What's In a Name?

by Hallie Gipson

Merriam Webster defines the word 'Name' when used as a noun, a verb and an adjective. Definitions include:

Noun

• a word or phrase that constitutes the distinctive designation of a person or thing
• a word or symbol used in logic to designate an entity

in the name of

• by authority of
• for the reason of

Verb

named; naming

transitive verb

• to give a name to
• to mention or identify by name
• to mention explicitly

Adjective

• of, or relating to, or bearing a name
• having an established reputation

 

In A.W. Tozer's book, “The Knowledge of the Holy”, he tell us that “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” 

So what do we think about the Triune God? Do we honor Him as high and Holy? Is our worship of Him fitting because He is the ‘name above all names’? And do we exalt Him as the only Name through which we can be saved?

God’s names and attributes as we know them are the sum of who He is as described in His Word. Of course, we can never completely know Him, or adequately describe Him. Our descriptions of who He is are feeble at best. Why? Because we are finite and He is infinite. He is high and holy, we are not. He is God of all creation, the Potter, and we are the clay. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) So whatever we can say or think about God is but a drop in the bottomless ocean of who He is.

When God speaks to man, He identifies Himself as he did to the prophet Isaiah. “I am the Lord, that is my name.” (Isaiah 42:8)

Scripture also tells us that God acts, or is entreated to act, “For His name’s sake.”

·       Psalm 23:3 “He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

·         Psalm 25:11 “For your name’s sake, O Lord, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.”

·         Psalm 31:3 “. . . For Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me.”

·         Psalm 79:9 “Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name.”

·         Psalm 106:8 “Nevertheless He saved them for the sake of His name”.

·         Psalm 143:11 “For the sake of Your name, O Lord, revive.”

·         Isaiah 48:11 “For my own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can my name be profaned.”

 

Men of the Bible who had an encounter with God wanted to know “What is His name?” (Exodus 3:13)

This was Moses’ question when he was speaking with God at the burning bush. God had given him a mission to free His people from bondage to Pharaoh in Egypt. “Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:10) . . . “Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; (Exodus 3:14) God, furthermore, said to Moses . . . This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.”  (Exodus 3:15)

When Saul was converted on the way to Damascus he “fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting . . .” (Acts 9:4-5)

Jesus prayed to the Father for His disciples – that they would be ‘kept’ in His name:

“. . . Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.”  (John 17:11)

In the book of John written by the Apostle John, who was a disciple of Christ and an eye witness to Jesus’ ministry, we are given the main reason John wrote his account:

“Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”  John 20:30-31

In the account of the arrest of Peter and John in Acts 2, Peter is giving a Spirit-filled answer about healing a sick man. His audience is the rulers, elders, and scribes who asked “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?” The last statement of Peter’s reply leaves no doubt about the name that saves:

“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”  Acts 4:12

Why is Jesus’ name so high and exalted and who bestowed this title of honor on Him?

“. . . God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow . . . and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  Philippians 2:9-11

 

In Revelation 21 and 22 we are given a glimpse of the New Heaven and Earth: There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.”  Rev. 22:3-5

“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.”  Revelation 22:17

Come to Jesus today!! He is the only Name that can save and the Name worthy of all our praise!

She Shall Be Called Woman

She Shall Be Called Woman

Re-posted from 2012 

By Shirley M. Wiggins

“Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.’  … So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.  The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.  The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.’  For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”  Genesis 2:18, 21-24 (NASB).

Thank You for the memories, Jesus; I see her now:

Petite and slender,  she was a lady in every sense of the word with her black hair, long and straight,  drawn tightly in a neat bun on the back of her head,  My grandmother, seated at the piano down front at the little white-frame church,  teaching me as a little girl to play, “Are You Washed In the Blood?”

I’ve seen this picture in my mind’s eye several times before. Often it’s during a Sunday evening service as we are singing that precious old song.

This particular time was several years ago on the last Sunday of the cold month of January.  I was sitting with my dearly loved friends at my current home church and as we began to sing, the tears sprang to my eyes with a sharp stinging pain that caused my mouth to tremble in spite of my efforts to gain control over my emotions.

