WHAT DOES LOVE LOOK LIKE…Part 2 - Razor Planet



WHAT DOES LOVE LOOK LIKE…Part 2

“It’s All In WHO You Know”

• Last time we met…we DEFINED what God said “love” is verses what our dictionary says love is…we found that the two are COMPLETELY OPPOSITE…

• God created all things…and by His very nature…He IS love…so God says that the definition for LOVE is… something that is UNCONDITIONAL and it’s SACRIFICIAL (it’s about GIVING), it’s ETERNAL, COMFORTING, and LIFE-CHANGING …God’s definition for LOVE is completely opposite of what our dictionary and our culture says that LOVE is: our definition says that LOVE is based on FEELINGS…and that it is an “intense affection” based on familial or personal ties…our definition says that love can change based on how the other person makes you FEEL….that is NOT how God defines it

• To really understand what TRUE LOVE is…we HAVE to KNOW God!

• DID YOU KNOW: that deep inside of you, if you were perfectly honest with yourself… there exists a strong desire to be known and to know others. ..In other words…you WANT people to know who you are and you WANT to KNOW other people…but even more than that desire and even more importantly: all people desire to KNOW their Creator, even if they are not professed believers in God.…Today we are bombarded with advertising that promises many ways to satisfy our cravings to “know more”, have more, be more. …However, the empty promises that come from the world will never satisfy in the way that KNOWING God will satisfy.

• John 17:3 Jesus said, "Now this is eternal life: that they may KNOW You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent"

• The definition of KNOW is…to perceive DIRECTLY…to have DIRECT cognition of…to have UNDERSTANDING of…to RECOGNIZE the NATURE of…to DISCERN…to recognize as being the same as something previously…to have EXPERIENCE of…to be AWARE of the TRUTH of…to be CONVINCED or CERTAIN of

• I’m afraid that a lot of people “know of” God…but they really don’t KNOW Him…just like in Joshua, the folks who currently occupied the Promised Land were totally freaked out by what they “knew” about the Israelites God and so they claimed that they were coming to Joshua in “the name of the Lord”….but these people didn’t really KNOW God…they just knew OF Him and His great power

• Joshua 9:9 “And they said unto him, From a very far country your servants are come because of the name of the LORD your God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt”

• The Bible not only tells us that we CAN KNOW GOD in the way He wants us to…the Bible even ENCOURAGES us and URGES us to get to know our Creator, our Lord, our Savior, our BELOVED in a very intimate and personal way…

• It seems like today there are so many people that are completely indifferent to Him…we were listening to Bishop Tudor Bismark last week and he said that in America 40 years ago the majority of the people went to church and at least claimed they were Christians…but now that number is declining so rapidly…America was FOUNDED on “IN God WE TRUST”…but now Americans are trying to figure out if “God” even exists…..it’s been a HUGE change and shift in our culture…one that, to me, just is another sign that we are living in the end-times…

• People now-days are wanting to “do what they want, when and how they want”…God has no place in their lives or even in any decisions they make

• But then there is another blob of people that claim that they KNOW God and that they are seeking Him…but if you look at their lives and their behavior…they are totally filled with offense and bitterness and judgments and hatred for people…it is all so void of LOVE…there is NO WAY that they are really seeking Him….because the Word says that “if you seek Me, you will find Me”…and there is just no way that once you find Him and then you claim that you KNOW HIM, there is no way you could ever stay the same and live in bitterness, hatred, and all that mess…..we actually are MISREPRESENTING God when we claim we know Him, but we are “mean” to other people…it just doesn’t add up

• For those few people that genuinely desire to KNOW HIM…they find that they are never disappointed

• In one sense it is very easy to KNOW GOD…we try to complicate it all up…it’s as simple as DRAWING, ASKING, SEEKING, KNOCKING, COMING, TAKING and LEARNING of Him…like the Word says in James 4:8 “DRAW NEAR to God and He will draw near to you” and again the Word says in Matthew 7:7 “ASK and it will be given you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you”….then in Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me for I am gentle and lowly of heart and you will find rest for your souls. My yoke is easy and My burdens light.”

