God Knows Me

Sunday, August 25, 2024

Good morning, Lord

Verse of the Day: Psalm 116

1 I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;

    He heard my cry for mercy.

2 Because he turned his ear to me,

    I will call on him as long as I live.

Memory verse: Psalm 42:2(New American Bible )

"My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When can I enter and see the face of God?"

Today's reading: Psalm 119:89-176 1 Corinthians 8

God Knows Me

1 Corinthians 8:1-3 says, "...we know that, as you say, “We all have knowledge.” Yes, that is so, but “knowledge” puffs a person up with pride; whereas love builds up. 2 The person who thinks he “knows” something doesn’t yet know in the way he ought to know. 3 However, if someone loves God, God knows him.

Our knowledge is never perfect; that is, we think we know something but do we really know? For example, we have a Bible verse memorized. We can say, "We know that verse." But do we really know what God means by it?

There is a verse to a line of an old song that says,

 "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now".

 The writer is saying he thought he knew it all but can see how much he did not know when he was young and 'puffed up' like the 1 Corinthians 8:1 says.

"Experience is the best teacher". I taught school for a short time and I learned more in the first six weeks of teaching than I did in the entire 4 years of earning my teaching degree.

When we had our first child, we had no idea how much that child would teach us. After rearing 4 children, we can look back and see how shallow our knowledge really was.

This is most true for those who have sought after God for a long time. "God is love"(1 John 4:8) We all 'know' this verse-but do we really know it?

God's love knows no boundaries and is perfect. My understanding of His love is shallow at best but I know God perfectly loves me. The longer I live, the more I grow to appreciate His love. In His perfect love, he sees my sin but does not give up on me. There is no condemnation for me in His love because I am in Christ. God chooses to never remember my sin, but much more, continues to inhabit me with His Holy Spirit and has perfect patience with me as I seek to follow Him everyday. The more I return to Him in repentant humility and sit in His presence, the more I learn of His love.

The more we learn of God's love the less likely we are to be 'puffed up' or proud.

God knows me-He really knows me-He knows how dark my sin has been and knows how dark my thinking can be and still loves me perfectly and completely.

...because He loves us...

Father in Heaven,

Perfectly loving Master, how great You are. I want to know as much as I can hold of Your heavenly love and patient way. Give me today Your bread that sustains and strengthens me. Search my heart and forgive me my dark thinking and behavior. Lead me in Your everlasting way.

God of perfect love and self control,

In the name of Christ Jesus,

Amen