Posts Tagged ‘Knowing God’

Ryle: “Let us not be ignorant of the Bible”

Posted: May 9, 2013 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Mark, May
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Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? Mark 12:24

These are Jesus’ first words of comment to the Sadducees.  How relevant in our day, when people are no longer Biblically literate.  How we need  to KNOW God’s Word and KNOW God and His amazing power!  Knowing Scripture and knowing God are the best preventative medicine for doctrinal error.

J.C.Ryle comments further:

The truth of the principle here laid down, is proved by facts in almost every age of church history. The reformation in Josiah’s day was closely connected with the discovery of the book of the law. The false doctrines of the Jews in our Lord’s time were the result of neglecting the Scriptures. The dark ages of Christendom were times when the Bible was kept back from the people. The Protestant Reformation was mainly effected by translating and circulating the Bible. The churches which are most flourishing at this day, are churches which honor the Bible. The nations which enjoy most moral light, are nations in which the Bible is most known. The parishes in our land where there is most true religion, are those in which the Bible is most studied. The godliest families are Bible-reading families. The holiest men and women are Bible-reading people. These are simple facts which cannot be denied.

Let these things sink deeply into our hearts, and bear fruit in our lives. Let us not be ignorant of the Bible, lest we fall into some deadly error. Let us rather read it diligently, and make it our rule of faith and practice. Let us labor to spread the Bible over the world. The more the book is known, the better the world will be. Not least, let us teach our children to value the Bible. The very best portion we can give them, is a knowledge of the Scriptures.

Spurgeon: The more we know of him, the more our better natures approve his surpassing excellence

Posted: February 10, 2013 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, February, Psalms
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For the word of the LORD is upright,
        and all his work is done in faithfulness. —Psalm 33:4 ESV

Our soul waits for the LORD;
        he is our help and our shield.
    For our heart is glad in him,
        because we trust in his holy name.
    Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,
        even as we hope in you. —Psalm 33:20-22 ESV

Charles Spurgeon, in The Treasury of David:

Whatever God has ordained must be good, and just, and excellent. There are no anomalies in God’s universe, except what sin has made; his word of command made all things good. When we look at his word of promise, and remember its faithfulness, what reasons have we for joy and thankfulness!

And all his works are done in truth. His work is the outflow of his word, and it is true to it. He neither doth nor saith anything ill; in deed and speech he agrees with himself and the purest truth. There is no lie in God’s word, and no sham in his works; in creation, providence, and revelation, unalloyed truth abounds. To act truth as well as to utter it is divine. Let not children of God ever yield their principles in practice any more than in heart.

What a God we serve! The more we know of him, the more our better natures approve his surpassing excellence; even his afflicting works are according to his truthful word.

“Why should I complain of want of distress,
Afflictions or pain? he told me no less;
The heirs of salvation, I know from his word,
Through much tribulation must follow their Lord.”

God writes with a pen that never blots, speaks with a tongue that never slips, acts with a hand which never fails. Bless his name.

Spurgeon: He who thinks he knows everything will miss the joy of finding out new truth

Posted: January 21, 2013 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, January, Psalms
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Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven
with the saving might of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright. —Psalm 20:6-8 ESV

Ever had that “Ah-Ha” moment when reading your Bible and discovering something new about God? I hope so.  Here is C. H Spurgeon, in the Treasury of David:

We live and learn, and what we learn we are not ashamed to acknowledge. He who thinks he knows everything will miss the joy of finding out new truth; he will never be able to cry, “now know I,” for he is so wise in his own conceit that he knows all that can be revealed and more. Souls conscious of ignorance shall be taught of the Lord, and rejoice as they learn. Earnest prayer frequently leads to assured confidence.

See Jesus through Revelation

Posted: December 2, 2012 by Pam Larson in December, Devotionals/Commentaries, Revelation
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John Piper, in a sermon, “A Year-End Look at Jesus Christ”

The voice says in [Revelation 1] v. 11, “Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches.” This means that the vision John is about to get is meant not just for him but for us as well. And the point of writing it down is to transmit to us the same kind of experience of seeing Jesus that he had.

“Write What You See”

This is not easy to do—”write what you see.” It is easy to write words that you hear. But it is not easy to write in words glorious things that you see with your eyes. But it is possible, because Jesus said to do it. Jesus does not intend to come to each of the seven churches the way he came to John. He could have appeared to each congregation with this same vision. But he doesn’t. He appears to John and says, “Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches.” John gets the vision. We get the book.

