| Topic: |
Religions > Bible |
| User: |
"Peter G. Chase" |
| Date: |
28 Sep 2004 01:30:33 AM |
| Object: |
DN Knowing God 9/28/2004 |
DRAWING NEAR
September 28
Knowing God
"With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit,
and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and
petition for all the saints" (Eph. 6:18).
Your desire to know God should motivate you toward fervent prayer.
Man's highest purpose is to know God. Jesus prayed to the Father,
saying, "This is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3). Of us He
said, "I am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know Me"
(John 17:3). John added that "we know that the Son of God has come,
and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who
is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ" (1
John 5:20).
Every Christian knows God through salvation, but beyond that lies an
intimate knowledge of God. That should be the quest of every
believer. Moses prayed, "Let me know Thy ways, that I may know Thee,
so that I may find favor in Thy sight" (Ex. 33:13). David entreated
his son Solomon to "know the God of [his] father, and serve Him with
a whole heart and a willing mind" (1 Chron. 28:9). Even the apostle
Paul, who perhaps knew Christ more intimately than any human being
thus far, never lost his passion for an even deeper knowledge (Phil.
3:10).
Such passion is the driving force behind powerful prayer. Those who
know God best pray most often and most fervently. Their love for Him
compels them to know and serve Him better.
How about you? Is your knowledge of God intimate? Does the character
of your prayers reveal that you're in the process of knowing God?
Paul's admonitions to "pray at all times in the Spirit" and "be on
the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints"
(Eph. 6:18) presuppose that you know God and desire to see His will
fulfilled in His people. If not, you'll never appreciate the
importance of interceding on behalf of others.
Suggestions for Prayer:
The martyred missionary Jim Elliot once prayed, "Lord, make my life a
testimony to the value of knowing you." Let that be your prayer each
day.
For Further Study:
Read 1 Chronicles 28.
What did God forbid David to do?
What would happen to Solomon if he failed to know and serve God?
Drawing Near, Copyright 1993 John F. MacArthur, Jr.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
http://www.gty.org
~~~
Philippians 3:10
10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the
fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death
1 Chronicles 28
28:1 Now David assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel,
the princes of the tribes, and the commanders of the divisions that
served the king, and the commanders of thousands, and the commanders
of hundreds, and the overseers of all the property and livestock
belonging to the king and his sons, with the officials and the mighty
men, even all the valiant men.
2 Then King David rose to his feet and said, "Listen to me, my
brethren and my people; I had intended to build a permanent home for
the ark of the covenant of the LORD and for the footstool of our God.
So I had made preparations to build it.
3 "But God said to me, 'You shall not build a house for My name
because you are a man of war and have shed blood.'
4 "Yet, the LORD, the God of Israel, chose me from all the house of
my father to be king over Israel forever. For He has chosen Judah to
be a leader; and in the house of Judah, my father's house, and among
the sons of my father He took pleasure in me to make me king over all
Israel.
5 "Of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons), He has
chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD
over Israel.
6 "He said to me, 'Your son Solomon is the one who shall build My
house and My courts; for I have chosen him to be a son to Me, and I
will be a father to him.
7 'I will establish his kingdom forever if he resolutely performs My
commandments and My ordinances, as is done now.'
8 "So now, in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the LORD, and
in the hearing of our God, observe and seek after all the
commandments of the LORD your God so that you may possess the good
land and bequeath it to your sons after you forever.
9 "As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and
serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD
searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If
you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He
will reject you forever.
10 "Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for
the sanctuary; be courageous and act."
11 Then David gave to his son Solomon the plan of the porch of the
temple, its buildings, its storehouses, its upper rooms, its inner
rooms and the room for the mercy seat;
12 and the plan of all that he had in mind, for the courts of the
house of the LORD, and for all the surrounding rooms, for the
storehouses of the house of God and for the storehouses of the
dedicated things;
13 also for the divisions of the priests and the Levites and for all
the work of the service of the house of the LORD and for all the
utensils of service in the house of the LORD;
14 for the golden utensils, the weight of gold for all utensils for
every kind of service; for the silver utensils, the weight of silver
for all utensils for every kind of service;
15 and the weight of gold for the golden lampstands and their golden
lamps, with the weight of each lampstand and its lamps; and the
weight of silver for the silver lampstands, with the weight of each
lampstand and its lamps according to the use of each lampstand;
16 and the gold by weight for the tables of showbread, for each
table; and silver for the silver tables;
17 and the forks, the basins, and the pitchers of pure gold; and for
the golden bowls with the weight for each bowl; and for the silver
bowls with the weight for each bowl;
18 and for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for
the model of the chariot, even the cherubim that spread out their
wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
19 "All this," said David, "the LORD made me understand in writing
by His hand upon me, all the details of this pattern."
20 Then David said to his son Solomon, "Be strong and courageous,
and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD God, my God, is
with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for
the service of the house of the LORD is finished.
21 "Now behold, there are the divisions of the priests and the
Levites for all the service of the house of God, and every willing
man of any skill will be with you in all the work for all kinds of
service. The officials also and all the people will be entirely at
your command."
~~~
These devotions are posted with permission from John MacArthur's
first (1993) devotional work, _Drawing Near_, and they are also sent
out daily for free to several folks via e-mail.
In addition, John's second (1997) devotional, _Strength for Today_,
is also available free via e-mail only. _Strength for Today_ follows
the same format as what you have seen here from _Drawing Near_, but
with different monthly themes.
If you would like to receive daily devotions via e-mail from either
of these series, just let me know (via e-mail), and I will gladly add
you to the list(s) of your choice.
You can hear John MacArthur daily via the Internet by visiting:
http://www2.oneplace.com/Ministries/Grace_to_You/
and
http://www.gty.org.uk/
You may email John MacArthur in care of Grace to You at:
letters@gty.org
NOTE for those of you reading via newsgroups: If you wish to reach
me, please contact me via e-mail for quickest results.
In Christ,
Peter
Peter G. Chase :: Columbus, Ohio, USA
pchase1@wideopenwest.com
STOP! Who do you think Jesus Is?
http://www.gty.org/Gospel
http://www.gty.org/
http://www.nwbible.org/
To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and to discover that the prisoner was you. -Alistair Begg
.
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