KNOWING GOD – Pursuing your own personal relationship with The Master! Watch the VIDEO or read the text
To view the edited video of “Knowing God”, click the following link, then click the “Start” button at lower left corner of the player:
And here’s a link to the unedited version, of “Knowing God”, with live music preceding the message, on the Romanian “Intercer” website:
http://tv.intercer.net/media/7476/Knowing_God_-_Cunoscandu-L_pe_Dumnezeu/
KNOWING GOD (see Hebrews 8:10, 11) 05-02-11
Copyright 2010 B. L. Schappell
Did you know that Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny, was allergic to carrots?
And Thomas Edison, inventor of the electric light bulb, was afraid of the dark?
And Dr. Alfred P. Southwick, a dentist . . . invented the electric chair … a dentist … I wonder what was he thinking?
Seriously – simply knowing something about someone is entirely different from personally knowing that individual. Actually knowing someone requires a first-hand experience with that individual – and that takes an investment of time. Knowing someone, truly knowing someone requires personal interaction, and takes place over a period of time.
There was intense persecution of the early Church, during which time, Christians were thrown to very hungry, very angry lions.
There’s an Aesop’s Fable, set in this historical time period, that illustrates the value of personally knowing someone – particularly, establishing a relationship with an individual with whom we will eventually have a reckoning.
A Christian slave named Androcles had escaped from his master and fled into the forest. As he was wandering in search of shelter, he came upon a lion, lying on the ground, moaning and groaning.
Startled, Androcles initially turned to flee, but seeing that the lion did not pursue him, he turned back and cautiously re-approached the suffering creature. As Androcles drew near, he quickly observed that the lion’s paw was bleeding and swollen, with a huge thorn embedded between his pads.
The lion held out his paw and Androcles gently removed the thorn, then bound up the wound. Presently, the big cat was able to rise to his feet, and licked the hand of his benefactor. Then the lion led Androcles to the refuge of his cave, and, each day thereafter, the lion would bring his new human friend things to eat, as he hunted for his own food.
But one day while the lion was on the prowl for food, Androcles was captured by the Roman authorities, and, as was often the punishment for a runaway slave, Androcles was sentenced to be thrown to the lions.
The Amphitheatre was filled to capacity, as the Emperor and his court came to view the spectacle. A terrified Androcles was led out into the middle of the arena. A large door across the arena was opened, and a seriously angry, obviously under-fed lion leaped from the shadows and bounded toward the quivering Androcles.
But as the lion neared Androcles, he ceased his roaring, then stopped in his tracks, as he recognized his friend. Slowly, he walked up to the stunned Androcles, until they were face -to-face. Then the lion rubbed his head on Androcles’ chest and licked his hands.
The puzzled Emperor, summoned Androcles, for an explanation of what he had just witnessed. So Androcles related to the Emperor his entire, incredible story, whereupon the slave was pardoned and set free, while the lion was returned to his forest.home.
Although this is a fictitious tale, it nevertheless illustrates an important lesson. Now, that lion probably had not been fed for several days. And Androcles must have looked like an hors-d’oeuvre. So, why didn’t the lion simply snarf up poor Androcles?
They knew each other! Having established a reciprocating relationship prior to their ordeal made a humongous difference.
What’s involved in getting to know someone?
When I first laid eyes on the lady who would become my wife, I was absolutely smitten! There she stood behind the cosmetics counter at the BonTon – with her peaches-and-cream complexion, dancing blue eyes, golden curls spilling over her black smock. She presented a very dramatic, arresting image!
She was stunningly pretty! And then … she spoke - with that soft, German accent – and I was toast! This was an exotic woman!
But looking beyond her beauty, my initial wonderations were: Who are you? What are you like? What do you stand for? Do you have strength of character? Could you be a “keeper”? I wanted to find out – to know her. The world is filled with beautiful ladies – and all that glitters is not gold.
So, how do you begin to know someone? Well, you spend time together; you communicate; and you start doing things together.
Thru spending time with her, talking on the phone, going for walks, sharing meals, she gradually revealed herself to me. And I did the same for her. I wanted to show her who I am.
Each morning, I’d give her a brief wake-up phone call, and I often brought her dinner at work, because she frequently skipped meals and went directly to her second job, with no break. And I shared Scripture with her, as she thought she had a brain tumor … severe head pain … So I shared comfort, strength, and encouragement from God’s Word. This is how our relationship grew.
