October 3 – Even Before

“Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O LORD, You know it all.” – Psalm 139:4 (NASB)   

King David had superlative understanding of God’s awesome attention to our details. The first verses of Psalm 139 cover how intimately God attends to His own. More than a hint of knowing…God knows the details down to the smallest insignificant bit of our activity. Now, it is likely that many of us live without paying much heed to God’s involvement in our day-to-day. But when a crisis erupts, so do we with prayers begging for God’s attention. We respond as if before we pray, God is elsewhere attending to more important things. But God is Supreme and that means there is no limit to the attention he gives each of us. Here is today’s promise: God know every word that we will utter even before it forms in our brain, before our breath rushes past our voice box, before our tongue, teeth and lips can form the word. Before any thought takes shape to the point it can be cast into the appropriate word, God knows what it is going to be.  Even before…God knows every word so He knows every thought that passes through our head and comes out our mouth. Friends, this is God’s superlative knowledge.  

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July 3 – What We Long For

“…that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and (the) fellowship of his sufferings becoming increasingly conformed to his death if only I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” – Philippians 3:10-11* 

We’re staying with the promises found in Philippians 3:10-11. All who have accepted by faith the righteousness of Christ imputed to our account will experience a longing to know Him, to know God who has made us righteous in Christ. That desire is a reason we have been given the faith and gift of Christ’s work on the cross. Paul says that he longs for an ever-increasing supply of the power that proceeds from the risen and exalted Savior. When the Father raised the Son he thereby proved his acceptance of the ransom paid by Christ as full satisfaction for our sin. Yet we want more. More of the power which comes only from Christ’s resurrection. Like Paul we long to know and participate more and more fully in even the reproaches and afflictions of his Lord and Savior. Paul confesses that sharing in Christ sufferings results in us increasingly conforming to Christ’s death (see Romans 6:4-11). Paul stresses a longing and a striving to be raised completely above sin and selfishness, so that he can be a most effective representative for the salvation of men to the glory of God. But there is more in verses 12-14 next.

*(Translation from: William Hendriksen and Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of Philippians, New Testament Commentary, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 5:169.)

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May 26 –Hears, Knows, Follows

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;” John 10:27 (NASB)

One of the many things Jesus spoke of Himself to help people understand His mission was that He was the Good Shepherd. It was very common in that day and people knew how important a shepherd's job was. Today's verse are words spoken by Jesus and recorded in the Gospel of John. We believe that everyone who believes in Jesus as Savior enters into the relationship pictured in this verse. What we mean is that by believing in Jesus we become one of his flocks and we can think of Him as our shepherd. Jesus said in our verse that His sheep listen to His voice. This means that He is speaking to us. He is not just up in heaven and far away. He knows us and is talking to us right now. It also reminds us that we should be listening to hear our Lord speaking to us and following what He is telling us.  This is a wonderful provision.  Jesus has thoughts to share with us. We don't have to go through a day without hearing His voice in our spirit. Let's be sure we're within hearing range so that we can hear Him today.

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March 3 – Whom To Know

“Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. “I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” – John 7:28-29 (NASB)

It was not unusual when Jesus was on this earth and during His ministry, He would speak to individuals and to crowds. Without public address systems to amplify, depending on those listening, Jesus would speak loudly enough for all to hear. In this instance Jesus “cries out,” He speaks loudly to the people in the Temple. They thought they knew Jesus and where He was from. But they did not. He sarcastically affirms their assumption. Jesus’ point is that contrary to what the crowds thought, they really had no true understanding of who He was. They knew Him in the earthly sense, but not in the spiritual sense, because they didn’t know God either. Our promise in this passage is that if we truly know God we know Jesus. And, if we know Jesus, then we know God for Jesus came from and was sent by God that we may know Him and receive forgiveness and salvation. Some may think they are acutely perceptive and spiritually oriented, but if they do not accept Jesus, it reveals their spiritual bankruptcy. We rejoice that we do know God because we have believed in Jesus, the Son of God, our Lord and Savior. 

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January 24 – Taught by God

“He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.” John 16:14 (NIV)

During the last hours that Jesus was with His disciples before His death on the cross, He revealed many things to them. Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit and revealed what the Holy Spirit would do for them. The disciples had walked and lived with Jesus for about three years. Yet, there was much they needed to understand about Him. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come and live within them and teach them more to help them understand their Lord Jesus more fully. He would also bring to their remembrance and understanding of all that they had experienced with Him. That is our promise and that is what the Holy Spirit is doing in our lives too. Through some New Testament inspired by the Holy Spirit we learn of Jesus. Actually how else would we really know Him since we've never seen Him with our eyes or heard him with our ears. When the Holy Spirit teaches us about Jesus, He becomes glorious to us. Is Jesus a person of glory to you? If He is becoming more and more glorious it's because the Holy Spirit is teaching you.

