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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

THE TITLE FOR TODAY’S EPISODE:  TO KNOW HIM

God doesn’t need lip service. He doesn’t need us putting on a show of how great we are at worship. Do you worship in private like you do in front of people? Some people are loud and animated to draw attention to make others think they have a heart of God. As Jesus said about the Pharisees they have their reward.

Don’t misunderstand me there is a time and place for everything. I am not saying we cannot be loud. It is about the position of the heart. Sometimes the cry of our heart can be loud and animated. We may fall to our knees and weep in silence. God hears our hearts.

Matt 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Showy prayers or showy worship receives their rewards of approval of men. Jesus said to enter to your prayer closet and pray in secret. God will reward you openly. If we worship in secret pour out our praise, he will reward us openly. It is all about the heart and who’s   approval we are seeking; God’s or man’s.

It’s all about our desire to truly know him. That should be the cry of our hearts. Oh to know him…

As Christians we do not give our lives to Christ and then know all there is to know about Jesus. There are many false assumptions people have about Jesus. Many churches preach a version of Jesus that is not realistic or biblical. They grasp the love part, but never preach that he is a God of justice. They want people to think that God accepts sin, because he is loving. They skip over the Jesus that ran the money changers from the temple. The man who told the Pharisees they were open sepulcher full of dead men’s bone. These people have never read how it all ends in the book of Revelations.

True, God is loving, he wants us to be saved. But that takes acceptance of him into our lives. We cannot accept him unless we know him. Many picture Jesus as a statue with a few drops of blood trickling from his wounds. That is not my Jesus. My Jesus was beaten beyond recognition. He suffered for my sins, he shed his blood that we could have eternal life. That is what makes him Lord of our lives if we will let him.

Matt 24:23-24 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

How do we keep from being deceived? We have to get to know God. Deep intimacy comes from knowing him. We get to know him through prayer and study of his word. We reap what we sow.  It is important to sow into prayer and study to truly get to know God. Praying sincerely for God to search us and help us to know him.

Phil 3:10-12 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

We don’t want to go through things to know him. We don’t want to be uncomfortable or go through the trials to know him. But trials often come to make us stronger. They teach us of his steadfast, reliability. He will be there for us. It is in the flames of adversity that we are forged. Our bond with God becomes stronger as we learn to lean on him.

We cannot jump up from the altar of repentance and instantly know God. It is a life long journey of learning to trust God. Reading and studying the word will help us to get to know him.

1 John 5:20: And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

This says he has given us understanding. He will continue every day to help us grow in knowledge and wisdom. Because we are in him and he is in us.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS LIKE, SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ENCOURAGMENT

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