But this is not because Christ wants to be distant and impersonal with his churches. It is because he wants to come to us in and through his Word. He wants us to seek him in his Word, and know him by his Word, and gaze upon him steadily through his Word. And when we do, the Lord stands forth from his Word in ways beyond the merely rational and intellectual possibilities of reading.

The primary way of gazing on Christ today is through his Word. That is the clear implication of these words in verse 11, “Write in a book what you see and send it to the . . . churches.” Why else write in a book what he saw except to transmit to the readers some of that same experience.

Press on to KNOW Him!

Posted: December 2, 2012 by Pam Larson in December, Devotionals/Commentaries, Hosea
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Is it your heart cry to KNOW God?  To press on to KNOW Him? In Hosea 4 we read, “Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land;……My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me.”

This is pretty strong language.  God has a controversy with us, too, not just the people of Israel.  We pursue all kinds of things rather than knowledge of God.

Hosea 6:1 encourages us… “Come, let us return to the Lord;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth.”

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

I hope this website is an encouragement to dig in to your Bible and get to KNOW God, as He reveals Himself to us.  Return to the Lord.  Press on to KNOW Him.  God desires our love and our knowledge of Him, rather than our gifts.

As you read, don’t just accumulate facts and check of the chapters in your Bible as you would a to-do list, but make getting to KNOW God your aim.  Press on to KNOW Him!

 

God is NOT hiding!

Posted: November 15, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Ezekiel, November
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In our reading from Ezekiel today, chapters 38-39, we see many wonderful promises, many of which encourage us that God indeed WANTS to show us His glory, for us to KNOW Him and see Him in all His glory and mercy and holiness! He is NOT hiding!

Be awestruck at the incredible missions promise in verse 21:

“And I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them.

Again, we see one of God’s aims in discipline, in verses 22-24:

The house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God, from that day forward. And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt so treacherously with me that I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword. I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions, and hid my face from them.

God is sovereign. Just as he restored Job, He restores Israel, in His time and for His name’s sake, verses 25-27:

“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. They shall forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’ lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations.

God wants us to KNOW Him, verse 28!

Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore.

God is not hiding. In fact, He gives us His Spirit to live within us, verse 29:

And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”

Ezekiel 39:21-29 ESV

Knowing God through the difficult passages

Posted: November 2, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Ezekiel, November
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Ezekiel is a book of the Bible filled with  strange things, hard to understand things.  It is tempting to skip over some of these passages.  I’ve done that.  But in doing so, we miss some wonderful things.

When you read through Ezekiel 4-8 today, notice how many times God tells Ezekiel about things that will happen to the people of Israel and says,

  • “and THEN you shall KNOW that I am the Lord.”
  • or “and THEN they shall KNOW that I am the Lord.”

We may not be able to understand the meanings and details of the prophetic words.  We may not remember all the historical circumstances that brought about God’s punishments.  We may not be able to explain what Ezekiel meant by certain references.  BUT one of the main points that is repeated multiple times through out this book is that one of the great purposes of God is that we come to KNOW that He indeed is the Lord God. He will uses all kinds of means to get our attention.  And an end result is that we WILL KNOW He is the Lord.

Knowing about and knowing by sight are not the same.

Posted: August 29, 2012 by Pam Larson in August, Devotionals/Commentaries
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John Piper, in a sermon, “Wonderful Things From Your Word”

You can see many things when you come to the Word without God’s opening the eyes of your heart. You can see words and grammatical constructions. You can see logical connections. You can see historical facts. You can see an author’s rational intention. You can see some human emotions. None of that requires that God open your eyes in a special spiritual way.

But what you cannot see is the spiritual beauty of God and his Son and their work in the world. You cannot see that God is infinitely desirable above all things. A blind person cannot see the sun, though he can know many facts about the sun and pass a test in astronomy with a score higher than a person who can see the sun. Knowing about and knowing by sight are not the same. Knowing that honey is sweet and tasting honey are not the same.

Pray for eyes to see and know God as you continue reading the Bible this year!

Knowing God is the Path to Purity

Posted: July 15, 2012 by Pam Larson in 1 Thessalonians, Devotionals/Commentaries, July
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John Piper, in a sermon on 1 Thessalonians 4, “This is the Will of God For You: That You Abstain From Sexual Immorality”

Start reading with me at [1Thessalonians 4] verse 4: “That each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God.” There it is: “like the gentiles who do not know God.” When you give way to lustful passion, you act like people “who do not know God.” Which means: knowing God is the path to sexual purity. If you are struggling with sexual impurity in mind or body, the immediate and long term strategy is know God, know God!

