The Prophetic Word - Day 162: What you think you know can keep you from knowing.

““I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”” ‭‭Job‬ ‭42‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Jesus had just finished telling the disciples that He was going to go and prepare a place for those who are His. Not only that, He said that He would return to get those for whom a place had been prepared.

““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. And where I go you know, and the way you know.”” ‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Thomas then remarks that they don’t know where Jesus is going, and that they certainly did not know the way.

“Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” ‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Jesus then goes on to explain to them that knowing Him, is knowing the Father.

““If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” ‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭7‬-‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The question Jesus asks Philip is one many people would do well to consider in terms of their own knowledge of God: “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me?”

Several years ago the Lord spoke to me, saying, “What you think you know about Me, is keeping you from truly knowing Me.”

Wow, that definitely got my attention. You see, it’s easy to form a picture of God that has more to do with our own assumptions, coming out of our own experience, than it does with what God has revealed concerning Himself.

Sadly, as human beings, we tend to cling to assumptions we have held over the course of our lifetime. Indeed, those very assumptions can be a barrier to receiving or knowing the truth about God.

“My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children.” ‭‭Hosea‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬ ‭NLT

Throughout the Old Testament, God speaks of the fact that His people don’t really know Him. In the above scripture, we see that the Lord says that their lack of knowledge of Him (and what He wants) is actually leaving them open to the destruction they are seeing.

As well, we see many references in the New Testament to people who think they know Who God is, but don’t.

Paul, in speaking to the church at Philippi, explains that there are those who have set their minds on earthly things so that they now have become enemies of the cross of Christ!

“For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭18‬-‭19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Now, we may suppose there to be a big difference between imposing our own idea of God on our understanding of Him, and, on the other hand, being an enemy of the cross of Christ. But, in actuality, any persistent divergence from the truth God has revealed about Himself, can put us on the same path as those who openly disregard what the Lord has said.

In our opening scripture we see Job confessing that before the Lord “schooled” him concerning Himself, he had not truly known the Lord.

Child of God, let us not so tightly cling to our own misconceptions concerning God (coming out of our own experience, our own analysis, our heeding false doctrine, etc.), keep us from knowing who He truly is.

As we are discussing the need to go beyond our spiritual status quo, to the “capable of doing exploits level,” we must remember that our spiritual authority and ability will never pass the level of our understanding of Who God really is.

There is coming a day when we will perfectly know Him, and perfectly be like Him. But, for now, we must listen carefully to the Holy Spirit, attending carefully to the written word of God, so that, in as much as it is possible, we will truly know Him.

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” ‭‭I John‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Peace to you. Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him! #ThePropheticWord