There was a sudden intense longing to see her again and a sudden strong yearning to have my husband, children, and grandchildren gathered around me singing and worshiping together.

How clearly I could see her:  That sweet, small-in-stature lady with the soft velvety dark hair and eyes, always wearing a smile, always with a warm word of good humor and encouragement on her lips.   She had a softly crinkled beautiful face, and work-worn hands that brought forth such beautiful and worshipful music from the keys of that old  church piano. 

Did she ever have a piano of her own?  Oh, how I wish I could hear her talk to me again!  I have so many questions I would ask!

I never heard that gentle woman say a harsh, angry word to anyone or about anyone, nor ever a critical or complaining word.  So many people told us they’d never known her to speak an unkind word about anyone.

How did she do that, I asked the Lord again.    How did she keep from ever speaking ‘a discouraging word’ or a complaining word?   She experienced some of life’s harsh and hard circumstances while on this earth.

And she surely must have had plenty of worries as a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother.  If any woman ever seemed to have plenty of reason to fret, fear and faint, it seemed to me that she did, just because of the times in which she lived.

But, I never saw any fretting, fearing, or fainting; nor have I ever heard about any from others who knew her.  What I did see, though, even as a young girl myself, was a courageous woman who had a heart full of love and concern for her family and for others in her community.

I’ve wondered a lot about whom she might would have talked to and with about everyday life issues, and have also wondered if she had a close woman-friend that she could confide in.  Or did she take all those concerns straight to the Lord Himself?

She apparently married the love of her life at a young age.  Sometime later in life Papa’s  farm wagon overturned breaking one of his legs, leaving him in pain for many years.  Near the end of his life he was bedridden and my grandmother patiently and lovingly tended his needs night and day until he passed away.

They had four sons and one daughter. Their only daughter married at a young age and died soon after at the age of 18; thirty-four years before my grandmother’s own death at the age of 76.

I am so thankful to the Lord for honoring what I was told had been her desired hope when the time came for her heavenly Father to call her Home.  She hoped to go to sleep one night and wake up in heaven and we were told that was exactly the way her departure seemed to have happened!

As was her custom, on that particular evening she had gone next door to spend the night with her friends who were the other grandparents of two of her own granddaughters.  Early every morning she would get up and slip quietly out to return to her own home.

But, not that early dawn – it was discovered that she had passed quietly away sometime in the night, apparently very peacefully in her sleep.  Her dark hair resting neatly on  her pillow showed no evidence that she had ever even turned over in the bed that night.

She was a woman who sacrificed and did without untold creature comforts of her own so that she could give to others.  She had the most generous heart and giving to her family made her happy.

I praise and thank the dear Lord for this wonderful woman who had such an impact on my young life that her life remains to this day such an important part of my family memories.  I am so grateful for all the years that our family had with her.

I also thank Him for another special day when He brought her lovely face to my mind’s eye.  I was reading Proverbs 31:26-27** in my Amplified Bible and the image of her face was so vivid that I wrote her name in the margin beside those verses as a memorial to her.

Thank You for the memories, Jesus!  I love You!

May each of us, daughters of Eve and sisters- in- Christ Jesus, our Lord, have as our hearts’ desire, to be as  godly as the women  we read about in God’s Word, especially here in 

Proverbs 31:10-31. 

 

 Please be sure to read the Footnotes following the Scripture below for valuable and insightful information about some of the women in the Bible.

^{Proverbs 31: Amplified Bible:  10}A capable, intelligent, and ^[b]virtuous woman--who is he who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels and her value is far above rubies or pearls.

    ¹¹The heart of her husband trusts in her confidently and relies on and believes in her securely, so that he has no lack of [honest] gain or need of [dishonest] spoil.

    ¹²She comforts, encourages, and does him only good as long as there is life within her.

    ¹³She seeks out wool and flax and works with willing hands [to develop it].

    ¹⁴She is like the merchant ships loaded with foodstuffs; she brings her household's food from a far [country].

