How to grow in knowledge of God

I) SEEK HIS WORD, BODY AND BLOOD

asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. - Ephesians 1:17

The knowledge of God is the basis of eternal life, in John 17:3 Jesus said " And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." Such knowledge of God is not theologically or philosophical, it has to come from the Spirit.

It is a revelational knowledge and every child of God is entitled to receive it. The Lord said “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. (Matt 13:11)

In the event on the way to Emmaus ,Christ revealed himself in two ways; opening our eyes to understand the scriptures and breaking of bread. This shows we can receive revelational knowledge through word meditation and the Holy communion.

God's love for us is enormous, but we cannot enjoy this love the human way it has to be received in the spirit through revelational knowledge. God doesn't start loving us because we know him, He already loved us, it is for us to discover it and grow in it. The less knowledge of God we have, the less we grow in his love for us. The Lord said "I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.” John 17:26

I can't imagine a life without Jesus, it will be so devastating and impossible to grow in the knowledge of God. The Lord said "My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Matthew 11:27‭

The Spirit of Jesus is in us, we need to fellowship with him through word meditation and Holy Communion, so we can grow in knowledge of our Heavenly Father.

THANKSGIVING

BLESSED ARE YOU GOD THE FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST FOR YOU HAVE DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US IN JESUS AND THEY ARE MARVELOUS IN OUR SIGHT!

THANK YOU JESUS!

II) GATHER GOD'S SCATTERED SHEEP

As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day - Ezekiel 34:12

Have you seen the face of a dedicated shepherd gathering his scattered flock? God is telling us that He will seek his scattered sheep. The Lord said "And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd - John 10:16

Gathering of God's scattered flock is the duty of every child of God. We don't expect our Heavenly Father to come down and gather while we are around. He has given the earth to us to manage, whatever we allow on earth is allowed in heaven. So we must use the same authority to gather for him. We are all one flock, one shepherd.

The Lord said “But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the Lord .-Jeremiah 23:3‭-‬4

We are all kings and priests of the Lord, jence are shepherds of God's flock. We have to gather for our heavenly Father, remember He said " He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters - Luke 11:23

THANKSGIVING

BLESSED ARE YOU GOD THE FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST FOR YOU HAVE DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US IN JESUS AND THEY ARE MARVELOUS IN OUR SIGHT!

THANK YOU JESUS!

OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN

III) DO NOT FIGHT AGAINST GOD

Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” -Acts 5:38‭-‬39

Those were the words of a Pharisee named Gamaliel, an honored teacher of the law, addressed to the Sanhedrin, when they wanted to attack the apostles. We are the offspring of God, created like him. We should not be worried about the forces against us, rather focus more on our relationship with him, for whomever is after us is fighting against God.

The greatest mistake one can make in life is to fight against God knowingly or unknowingly. Saul, who later became St Paul fought against God but never succeeded, instead he later became the greatest gatherer doing that same work of God he was fighting against (See Acts 9)

Balak tried to get Balaam to curse Israel but failed, instead Balaam blessed them the more, for he said "Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it" -Numbers 23:20

Even when Laban, Jacob's father in law tried to cheat Jacob but failed. Instead God turned it into Jacob's favor. Jacob told the wives "if Laban said, ‘The speckled animals will be your wages,’ the whole flock began to produce speckled young. And when he changed his mind and said, ‘The striped animals will be your wages,’ then the whole flock produced striped young. In this way, God has taken your father’s animals and given them to me.- Genesis 31:8‭-‬9

So, let's not worry about our adversaries for the battle belongs to our God, Always remember "hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil". (Eph 6:16 )

THANKSGIVING

BLESSED ARE YOU GOD THE FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST FOR YOU HAVE DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US IN JESUS AND THEY ARE MARVELOUS IN OUR SIGHT!

THANK YOU JESUS!

IV) CLIMBE YOUR SYCAMORE TREE ?

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force - Matt 11:12

Christian life is faced with challenges, one of the reasons is that it is a good news. The enemy one hates good news, that is why he makes it painfully difficult for us to live a Christian life.

Nothing good comes easy anyways. A saying goes that 'if you want to dig gold, you dig deeper, it is not gotten on the surface'. To live a life of God on earth is the best thing ever, yet it doesn't come cheap. You have to work for it, that is, "work out your salvation".

In Luke 19, A chief tax collector, Zacchaeus ,though He is short, had to climb a mighty tree, sycamore for him to see Jesus. In our lives some of the troubles we go through might be because we have not climbed our sycamore tree.

What is that sycamore tree in our lives we need to climb to see Jesus? Let's take the word of God for instance. The word of God is alive and active. It can build us up into the full knowledge of Jesus. Also the Lord said "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life". How much time do we spend with our bible everyday?

