Thursday Open Heavens Devotional - That I May Know Him

MEMORISE: If any man will do His will, He shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. JOHN 7:17.

READ: PHILIPPIANS 4:7-10.
7.And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8.Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think  on these things. 9.Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. 10.But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.”

MESSAGE
Being with Jesus brings about knowing Him as we ought to. Many blessings await the one who knows Jesus correctly. Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ prayed he might know Him,  because he knew the attendant blessings of knowing the Author of life. The question is what does it entail to know Jesus Christ? It takes staying with Him, learning from Him, doing His bidding and loving the brethren. He said: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me…” Matthew 11:28-29.
There are lots of things we must learn from Jesus if we really want to know Him as He is. For example, in the three great temptations that confronted Him in the wilderness, He proved true and faithful to His Father in Heaven. He did not misuse His power, authority and privilege of being the son of the God with whom there is no impossibility. So, He refused to turn stone to bread. He also turned down the offer of being the richest man on earth when the condition  was to worship the devil. Jesus Christ was confronted with the pride of life when He was prodded by the devil to engage in a show of power but He refused to jump from the pinnacle of the temple.
It is interesting to note that these were the three main temptations that rocked the human race in the Garden of Eden, and our first parents fell headlong into them. The lust of flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (Genesis 3:6, 1 John 2:16). As we know Jesus Christ, we learn to do His bidding and when we do His bidding we are blessed.
Our lack of the knowledge of Him makes us alien to God and we short-change ourselves by  this. The Bible says: “And such as do wickedly, against covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries; but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits.” Daniel 11:32. The apostles of old knew the importance of knowing the true God and one of them said: ‘…shew us the father, and it sufficeth us.” (John 14:8). Brethren, we must know Jesus through and through.

ACTION POINT: Using Phillipians 3:10, pray earnestly to God that He may reveal Himself to you.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: DEUTERONOMY 9:13-11:32 AND JOB 3:20-4:6.

HYMN: DEEPER, DEEPER.
Deeper, deeper in the love of Jesus

Daily let me go;
Higher, higher in the school of wisdom,
More of grace to know.

Refrain:
O deeper yet, I pray,
And higher every day,
And wiser, blessed Lord,
In Thy precious, holy Word.

Deeper, deeper, blessed Holy Spirit,
Take me deeper still,
Till my life is wholly lost in Jesus,
And His perfect will.

Deeper, deeper! though it cost hard trials,
Deeper let me go!
Rooted in the holy love of Jesus,
Let me fruitful grow.

Deeper, higher, every day in Jesus,
Till all conflict past,
Finds me conqu'ror, and in His own image
Perfected at last.

Deeper, deeper in the faith of Jesus,
Holy faith and true;
In His pow'r and soul exulting wisdom
Let me peace pursue.