If you don't know me by now...

The song "If you don't know me by now" was written in the 1970's, but gained world-wide fame in 1989, when Simply Red released their version of the song. The opening lines of the song raise an interesting point. They state:

"If you don't know me by now,
You will never, never, never know me..."

The reason I mention this is because the question we reflected on in yesterday' sermon was: "Don't know you me as yet?" - this is the searching question that Jesus asked Philip. It was a gentle rebuke of Philip suggesting to him that he should know the ways of Jesus a lot more, especially since he had spent enough time with Jesus already. 

"Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? - John 14:9

For me, there is a difference between the 2 statements. The first one implies that we will never get to truly know the other person, no matter how hard we try. While Jesus' challenge leaves room for us to decide to 'know' God on a deeper level. I am not sure if that makes sense to you, but I am inspired to lean into the scriptures to get to know Jesus as my brother and friend. What about you?

“I am not asking whether you know things about Him but do you know God, are you enjoying God, is God the centre of your life, the soul of your being, the source of your greatest joy?” - Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Living in grace

D3LM3

Good question

In some of his writings, Thomas a Kempis contemplates the value of 'knowledge' without putting it into practise.

"If you knew the entire Bible by heart and were familiar with all the philosophers, what good would it all be without the love of God and his grace?"

I think that this is a brilliant observation and question. We should never gain just 'head knowledge' of the Scriptures, without allowing the essence of truth to transform our lives.

What do you think?

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Love follows knowledge

1 John 4:8 - "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

When we know God, then we will love others. What surprises me is the millions of 'Christians' who claim to know God, yet they don't show any love. Interesting hey?

KNOW GOD,
LOVE OTHERS,
GOD IS LOVE!

Any thoughts?

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Known by God

I came across this hidden, but powerful verse this morning:
"But the man who loves God is known by God." - 1 Corinthians 8:3

This would apply to both men and women - when we love God a deeper intimacy develops between us and God. There is a difference between knowing who someone is and actually knowing them intimately. Let me give you a random example:

I know who the following people are - Nelson Mandela, David Beckham and Bill Gates. But do I know any of them personally - sadly, Not! You see, there is a difference between knowing about someone and then knowing them intimately.

In a way, Paul was arguing that when we love God, he doesn't just know who we are, but that he knows us intimately. He knows us 'warts and all' and he still loves us. Jesus died for every aspect of our lives. That is powerful.

Live in God's grace and may you be blessed to be 'known' by the Creator of the Universe.

D3LM3