• In another sense…KNOWING and loving God is a LIFELONG process that begins with salvation….there are many difficulties in following God on a long term basis…lots of “once-enthusiastic seekers” drop like flies as time goes on…lots of people make incredibly retarded decisions when it comes to things in their lives and then they write God off as being unable to save them or put their lives back together again because they don’t KNOW the incredible depths of His MERCY….but MY GOD IS THE SAME yesterday, today , and forever…He said to Israel…

• Romans 10:21 “All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people”

• If He stretched out His hand to them….He is doing the same to US disobedient and contrary people!

• Think back on what one of the definitions of KNOW was: to RECOGNIZE the NATURE of…to DISCERN…to recognize as being the same as something previously…..WE GOTTA KNOW THAT If our God did it for them, He will do it for us!....which means that if you think that God can’t save you or put your life back together again because of choices that you have made…then you obviously don’t really KNOW the incrediblness and the nature of GOD!!!

• He IS love!!!!!

• SO…………….if the only way to KNOW what love is, is to KNOW GOD…then we need to know how to know…. ( We need to KNOW how to build a FIRM FOUNDATION for a life of intimacy with Him…

• The good news is that Peter shows us how to do this in the second book named after him…in the day we live in where we want things INSTANTLY…ex: fast food, fast internet, phones that have everything on them in an instant….he gives us a way to live KNOWING God in a way that we ENUDRE to the end and FINISH the race set before us

• First, check out what Hebrews says…

• Hebrews 12:1-4, 12-15 "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God"

• Now lets look at what 2 Peter tells us about KNOWING God…

• 2 Peter 1:1-11 “Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours in the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature. For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never fall; so there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

• This whole passage places a big importance on KNOWLEDGE…which we will get to (because we have already talked about the fact that to KNOW what love is, we have to KNOW God)

• In the first verse, Peter is talking to ordinary Christians…telling us that we have faith of “equal standing”…the NIV says “faith as precious as ours”…the Greek word used here is “isotimos” which means EQUALLY PRIVILEGED….he is saying that there is no one that is denied this relationship with God or the KNOWLEDGE of God if we are truly born again, then we have access to having a DIRECT relationship with God…it’s not just for Pastors and Elders and people like that…it’s for EVERYONE

• We are able to KNOW God because of knowledge that God imparts to us in His mercy (because of His kindness and compassion)

• In the second verse…Peter says “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the KNOWLEDGE of God and of Jesus our Lord”….the cool thing is, that he is not using the ordinary Greek word for knowledge here…but in the Greek it says EPIGNOSIS (epi-naw-sis)…which means FULL-KNOWLEDGE

• Paul uses the same Greek word in Colossians 1:9

• Colossians 1:9 “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding”

• They are both saying that the knowledge that God gives us is so much more incredible and vast and complete than any knowledge we get from any other source…

• EPI in the word “epignosis” means TOWARD….so it’s knowledge that points TOWARD GOD

• So what Peter is saying in verse 2 is that he is asking God to give peace and grace to us in EVEN GREATER MEASURE!

• In verse 3, Peter gives us the big key to living the Christian life…it’s all about GOD’S POWER…”His DIVINE POWER has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness”

• In the Greek, the word GODLINESS is from a word “eusebeia” which means “well” and “to be devout”….THAT’S the kind of life God is looking for us to live…WELL AND DEVOUT…not a flaky person who SEEMS to know Him and love Him…but one who loves Him with the whole heart…not someone who “goes to church” just cause it’s the right thing to do, not someone who attends the outreaches cause it’s the right thing to do, not someone who goes through all the religious motions cause it’s the right things to do…NOPE…He even warns us about stuff like this, using Israel as an example…

• If you read all of Isaiah 58…it talks about how they “look good” on the outside…they are fasting like they are supposed to…but their heart is not in it…it’s just a religious exercise to them…check out verse 2