Be careful here! Don’t nullify 1 Thessalonians 4:5 by saying with a cynical tone: “Good grief, there are world-class theologians who are in bondage to lust and who leave their wives. So what good is all this knowledge about God?” Indeed there are. And I say with tremendous confidence: they don’t know God. To know ten thousand facts about God is not to know God.

Knowing God is the path to sexual purity. And if you are in bondage to pornography and fantasies or fornication or adultery the immediate and long-term strategy of this war is: Know God! Know God! Lustful passion is the mark of the Gentiles who do not know God. (See 1 Peter 1:14; Ephesians 4:22; Romans 1:23-28.)

Why would this be? Why would God ordain that the path to sexual purity is knowing God? The answer is given in 1 Corinthians 6:18-20,

“Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” Or verse 13: “The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.”

We have bodies so that God might be gloried in them. That is why God gave you a body – whether it’s tall or short, pretty or plain, brawny or feeble. This is what Paul said in Philippians 1:20, “It is my eager expectation and hope that Christ will . . . be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” Our bodies are given to us so that in the way we use them Christ is made to look more valuable to us than anything.

Now we can see why it is that Paul would say that knowing God is so crucial in the war on lust and pornography and fornication and adultery. If, by some means you get rid of lustful thoughts and slavery to pornography and fornication and adultery – without any reference to the knowledge of God, he won’t get any glory for your new behavior. In other words, God is not just interested in what you do with your body, he is interested in – he is passionately concerned with – why you do it. If there is no connection between your knowing God, and your sexual purity, God gets no glory and you are in the grip of another idol.

Knowing God is the path to sexual purity because the purpose of sex and the purpose of the body is to magnify the supreme worth of God and the infinite value of Jesus Christ. And he will not be seen as supremely worthy and infinitely valuable if knowing him is not the key and the path of our liberation. “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). And Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life” (John 14:6). Knowing God, knowing Christ, is the path to sexual purity.

But we should ask in closing: Knowing what about him? Knowing him in what way? Let me mention three things about God that he may use to set you free and keep you free.

Know the Patience of God

Look at verse 1: “Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.” Do you see what this says about God? It says, these Christians have room for improvement – “excel still more and more.” And it says that they are pleasing God – “just as your actually do walk.” In Christ, God is not an all or nothing God. He knows our frame. He covers our sin. He is pleased with our successes through faith, and patient with our failures. So know him in his patience, all you struggling saints. Let this knowledge encourage you: You are walking in the way that pleases him – do so still more and more.

Know the Power of God

In the previous chapter, 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13, we read Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians: “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” Notice: he asked Christ to establish them blameless in holiness at his coming. In other words, holiness is the work of Christ. Yes, we must pray for it, and yes, we must fight for it. But in the end, be encouraged! You are not left to yourself to win this war. Know God’s power on your behalf through Jesus Christ.

Know the Preciousness of God and the Pleasure He Is to Us

I say this because that is simply what it means to be God in Christ. God is the most valuable person in the universe. He is the sum and source of all true pleasure (Psalm 16:11; 37:4). And knowing this in our experience is what triumphs over temptation. Knowing the preciousness of God and the pleasures of his fellowship will strip pornography of its power. We defeat the deceitful pleasures of lust with the superior pleasures of knowing God. Paul said it like this: “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:7).

To read or listen to the rest of the sermon, click here:

Seek Him, Find Him, KNOW Him

Posted: July 11, 2012 by Pam Larson in 1 Chronicles, Devotionals/Commentaries, July
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“And you, Solomon my son, KNOW the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you SEEK him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. Be careful now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it.”….. Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished.” —1 Chronicles 28

knowing_god_logoWe see here in these verses the importance of KNOWING God and seeking after Him with a whole heart and mind!  Verse 9 says God “searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought” (scary!) but verse 20 encourages us to NOT be afraid or dismayed, because God is with us and will not forsake us!  What a promise!  Seek Him, seek to KNOW Him, with all your heart and mind!  Where should you start?  In His Word, the Bible, where He graciously reveals Himself to us!

If you would like to receive the content of this website in your email each day, click on the link at the right of this page.  My goal is to help you KNOW God through His Word…Day by Day!

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