God, be merciful. . . .

  

Someone I know belongs to a cult that does not recognize Jesus as God the Son. He recently said, “Jesus has done it all. All we need to do is believe.” While that sounds hopeful that he understands the gospel, Jesus also said:

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21–23)

This person says many right words, yet his focus is on the future. He looks forward to a new earth where all is made well. A little voice inside of me says, “But what about now? What about the promise of a new life and an intimate relationship with the Lord that changes life each day?”

Piper writes about the seriousness of being authentic. He points to the parable of the sower to show that making a decision for Christ may start out with some form of commitment, but living for Christ does not necessarily follow. My friend does not fit this category. He has been faithful to his beliefs for decades.

However, that particular cult holds the idea that Jesus died to give them the right to earn their salvation. They have a strange list of what that means. Not only that, if anyone decides to leave them, they are shunned and lose any hope. In other words, salvation is about adhering to their belief system and if someone says otherwise, they cannot belong or be saved.

The gospel is clear to those who DO have a relationship with Jesus Christ. He says of them:
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27) Much of the NT has words about knowledge of eternal life:

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. (1 John 5:13–15)

With this person, there is no talk of answered prayer, only of personal and organizational accomplishments. While he said Jesus has done it all, nothing specific is shared, only his focus on the future with no more problems. 

I cannot judge or hope to know what all this means for him, but I do know what it says to me; don’t take my own profession of faith as reality without the consequences the Bible says will go with it. Some basics: Know Jesus is God in the flesh. He is Lord and gives me the Spirit so I can obey Him. I trust Him alone for eternal life; nothing I do can earn or deserve it. My attitude to sin has changed; I fight it — instead of always giving in to it. New life is from Jesus and God uses all things to transform me to be like Him. 

For all this, the Bible also says: 

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! (2 Corinthians 13:5)
Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (Matthew 7:13–14)
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. . . . (Matthew 7:15–20)

PRAY: Jesus, You described a religious Pharisee who prayed boasting in what he had done. The prayer of a tax collector was, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” When talking with my friend, I need to remember that no one has anything to boast about. I also need to do the same when looking in a mirror.

Knowing God

Last night’s group study topic was the prayer of Jesus that begins:

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:1–3)

Our study leader asked about this definition of eternal life that Jesus describes. We agreed that Jesus described a relationship. It is not the same as knowing about Him, or even knowing that He is God who came in the form of a man, or even believing in one God, or perhaps that He is three in one because the Bible also says:

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! (James 2:19)

Knowledge of facts about God and accepting those facts as true does not necessarily result in trust or an intimate relationship. In this context and in considering all that the Bible says about faith in Christ, it is deeper. Jesus used the Greek word ginōskō that means to know, recognize, discern, understand; conclude, but is also a euphemism for the intimacy of sexual relations. In other words, while this verb can refer to knowledge of facts or information, it is used more often to refer to a deeper knowledge that involves intimacy.

Intimacy of relationship involves love but also self-revelation, an openness that includes inner thoughts revealed by transparent and truth-filled interaction and conversation. Not only that, this prayer seems more of a description of what eternal life is like rather than how it is obtained. By knowing Jesus as Lord, Savior, best friend forever, we have a relationship of mutual confiding, of intimate knowledge as Jesus reveals Himself to us.

Before Jesus came into my life, I knew about Him, about His life and the importance of trusting Him (but not how to do it) but I did not have that relationship. However, He came to me without a formal introduction, and I knew instantly who He is and that He was offering me His life and all He could do for me. There was no doubt about His identity or His worth. Rejecting Him never entered my mind. Life events and the Holy Spirit had already made the point: I needed Jesus.

Most Christian’s testify how they came to a point of need through life’s circumstances. For me, it was a sense of failure. For some it is deep guilt, or rejection. Others feel surprised by Jesus and later realized they were ready to say yes when He called them.

While some talk about needing to “accept” Him vs. the ability to reject Jesus, that can only be prior to hearing His call to relationship. People will reject church, or what seems like law and rules, or say they don’t need religion, or bristle at the idea of being a sinner. The Holy Spirit’s role is to use various means to remove any barriers and soften hearts to the point that sinners are ready to trust His power and say yes to His invitation.

PRAY: Jesus, You never force anyone to trust You, nor are You are helpless to draw sinners to Yourself. Your love and Your ability to reveal Yourself as desirable is unlimited. You are the grace of God reaching out and revealing God to those being called. You overwhelm me with Your goodness and mercy. The more I know You, the more I know what God the Father is like, and what eternal life is like. Since You are beyond all description and human imagination, eternity will be filled with discovery — forever knowing more and more about You. This is a marvelous reality given to me because that is what You do.

Know God Deeply

 

Most of us have met people and felt as if we didn’t really know or understand them. Either they were silent when it came to revealing themselves and how they think about life, or they put on a layer that covered up their actual thoughts so we saw only what they wanted us to see.