    ¹⁵She rises while it is yet night and gets [spiritual] food for her household and assigns her maids their tasks.

    ¹⁶She considers a [new] field before she buys or accepts it [expanding prudently and not courting neglect of her present duties by assuming other duties]; with her savings [of time and strength] she plants fruitful vines in her vineyard. [S. of Sol. 8:12.]

    ¹⁷She girds herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task] and makes her arms strong and firm.

    ¹⁸She tastes and sees that her gain from work [with and for God] is good; her lamp goes not out, but it burns on continually through the night [of trouble, privation, or sorrow, warning away fear, doubt, and distrust].

    ¹⁹She lays her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.

    ²⁰She opens her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her filled hands to the needy [whether in body, mind, or spirit].

    ²¹She fears not the snow for her family, for all her household are doubly clothed in scarlet.

    ²²She makes for herself coverlets, cushions, and rugs of tapestry. Her clothing is of linen, pure and fine, and of purple [such as that of which the clothing of the priests and the hallowed cloths of the temple were made].

    ²³Her husband is known in the [city's] gates, when he sits among the elders of the land.

    ²⁴She makes fine linen garments and leads others to buy them; she delivers to the merchants girdles [or sashes that free one up for service].

    ²⁵Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure; she rejoices over the future [the latter day or time to come, knowing that she and her family are in readiness for it]!

    ²⁶She opens her mouth in skillful and godly Wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness [giving counsel and instruction].

    ²⁷She looks well to how things go in her household, and the bread of idleness (gossip, discontent, and self-pity) she will not eat.**

    ²⁸Her children rise up and call her blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied); and her husband boasts of and praises her, [saying],

    ^29[c] Many daughters have done virtuously, nobly, and well [with the strength of character that is steadfast in goodness], but you excel them all.

    ³⁰Charm and grace are deceptive, and beauty is vain [because it is not lasting], but a woman who reverently and worshipfully fears the Lord, she shall be praised!

    ³¹Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates [of the city]!

Footnotes:

1. Proverbs 31:2 It is important to the purpose of this invaluable chapter that one realizes that it is first of all intended for young men. It is the mother's God-given task to provide youth with this information directly from its inspired source, letting them grow up with it in their consciousness.
2. Proverbs 31:10 It is most unfortunate that this description of God's ideal woman is usually confined in readers' minds merely to its literal sense--her ability as a homemaker, as in the picture of Martha of Bethany in Luke 10:38-42. But it is obvious that far more than that is meant. When the summary of what makes her value "far above rubies" is given (in Prov. 31:30), it is her spiritual life only that is mentioned. One can almost hear the voice of Jesus saying, "Mary has chosen the good portion... which shall not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:42).
3. Proverbs 31:29 "Many daughters have done... nobly and well... but you excel them all." What a glowing description here recorded of this woman in private life, this "capable, intelligent, and virtuous woman" of Prov. 31! It means she had done more than Miriam, the one who led a nation's women in praise to God (Exod. 15:20, 21); Deborah, the patriotic military advisor (Judg. 4:4-10); Ruth, the woman of constancy (Ruth 1:16); Hannah, the ideal mother (I Sam. 1:20; 2:19); the Shunamite, the hospitable woman (II Kings 4:8-10);  Huldah, the woman who revealed God's secret message to national leaders (II Kings 22:14); and even more than Queen Esther, the woman who risked sacrificing her life for her people (Esth. 4:16). In what way did she "excel them all"? In her spiritual and practical devotion to God, which permeated every area and relationship of her life.  All seven of the Christian virtues (II Pet. 1:5) are there, like colored threads in a tapestry. Her secret, which is open to everyone, is the Holy Spirit's climax to the story, and to this book.  In Prov. 31:30, it becomes clear that the "reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord," which is "the beginning (the chief and choice part) of Wisdom" (Prov. 9:10), is put forth as the true foundation for a life which is valued by God and her husband as "far above rubies or pearls" (Prov. 31:10).

From THE AMPLIFIED BIBLE®                 Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation; page 733.

