God never lies

Someone once wrote that the presence of God is just like the air around us in that we cannot see it but know that it is there.This changed my understanding of God in that no matter what is going on, I know that He is here, right beside me, as close as the air the I breathe.

Some wonder how to know God’s presence. Some claim an inward revelation that makes them know Him, but for many the presence of God is not there without some special event. As today’s devotional points out, this is not what knowing God means. If requires no special event or mystical interior revelation, which is delightful when they happen, but can be inconsistent or uncertain.

Knowing that God is present with me is based on what He says, not based on my experiences. He says, “I will never leave you or forsake you” which is the plain knowledge of what God says about Himself, and believing it.

It is believing what is written — whether accompanied by any eureka moment or not. As my mom wrote in her Bible: God said it, I believe it, that settles it.

For example, when I read in the Bible that God is love, I am to believe it just because it is written and the Word of God who does not lie, not because I have had any inward revelation or amazing experience that proves it is true.

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:10–11)

This is true because God says it, and in this truth about Himself, He actually showed it to the world be sending Jesus. However, not every statement God makes has a dramatic event to go with it. Knowing God and His power includes believing statements such as:

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (Matthew 6:26–29)

But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. (Matthew 10:30)

Because God said it, I am to believe it, not because God arranged someone to give me a new wardrobe but because He said He would take care of my needs. Knowing His omniscient power isn’t because He made known by a Google search or some other way the number of hairs I have. He says He knows this and I believe Him. He does not need to do something. He says He knows all about me — and all the proof I need is in His statement and I also know that He does not lie. Knowing that is a matter of faith in what He tells me about Himself.

PRAY: Jesus, Your Word says faith comes by hearing — and faith is simply believing what You say. How did I realize that You speak truth? If proof was needed, all I need is to look at the OT promises that said You would come, the story of Your short life here, and the cross where You died. Those who don’t believe You have been listening to someone or something else!