I would dare say all of us desire to walk in the promises of God. All of us want to see signs, miracles and wonders. We all want to prosper and be in health. And, we all want to make it to heaven when we leave this earth.
I can’t imagine anything worse than standing before God and hearing the words of Christ found in Matthew 7.
Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness! (Matt 7:21-23)
These words of Jesus have always humbled me and taught me. Taught me what? That I can do all kinds of mighty works on this earth, but if He doesn’t KNOW me, it has all been in vain.
To know Him is defined as; to learn to know, to get knowledge of, perceive, understand, to become acquainted with and it is like a man and woman having intercourse. In other words, we must know Jesus intimately – we must have an intimate relationship with Him.
How well do you know Jesus? Are you intimately acquainted with Him? Is there ANY chance that when you make it to heaven, He will say, “I don’t know you?”
I know that is very sobering – but ask yourself that today.
It’s not hard to get to know Him. Proverbs 8:17 says, I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. We only need to seek Him to know Him.
In the book of Philippians, the Apostle Paul said; That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.
This word, know, is the same words used in Matthew 7, when Jesus said, “I never knew you.”
We must know Him. That has to be our goal. That must be the cry of our heart. We can’t be focused on what we need from Him. We cannot expect the principles of God to work without a relationship with Him. An intimate relationship with Him.
Just as a baby cannot be produced without a man and woman becoming intimate, we will never see the things we want to see in our spiritual walk without becoming intimate with God, Jesus and Holy Spirit.
I see books advertised all the time that say something like, if you do these steps, healing will come or prosperity will come. Most often these principles don’t work for everyone. Why? Because the person it worked for first, cultivated an intimate relationship with God and the steps came out of the relationship. The answer came from those times of intimacy – but that doesn’t mean it will work for everyone. Many get disappointed by things like this.
What works every time is developing an intimate relationship with God and allowing Him to speak to you and give you direction just for you. Times of intimacy will birth things, and God will cause them to come to fruition – but it must come by knowing Him – becoming intimate with Him.
My friends, decide today that you will know Jesus and He will know you – deeply and intimately. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and ALL these things will be added to you. Seek Him First.