• Isaiah 58:2-4 “For day after day they seek Me out; they SEEM eager to KNOW My ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right, and has not forsaken the commands of its God…yet on the day of your fasting, you DO AS YOU PLEASE…you cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high…”

• Go back to verse 2 in 2 Peter where he tells us that God’s DIVINE POWER has given us everything we need to live life with GODLINESS through our FULL knowledge of Him: GODLINESS…”well and devout lives”…if we are living well and devout lives because of the knowledge He has given us of Himself…then there shouldn’t be room for “flakiness” and “life that is just a show”

• Through this FULL KNOWELDGE that God has given us…it enables us to (verse 4) “PARTICIPATE in the DIVINE NATURE and ESCAPE THE CORRUPTION in the world caused by evil desires (or passions)”

• TO ESCAPE…(apophugontes)…to escape COMPLETELY, to flee as a fugitive

• CORRUPTION (phtora)…rottennesss, decay from WITHIN, as in a corpse

• EVIL DESIRES or PASSION (epithumia)…strong desires, sexual lust, selfish desire, covetousness, love of the world, lust for power or control

• So…………this FULL KNOWELDGE from God is much needed in order to help us LOVE as HE LOVES….because without this FULL KNOWELDGE…we are SELFISH (which is the very opposite of love)

• Check out what James says about this…

• James 4:1-4 “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God”

• SO…ONCE AGAIN…The KNOWLEDGE of God…causes us to not be like the “world”…it causes us not to be selfish and bent on fulfilling our own pleasures…the KNOWLEDGE of GOD causes us to LOVE

• BECAUSE OF THIS…Peter tells us what we need to do next…

• 2 Peter 1:5-7 “For this very reason, make every effort to add (supplement) to your faith goodness (virtue); and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance (stead-fastness); and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness (affection); and to brotherly kindness, LOVE…”

• When he says “make every effort”…in the Greek, the word is “spoudh” (spoo-day) which means WITH SPEED…WITH HASTE…WITH EARNESTNESS…WITH ALL THAT YOU HAVE

• How many of us are REALLY making every speedy, earnest, haste with everything we have to add this list of virtues to our lives?????

• SUPPLEMENT (epichoregein)…to equip the soul with all the necessary virtues for life

• FAITH (pistis)…to lean one’s ENTIRE WEIGHT upon Jesus…as opposed to merely acknowledging

• VIRTUE (arête) ar-et-tay…excellence, an expert in the technique of living well, courage

• KNOWLEDGE (gnwsij)…gno-sis…the knowledge of God…the deeper more perfect knowledge of God that belongs to the more advanced…moral wisdom such as seen in right living

• SELF-CONTROL (egkrateia) eng-krat'-i-ah …to get a grip on oneself

• STEADFASTNESS (hupomene) hoop-om-on-ay' …a remaining under, standing firm under pressure, patient enduring, the daily suffering of difficult things for the sake of honor and usefulness, HUPOMENE does not simply accept and endure, there is always a FORWARD LOOK in it…it is the courageous acceptance of everything that life can do to us and the transmuting of even the worst event into another step on the upward way…WOAH…wow….HUPOMENE is CHEERFUL endurance

• GODLINESS (eusebia)…a sincere devotion to God, worship and dedication to God and at the same time service to one’s fellow man…EUSEBIA is the nearest Greek word for RELIGION…and when you define it, we wee the intensely practical character of a Christian, when one becomes a Christian, he acknowledges a DOUBLE DUTY, to God and to his fellow-man…

• BROTHERLY AFFECTION (filadelphia)…tender love and affection for the brethren

• LOVE (agape)…self-giving, self-denying love that seeks the best for the beloved no matter the cost to the giver….a “feast of charity/a love feast

• DO you see it….?.....it’s the 8-step program…it starts with FAITH and ends with LOVE…

• STEP ONE: FAITH….In order to truly KNOW GOD… we first have to receive Him into our lives… we trust Jesus as our Savior and Lord

• John 1:12 “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God even to those who believe in His name.”…FAITH….nothing is greater than understanding this truth when it comes to KNOWING God…Jesus makes is clear that He alone is the way to heaven and to a personal LNKWLEDGE of God…

• John 14:6 “ I AM THE WAY, and the TRUTH, and the LIFE, no once comes to the Father, but through Me.”

