Knowing and Known.

We are known by God. Like it or not, we are all known by God.

God knows all about us.

Luk_12:7  But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Mat 6:26  Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 

Mat 6:27  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 

Mat 6:28  And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 

Mat 6:29  And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 

Mat 6:30  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 

1Co 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Even as we are known-- we are known inside and out we are well known. We are known so well that everything we do is known- there is nothing we do in secret not a single thing.

Job 34:21  For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. 

Job 31:4  Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?

Psa 139:2  Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 

Psa 139:3  Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 

Psa 139:4  For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. 

Jer 23:24  Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. 

Jer 17:10  I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. 

When our Savior returns and we join Him we will know as we are known and if all of us is known, we will know all there is to know. Truly we are looking through a dark glass, and everyone knows how limited our vision is with darkness. We know so very little in the grand scheme of things. We do know enough though to teach us that salvation is found in our Lord, Jesus Christ! Knowing the salvation of the LORD is life everlasting. Everything else we learn and know is secondary to the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord.  

Overcome Evil.

Rom 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Overcome evil.

Evil can be overcome.

Evil would grab hold of us and never let us go if we allow it.

Mat 6:13  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Deliver us from evil.

We don’t need to be delivered from something that hasn't gotten ahold of us, right? In fact you can't be delivered from something you aren’t afflicted with. You can only be delivered from something you possess. If we need to be delivered from evil there is a reason for it, right? Evil will attack us every single chance it gets.

Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 

Jesus is asking God, the Father to keep us from evil.

Let's read that entire prayer.

oh 17:1  These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 

Joh 17:2  As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. 

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 

Joh 17:4  I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 

Joh 17:5  And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. 

Joh 17:6  I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. 

Joh 17:7  Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. 

Joh 17:8  For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. 

Joh 17:9  I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. 

Joh 17:10  And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. 

Joh 17:11  And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. 

Joh 17:12  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. 

Joh 17:13  And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 

Joh 17:14  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 

Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 

Joh 17:16  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 

Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 

Joh 17:18  As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 

Joh 17:19  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. 

Joh 17:20  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 

Joh 17:21  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 

Joh 17:22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 

Joh 17:23  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. 

Joh 17:24  Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. 

Joh 17:25  O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. 

Joh 17:26  And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. 

An amazing prayer.

Are we among those Jesus is talking about? Are we His? Do we belong to Him?  We need sanctification!

We need to be delivered from evil.

Rom 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Overcome evil with good.

3Jn_1:11  Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God

Isa 1:16  Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 

Isa 1:17  Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. 

2Ti 3:10  But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience

1Co 13:4  Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 

1Co 13:5  Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 

1Co 13:6  Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 

1Co 13:7  Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 

1Co 13:8  Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 

1Co 13:9  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 

1Co 13:10  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 

We know what it means to overcome evil with good- we know what is good. Our Savior is good.

By the grace of God may we overcome evil with good- with Christ!

More on this tomorrow by the GRACE and WILL of our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. May His mercy cover us always!

Looking.

Looking.

How do you look for something? You search for it, you're active in pursuing what you're looking for. If I say I'm looking forward to seeing you, then you know exactly what I mean. I'm desirous to see you again, I want to see you, it is a hope I have- seeing you. And if I'm looking forward to seeing you then I'm wondering when I will see you again, right?  I could say, I can't wait to see you again, and not know when I'll be seeing you and you'd still know that I really want to see you, probably sooner rather than later. If I'm looking for you then I'm expecting to see you. You can't look for someone or something without expecting to see it, can you? Without that hope of finding what you're looking for, you're not really looking.

Are we LOOKING for our Savior, for that blessed Hope? We should be, our Bible tells us to.

Looking unto Jesus.

Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith

Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jud_1:21  Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Looking for the coming of the day of God.

2Pe_3:12  Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God

Looking diligently lest we fail of the grace of God.

Heb_12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God

Looking unto Jesus.

Heb_12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith

Looking for that blessed hope.

Tit_2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ

Love - those who don't love you.

Mat 5:46  For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 

Truthfully, it's easy to love those who love us, isn't it? I mean those who really love us, not those who pretend to love us. Okay, maybe it's not easy to love anyone. Could this be a sign of the times? We do know this…

Mat_24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

And this…

Mat 24:10  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 

And this…

Mat 10:21  And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. 

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Love is going to be in very short supply when our Savior returns. Love how we imagine love is supposed to be- the giving- not receiving sort, is definitely waxing cold. You may be able to point at lots of examples of the kindness of people towards one another and they may be genuine who am I to judge. I hear about a lot kindness, I'm the recipient of a lot of kindness- of love. And if I love those who love me while not loving those who hate me and revile me, and persecute me, what then? If I put conditions on MY love and all that love entails, I'm not loving unconditionally. I'm not loving as Jesus loves. Jesus loves us so much He died for us SINNERS. Jesus did not die for perfect people. Jesus died to save the sinners, wanting those sinners to repent of their sins and seek forgiveness in Him. Jesus wants us to find our HOPE in HIM.  Jesus wants us to LOVE as He loves.  Jesus said this--

Luk_23:34  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

Those who had crucified Him, those who had nailed Him to the cross--Father forgive them!

Jesus wanted forgiveness for those who were murdering Him.

We need to love and not just those who make it easy, not those who make it difficult because they impose upon out self-centeredness, but all… we need to love all. All includes strangers, all includes the hateful, all includes the worst of the worst. We can HATE what they do, but love them in Jesus' love, and that means Jesus wanting them to find forgiveness in Him, and through Him salvation. It's not a matter of deserving salvation because NONE of us do from the greatest sinner to the least. It's a matter of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior- and His forgivingness, His willingness to love us in spite of our sins- LOVE.

