, sharper than any double edged sword…”
His Word is not still. His Word is not void. It’s not just an idea, it is a PERSON! A person who is living and active in us. His LIFE is in us and causes us to not be the same. This gift of grace is not just love and acceptance unconditionally, but it is the gift of TRANSFORMING POWER!
John 1: 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
When the Word abides in us we cannot help but be changed. The little pleasures or lack thereof become smaller as we see Him in all this glory- as we KNOW him. (In HIS presence is the fullness of joy)
Fixing our eyes not on that which is seen but that which is UNSEEN:
2 Cor 4: 17For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
We think that the tangible, touchable things are so real yet it is all over scripture that He is what’s real. The spiritual is true reality. There is a certain CERTAIN freedom in that- My eyes have truly been opened as I have had the privilege of studying some about prophecy and end times and how God works and how we experience Him in these days:
Basically, HE IS UNSHAKEABLE the rest is SHAKEABLE, unreliable, pointless, you name it. The things that consume us (or should I say we allow to consume us and tempt us and imprison us) are not what knowing Him is about. Knowing Him is saying I consider all this rubbish that I may gain Christ… That I may know Him (Phil 3:7-8) Heb 12:28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29for our God is a consuming fire.
When we know Him we hold things loosely, because the things we usually grasp with our very life are “shakeable things”- people, our daily comforts, our “way”, our plans. He is so faithful to shake things a bit because He knows Life is better when we know Him as Life and when we know what/who is lasting, life-giving, and better than all we could ask or imagine.
Hopefully this will be our Word that sums up the truths: He is enough, He is BETTER…
Jeremiah 9:23Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”
I am glad to delight in Him.
So great...I'm so glad you are back blogging. I haven't checked your blog in awhile. Enjoyed chatting with you yesterday hope you enjoy Trinity graduation. TPS 4 life...ha