Knowing God

I want to bring this to you today because this is a foundation in which God has laid in me and it continues to be what I teach to many individuals who want to have a deeper walk with God. I was in the book of Isaiah for a month and could not get away from it and Isaiah 53 paritcular has always appeared time and time again to bring a reminder and a freshness to my course of life. While reading this I want to point out the word knowledge, this verse is a prophetic word speaking of the coming one Jesus Christ. By his knowledge it was not a miraculous instant God event that he performed the great feat on the cross but merely it was God in Jesus the son of man. Meaning he was a human like you and I. It was his knowledge that allowed him to understand Gods heart in every matter.

Isa 53:11  Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 

This led me to search more in depth to the word knowledge. The word knowledge is made up obviously from the word know (yada in the hebrew Strongs Number 3045) It means an experiental knowledge of someone.

Now lets relate this word to another story in the Bible where David was chosen to have a beatuiful virgin lay with him to keep him warm.

The young woman was very lovely; and she cared for the king and served him; but the king did notknow her (1 Kings 1:4 NKJV)

The girl was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no intimate relations with her.(1 Kings 1:4 NIV)

That is how deep the word know is and it can relate in so many ways to our relationships with Husband/Wives, we get to know each other by spending time with each other.

1. To know is to have experiential knowledge of the person or God

I had plans to start a business and to continue with my work running a truck in the oilfield with many customer prospects and things in place to finance the deal. It had me stuck to a job where I got paid well and could see many blessings and being blessings to others. God came and invaded me one night and shared with me my true desires to do ministry and to live by his provision. I knew that in the past how God had spoken to me and told me to go other places such as Bible College and remembered how he was faithful to provide for me. This Experience in the past helped me 1) recognize his tugging, and his voice to go 2) his faithfulness to get me where my heart desired to go 3) To trust and to give up my plans even though i thought it fitted me at the time. Now I am in ministry and have followed God in other areas because of his leading in my life and it was easier for me to trust and to turn right away to those things. This is an example of having experiental knowledge with God.

Trust is the most important aspect of it all and allowing ourselves to remember and being thankful for the things he has led us through in the past makes it easier for us to give up those things when he asks or is putting his finger on it.

2. To know is to be-loved and to love

God wants to be the first one you come to in good and bad. God wants us in the quiet place where we can hear his voice and lay aside our hearts worry. It takes time to cultivate this because so often our minds our at unrest and easily entangled in the things of the world. I always think of rest as Hebrews 4 type rest. When our souls our easy and at rest we can allow God into those areas of our heart that our often wounded or hindered by things we have been believing about ourselves. It allows the true lover of our souls to bring to memory those hurts and lies that our provoked and allows him to give us truth. Its not a quick fix often because we want it done but God is gentle and it often takes time for us to realzie we need to spend time in our day in the quiet place not just petitioning but listening. 

Hab. 2:1-2 NKJV -I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart And watch to see what he will say to me and what I will answer when i am corrected. THen the Lord answered me and said: Write the visino and make it plain on tablets That he may run who reads it. 

Habakkuk was waiting for Gods response after asking God a series of heart cries and he stood watch until God answered his pleas. Being willing and allowing God time to speak is important it shows the love that he has and he wants to answer our hearts questions personally not just through someone else. 

I believe that 1 Samuel Chapter 2 and 3 our a very good point for allowing time for God in our lives. Samuel was ministering to the Lord and waiting on his earthly master so to speak in Eli. He was honoring the leadership and when God started to reveal his word to him he instantly ran to Eli. Eli perceived that God was calling him after the third time and he shared with him how to be a willling and obedient servant to the Lord. 1 Samuel 3:10 Now the Lord came and stood and called at other times, "Samuel, Samuel!" and Samuel answred, "Speak for your servant hears," This was the start of Samuel the Judge and one who was faithful and wanted to do what was in Gods heart and mind. It states how the Lord stood and called as at other times! How beautiful is that, Eli's or those who know what the word of the Lord is need to teach Samuels or those who our young, how to hear from God for themselves. 

Intimacy requires time and it requires cultivating a love for God or maybe you need to fall back in love with your creator again. Knowledge and to know God, I believe is the most wonderful aspect of him. He reveals himself to us and we need to respond with time and care and attention because from this relationship and the secret place it will bring us victory in every area of our lives. He wants to give you counsel and wisdom on every area of your life, but it requires us to take apart that time in our lives toknow God and experience him with our 5 senses just as the definition of the word dictates, to smell, touch, taste, feel and hear.

God bless you

Alvin 

Grace

Recently, as I was sifting through facebook and reading some of the posts I was grieved in my spirit because often times I see so many bible scriptures posted out of context. The nature of God is a very hard concept to grasp if God has not breathed and made alive the texts in the bible. Now I know their are many aspects to the nature of God some that we are still learning and others that we think we know the depth and the width of them. Grace is a message that is very dear to my heart and I know that God is a God of grace. I know grace because of my passed experiences and the grace message is one that is at is becoming more and more on the move. First off grace is absolutely biblical and it is the very nature of God. Grace is found in justification. The unmerited favor or unearned favor we have with God is grace. In the New King James version we read  Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work. 
As I begin to read more and more peoples view on grace I saw many verses of the bible quoted out of context saying that grace is demonic and using Matthew 7:21-22 as their scripture basis. I felt my heart twinge and ache because I was disgusted at the quality of God was used with little or no care at all. I wanted to type in the comment box all the feelings I had raging up inside of me. As I sat their staring at the computer screen I knew that my battle was not against flesh and blood. The devil wants us to team up with him and be the accuser of the brethren so I left it. I started telling God how I felt and how I understood grace as and then I asked him what grace was to him. Instantly I was reminded of the woman at the well. The story is found in John 4. I am not going to post it you can read it on your own. As we look at the story though we realize that Jesus, in the nature of God did not condemn the woman but offered her living water. Jesus loved her being a woman of "low stature" and out of his Jewish class. He did not look at the outward appearance but it was "the goodness of God" (Romans 2:4) that lead her to repentance and told the surrounding community about the Messiah. In all the other instances God gave undeserved grace, in healing, wholeness and deliverance to those who were afflicted by sin and in the darkness. How can they know their in darkness if their is no light?  The Holy spirit is the convicter (John 16:8) It has nothing to do with us pointing the finger and telling people their living in sin. We need heavens perspective on every aspect of our lives and other peoples lives. Christians are not exempt from the grace message, we still make mistakes we our not perfect ourselves and we are being sanctified continually. You see the goodness of God, know thing that when we sin blatantly and that God loves us not for what we do but for who we are, when we can come to believe that it empowers us to live in holiness. Grace in another definition of it means to empower. Their is a coming holiness movement that is not going to be like the holiness movement of the passed, where much law and legalism came out of. Don't hear what I am not saying I believe in holiness, the law and legalism part is religion. The grace movement is going to empower us to live in holiness by seeing the goodness of God it is going to open our hearts to understand who God is more and more. Grace is empowerment and Holiness is power.