Knowing The Bible Is Not Knowing God
Communication is not a relationship but a vital part of building a relationship. A relationship is established when communication with a person and experience with that person converge.
The Bible is God’s communication to us. The Bible is vital but it is not a relationship with God. It is tragic to know the Bible inside and out but not know God at all—and this is sadly the case for many so-called Christians.
Two keys to relationship are awareness and attraction—to know a Person exists and the desire to know more about them (Hebrews 11:6).
The Bible is essential for knowing God but it is not a relationship with God. Relationship requires another key: experience.
It is in our experiences with God that we develop a relationship with Him.
Have you been with God? Is He with you now? What have you experienced with Him? What is He like? Who have you learned Him to be? How does His presence change how you live?
This is the focus of a Christian, not debating texts, straining gnats and swallowing camels, but how is my Communion with Him and His family being perfected?
Heed Jesus’ warning to the Pharisees,
“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.”
— John 5:39
Don’t settle for the picture of Scripture when you can have the Person.
You can have a relationship with God. Moreover, it’s everything—without it you have nothing.
“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
— 1 John 5:12
Take note that it’s not written, “He has ‘His words’ or ‘His works’ has life.” But what does it say? It says, “He who has HIM has life.”
There’s coming a day when a lot of people with seminary degrees, knowledge of the Hebrew and Greek, people who did “good” works will be rejected and condemned to Hell because they didn’t have Him.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
— Matthew 7:21-23
Does He know you?
Do you have a relationship with God?
Ask, seek, knock.
He wants to make Himself known to you (Luke 11:13).
Knowing the Person makes the picture more precious.
#Bible #KnowGod #perfectourlove
Free To Choose: My Father Will Not Let Me Fall
Very often I just want God to tell me what to do, step by step so that I don’t make a mistake.
But what God wants me to do is grow in His image.
And my choices are an opportunity to exercise His life in me—to love Him with my whole being: my heart, my soul and including my mind.
My Father wants me to skip, flip, run and jump—looking to Jesus as what’s possible, and to see where I can grow.
So, I will spread my wings for Him, and decisively take risks while looking to Him, trusting that He is ultimately guiding me.
We are free to choose in faith. Our Father will not let us fall.
“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen.”
— Jude 1:24-25
A Window To Our Heart
God sees our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7).
We can’t (Jeremiah 17:9).
Our circumstances are often a means God uses to show us [our hearts] (Deuteronomy 8:2).
If we humble ourselves, admit our blindness, and ask God for sight (wisdom), our responses to life will show us our heart—who we really are.
But that’s not the end of the story. Seeing who we really are in the mirror reveals where we’re not clean and what’s out of place so that it may be corrected (James 1:25).
No one looks in a mirror if there is no hope for improvement.
But God.
His purposes are to make us into His image (Genesis 1:26), conformed to the image of His dear Son (Romans 8:29)—glorious.
He will make us to shine like the sun (Matthew 13:43).
To be clear, it’s a work God does with a life submitted to Him—when in humility we see our sin in the mirror and confess it (1 John 1:9).
So I strive to be sensitive to when God holds up a mirror, including through my circumstances and my response to them. Though I often don’t like what I see, I should not hide, but in humility, confront, confess and let God do what only He can do.
He will not fail to make me beautiful (Philippians 1:6).
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
— 2 Corinthians 3:18
Heartstrings
What am I supposed to be doing right now?
As a member of the body?
Where is the Head?
Jesus.
He is about the Father’s business, making God known through love.
He is being obedient to God’s government and presenting a space where God’s kingdom is experienced that they may know God.
“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
— John 10:10
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
— John 17:3
In that greenhouse the Word is both communicated and experienced, and is where faith is born when it is received by the cultivation of the Holy Spirit.
Making God known through love that the whole world may be reconciled to Communion with God through Christ is the Father’s business.
It is something that has to be obeyed because I love. Which comes first, obedience or love, I do not know. Maybe they come together, they’re part of the same thing, integral to one another.
What I do know, is sometimes I will not want to, especially initially but the more I obey, the more I love.
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”
— John 6:38
The battle is one of desire—following my heart or obeying the heart He gave me—it’s about making God the only thing that I want.
“I don’t want to” means my desire is misplaced. I am mindful of the things of men and not the things of God (Matthew 16:23). I overcome through obedience.
Loving obedience is THE weapon for an adulterous heart (James 4:4-7)—love and obedience that is only possible through His nature and His power granted by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
So in obedience, I take a cue from the Proverbs 31 Woman. I purpose to do all in my power at all times to provide for my Lord’s house, and to perform, promote and support His enterprise—the Father’s business.
This is what I’m doing right now.
#love #perfectourlove
Making A Divided Heart Whole
My heart’s divided.
My head is all over the place.
This problem. That problem. I’m pulled in a thousand different directions.
It’s hard to concentrate. I constantly jump from one thing to the other.
It’s difficult to stay on task because attacks are coming in from every side and each one feels like an existential threat, all the while I’m looking for THE problem to solve that will solve many, if not all, of the rest.
What’s the thing, if achieved, that will secure me, that will remove the terror of death and give me peace?
Sudden ruin is the anxiety of my heart.
To defeat a demon, you must make it take shape by uncovering its name.
What, exactly, am I afraid of?
I’m afraid of:
Someone dear to me languishing and dying in poverty and my having done nothing to improve their situation.
Losing my job.
Losing my clients.
Not having enough money to pay for our house, our cars, our bills, our streaming services, our debt, to keep the lights on and to have enough left over to enjoy any semblance of life such as eating out and taking an occasional trip for a change of scenery.
The discontent of others.
The disapproval of others.
Being unworthy of respect because I failed to achieve financial success.
Being alone.
