BIBLE STUDY: KNOWING THE LORD
1 Samuel 2:12, “Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the LORD.”

Knowing the Lord goes beyond being a Christian, knowing the Lord goes beyond being a Christian worker, it goes beyond being an ordained Christian minister; knowing the Lord is more than being a Pastor, Priest or Prophet; you can be any of that and yet not know the Lord. The Bible talks about the two children of the High Priest, Eli Hophni and Phinehas, they were priests, they knew the laws of God, they taught the laws of God, they knew the services of God, and they were busy offering the sacrifices of the LORD and doing the services of God. These men were anointed by the Lord has priests in Israel and they continued in the priesthood, making the holy sacrifices of the LORD GOD of Israel. With all these positions and performances, the Bible introduced them that they did not know the Lord. How could that? How could the Priests of the Lord not know the Lord? It is because knowing the Lord is more than working for God.

Know the Lord is not just about being identified as a Christian; it is not about being identified with a church, it is not about being identified as a Christian minister; knowing the Lord goes deeper than reading Bible or being devoted into fasting and prayer. To know the Lord is more than being a faithful Tither or giver; it is not about preaching God’s word or knowing more of God; it is not about speaking in tongues or having the gifts of Holy Spirit; knowing the Lord is not about performing miracles in the name of the Lord or winning souls to the Lord; knowing the Lord is more than being an ordained ministers or being a popular man of woman of God. Hophni and Phinehas were priests of the Lord, they were powerful, popular and performing the works of the Lord, yet they did not know the Lord. That was the reason Jesus Christ said, “Nothing everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven” Matthew 7:21.

Your position in the church, or in Christian activities has nothing to do with your personal encounter with the Lord.

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT GOD
There is difference between knowledge about God and knowledge of God. You can be a non-Christian and know many things in the Bible and about God, you can be a Christian and have great and intensive knowledge about the word of God and about God; you may teach and preach about God, you pray prophesy, and experience miracles in your personal life or ministry; and yet you only know about God. Many Christians and pastors only have knowledge about God, which is the reason they will be disappointed on the last day. Knowledge about God is having knowledge about the Word of God, and being familiar with God, but without personal, present and permanent relationship with God. Knowledge about somebody is not an evidence of personal relationship with that person. You can know many things about somebody, you can talk and describe many things about somebody, and never have a personal relationship with the person; the same thing is applicable in our relationship with God.

Jesus says, “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord’ have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare unto them, ‘I never know you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” Matthew 7:22

From here, you can see that it is possible that you can be a Prophet, Pastor; you can perform deliverance for people and cast out demons in them, you can express several gifts of the Spirit without knowing the Lord presently. Same thing is applicable to your pastors and popular ministers, performing miracles with flowing of anointing in somebody’s life is not an evidence of present and personal relationship with God.

KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
Knowledge of God is knowing God and having a continuous relationship with Him! It involves relationship and continuity:

1, Relationship – To have knowledge of God is to create a cordial relationship with God by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord, this happens by repenting from all your sins, confessing them and forsaking them, then starting to please God in new Life. To please God is to keep doing the will of God, and the will of God is righteousness, truth and holiness. Matthew 7:21.

2, Continuity – knowing God is not about the past experience, but present matter. If you have known God yesterday and pleased Him, but today you have gone back to sin, then the knowledge of yesterday is immaterial, before God now, you do not know Him at all. Ezekiel 18:24, “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.” So it is not about, “I have given my life to Christ Jesus, I have experienced salvation and gifts Holy Spirit” But are you continuously living to please God in holiness and righteousness up to date?

You can be saved in the morning and lose the salvation in the afternoon if you do not start to walk in holiness and righteousness, if you do not start to work out your salvation with trembling and godly fear, if you do not immediately depart from old sinful path, and if you do not take conscious effort to detach from sinful relationship, lifestyle, and if you do not destroy every ungodly materials, music, movies, magazines, and other stuffs in your possessions; let alone being saved some months or years back. So many Christians and ministers are claiming lost salvation and empty relationship with God. Relationship which you claim to have with God without pleasing Him in holiness and righteousness is an empty relationship.

“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.” John 8:31. Continuing to abide in the Word and will of God is what makes a person a disciple of Jesus Christ indeed, and not in deception.

Have you really known the Lord in genuine salvation since you have been a Christian or a minister? Do you still know the Lord in continuous sanctification of life after your salvation, or you are relying on empty testimony of yesterday?

HERE COMES THE HUMILITY
When it comes to knowing God personally, it is not by how wide knowledge you have about God, it is not about your position or power, it is by the grace of God, and here comes the humility. Since nobody has known everything about God, irrespective of our position of spiritual level, we seek to know of God every day. The knowledge of God here is not about what you have in your brain, it is not human knowledge, but it is godliness of God being reflected in our lives that everyone can see. So, no matter what we have known about God, we must humble ourselves to seek to grow in the knowledge of God every day, to be more like Jesus Christ every day, in our lifestyles and attitudes. This growth is a continuous thing as long we are still in Christ and still alive.

Apostle Paul, after many years of his salvation and services in the Lord, said, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” Philippians 3:10. Every one of us need to grow in the knowledge of God every day, that is, to be more like Him, irrespective of our past shortcomings and success. Have you been a Christian for so long but never experienced salvation? Then you need to experience that today, it is a must. Have you been disappointing God and denying godliness in your ways of life after your salvation? Then you need to rededicate your life to Him and start better. Have you had wonderful Christian experience all these while? You still need to know more about Him. We all need to know more about God, we all need to be more like Him, more of Him, by examining our present spiritual lives, not the past, and not another person.

The Bible warns us to examine ourselves; this is not applicable to the new converts or young believers, but every heavenly minded Christian.” Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.” 2 Corinthians 13:5.

TEST OF GENUINE SALVATION
For you to test if you really have personal relationship with God, and to know if you have genuine salvation, the word of God will be of help. The Bible says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed, behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. Genuine salvation means to realize yourself as a sinner, no matter how small the sin is; to repent and confess the sins and forsake them and then to start following Christ Jesus in new life. If you have confessed your sins and you still continue in the sins, it means you need to rededicate your life to Jesus afresh, everything must become new, old lifestyle must become past when you are genuinely saved. Everything does not happen automatically; there are some sinful things that will immediately become disinteresting to you when you are saved, but there are some that you will need to take effort – prayer and self-discipline – to overcome, that is working out your salvation. Apostle Paul said, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:27.

If you will like to rededicate your life to Jesus Christ afresh and experience new life in Jesus, all you need to do is to repent, confess, forsake and start to follow Jesus Christ completely.

TEST OF PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
“Examine yourselves as to whether you are (still) in faith” For us not to be fooled with testimonies of yesterday, it is wise for us to examine our spiritual lives every day. Do not be fooled by the testimonies of the past, do not be fooled because of the manifestation of miracles and gifts of Holy Spirit in your ministry – examine yourself by the word of God daily and check if you are still in holiness, righteousness and truth. Open up to the Holy Spirit and humble yourself for correction without delay. Whatever we have known about God or of God, we need to know more of Him, we need to grow more like Him and thirst more for Him. May we not be disappointed at the end in Jesus name. Amen.

Philippians 3:12-14.
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

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Brb.