All through JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD and SAVIOR NOW and FOREVER!

If the will of God be so...

1Pe 3:17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. 

1Pe 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 

Suffer for doing good.

We often lament not being rewarded for our good deeds. We complain about doing our good deeds because we are suffering as we do the good. God forgive us, we are so weak, so flesh-filled, so self-centered, so sinful!

Suffer for doing good.

Christ suffered for sins.  Did He complain? No.

Christ suffered being put to death.

We are told it is BETTER if GOD WILLS for us to SUFFER for doing good things, better than suffering for doing evil. 

We can comprehend that, can't we? Seriously, we understand that evil doing should get its just rewards so when evil doers suffer we can see the sense in it.

We fail to comprehend a person who does good- suffering. There is something in us that says the good deserve good things, not suffering.

It's not true and will never be true on this earth as it is without Christ having returned to take those good in Him back to heaven with Him.

The good can expect suffering, and if not expect it they should accept it when it comes without marveling at their misfortune. People will suffer for doing good things.

We are told this--

Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 

Mat 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 

The sun rises on the evil and the good.

Rain falls on the just and the unjust.

We do not do good to expect good in return. We do not expect to be immune from suffering because we do something good, or believe we are overall good in our lives. We don't treat others good only when they treat us good. We are CHRIST'S representatives here and now, we are NOT here to represent ourselves, our lives, our goodness!

WE DON'T MATTER in and of ourselves. Without Christ we are NOTHING!  Yet Satan would have us believing that we are all that does matter! How we feel matters, how we think matters, how we are treated matters- but truthfully only CHRIST matters and when we are CHRIST'S we matter simply because we are IN HIM.  If He could suffer for us, why do we believe we shouldn't have to suffer for Him?

More tomorrow on this by the GRACE of our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST- NOW AND FOREVER!!!!!!!

Unseen Hope.

Rom 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith

Living by - things you HOPE for.

Living by- the EVIDENCE of things UNSEEN.

Heb_11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

We need to live by HOPE.
We need to live by the UNSEEN.

What is our hope?

1Ti_1:1  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope

Our hope- God our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.

Rom_8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

Hope that is seen is NOT hope.

2Co 4:18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2Co 5:7  For we walk by faith, not by sight

1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 

1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 

1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 

The Just live by faith-  the end of our faith is our salvation- salvation is found in Jesus Christ our Lord, our Hope!

Are we living by faith? Or are we demanding to see results of our faith- proof from God? Are we demanding to understand how He is working in our lives? Can we TRUST that He is working even when our lives are falling apart? When storms rage all around us in so many different forms, are we holding fast in our faith, in our Savior believing in the salvation He offers us. Do we remember that the things that are not seen are ETERNAL, but things we see are temporal?

God help us to live by FAITH, to live by CHRIST JESUS our SAVIOR.

Live or dead -may we be Christ's when He returns.

Joh 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 

Joh 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 

Joh 11:27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

The dead will live.

Those alive will never die.

1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 

1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 

1Th 4:18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

The dead shall rise first.

Then those who are alive will rise with them and all will meet the Lord in the air, and we will EVER be with the Lord!

These words bring comfort to all who would believe them, but not many do these days.

How do they explain them away? I don't even know. Who do they think the dead are that are being raised? I don't know. They believe people go right to heaven upon death so I'm not sure who they believe are being raised. Perhaps they are going to make up theories about bodies being reunited with spirit forms- but nowhere is that found in the Bible, nowhere. When Lazarus died his spirit didn't go to heaven. If he did go to heaven why would Jesus want to bring Lazarus back from heaven to suffer death all over again? Jesus woke Lazarus from death's long sleep but eventually Lazarus died again and is still sleeping death's long sleep.

Sleeping in death is peaceful-

Ecc_9:5  For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing

Dead know not anything.

What do you know when you're sleeping? Seriously. There could be a major catastrophe somewhere while you're sleeping and you won't know about it until you wake. We don't know what's happening around us while we sleep. We may dream, but dreams are not knowing things going on in the world around us.

Psa_6:5  For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?

No remembering.

No thanking anyone.

Death's sleep is peaceful - the dead will not know anything until that last trump sounds and either they will rise to meet Christ, or rise to meet their eventual eternal destruction.

When any loved one of mine falls into death long sleep I know they are at peace, pure peace of sleep. They are not up in heaven looking down upon us here watching all we do- good and bad. They are not watching us suffer, would that be heaven as we imagine? They are not floating unseen about us doing things like watching over us, again where is the peace in doing that if they are watching us suffer? People somehow derive pleasure in believing their loved ones are happy now with other loved ones, and they are all living happily in heaven. Sure, I want my loved ones to be happy, but I do not want them aware of all the pain and heartache in our lives. Knowing my loved ones are sleeping undisturbed, and unable to be disturbed in any way whatsoever until our Lord returns gives me great peace of mind.

I can't change anyone's mind on their beliefs and I don't want to, I only hope and pray the Lord reveal His truth to all, and all are open to His truth.  I want everyone to want truth and nothing but the Lord's truth. If people desire truth God will give it to them. It is then my prayer that the Lord opens the hearts of all those desirous of His truth so they will know and follow only His truth. We need eyesalve to see! May we all be blessed with this eyesalve! May we not embrace familiar blindness just because it's in our comfort zone. May we NOT be among the deceived content to remain deceived, blind to our own blindness.

Please Lord, may we be Yours, wholly Yours now and forever through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!