“Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” Psalms 86:11 NIV
This word of this song have rocked my world, and the verse it quotes just so happens to be the WOW (Name of Bible Study I attend) verse of the week. What do I desire more than anything? Or maybe I should say “who” do I desire more than anything me and my ways or God and His ways? Do I love Him enough to obey Him no matter what? Or do I love myself enough to do whatever I please? When I gave Him my heart did I give Him all or do I reserve a part for me? Have I given Him a heart that is undivided?
We can KNOW God! That statement seems to be a little out there if we only look at it through our human eyes, but it is so very true. In fact, to KNOW God is what we were made for, anything short of KNOWING Him will end in death and eternal separation, or hell.
What is KNOWING God? It is first hand experiential KNOWING. It is living a life of intimacy/ closeness to Him. This is the kind of KNOWING that Jesus spoke of:
“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3 NIV
This KNOWING is the New Life. It is eternal life. It is the kind of life we all long for and desire. But it will not be realized within us unless we allow Jesus into our lives. If we keep Jesus at a distance and are content to just do good deeds or live a “good” life, or be a good person, we really don’t know Him.
Jesus warned us of us “trying to be a good person” on our own without really knowing Him.
“”Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Matthew 7:21-23 NIV
What a sad outcome to a life! They never KNEW Jesus! The truth of the matter is what we do to make ourselves feel and look good are described as a bunch of “filthy rags” in comparison to a Holy sinless God. (Isaiah 64:6)
That is why if we want to experience the New Life that is eternal life, we must know God through a close and personal relationship. We must come to Him, believing in Jesus His Son, asking Him to forgive us for and cleanse us of our sinful lives. We must invite Him to come and live in us so we can KNOW Him. Then the New Life of knowing Him will grow. As we seek Him in His Word, He will change us to be what we needed to be all along. As we pray to Him, listen to Him, and OBEY Him, we will KNOW Him!
That KNOWING produces the promise in us New Life that is eternal. We will live connected to Him with no fear of eternal separation from Him or death in hell because we will KNOW our God and and His eternal life!
Jesus has offered us the New Life, His own life that is abundant. The New Life is more than we could ask, think or imagine. It is His life working in us!
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,” Ephesians 3:20 NIV
This Life is a life of faith. Faith is defined by Andrew Murray as being, “Nothing other than the certainty that what God says is true.” It is believing the truth of the Word. It understands that each and every promise in the Bible is for the one who believes, as well as each and every command. If we want to live the New Life and experience it’s fullness we must receive the Word by listening, reading, studying, memorizing, etc. Faith comes by the Word of God. We must believe it is true through faith.
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17 ESV
When we truly receive the New Life in Jesus, we experience His intimacy and closeness, His power to break the chains of sin off of our lives, His freedom. When we are born again we have new desires. That desire is to no longer do things our old way following ourselves, but we desire to follow God. We want to please Him. We want to OBEY! This requires Faith. It requires seeking God in His Word.
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 NIV
The New Life is a life that is a life of Faith that seeks God first. It is not a passive life. It is a pursuit! It grows as we seek God and believe what He says in His Word: The New Life of Faith!
There has been a lot said about having your own personal “come to Jesus” moment. What a wonderful moment that is! It is the special moment we realize that we cannot live rightly. It is the time we see that we are being destroyed by our sins. It is the instant we see we are dead spiritually in those sins.
That moment, when we see we need the gift of New Life, is when change in our hearts begins. However, we may lack understanding of what that means. If we don’t understand, we will never fully receive the gift we have been given. This is because when we are given New Life in Jesus, we are to live in this New Life! New Life means a new spiritual heart. New Life means new desires, new thoughts- centered on God’s Word, and new feelings — the peace, joy, and love of God. This is how we are to live and experience the New Life. If we are living short of this experience, we are living short of the best that God desires for us. Jesus described this New Life by a term that is very familiar, but must be realized in our lives for us to have the New Life that is offered to us. This term is to be “Born again.” In John 3 there is an account of a religious man who had a “come to Jesus” moment too. He came because He knew Jesus was from God,and He knew what Jesus did was amazing. But He did not “Know” Jesus at that point. This is not much different than us today when we come to Jesus. We know Jesus is good and He does amazing things, but we don’t “Know” Him intimately. Jesus immediately told the man this:
“Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”” John 3:3 NIV
Webster’s 1828 Dictionary says “To be born, is to be produced or brought into life.” We are all born physically into the life we are now living here in our flesh, but there is a New Life that “is produced or brought into our lives “ when we are Born Again. We are changed by this New Life in our manner of living and conduct. This is because God’s life- manner of living and conduct- is flowing in us!
This “New Life” isn’t just a life we get in eternity but it is life we experience now! What a gift! May we not only have our “come to Jesus moment,” but may we be changed by it as we receive this New Life that is Born in us! Because Jesus says to us what He said to Nicodemus long ago:
“You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’” John 3:7 NIV
When people are asked about the time they feel the closest to God, there are a variety of answers such as: “I feel the closest to God when I am in nature.” “… when I look at. A night sky.” “…when I hold a newborn baby.” etc…
We may feel a sense of God’s presence each of these times. Our hearts may long to know the one who created these things.
BUT there is a sure fire way to be close to God or to KNOW Him. That is to KNOW His word.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1 NIV
Jesus is the Word. The Word and God are one. They are inseparable. In order to know Jesus in a close and intimate relationship we must know His Word because He speaks to us through His Word.
I’ve been hitting pretty hard the past two weeks on the point that we all need to read, study, memorize, and take in God’s Word. That is because won’t really know God until we know His Word. God has made us for relationship with Him. He longs for us to know Him because He loves us!
If we want to experience the closeness of God, we must experience the life changing power of God’s Word.
“The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalms 19:7-10, 14 NIV
Your Love 