THOSE WHO KNOW THEIR GOD Part 35

“Those who know their God will be strong and do great things.” Dan 11:32

WHAT DO PEOPLE DO TO KNOW GOD?

I vividly remember my struggles with lust as a young man. It seemed like a never-ending ball and chain that would drag me back into failure, discouragement, and depression. By God’s grace, there came a time in my life when I began to understand God’s heart towards me and his plan for victory. God began to reveal that there was nothing I could ever do to be more righteous or less righteous in his eyes than I was at that moment. My eyes began to be opened to the realization that Christ in me produces victory. No longer was Christianity based upon me and my efforts to do it all right; instead, it was the truth of who God had already declared me to be.

Before I got married, I remember watching my wife-to-be and noticed a trait in her that was admirable – she just showed up. Despite her failures and mistakes, she was always at church, always at the Bible studies, and always at early morning prayer. Her relationship with God was not based upon her performance but on her life’s answer – intimacy with God.

God knew that the children of Israel would fall away from him and therefore be defeated by other nations. He knew that they would be scattered across the known world because of their sin. Look at what he said to them through his servant Moses, “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in distress, and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him. 31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath. Deuteronomy 4:29-31

God is so loving and kind! Jesus said, “He (God) is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.” John 6:35b God knows that we can’t live a righteous life without his empowerment. He longs for us to let go of our righteousness and become utterly dependent upon his! When a person’s only hope is in God, they Show up!

Ps 91:15-16  He will call on me, and I will answer him; will be with him in trouble, will deliver him and honor him. With long life, I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.

God does not love you because you do it all right! God loves you because you are his, and he has made you right with him! When you know how deeply God loves you, it gives you the desire and power to run to him. Apostle Paul spends the whole book of Romans explaining in detail how righteousness can only come from God! In Romans 11:32, apostle Paul declares that “God has bound all men over to sin so that he may have mercy on them all.” He goes on to say, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?  Or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” 36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.  To him be the glory forever! Amen.

WOW! Our right standing with God does not come from us or through us, and it is definitely not to us! God alone makes us perfect in his sight! How crazy-beautiful is that! You will never be more righteous in God’s sight than you are right now! How wonderful!!!

My dear friend, do you realize how much God loves you? King David said, “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.” Psalm 91:14 I promise you this; when you know how much God loves you and all that he has done for you,…

YOU WON’T LET FAILURES AND MISTAKES KEEP YOU FROM SEEKING GOD