Knowing God goes beyond saying His name . . .

 

Name-dropping is the practice of casually mentioning the names of famous people as if they are friends, done usually to impress others. It is considered snobbish or a pathetic attempt to be seen and admired. If I tried to do that with the Lord, I would be breaking the second of the ten commandments:

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7)

Not only that, it would reveal that I do not know Him at all. This is a total violation of Bible teaching that God’s purpose is that we really know Him, not know of Him, not think of Him as a casual friend, or as a genie in the heavens to grant our wishes, or an angry being with a big club of judgment. Truly knowing Him dispels all rumors and lies about His nature and character:

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:3)

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me. (John 10:14)

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)

As MacArthur writes, my desire to know God should motivate me in fervent prayer like it did these men of God:

Now therefore, if I (Moses) have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight . . . . (Exodus 33:13)

Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind . . . . (1 Chronicles 28:9)

Indeed, I (Paul) count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith — that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death . . . . (Philippians 3:8–10)

This passion to know God is the driving force behind prayer. Those who know God pray most often and most fervently because the more that He is known, the greater our confidence to ask great things and serve in increasing devotion.

The passage about spiritual armor adds prayer as the result of wearing it. I will be “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication . . . keeping alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18) because my knowledge of God is vital. Knowing each piece of armor reveals knowledge of His character, what He has done, and what His will is for this world and those He has created.

This is similar to knowing other people. When I do, I know their history, their values, their likes and dislikes, even their secrets. The difference is that knowing people includes knowing their weaknesses and failures, but when it comes to knowing God, there is none of those! He is all powerful and nothing can thwart His ability or determination to do whatever He desires.

His desire is that “none should perish” and knowing that ought to fill me with the same desire so that I will pray for those who do not know His saving power and be ready to share the Gospel with them as God gives opportunity. Knowing God means living for what is important to Him.

PRAY: Jesus, grant me a greater desire to know You, and a deeper desire to be like You, desires that make a difference in my prayer life.

PONDER: The importance of knowing God intimately, and practicing all the biblical ways of seeking Him.

 

 

Humility

“My father-in-law once golfed a match game with Ben Hogan.”

I replied, “The closest I’ll get to Ben Hogan is that his name is on my golf clubs.”

Name-dropping is easy. I’ve done it to impress people. I’ve once had lunch with Elizabeth Elliot or we used to belong to John MacArthur’s church.

However, I’ve also learned that the “big name” authors and speakers are ordinary people too. This happened the day I met Evelyn Christenson. I’d read and studied her amazing books on prayer, then met her and discovered that she is a most ordinary person, delightful, but down-to-earth ordinary. Actually, every well-known person I’ve met is ordinary in most ways. They have incredible talents in some areas, but they lose their car keys and have their off days just like I do.

A few years after figuring this out, a person started putting me on a pedestal. I hated it. I know myself; pedestals I do not deserve or need. How foolish I am to think of myself more highly than I ought, never mind have someone else do it for me.

At the same time, God knows we need reminding about this kind of pride and self-serving. Because I tend to think my own status is raised if I can hobnob with the rich and famous or spend time around those whose talents and reputation are widespread and well-known, He says,

Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. (Romans 12:16)

The person who wrote my devotional book says that there is no aristocracy in the church, no place for an ecclesiastical elite that deserves all the attention. He is right. We are all sinners saved by grace. Anything good that we have comes from Jesus Christ, not ourselves. If there is any glory given, it must go to Him.

Instead of prideful attention seeking, I am supposed to consider others. Jesus illustrated this by saying, “‘When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just’” (Luke 14:12-14).

I know that God isn’t forbidding me to invite friends and relatives to my home for a meal, nor is this really about who I invite as much as it is about my motive for inviting them. If I am selfishly thinking I will be rewarded in some way, or that I can boast about who was over for dinner, or if I can somehow impress others with my guest list, then my motives are sinful. God is asking me to be hospitable without any concern for myself. All of what I do is to be for those who need it done for them.

This devotional writer also says that the poor are more needy than the rich, which is another reason for inviting them. That may be true in a financial sense, but I’ve found that the rich and famous are needy too, but with different needs. Further, a person’s financial status or place of prominence does not mean they are in the category of people to avoid. The passage from Romans says to “associate with the humble” and the three people whose names I’ve dropped just in the last few paragraphs happen to be just that, very humble people who are not wise in their own opinion. I’ve learned a great deal from them.

My conclusion is that pride’s removal may require the discipline of being with people who have nothing to be proud of, people who are in poverty and great need and in whose presence I am moved to think more of them than of myself. However, there is also great value in being around humble people with great blessings on their life for they realize all of it came as a gift from God and not as a result of their own importance. They know how to glorify God with their blessings, and I need to know how to do that also.