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Topic: God cannot be reduced
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KnowHim
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Originally posted by phillip tidwell:
The concept of "knowing" Jesus has been on my mind a lot lately. Dr. Young has been stressing this lately in some of his teachings. I interpret "knowing" as seeking, understanding (as best we can)and striving to be obedient to God's holy will for each of us individually. Is this an over simplification? I'd be interested in your impressions if you have time to share.
Well I am glad you ask and I am pleased to share my thoughts about what it means to know Jesus Christ. I think it would be good to start with some of the bible reading we had for today.
Mark 8:34-38 (King James Version)
And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever (anyone that) will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
Since this is Jesus himself speaking in this passage then we know He is speaking the truth. He expects us to deny ourselves and follow Him. Which would mean we place Him first in our life. Not second third or so on.
The first commandment is "You shall have no other gods before me” Exodus 20:2-3 This alone with the above passage tells us God wants our full attention. He does not say, “Your Pastor should put me first and deny himself” he says, “Whosoever (anyone that) will come after me, let him deny himself,” So we are each individually to put God first in our lives. Not just when we are in Church, but the entire day, everyday.
If one reads the entire bible and opens theirs eyes they will see that the whole bible points to Jesus Christ and it is about knowing Him. So if one claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ and that they know Him, they will do as He teaches.
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently (constant in effort) seek (to go in search or quest of ) Him. - Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
This is not about casual reading of the bible and going to Church. There are many, many people that go to Church every Sunday that do not know Jesus Christ and will bust hell wide open. (See www.lostinchurch.com for more information about that.) Knowing Jesus Christ is not about going to Church, following a Pastor, and walking the aisle. It is about seeking Him with all your heart yourself. If you do this you will find Him and then you will know Him.
There is no push button thing you can do for salvation. The bible says we MUST be born-again. That is a process and if you are born-again your live will start changing and you will put Jesus Christ first in your life. Not just know about Him or think you purchased a ticket to heaven and you have it somewhere in a drawer.
We are to walk and live by faith and endure until the very end (Matt. 10.22). If you are saved you will love and put Jesus first in your life. That is how you know if you are born-again. Your life changes it’s focus and it then becomes about knowing Jesus.
My life is my example. I knew about Jesus Christ and believe He was real since I was 12 years old and even walked the aisle at a Church and was baptized. But that is not what Jesus said to do if you want to know Him. He said one must “deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” That is not what I did. I just attended Church for a while and never diligently sought Him (I believe this happens to a lot of people that have a push button mentality). I soon stopped going to Church because of the hypocrisy and thought it must just be some sort of game people like to play. I don’t think I was saved at that time because of the following:
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
1 John 2:3-6 (NIV)
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. - John 14:21
So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. - Revelation 3:16 (KJV)
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. - Matthew 7:21-23 (KJV)
I am sure there are more verses but that is all I will list now.
But thank the Lord for a praying Mother at the age of 23 after years of drinking, parting and things I don’t want to think about or mention God let me know that He was real. I decided I had to know if Jesus was real, so I got on my knees and ask Him. Guess what? He let me know He was real. I started seeking Him. I did not come to know Him over night, for me it took some diligent seeking through bible study, prayer and talking to people that knew Him. Actually for me it took until I was 26 until I actually meet Him. I was enlightened to know that He was REAL and not just someone that people wrote about in the bible or people used to get your money or someone that was locked up in a Church building. He proved to me He was real and I have never been the same. It changed me and is still changing me at the age of 48. I no longer looked to Pastors or people as the ones who would tell me what God wanted for my life. If you do this it will not be long before they use you or let you down. I started looking directly to Jesus Christ who has never let me down and I have learned to live for Him and not for me. I have learned it is ALL about Him and not about me. Until we come to know that, whether we are Pastors, laypersons, Elders, Deacons, business owners or the President of the United States. We will not be saved. If we do not know Jesus Christ and deny ourselves and give Him the glory for what He has done for us. He has given His very life’s blood in our stead so we might live with Him forever throughout eternity. So until we come to know Him we will never know what salvation. It is not something you can get from a Pastor or anyone else. We must go to Jesus and seek after Him daily and then we will know the joy of salvation. We will then want to tell others of this salvation and will not rest until He calls us home, as we will know what it means to know and love Him. There is no mistake about people that know Him, they always want to talk about Him and no not just at Church but everywhere they go. Yes like your first love, you would talk about them until people were sick of hearing it and you never understood what was wrong with them. Jesus wants to be our first love today and everyday of our life and if you know Him you will want the same thing. If you don’t then you will just think I am crazy, but I really don’t care what people think. I care what God thinks and what God thinks will echo through out eternity.
So to me this is what it means to know Jesus. No knowing about Him but knowing Him personally.
Once again thanks for asking and my God bless you to know Him better,
David Campbell
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
1 Timothy 2:5-6 (KJV)
The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him - Psalm 25:14
And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. ~ Luke 9:62
Luke 13:24
Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
Until Jesus Christ is truly our Lord, we each have goals of our own which we serve. Our faith is real, but it is not yet permanent. And God is never in a hurry. If we are willing to wait, we will see God pointing out that we have been interested only in His blessings, instead of in God Himself. ~ Oswald Chambers
Many come to know Jesus as the Way. A few more go on to know Him as the Truth. But very few go on to know Him as their life. ~ Rick Joyner
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Posts: 3276 | From: Charlestown, IN | Registered: Jun 2002
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phillip tidwell
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Well I'm awfully glad you felt like "practicing", especially since you got a chance to show that nifty little icon with the soapbox. Your comments were extremely helpful once again.
The concept of "knowing" Jesus has been on my mind a lot lately. Dr. Young has been stressing this lately in some of his teachings. I interpret "knowing" as seeking, understanding (as best we can)and striving to be obedient to God's holy will for each of us individually. Is this an over simplification? I'd be interested in your impressions if you have time to share.
Posts: 63 | Registered: Jan 2008
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KnowHim
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Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”
Mark 7:6-8
Yes seems to be a lot of this going on in the Churches now a days. They seem to think that Church is for them and by keeping traditions they can be saved. Not going to happen. Church is for God and we are there to worship and serve Him. Only by following Jesus Christ and worshiping and following Him will we be saved. If people don't wake up and get to know Jesus Christ and that He and He alone is the way to salvation they will be separated from God forever because they thought their traditions would save them and they never come to know Jesus Christ personnally.
Just felt like preaching a little.
![[Bible]](graemlins/bible.gif)
Posts: 3276 | From: Charlestown, IN | Registered: Jun 2002
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phillip tidwell
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In one of his recent lessons (Feb. 17?), Dr. Young made the statement that “Jesus is not your ‘buddy’.” He went on to explain how no one should ever be distracted from the fact that Jesus is God and must be respected as such rather than humanized in our own minds. God is God and not human regardless how tempting it may be to engage in anthropomorphism and reduce Him to something we think we can understand or that makes us feel better about whom we are.
Leviticus 16:1 reminds us of the death of Aaron’s two sons because of their disobedience recorded in Leviticus 10:1-3. Mark 7:6-9 records how Jesus was angered by hypocrisy. The anger Jesus displayed in Mark 3:21-30 is much more pronounced and even frightening. These verses may not elicit the same nice warm, comfortable feeling of the God of mercy revealed in the Bible, but can’t be disregarded. I have a tremendous fear both for and of folks who claim Christianity apart from repentance and obedience.
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