The Spirit of Jesus is joined with our spirit in oneness and reveals to us true things about God. This we achieve through spending time with the scripture in constant meditation, also, for those of us Catholics, spend time in adoration of the blessed sacrament. There has to be a lifestyle we have to let go or adopt so as to see Jesus. This is our sycamore tree.

THANKSGIVING

BLESSED ARE YOU GOD THE FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST FOR YOU HAVE DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US IN JESUS AND THEY ARE MARVELOUS IN OUR SIGHT!

THANK YOU JESUS!

V) SEEK HIS DWELLING PLACE

Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” - John 1:38 NIV

Have you sought God's dwelling place? The scripture says "Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God (Psalms 84:3)

David wanted to build a dwelling place for the Lord. According to the bible, "the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As He spoke through the prophets: “ ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be? [Acts 7:48‭-‬49]

Since God has chosen us as his dwelling place, that shows how magnificent we are, how beautiful and wonderful we are built. Even sparrows and swallows seek to build their nest near us because they know the value of God's presence. How about us, are we conscious of God's presence in us? Do we know our worth?

Brothers and sisters, let's cherish one another, never allow the circumstances of this world dictate who you are. THE EARTH ALONG WITH ITS CIRCUMSTANCES WILL PASS AWAY BUT GOD NEVER PASSES AWAY AS WELL AS HIS DWELLING PLACE. HE LIVES IN US FOREVER!

THANKSGIVING

BLESSED ARE YOU GOD THE FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST FOR YOU HAVE DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US IN JESUS AND THEY ARE MARVELOUS IN OUR SIGHT!

THANK YOU JESUS!

VI) BE INTIMATE WITH JESUS I

From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. - Ps 61:2 NKJV

Have you ever felt a huge vacuum in your life that nothing else can fill except Jesus? If you have not experienced it, this period of lent is the best time to ask God to create that weakness or vacuum in you only Jesus can fill. If you had been filled before but the longing for Jesus is not new with every heartbeat of your life, this is the time to reaffirm your faith in Jesus.

In our opening verse, God made David great, yet no matter how great God made him, he still needed to reach safety, a place of spiritual peace and mindrestness. Jesus is that towering rock of safety, our safe refuge, that is why the bible says " Christ the hope of our glory"

Jesus is what we are not, He is what we cannot do. That is why we are in divine relationship with him. "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God". (II Cor 3:5)

Let's pray for the grace to grow in intimate relationship with Jesus to the glory of God the Father in Jesus name Amen!

Thank You Jesus !

OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN

VII) BE INTIMATE WITH JESUS II

From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. -Ps 61:2 NKJV

Ps.18:29 says "For by You I can run through a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall." The life of Jesus in us enables us to see and do what we cannot see or do at human level. It is in him we are complete, the scripture says "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power" Colossians 2:9‭-‬10

Always be aware that we are in him. He is our head and we are his body, we are associates of his divine nature. That is why the Bible says that "I can do all things through Christ who empowers me". Let's stand strong in his ability to help us and not in our ability.

In him we are the righteousness of God and we live by his grace. Psalm 94:14 says "when we say we are slipping his mercy holds us up". He is the shelter of the Most High, those that lives in him, rests in the Almighty.

We pray for the grace to grow in intimate relationship with Jesus, to the glory of God the Father in Jesus name Amen!

Thank You Jesus!

VIII) A CRY FOR REPENTANCE

“A cry is heard in Ramah— deep anguish and bitter weeping. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted— for her children are gone.”- Jer 31:15 NLT

If the scale of your pain is 10/10, then your priority will be a pain relief. What is the priority of a woman in labor of pain? 1Cor 12:13 tells us that "we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit." "We are the bones of his bones and flesh of his flesh" (Rom 5:30)

If any of us wanders off, Jesus is in pain., not just an ordinary pain but in a labor pain. It reminds him of the pain He went through to give birth to us. The Lord said “I have long been silent; yes, I have restrained myself. But now, like a woman in labor, I will cry and groan and pant. Isaiah 42:14

Are we ready to relieve the Lord of this labor pain by turning to him in true repentance,by interceding for one another. Every one of us is as important to Jesus as the other. None is more significant than the other " all our hairs are all counted"

Remember the Lord's prayer " That they may be one" This prayer is already answered for every prayer of Jesus is "YES" before God. There is nothing you and I can do about it. Our duty is to pray that this family of God which Jesus bought with his blood should expand.

WE PRAY FOR THE GRACE TO TURN TO GOD IN TRUE REPENTANCE AND ALSO TO INTERCEDE FOR ONE ANOTHER TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER IN JESUS NAME AMEN!

THANK YOU JESUS!