• There is no requirement to begin this journey (up the ladder) besides accepting and receiving the promises mentioned above. Jesus came to breathe life into us by offering Himself as a sacrifice so our sins will not prevent us from knowing God. Once we have received this truth, we can begin the journey of knowing God in a personal way

• but “faith without WORKS is dead”…so we start to climb the ladder…

• THINK BACK to the bride in the Song of Songs…remember how in chapter 2, she hid behind the lattice because her FAITH in Him wasn’t quite “there” yet…but as she climbed the ladder…we see how these virtues were added into her life until in chapter 8…we see that she was FINALLY able to really give AGAPE LOVE to the others…she loved selfishly by tending the vineyards and giving back to Him 1,000 shekels!!!!

• This list of virtues is a pattern for LIVING EVERYDAY…Peter is not telling us how to be saved by “good works”, he is telling us about how to let God mold us into the image of His Son…

• Philippians 2:12 “Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.”

• STEP TWO: VIRTUE (GOODNESS)…When we take that second step up the ladder…the one after FAITH…it is VIRTUE…lots of people plain ole stop on the first rung of the ladder…they never even get to step two…step two is where we allow our relationship with Christ to make LIFESTYLE changes in us….it is when REPENTANCE really starts to take place…meaning WE CHANGE OUR MIND about the way we had been living…KOWING Jesus causes our PRIORITIES to change…we get rid of our old habits and behaviors and we put in their place, new activities…things that God tells us in His Word to do…

• Check out what the letter to the Ephesians tells us about this…

• Ephesians 4:17-24 (LIVING AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT) “So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the IGNORANCE that is in them due to the HARDENING OF THEIR HEARTS. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality, so as to indulge in every kind of impurity with a continual lust for more. YOU, however, did not come to KNOW Christ that way. Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, TO PUT OFF YOUR OLD SELF, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be MADE NEW IN THE ATTITUDE OF YOUR MINDS. And to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

• When it comes to VIRTUE…there is no “standing still”…if you are not moving forward everyday…then you are moving backwards….

• STEP THREE: KNOWLEDGE…as we get more knowledge and understanding, we are to APPLY IT to our lives!!!!....we are never to stop learning and growing…as we apply it, it becomes who we are, then we are able to acquire even more knowledge and as we apply that new knowledge, we are able to grow even more…it is a CONTINUOUS thing!!!

• 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be THROUGHLY equipped for every good work.”

• Where do we get this KNOWLEDGE from…?

• 2 Timothy 3:14-15 “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus”

• READ YOUR BIBLE To GROW IN KNOWLEDGE!!!! And then DO (OBEY) what you have read!

• SUPER DANGEROUS THING….sometimes we meet Christians who think they “know it all”….or they “know enough to get by”…they have hit a plateau…they are running on auto-pilot…they are no longer really having genuine faith because REAL FAITH is always reaching out in trust for that next thing that is just beyond our immediate grasp…the DANGEROUS thing in that, is the Word says in Romans 14:23 “…whatever is not based on faith is SIN”

• There is no STANDING STILL in the Christian life!!!! We have to be ever climbing this ladder of virtues!!!! If you are standing still…you are actually MOVING BACKWARDS!!

• STEP FOUR: SELF-CONTROL…this is actually a fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23…

• As we mature in Christ…we become more reliable, dependable, consistent, patiently-enduring…which is STEP FIVE.