I read a book on encouragement that introduced me to the idea of layers and began to see it, not only in myself but in others. Some behaved in certain ways when we were alone together but changed if more people were around. Some seemed to have a persona that differed depending on the topic of discussion.

Then I noticed how much I was drawn to people that are transparent, easy to get to know, without layers and consistent in their personality and way of life no matter what was happening. I also noticed that these transparent people made me comfortable to share my true self as well. On the other hand, people with layers had me unsure of how to behave around them.

Taking these thoughts and applying them to knowing God brings out a truth that is vital. That is, the better I understand who God is and how He thinks, the easier it is to be who I am. Everything about me seems related to knowing what God is really like. If I understand that He created me, put me in my present environment, and I am absolutely in His power, and that He is good and kind, I feel free to be who I am. I know that I am cared for and happy.

If I met a person who was obviously lying to me, telling me untrue things about themselves, or I suspected they were evil, I would not want to be around them. My knowledge of that person, right or wrong, would affect the relationship, even end it.
It is the same concerning God. If my thoughts of Him are based on the idea that He is cruel or unkind or anything negative and He didn’t want the best for me, this would also affect any relationship I might have with Him. Like Eve in the garden, I would be thinking He didn’t care and lose my trust, even go hide from Him.

Everything I know about God also affects everything I understand about life. How vital to have the right knowledge. If for no other reason, this motivates me to read the Bible and find out who God is, what He is like. I cannot let the serpent lie to me, or let circumstances form my opinions. I need the truth about God and knowing that truth is better than anything else I might possess.

Thus 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, but 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.” (Jeremiah 9:23–24)

This is the reason for morning devotions, prayer, Bible study, going to church, studying life — to know God. Not only does it bring delight to Him, but it also greatly affects me.

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5:20)

PRAY: Jesus, thank You that You came to bring me the knowledge of God. Your Word is clear that  grace and peace are multiplied to me in that knowledge (2 Peter 1:2) and that knowing You means I have eternal life (John 17:3) Just as getting to know another person takes time and involves increasing depth, knowing You involves layers of knowledge, but none of them are put-on cover-ups. Instead, You are the true God who gladly reveals Himself to those who seek You.

Focus — God is my Father

 

Last night at our small group Bible study we discussed the Ark of the Covenant. Our study leader said it is not available to anyone and began to describe what it looked like. I remarked that God didn’t leave it here because He knew some people would worship it instead of Him. A few chuckled and as the leader continued, I did a quick search on my laptop for images of this Ark. Surprisingly, hundreds of places sell models of the Ark of the Covenant at prices beginning below $100 up to several thousand if you want pure gold. This says something about human idolatry!

Today’s devotional tells of a man with another perspective of God. His life was stressed and his doctor told him he needed fellowship with God. He replied, “What? That—up there—having fellowship with me? I would as soon think of cooling my throat with the Milky Way or shaking hands with the stars.”

It also mentions two other people who said, “Prayer is useless because there’s no one to pray to except that dreaming, dark, dumb thing that turns the handle of this idle show” and “Life is a bad joke . . .Bring down the curtain; the farce is done.”

This is blasphemy but also the deep despair of all who think that God is uninvolved in human affairs. To call Him, “Our Father in heaven” would be a joke in their minds.

Of course, those who do not know God cannot call Him their Father. This distancing from our Creator started in the Garden when Adam and Eve hid themselves and were ashamed of their sin. That sense of shame grew into a great human effort to either wallow in it or overcome it with ‘goodness’ or insisting that a relationship with God is not necessary.

Greek and Roman philosophers rejected God as Father, choose instead to believe that all gods were apathetic and without emotions. Epicurean philosophers believed all so-called gods were calm and in perfect peace, but to maintain their serenity, they needed to stay isolated from people. This reminds me of a billboard advertising a certain Bible school as being located several “miles from sin” — as if we can put distance between ourselves and our human condition.

Scripture reveals God is nothing like the ideas godless people come up with. For those who put their faith in His Son whom He sent to die for our sin, God declares them as His adopted children, His family — and He is our Father who loves and cares for us in significant and even startling ways. He conquer our fears and comforts us in times of distress. He forgive our sins and gives us eternal hope. He provides all resources we need for physical life and for living a godly life, including wisdom and direction as well as enablement. He is always near and speaks to us in intimate fellowship. He even invites us to call Him Abba, the ancient word for ‘Daddy’.

He is our Father in heaven, above the situations and stresses of this life and yet able to take us through it with grace, joy, peace and the assurance of spending eternity with Him where He is — in heaven.

Lord Jesus, because of You I am a child of God. Your Father and my Father are One and we commune together with great and yet often amazed delight. Having a place in this eternal family is a wonder and such a privilege. Thank You for making it possible to know God as Father and to be who I am — His child.

TO THINK ABOUT: Read Exodus 3:1–5 and Isaiah 6:1–5. What attitude should I have when I pray to my Father in heaven? According to Hebrews 4:16, what is there for me at His throne of grace?