I cast the demon out by bringing it into captivity of Christ.
“But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.”
— Matthew 12:28-29
I accept Christ as King who is stronger than my enemy.
“[…] on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
— Matthew 16:18
I then die to this world to be released from being acted upon as its subject and am raised up to sit with Christ who reigns in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6) and acts upon it—the government of Hell shall not prevail against the government of Heaven.
I accept the loss of all the things of this world and no longer work for them.
You can’t scare a dead man with death.
“Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ”
— Philippians 3:8
And I focus on the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
I focus exclusively on gaining His character to be a vessel of His work—the blessed Oneness of all things in the Communion of God through Christ. And I trust Him for the rest.
“And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.”
— Luke 12:29-31
The irony is, while I’ve been anxious, He’s been doing this all along. Imagine the joy and peace I could have enjoyed if I had trusted Him all this time instead of worrying and fretting?
I confess this sin and repent. Additionally, I die to the world and accept whatever loss comes with that. If in the course of following Christ it dies, it dies. I will not allow it to make me turn back.
“Remember Lot’s wife.”
— Luke 17:32
I will work with a heart committed to fostering Communion and bringing everything in my sphere onto the mat—into the order of God’s government so that they may experience His wonderful kingdom.
So, however small my sphere starts, the question is how does my love for God and what have I learned of Christ about how to govern inform how I use what’s in my hand at this moment to provide for my sphere and bring it into His kingdom order for the purposes of glorifying His wonderful name and drawing all men unto Him in Communion?
“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.
Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?
No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
— Luke 16:10-13
I want the true riches.
Practically, the way I provide for my sphere may look the same as any one else earning a living, but the reason and my reaction to the results will be drastically different, leading to drastically different outcomes—even materially, but especially spiritually.
The reason.
This is how I focus—remembering the Treasure I seek: God alone.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.”
— Matthew 5:8
This is how a divided heart is made whole.
#anxiety #love #perfectourlove #GoodWorks
Stay On The Mat
Love (noun – what it is): God’s government.
Love (verb – how it works): Obedience to God’s government that presents a space where the recipient of love experiences God’s kingdom.
I refer to that “space” as “the mat” and my goal is to meet people there.
The mat is love.
While these are not exhaustive lists (I hope to expound on this later), what is on that mat is joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
And what is NOT on the mat is bitterness, evil speaking, malice (Ephesians 4:31), selfishness, envy, unforgiveness, sexual immorality, (Romans 1:29-31) and things that may surprise you like truth that is not spoken in love.
This is deeply helpful to me. It helps me, at any moment, to orient myself spiritually and answer God’s first question to man, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9)
Love is obedience to God’s government that presents a space where the recipient of love experiences God’s kingdom.
My goal is “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” To make it real by presenting a space where others can experience it—the mat of love.
My goal is to stay on the mat.
#perfectourlove #heartwords #love
52 Weeks Of Gratefulness #10 – What We Still Have
In Week 10 of 52 Weeks Of Gratefulness, I give thanks to God for what we still have.
Earlier this week we received a phone call that makes the heart of every parent drop, “Dad, I’ve been in an accident…”
I thank God that the voice on the other end of the phone was our child. Upon hearing the details of the accident, it easily could have been a different call.
That night could have ended in heartbreak. I can only hope that we could remember God’s goodness in the midst of such unimaginable grief.
Life is a vapor, but God is good all the time.
So, I’m thankful for what we still have.
I intend to make the best of it.
I’m grateful.
#52WoG
52 Weeks Of Gratefulness #9 – Constant
In Week 9 of 52 Weeks Of Gratefulness, I give thanks to God for my father’s consistency in honor of his birthday.
There are few constants in this world, and my Dad is one of them.
In a life that can be confusing to navigate, his consistency helps me solve for the variability of the rest.
I’ve tried to pass this on to our sons, teaching them:
“Do what you’ve set out to do regardless of how others act or react.”
I have found that I can navigate virtually anything with anyone when there’s something to come back to that does not move.
Thank you for being that for me, Dad.
I hope to honor you by being that for others so that this value I’ve received from you remains
Constant.
Happy Birthday.
I’m grateful.
#52WoG
52 Weeks Of Gratefulness #8 – The Questions
In Week 8 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks to God for the questions.
My pastor, mentor, and spiritual father, Dr. Gregory Wilson Jones, did not just tell us what Scripture said; he constantly asked us what Scripture said.
First, he made sure we were reading, and second, he ensured we were engaged with Scripture by asking questions that made us wrestle with and explain its meaning in our own words.
Dr. Jones did not just lead Bible class, he taught Bible courses! There was literally a syllabus for each series and everyone received a printed outline for each class. He taught hefty theological concepts but in a way anyone could relate to. I remember many nights where children were sincerely engaged, asking wonderful questions during our discussions.
Dr. Jones understood that growth comes from challenges that are indicated by questions rather than from comfort that results from being spoon-fed.
Oh, how I love that man and miss him.
I’m grateful.
#52WoG
52 Weeks Of Gratefulness #7 – My Person
In Week 7 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks to God for “my person”.
It’s conference season and this week my wife and I had a happy happenstance where we had conferences in the same city on the same day. So, we got to travel and room together.
We also have an upcoming conference where the other gets to tag along. We had a little tiff because there was yet another conference for the very next week but I couldn’t attend. I was like, “Babe, I want to, but I can’t be away from the office that long!” 🤣
I thought about this as we were traveling recently. We weren’t doing anything special this go round, no flights, no fancy restaurants, just a basic road trip. We simply wanted to be around each other. That’s not a small thing and I’m extremely thankful for it.
To have someone I want to be with who wants to be with me (today 🤣) makes me very happy.
I’m grateful.
#52WoG