• STEP FIVE: PATIENTLY-ENDURING (PERSEVERANCE)…we keep our promises…we stop living a roller coaster life that marks our early Christian life…maturing Christians are not up one day and down the next and up one day and down the next…

• John 8:31-32 “If YOU CONTINUE IN MY WORD, you will BECOME My disciples. And you WILL KNOW the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

• Free from what?....one thing, I believe, is free from roller-coaster living…you are PATIENTLY ENDURING

• STEP SIX: GODLINESS…that Greek word, eusebeia, means that it looks in TWO DIRECTIONS…the person that has eusebeia always is worshipping God and giving Him His due…but at the same time, he is always serving his fellowman too…the person who has eusebeia is in a right relationship with God and with man…Eusebeia is very PRACTICAL Christianity…doing what we were called to do! LOVE HIM and LOVE OTHERS!!!

• JUST FYI…We have been given everything we need for godliness:…we have the HOLY SPIRIT which convicts us of sin/wrong, the Holy Spirit gives us the power to make the right choices, we have the BIBLE which is our standard of right and wrong…it’s FULL of promises, the CHURCH is there to correct, instruct and encourage us, and OTHER BELEIVERS are there to share burdens and to keep us accountable…so…we have NO EXCUSE for not living a godly life!

• ANOTHER FYI…even when we are tempted to sin…we have no excuse…1 Corinthians 10:13 “NO TEMPTATION has come upon you except what is common to man; but God is faithful, He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to handle, but with the temptation He will also make a way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

• STEP SEVEN: BROTHERLY KINDNESS…by our faith we have finally discovered how to show brotherly concern and affection toward other fellow believers…

• STEP EIGHT: LOVE (agape)…self-giving love which comes from God…Godly love DOES NOT depend on our EMOTIONS…we LOVE by exercising our faith and trust in God…

• WE ABSOLUTELY CANNOT FORGET that GOD IS LOVE!!!!!

• Matthew 22:38-40 "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

• IT’s ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL about the LOVE!!!

• Why is it important for us to climb this ladder of virtues??? Peter tells us

• 2 Peter 1:8 For if these things are yours and abound (in increasing measure), they KEEP YOU FROM BEING INEFFECTIVE (argos) and UNFRUITFUL (unproductive)(akarpos) in the KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST”

• We are put on this earth to do “good works” according to Ephesians 2:20…so we can’t afford to be unfruitful and ineffective!

• Matthew 5:13-14 reminds us that we are here to be the salt and light to the world!

• He goes on to say what has happened to us if we are not “climbing”…

• 2 Peter 1:9 “For whoever lacks these things is BLIND and SHORTSIGHTED and has FORGOTTEN that he was cleansed from his old sins.”

• Peter strongly urges us on…

• 2 Peter 1:10 “Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you WILL NEVER FALL; so there will be richly provided for you and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

• KEEP CLIMBING…the more knowledge you have of Him…the more knowledge you can receive…it is an ever INCREASING thing…the more knowledge you have of Him…the more LOVE you possess to share

• If you are a “NON-CLIMBER”…refusing to go forward…there is a warning here for you…you will grow blind and you won’t be guided by the knowledge of Jesus…you will become short-sighted…The Greek word for this word is MUOPAZON…it can mean one of two things…you will see things only as they APPEAR AT THE MOMENT…you will not be able to see the long view of things….your eyes will be so FIXED upon earthly things that you never even think of things beyond this…OR…it can also mean “blinking, shutting the eyes”…it is easy in life to shut our eyes to what we do not wish to see, and to walk in blinkers…like horses do what are pulling carriages…they are only able to see the next step in front of them…no distance at all

• Also, NON- CLIMBERS have forgotten that their sins have been cleansed and washed away…

• CHECK OUT THE BENEFIT OF CLIMBING!!!!.....WOOWOO!!!!

• “We shall receive a RICH WELCOME into His ETERNAL KINGDOM…and we WON’T SLIP OR FALL along the way!!!!...Peter is not saying that we will never sin…but the effort that we put out to climb this ladder, with GOD’S HELP, He will enable us to keep on climbing, even in spite of all the hardships….until we reach the end of our journey here on this earth and we step into our RICH WELCOME!