The Bible says that our Heavenly Father desires a heart- relationship with each of us – a relationship that He likens to the closeness of a marriage relationship.
In Psalm 139:1, Our Father says. “You may not know me, but I know everything about you.”
And His counsel in Psalm 46:10 is “Be still and know that I am God.” Be at peace, and know Who I Am.
Why? One reason is that He desires to reproduce His character in each of us. That’s primarily why He sent Jesus to reveal the Father, and to be our Living Example. So, we need to know Who He is, and what He’s like, if we are to become like Him.
Scripture teaches that knowing God is the KEY to life – Listen to the voice of Jesus in the Gospel of John 17:3: “This is life eternal: that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent”.
And 2 Thes 1:7,8 says that Jesus will return in judgment of those who know Him not . Why?? Because they have frittered-away … an entire lifetime of opportunity to learn to know the very One who gives them life and breath, each day!
Then, there’s Matt 25:12 – A parable of the closed door at the conclusion of the Judgment. Jesus says that many will come to Him in that day and exclaim, “Wait a minute! We belong in there! We prophesied in Your name! We cast out devils in Your name!”
But Jesus will reply, “We never knew each other.” There was no relationship between us. Perhaps you labored nobly, but you were working your own agenda. “I don’t know you!” he will reply … “I don’t know you!”
Knowing Him provides all the legitimate reasons – all the right reasons – for serving Him. Then, our good works will come as a consequence of our relationship with The Master, rather than from a sense of obligation or duty.
Now, let’s get these ducks in a row:
* Knowing Him is essential to life itself.
* Not knowing Him – Neglecting the opportunity to know Him can exclude us from Eternity
* And performing marvelous works, even in His Name, is no substitute for establishing a trusting relationship with Him.
When I was a young man, I knew right from wrong, and I tried to do what was right, and tried not to do what was wrong. But that was work! I was attending church regularly, but it went down hard!
I didn’t know God. I was just hacking it out on my own – and not doing very well. I went around in circles, banging into things and hurting people. I had no understanding of a personal relationship with a Heavenly Father, and I did a lot of damage in the process.
Listen to the plea of the Apostle Paul:
I Cor 15:34 “… some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.”
And from a popular paraphrase, God is speaking: “I have been misrepresented by those who do not know Me.”
God wants us to know Him – Who He is – What He’s like
What does He want from us?
What are the benefits of knowing Him?
These are legitimate questions! That’s OK!
It’s OK to ask questions, because our God provides answers.
Our Heavenly Father earnestly desires the same type of personal relationship with us that we desire with our loved ones – kids …
I never knew my father – I knew about him: I’d seen photos,
I’d heard stories, heard other people’s experiences with my
Father. But I never met the man. He didn’t seem real to me.
My father was killed in action during World War II, right after I was born. And my mother’s collection of stories was limited by the fact that they had only been married a year when he was assigned to duty in New Guinea, in the South Pacific.
Then one evening – I was a young man – my Mom called me into her room, sat me down in a chair, and handed me a pack of letters my father had written to her, years back. She said, “I think you’re mature enough to appreciate this now. Make yourself comfortable, and you can take your time.” Then she left the room and quietly closed the door.
As I began to open and read those letters, my father was gradually revealed to me, thru his written thoughts; his concerns; his passions; his plans and desires for when he would return; the depth of his love for my Mother; and his hopes for me – the child still in her womb – all expressed on those yellowed epistles. And as I re-read them – and re-read them, I learned still more fully who he really was.
Do you know – this same process also applies to our pursuing an acquaintance with our Heavenly Father? Same track, different train! But they are parallel processes!
God reveals Himself to us in many ways –
1) Thru His written Word – as we read His letters to us. This is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The Bible is the very transcript of His character, which He desires to reproduce in His children. In His Word, we see the extent of His great love for us, His tremendous patience, His mercy and His grace and how He deals with people and situations.
2) He is revealed thru His Son – Yeshua is “The Word made
flesh” – The Express Image of God, He came to reveal to humankind the very character and nature of His Father. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.”
In John 14:9 The Disciple Philip asks Jesus, “Show us the Father.”
And Jesus responds: “Have I been with you all this time, Philip,
and still you don’t know Me? If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the
Father.” In Jesus, we see The Father personified.
