Hope and
commitment for 2015: May we draw closer to Jesus and consequently to our
families and each other. May God’s people live up to the scripture, Dan. 11:32b …but
the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. The more we get to know Him the more we fall in love with Him.
Jesus longs for us to desire to know Him as a person,
rather than only for what He can provide. He is standing, knocking at our
heart's door, patiently waiting for our response. What He really wants is a
rapid response when it is not convenient for us to do so.
Many people know a lot about
God, they can quote scripture and perhaps preach an interesting sermon. Others
know Him as a provider and have received their needs met. But that is not what
He died and rose again for. He broke the curse of sin that mankind would enter
into a relationship with Him as the lover of their souls. He longs for a people
who hear His heart and respond with all their heart. Jesus is developing a
people who follow His lead because of their desire to respond to the love they
experience in their relationship with Him. Such response will affect every aspect
of their individual lives and consequently the church. This comes from a heart
that prays, Song of Solomon 1:4 Draw me, we will run after thee:…
Paul puts
this same concept another way, (emphasis added)
Philippians 3:10 that I may
know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His
sufferings, being conformed to His death, …
12 Not that I have already
attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of
that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
13 Brethren, I do not count
myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which
are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
14 I press toward the goal for
the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Step 2 (
verse 12) must always be preceded by Step 1 ( verse 10). We must personally
know Him, enjoy the closeness of His Manifest Presence and learn of Him as He
opens the Scriptures in a personal way. The Epiphany is a holiday that has lost
its popularity in America. The literal definition of the word epiphany is a
sudden and profound understanding of something. It also refers to those
supernatural experiences when God appears to someone. If you are a Christian,
than at some point in your life you have had at least 1 of these experiences
and responded by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. With that simplest
understanding that you gained by personally hearing from God you responded and
did the most marvelous exploit, you got saved. You took the first step of a
life long process. (Romans 10:17 So
then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God). You got a hold of
the 1st thing that Jesus got a hold of your for.
After
many years of walking close to Jesus Paul cries out from his heart, “that I may lay hold of that for
which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” Paul had accomplished many
amazing, leading countless people to Jesus, founding churches and raising up
leaders. His writings
have affected the lives of untold billions of people over the last almost 2,000
years. And yet he knew that there was more that the Lord had for him. That
first Epiphany Paul had on the road to Damascus was totally life changing, but
Paul knew that the Lord had much more to teach him, to reveal to him through
the relationship that started that day. We can be sure there were many more
light bulbs turned on in Paul’s mind and heart as his relationship with Jesus grew
over the years.
Undoubtedly
Paul knew the verse from Daniel about knowing God and consequently doing
exploits. I believe every believer is similarly charged by God to do great
things. Have the “God breathed” principles of the following verses become very
real in your heart?
1 John 4:7 Dear friends, let us
continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a
child of God and knows God.
8 But anyone who does not love
does not know God, for God is love.
9 God showed how much he loved
us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal
life through him.
Matt. 28:18 Jesus came and told
his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
19 Therefore, go and make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit.
20 Teach these new disciples to
obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you
always, even to the end of the age.” (NLT)
It
grieves the heart of God when people stop at the first step of the Christian
life. He has such a longing for His people to know Him more, for His people to
become empowered to change the world by working together with Him to accomplish
exploits. The more we get to know Him
the more we fall in love with Him. Consequently the better able we are to
function with Him in His plan for our lives and for mankind.