• So………………what did we get from this today………………we defined love as being UNCONDITIONAL and it’s SACRIFICIAL (it’s about GIVING), it’s ETERNAL, COMFORTING, and LIFE-CHANGING and it’s NOT based on FEELINGS….we learned today that to really be able to possess this type of love…we first have to KNOW GOD… to KNOW GOD is to: perceive DIRECTLY…to have DIRECT cognition of…to have UNDERSTANDING of…to RECOGNIZE the NATURE of…to DISCERN…to recognize as being the same as something previously…to have EXPERIENCE of…to be AWARE of the TRUTH of…to be CONVINCED or CERTAIN of

• Peter gave us an 8-step plan to grow in our KNOWELDGE of God so that we can love like He loves…

• So…………..What does love look like?....It looks like us increasing in the KNOWELDGE of the glory of the Lord Habakkuk and Isaiah speak of a day when the KNOWLEDGE of the LORD will cover the earth like water…

• Habakkuk 2:14 “For the earth shall be filled with the KNOWLEDGE of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea”

• GILLS EXPOSITION OF THIS VERSE SAYS: The "knowledge" of all this glory will not be a mere notional and speculative one, but special and spiritual; an experimental knowledge (based on experience and evidence), accompanied with affection, approbation (officially approving), confidence, and appropriation (knowledge for this particular use): and "the earth will be filled with" this; that is, the inhabitants of it: ….and the great spread and large abundance of this KNOWLEDGE communicated by the PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL…which will be like the waters covering the sea because the revealing of the glory of Christ and His grace REFRESHES and MAKES FRUITFUL…the force and power of this “water” breaks its banks and its depths, these being the deep things of God and more especially the general spread and large abundance of them, and of the knowledge conveyed by them; which will fill the earth, as the waters of the sea fill up and cover the vast chasm prepared for them

• Isaiah 11:9 “They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”

• That sounds to me like the last chapter of the Song of Songs when the bride is tending the vineyards…speaking of her Beloved to the extent that others are listening to her voice because it is full of wisdom and love…and that she is able to give him a FULL ACCOUNT…1,000 shekels

•

• We don’t have time to be “standing still and going backwards”….we have to start climbing the ladder of LOVE that Peter talks about in 2 Peter 1

• THINK ABOUT IT THIS WAY: LOVE….it is YOU CLIMBING!

• One last thought….God tells us in Jeremiah 9:24 “But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly KNOW ME and understand that I am the LORD who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the LORD, have spoken!”

• Hosea 6:3 ““Oh, that we might KNOW the LORD! Let us press on to KNOW Him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.” NLT

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Dear Child,

You may not know me, but I know everything about you (Psalm 139.1)

I know when you sit down and when you rise up (Psalm 139.2)

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered (Matthew 10.29-31)

You were made in my image (Genesis 1.27)

I knew you even before you were conceived Jeremiah (1.4-5)

I knit you together in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139.13)

I have been misrepresented by those who don’t know me (John 8.41-44)

I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love (1 John 4.16)

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you (1 John 3.1)

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could (Matthew 7.11)

For I am the perfect father (Matthew 5.48)

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand (James 1.17)

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs (Matthew 6.31-33)

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope (Jeremiah 29.11)

Because I love you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31.3)

I will never stop doing good to you (Jeremiah 32.40)

I want to show you great and marvelous things (Jeremiah 33.3)

I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine (Ephesians 3.20)

For I am your greatest encourager (2 Thessalonians 2.16-17)

I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles (2 Corinthians 1.3-4)

When you are broken-hearted, I am close to you (Psalm 34.18)

One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes (Revelation 21.3-4)

I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus (John 17.23)

For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed (John 17.26)

He is the exact representation of my being (Hebrews 1.3)

He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you (Romans 8.31)

And to tell you that I am not counting your sins (2 Corinthians 5.18-19)

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled (2 Corinthians 5.18-19)

His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you (1 John 4.10)

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me (1 John 2.23)

And nothing will ever separate you from my love again (Romans 8.38-39)

My question is “Will you be my child?” (John 1.12-13)

I am waiting for you (Luke 15.11-32)

Love, Your Dad,

Almighty God

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