 

SNOW

by Hallie Gipson

(this article is a repost from several years ago, but being in the midst of a winter storm has caused me to meditate again on God's wonderful provision through Christ for our sins to become "white as snow".)

Has it ever happened while you are reading a passage from God’s word that it suddenly takes on a meaning or connection to another passage(s) that you haven’t seen or thought of before? That very thing occurred to me this morning as I watched the snow fall, covering everything in sight in a beautiful blanket of white.

As I began to think about the snow and God’s creation of it, I thought of the verses in the Bible that speak about the snow and realized I could not easily recall them to mind . . . and so the search began.

Psalm 147:16

“He gives snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes. He casts forth His ice as fragments; who can stand before His cold?”

Matthew Henry’s commentary on this particular verse begins by saying:  “In general, whatever alterations there are in this lower world (and it is that world that is subject to continual changes) they are produced by the will, and power, and providence of God.” And he continues – “snow . . . is compared to wool for its whiteness, and its softness; it falls silently, and makes no more noise than the fall of a lock of wool; it covers the earth and keeps it warm like a fleece of wool, and so promotes its fruitfulness.”

What a beautiful reminder that God’s providence is in all things – even the snowfall! And in the continuing cycle of God’s purpose, the end result is the earth’s fruitfulness.

A portion of 2 Samuel 23 is devoted to “the names of the mighty men whom David had” (vs. 8).  We are told in verse 20 that “Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day.”

Snow was certainly not a deterrent or inconvenience for one of King David’s mighty men! As I apply that to myself, some honest soul-searching is required. Do I allow small inconveniences to keep me from a task God might have for me, or at the least, to dampen my resolve to finish well?

As I continued my search through Scripture for references to snow, I discovered Job 37:6, Job 38:22, and Proverbs 26:1.

But when I found the reference to snow in Isaiah 55:10-11, the larger picture of God’s plan of redemption began to jump from the verses right into my heart! The threads of the Old Testament are like gold in a tapestry that is woven right into the New Testament in a seamless design.

Isaiah 55:10-11

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but shall accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in that thing for which I sent it.”

In the New Testament:

John 1:1, 4, 10

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . In Him was life . . . He was in the world . . .”  (Isaiah 55:11 – “so shall My word be”)

John 6:33, 35

“For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.”

“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life’. (Isaiah 55:10 – “bread to the eater”)

John 3:24

“For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God . . .” (Isaiah 55:11 – “so shall My word be that goes out from My mouth . . .”)

John 4:24

“Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.’  (Isaiah 55:11 – “it shall not return to Me empty, but shall accomplish that which I purpose . . .”)

And finally:

Hebrews 1:1-4

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”  (Isaiah 55:11 – “and shall succeed in that thing for which I sent it.”)

Thank you, Father, for Your Word, the insight given by the Holy Spirit that enables understanding, and for Jesus Christ! Without His finished work on the cross, our sins could never be “as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).

 

 

TURNING THE PAGES

By Shirley Wiggins

Life can be likened to a calendar.  It is lived day by day.   What we do each day is important, because at the end of the day many of us just turn the calendar page and move our unfinished to-do list to the next day:  tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will do those things we did not finish today.  But, sometimes my daily to-do list gets drowned in the trivia that eats up the days of my life.

The turning of the page represents for me the turning from today to tomorrow – the leaving behind of all the yesterdays.

When “today” turns in to tomorrow, the “new today,” what will happen to all the things not done yesterday, the “old today”?

I find it amazing how quickly the end of the year comes – from New Year’s Day to New Year’s Eve!   And, now I begin to wonder about those daily things I needed to do, and wanted to do, that somehow were never finished, nor perhaps ever even started. 

Sobering thought:  we cannot go back to this today once it comes to its end.  Just like turning the pages on this year’s calendar – once turned you can’t go back to that day:  there are no do-overs once the day has ended.

Tomorrow somehow becomes today – the “new”  today.  The “old”  today is now relegated to yesterday.

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow – the way we measure our time.

