Author: icbc

Introduction

As a believer, you might have heard about God from a pastor, a preacher or you might have read it from a portion of the Bible or some other material. You might possibly have some facts about God, but facts about God are irrelevant. The most important thing is your unending personal relationship with God and your commitment to Him and His course.

Knowing God Intimately

“But whatever things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. But no, rather, I also count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them to be dung, so that I may win Christ and be found in Him; not having my own righteousness, which is of the Law, but through the faith of Christ, the righteousness of God by faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death” (Php 3:7-10)

According to Paul, the most important thing in life, as a believer, is to know God and to know Him intimately. One may quit jobs, friends, and relationships for the excellency of Christ. First-hand knowledge of God changes one´s perception and his/her view about God and life in general. Because God revealed Himself to Paul personally at his conversion (Acts 22:6-21), he never went back but he was willing to sacrifice His life for the sake of Christ. With this experience and conviction, Paul indicates that no one or nothing shall be able to separate them from the love of God (Rom 8:35-37). He adds that he is persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers that be, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate them from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:38-39). Such are the attitudes of those who have the first-hand knowledge of God.

The Samaritans Believed in Jesus Christ

The Samaritans, after having come out to see Jesus and to hear from Him, tell the woman who informed them about the Messiah, that “Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world” (Joh 4:39-42 KJV). This explains that the Samarians, though were invited by a friend or a family member, could now testify individually, that, they are now believers because they have received personal testimonies from listening to the Christ. All believers need to have a personal experience and relationship with Christ if they could stand put in their salvation and in their new life.

Many believers have been in their churches for far too long but they have no personal knowledge of the Messiah. They think that salvation is the same as belonging to a congregation or a denomination. This lack of personal knowledge of Christ Jesus makes them light-weight, and they are tossed to and fro by any wind of doctrine (Eph 4:14). They cannot defend the reason for their faith. They only go to church regularly but they are devoid of personal knowledge of Christ Jesus. These personal experiences do not necessarily have to be the same as Paul had because the apostles of Christ did not have the same revelation and experience of Christ. Paul had to be struck down as mentioned in Acts 22 but the other disciples did not go through the same experience. God reveals Himself uniquely to every believer in one way or other. Such a revelation must conform to the word of God which forms the foundation of the Christian faith.

The early disciples were able to endure pain, hardship, and humiliations because of their first-hand knowledge of God. People who have received genuine knowledge of are determined to follow Christ till the end, and they are ready to pay the cost no matter what. A Christian without personal knowledge of God is more likely to deny the one true God.

Conclusion

First-hand knowledge of Christ Jesus is needed for all believers to stand the test of time. Each believer should be able to tell the reason for their faith in Christ Jesus. Christians should not anchor their faith on men but on God, and they should study His word to discover Him for themselves.

Prayer: May the Almighty God reveal Himself to us all so that we shall have a personal relationship with Him and know Him more intimately. In the name of Jesus Christ. AMEN!

Introduction

Many a time, prayers seem to delay or remain unanswered. This makes the children of God discouraged, wearied and they finally give up on God instead of persisting in their prayer life. In this edition of our Newsletter, the result of persistence in prayer is discussed.

Some Background Facts

“For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter” (Mar 7:25-26 KJV).

The following could be said of the woman who received an answer to her prayer for her child. The woman had heard of him, for it is written that “And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him. For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues. And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God” (Mar 3: 8, 10-11)

The woman mentioned above, coming from the same region of Tyre and Sidon, might have had enough knowledge about the Christ to help her receive faith to act upon. This tells that faith in Christ comes by hearing of the word of God (Rom 10:17). Believers need to familiarize themselves with the word of God. They ought to read and listen to the word of God as oftentimes as possible. Tyre and Sidon were traditionally pagan territories. Sidon was the home of Jezebel (1Kgs 16:31). This woman was described as a Canaanite (Mat 15:22), a people most morally despised of as Israel’s enemies in the Old Testament. She was a gentile or a foreigner, and possibly, a person of the descendant of Baal worshipper.

The Discourse

This woman was determined to receive from Jesus Christ but her cries were not initially answered. Jesus did not answer her a word” (Mat 15:23). God may seem to be silent but that does not mean that He is unconcerned. This woman knew it well that Jesus would not be silent forever so she continued to demand her request in prayer.

When she persisted with her request, the disciples entreated Jesus to send her away but Jesus´s answer was more discouraging than the silence. In His answer, Jesus said, “Bread is for children but not dogs. “Let the children first be filled. For it is not right to take the children’s loaves and to throw it to the dogs” (Mar 7:27). This implies that Jesus considered this woman a dog. Today, many people might have considered Jesus´s answer to the woman as unethical and insensitive. In spite of this, the woman did not give up but pushed further for the deliverance of her child.

Instead of answering back at Jesus for His response, this woman demonstrated an attitude of humility and faith in answering back at Jesus. She acknowledged that indeed she was a dog but “even the little dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ tables” (Mar 7:27-28). She accepted the fact that she was not a child but a dog, but calling Jesus the Son of David, she pleaded for mercy. This means that being a gentile or a Canaanite, her child deserved to die, but she asked Jesus not to grant her what she deserved, that is the death of her daughter. It was her honesty and faith demonstrated in her discourse with Jesus Christ that moved Him to say unto her “For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter (Mar 7:29). By the time this woman went home, her request had been granted (Mar 7:29). Believers should understand that nothing moves God to act in their favor except their faith and relentlessness.

Conclusion

God is ready to touch the lives of His people and bless them but they need to persist in prayer regardless of the distractions and discouragements. This woman was a gentile but she endured till she received her answer. Now, being children of God by adoption, we deserve more blessings than when we were unbelievers.

Prayer: Our Father in heaven, may your Holy Spirit continuously strengthen us and help us in our prayers to you since we do not always know how we ought to pray.