3) He is revealed by The Holy Spirit, Who leads us into all Truth. Jesus is “The Truth” – He is The Way, The Truth, and The Life.
4) God is revealed in nature, which is often referred to as His “Second Book”. By beholding the handiwork of an artisan, we learn much about that person. Nature is the evidence of God’s love and creative power and His goodness.
5) Knowing God is rooted in – and finds its ultimate fulfillment in – His Sabbath – the very sign of His authority as Sovereign of the Universe.
The Sabbath is His memorial of Creation – He is the Creator
The Sabbath is also the sign that it is He Who has saved us
And the Sabbath is the sign throughout our generations, that it is He Who sanctifies us
Sabbath time is that special parcel of time – a “tithe” of our time -which He has set aside for fellowship with Him … to develop and build and pursue a trusting relationship with Him. To KNOW Him
Job asks the question: “Can you, by searching, find out God?” Can we Google God? … Wikipedia … learn anything of eternal value?
Well, Scripture says: the very capability to know Him and to
understand His ways …is a gift – it’s a gift to those who desire it!
Paul’s prayer for the church at Ephesus was…“that the God of our Lord, Jesus Christ … may give you a spirit of wisdom …
and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. Eph 1:17
The ability to know God is His gift to the genuine seeker.
God speaks thru the prophet Jeremiah 24:7 “I will give them a heart to know Me …”
The NEB translates this: “I will give them the wit to know me.”
Now, we’ll put some shoes on this:
This means we can ask our Heavenly Father, in the name of His Son, for the gift to know him as a caring Daddy. Remember …
- in Gethsemane, Jesus called to His Father by the name “Abba”? “Abba” is the familiar form of “Father” that a loving child uses, such as “Daddy”, “Papa”. He wants that relationship with us.
Thru the prophet Malachi, God invites: “Try me and see if I will not open the windows of Heaven and pour you out a blessing”.
King David counsels us in Psalms 34:8: “O taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him”.
And if we are to trust Him, we must first know Who He is.
Again from a popular paraphrase, I found, “Getting to know God should be our number one priority. For He will provide all our other necessities.”
There was one particularly interesting letter in that packet of letters my Mom handed me. It was short, yet so profound – My
Father had written a personal letter to me! To a now-newborn little ME! And as I read it, again and again, I could hear the warm voice of a proud Papa, a caring Daddy, speaking so tenderly to the apple of his eye! Without question, my father was speaking directly to me! This one was really all MINE!
Our Heavenly Father has written letters to us … personally …
that reveal the depth of His love, His Character, His purposes, His desire to be with us, His counsel for an abundant life – and the Roadmap to His Kingdom. We can hear His voice when we open His Word, and ask Him for His wisdom and for the understanding that He has clearly promised us – to know Him.
This is so much more than religiosity and churchy-ness. We can get so caught-up with “doing church” that we forget that it’s not about us … it’s entirely about our Father. It’s knowing Him personally, and responding to Him in earnest, from the heart.
It goes far beyond trying to do what’s right, and trying not to do what’s wrong. That’s a slog, it’s a drag – it’s exhausting, draining – and we’re bound to become discouraged and fail. Pursuing a lengthy list of right behaviors doesn’t work for any appreciable length of time.
As I got to know my wife more completely, the things that pleased her became more interesting to me … and those character traits of mine that may have been unattractive to her lost their sparkle, and disappeared. Pursuing the relationship had a refining effect on my entire being! Do you see where we’re going with this?
It’s exactly like that as we pursue a relationship with our Heavenly Father. The horse pulls the cart! And as the relationship moves forward, the behavior and the willingness to serve Him will follow … as a consequence, rather than as an obligation … because we’re seeking to honor and to please Him! That’s sanctification on wheels! By beholding Him, we become changed into His likeness.
Are you struggling to climb a mountain right now?
Are you on a rocky road? Have you demons at the door?
Are you facing some hungry, angry lions?
You need to know that the very One who silenced those lions on behalf of our friend Daniel, in that Lion’s Den, is alive and well, and still very much in business as The Sovereign of the Universe. And He wants to be The Lord of every phase of your life. He desires to be your Daddy – your Abba.
We need to know for ourselves what His Book says, and all that it reveals about its Author, our Father, & His Son, our elder Brother.
He has promised to give us the gift of clear understanding … to personally KNOW HIM … and His power, and His purposes, and all of His benefits.