Reflectively, today  I turn around to see my yesterdays…pondering the possibilities that never became realities.

Oh, my!  There is that one thing:  that particular thing I always thought I would finish!   But, I haven’t.  It always seemed to get shuffled off to tomorrow, always tomorrow.

That thing that haunts my unfulfilled longings – that one thing that reminds me, “I am not ready for my last  today: the day when there are no more tomorrows for me.”

 Time is short and it will run out.  Eternity is forever.

No tomorrows are promised, only anticipated. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”  Hebrews 13:8.

 Oh, how we take “tomorrow” for granted!

Yesterday, I was young.  Today, I am older.   Tomorrow, I will be …?

If I knew today was my Day with no tomorrow, what would I do today?

“How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow?  Your life is like the morning fog – it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.”  James 4:14 (NLT). 

Today is my gift from God – what will I do today?

Friend, have you done that One Most Important Thing?  Have you settled where you will spend Eternity?  Have you been born again?

“For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end.  Your  new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.  As the Scriptures say, ‘People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field.  The grass withers and the flower fades.  But the word of the Lord remains forever.’  And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.”  1 Peter 1:23-25.

Have you heard the Good News?

This is the Good News that Jesus came to tell:

“… Jesus went into Galilee, where He preached God’s Good News.  ‘The time promised by God has come at last!' He announced.  ‘The Kingdom of God is near!  Repent of your sins and believe the Good News.’”  Mark 1:14 -15.

Both the apostle Peter, and then the apostle Paul, preached the same message:

“Peter replied, ‘Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away – all who have been called by the Lord our God..”  Acts 2:38-40.

“…But now He (God) commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to Him.  For He has set a day for judging the world with justice by the Man He has appointed, and He proved to everyone who this is by raising Him (Jesus) from the dead.”  Acts 17:30b-31.

“I (Paul) have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike – the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.”  Acts. 20:21.

“Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”  John 3:3.

“For this is how God loved the world:  He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.  God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.  There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him.  But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.  And the judgment is based on this fact:  God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.”  John 3:16-19.

“But to all who believed Him and accepted Him (Jesus), He gave the right to become children of God.  They are reborn – not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.”  John 1:12-13.

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.  It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.  God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work.”  2 Timothy 3:16-17.

If you aren’t a child of God, your salvation and security are not settled.  Seek the face of God, through His Son, Jesus Christ, and settle your eternal destination today.

No one is prepared to live until they are prepared to die.

What will you do today?

 

 

November 1, 2020 

By Shirley Wiggins

THE GOD I WANT TO KNOW

 

This is the God I want to know:  The God Jesus knew.

Jesus came to me in 1981 with an invitation:  You believe in God, believe in Me also.

The timing was unbelievable.  I was on my way to my mother’s funeral in the latter part of June 1981, traveling back to my “home” church.

The location was pretty incredible too:  I was sitting in the front seat of our family car, my husband was driving and my youngest brother and his young wife were sitting in the back seat.

The invitation came in an amazing way.  It was written with words clearly seen but no earthly hand delivered it.  It was visual and it is now imbedded forever in my memory because it appeared to me in my “mind’s eye.”

Some of the mystery has now been explained.  The message has been preserved for a long time in The Holy Bible.  The words of Scripture I “read” were found later in the New King James Version of the Bible at John 14:1-3 and this was its entirety that I read in my mind’s eye on that particular day:

            “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

My reaction on that day to this startling thing that had never happened to me before continues to astound me!  I said not a word to anyone, I was so deep in my own grief I could hardly function.  My only conscious thought that I can still remember today is that with every fresh wave of reality that swept over me was that my mother was gone forever from me and I could not survive without her.  I now know I was in shock, but I had no knowledge of that then.

At the time, I took comfort in several things:  God had prepared a place for my mother and she was now with Him.  Only in the years to come would I truly open up that invitation that was sent for comfort, but also for my personal good as well.  So much I needed to know!

As the familiar hymns were sung with their words meant to bring comfort, the pastor shared kind words about my mother’s obvious love of being in church and hearing the sermons about the God she depended upon. 

