August 12
Encouragement for Today
“Knowing God”
Micca Campbell, Director of Outreach, Proverbs 31 Speaker Team Member
Key Verse:
Philippians 3:8a, “More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (The Open Bible)
Devotion:
If someone were surveying my life, they might perceive by what I do, that my greatest passion is to share the love of God with others. Or, they may determine that my deepest desire is to be the best wife and mom I can be. While others still may conclude that my biggest dream is to pen lasting truths that will mentor others in their walks with God long after I’ve left this world.
While all of these dreams, along with others, contain a piece of my hearts; my greatest heart’s cry is to know God…personally.
Is that possible? Can a person really know God intimately? Of course we can! In fact, it is why we were created – to have an ongoing personal, love relationship with our Lord and our King.
We meet a tremendous amount of people throughout our lifetimes. Some of them are quite special to us – a schoolteacher who helped us achieve our goals, an uncle or aunt who always stood by our side, or perhaps a childhood hero we admired. Two of my children’s most influential and favorite people are our missionary friends who serve in
Sadly though, most people only take the first step in knowing God when they come to Him for “salvation.” It’s enough for them that their sins are forgiven and heaven is their future home through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Oh, if you were to ask them if they know God, most would say that they do.
I can’t help but wonder. How can you know the Comforter if you never experience His comforting? How do you know that God is the Provider of all things when you choose to live life dependent on yourself? And how can you know that the Lord is our Helper and Guide if you’ve never allowed His hand to lead you through the darkness of the storm? You can’t truly know Him if you’ve only allowed Him to be your Savior. He must be more. He must be your All!
We can have all of the intellectual knowledge there is about God and still not know Him. Our Bibles can be color coded, underlined, and frayed at the edges, but it doesn’t necessarily mean we are familiar with God on a personal level. That kind of relationship comes through trusting the Lord’s Word in every situation and with every detail of our lives until we are confident that He is faithful and true.
As long as we go through life dependent on our own resources, we will never know how marvelous our God is. We’ll never know how He longs to come along side of us and be our provision. Our Lord will not show Himself to the proud and arrogant heart. God will only reveal Himself to the humble, those who honestly seek Him with their whole hearts. It’s when, in our helpless state, that we acknowledge Him as our sufficiency that we discover who the Lord is. Bowing daily before His majesty is where we discover God’s holiness, power, love, and true fellowship with Him.
When we start to depend on the Lord like a child depends on her father, we begin to encompass the divine nature that makes our God a privilege to know.
Do you have a hunger and passion to know God? Tell Him! Spend time with God in His Word and discover His magnificent attributes.
Before long, we will come to realize, with the apostle Paul, that all else is rubbish compared to knowing God. He is the prize, the blessing of our lives, and our greatest treasure!
He already knows you and me. Isn’t time for us to get to know Him?
My Prayer for Today:
Dear Lord, I confess that I know little about You. Create in me a hunger and thirst for You alone. I pray that knowing You becomes my greatest desire. Open my eyes as I read Your Word. Give me ears to hear You as I pray. Reveal Yourself to me, and help me wait patiently until You do. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Applications Steps:
Begin today seeking to know God more. Pick out a quiet place where you can meet Him daily. Then, with your Bible, pray and ask God, by the power of His Holy Spirit, to reveal Himself to you through His Word. Write down any verse or passage that seems to jump off the page at you. Meditate on it and ask God to show you what He wants you to know about that verse. Then, apply it and obey it. God is revealing Himself to you!
Reflection Points:
Which do you desire more…God or what He can do for you?
Do you meet with God on a daily basis where you are growing in your relationship with Him?
Do you see knowing God as the most important aspect of your existence? Why or why not?
What keeps you from knowing God in a deeper way?
Power Verses:
Psalm 63:1, “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirst for you in a dry and weary land.” (The Open Bible)
Isaiah 26:9a, “At night my soul longs for Thee, indeed, my spirit within me seeks Thee diligently;” (The Open Bible)
Job 36:26, “Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him; the number of His years is unsearchable.” (The Open Bible)
Hosea 6:6, “For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” (The Open Bible)
Proverbs 2:10, “For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.” (The Open Bible)
Additional Resources:
Do You Know Him?
http://proverbs31.gospelcom.net/knowHim.htm
Who Holds the Key to Your Heart?, by Lysa TerKeurst
http://proverbs31.gospelcom.net/newresources_whoHoldsKey.htm
Intimate Moments with God, with Sharon Jaynes, contributor
http://proverbs31.gospelcom.net/newresources_intimateMoments.htm
Originally published Friday, 12 August 2005.
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