And then an astounding thing happened:   I had the undeniable ‘sense’ of being placed in the all-encompassing  embrace of warmth, light, and inexpressible love and security in the understanding that all is well:  Everything is going to be all right.  I actually smiled in the depth of that comfort.

I cannot explain what occurred any better than that – even after all these years.

Neither can I understand how I experienced these two amazing things and then reverted to life with its grief almost as though it had not  happened.  Not entirely as if it hadn’t happened because in the pastor’s remarks, he read the same words I had received in my mind.    I contacted him later to ask where those words could be found in the Bible.   I had never,  to my knowledge, heard them before, nor had I ever read them in the Bible.

Obviously, I was a very young and immature Christian still trying to find my way in the Christian life.   Also obvious to me now is that I thought I knew a lot more than I actually did.   At this point in time, I had spent years teaching Bible classes, mostly to young children, but also a young marrieds Sunday School class.

It has been a slow unfolding of the truth that Jesus came to give me that day.   A belief in God requires that we must also know His Son, Jesus Christ.   Spiritual maturity is required in the Christian life.

God requires that each person who comes to Him for salvation must come through His Son, Jesus Christ:  “This is real love--not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. ...All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. ...   We love each other because He loved us first. ... Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God.  And everyone who loves the Father loves His children, too.”  1 John 4:10, 15, 19; 5:1.

The Bible is our Teacher, the Holy Spirit is our Guide into all truth:  “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”  John 16:13.

The Christian life is a quest for learning all we can about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit:  the inseparable Triune God.  The Bible is the source of Truth, all truth.

The longer I live, the more I desire to know the God of truth and the Truth of God.

Frequently I get a “wake up call” to take life very seriously because life is short and eternity is long.  Since the COVID-19 virus has invaded the nations of the world with such force, along with the unrest throughout the world, and the escalating lawlessness in my own country of birth, I feel the great need to know God and Jesus better than I actually Do.

This morning I awakened with a sense that everything has changed, a shift in time has occurred.  I have considered that as a Christian for many years, I have placed my trust in the Lord.  However, almost daily,  opportunities for fear to dominate over trust present themselves to me.  

One of my favorite daily devotionals is one from Bible Gateway by Dallas Willard.  Today it is entitled, “The God Jesus Knew.”    I was taken with the fact that perhaps my knowledge about God needed to be examined to be sure that what I think I know is actually the truth!

Thus,  my remembrances this morning about that special day when Jesus kindly told me that while I believed in God, I needed to believe in Him as well.  That has been unfolding for 39 years now.

There is no substitute for Truth and getting it right about salvation is a must, but, pursuing the truth about God and Jesus is an absolute joy.  This is what life was meant for:  to know the God who gave life!  That is the purpose for every life.

To know the God Who is the Source of life.  Life is pointless and meaningless until we know the God of life.  Jesus came into the world to show us God.  Jesus came to die that we might be reunited to the God who gave us birth.  God resurrected Jesus from death to life that we might be able to call God, the Father of Jesus Christ, “Father.”  Our Father.  Abba! Father!

“The God that Jesus knew was perhaps very different from the God often described in our contemporary world.”  - Dallas Willard.

“The heart cannot love what the mind does not know.” – Jen Wilkin.

The Two Great Commandments have to do with love. When Jesus was asked which is the first commandment of all, He answered:  “ The first of all the commandments is:  ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. ‘ This is the first commandment, and the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no other commandment greater than these.” – Mark 12:29-31.  See also Deuteronomy 6.

Since we are commanded to love, and since the heart cannot love what the mind does not know, isn’t it time to know the God that Jesus knew?

To know the God of love, the God who gave life, the God of Creation, the God of Covenant, the God who desires to be, not just mankind’s creator God, but to be our Father, is this not what our life is to be about ---- to Know Him?

Open The Holy Bible and discover this God who knows you and loves you, but cannot save you until you come to Him, through His Son, Jesus Christ.  Know Him today, I pray.