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What is the glory of God? - See the Note

December 21 – How We Know

“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” – John 10:11 (NASB)
“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.” John 10:15 (NASB

Shepherds worked very difficult jobs. Sheep were important to the lives and the livelihood of sheep owners and an important industry. Finding a good shepherd, one that could be trusted, was not always easy. Here, Jesus declares himself the Good Shepherd. A strict more literal translation is “I am the shepherd, the good one.” A good shepherd would be willing to hazard his all for the sheep. King David was a shepherd who risked his life to protect the sheep from wild predators. A shepherd may, indeed, risk his life in the defense of his sheep (1 Samuel. 17:34–36), but he does not really lay down his life as a voluntary sacrifice. But our Good Shepherd has a different relationship than a hired shepherd. To save His sheep, the Good Shepherd sacrificed his life so that they can live. Jesus doubles this promise and He did lay down His life for the sheep because He knows each intimately by name and they know and follow Him. His sheep know him in the same way as God the Father and God the Son know each other for they are one. Perhaps difficult to understand, it is His promise to us. 

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November 21 – Three Power Words

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” 1 John 4:16 (NIV) 

Three of the most comforting and encouraging words ever, “God is love.” We know it yet we don’t always understand it. One of the many great truths revealed to us in the Bible is God's love for us. The writer of these words in our verse today is the Apostle John. John knew of God's love and he had experienced it as he walked and talked with Jesus. He had seen Jesus heal sick, raise the dead and he had seen Jesus weep. He also watched Jesus die as he was nailed to the executioners cross. He saw the resurrected Jesus and he saw Jesus rise up into heaven. John knew God's love and he relied on it. We today also know God's love because we have believed that Jesus died for us, rose again to new life and accepted him as our Savior and Lord. We experience His love in our lives and we depend on Him each day because we know how He loves us with a perfect love. We live in the love of God and God lives in us. A wonderful and encouraging promise we can depend upon to be true. Be thankful and rejoice!

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August 22 – By God’s Love We Are…

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” -  1 John 3:1 (NASB)

What a wonderful promise of hope we have today. It is something to think about and rejoice in. The Apostle John just bursts out this good news as he introduces to all readers why our hope is a sure thing. Our hope as believers in Jesus Christ is strengthened by the fact that God initiated his salvation out of His love for us. There is no other way for any person to be called a child of God. This is a promise and as one said “We who are in Christ are there because God took us out of the world and put us in Christ. But there is another promise here and that is the world we live in, that which is not abiding in Christ or following His commandments does not really know us. The world can’t figure out how or why a person is a Christian abiding in Christ  because they do not know Christ. For that reason we are to not love the world or try to look like the world. Let’s be thankful that God has called us His children and such we are because of the Love He has for us.  

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July 13 – To Know, To Obey

“If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” – John 13:17 (NASB)

A favorite quote is “It’s always better to know than not know.” That sort of flies in the face of another quote of lesser quality, “What they don’t know won’t hurt them.”  Well, not knowing some things or overlooking them might result in loss. What things you might ask? Anything we know we should do in obedience to God. There should be no delay is what Jesus was saying to his disciples at the last meal they had together before His arrest, suffering and crucifixion. It happened to be the Passover meal and Jesus knew the time had come for Him to go through all that it was going to take to provide salvation to all who were lost in their sin. Phony obedience is a state of mind in which we work up occasions to sacrifice ourselves; zeal is mistaken for thoughtfulness. It is easier to sacrifice ourself than to fulfil our spiritual purpose. (Romans 12:1–2) As the prophet Samuel said to the disobedient King Saul, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” (1 Samuel 15:22)  The promise we have today is that joy is always tied to obedience to God’s revealed Word.

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February 18 – Striving To Grow

“Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.” - John 17:7-8 (ESV)

This prayer was offered by Jesus to the Father for His first disciples. After sharing the Passover Meal with them for the last time, Jesus prayed for the eleven men who had remained faithful to Him during His earthly ministry.  These were those who had, in the main, stayed with Him. They knew that Jesus had come from God the Father and believing in Him, they had “kept” the Father’s word (John 17:6).  The disciples did not fully comprehend all Jesus had taught them, just as we do not have a perfect grasp of Him but are pursuing a greater understanding through our study and reading His Word, the Bible. Jesus knows that we too have a very basic knowledge of His origin and ministry. We are encouraged by knowing that our salvation is not determined by a perfection in our knowledge of God's Word. For each of us ignorance and misunderstanding coexist to some degree with true faith.  Therefore, we should never be content with only what we know today, but by the Holy Spirit through the pure Word of God, we must strive to grow in our knowledge of Him.

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November 16 – Freedom Through Truth

“If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”  -  John 8:31b-32 (NASB)

It would be rare for anyone to never have heard the quote “You will know the truth and the truth will make you free.”  It can be found inscribed on university and government buildings, on sidewalks and used as a motto on printed material. But, knowledge from academia or government training or a mission statement will not successfully make us free in the way Jesus promised.  What did Jesus mean when he spoke these words to Jews who came to believe in Him.  John Piper with Desiring God, writes that there are four things needed to be experience being truly free. 1) desire;  2) desire and  ability;  3) desire, ability and opportunity; 4) survive by avoiding being destroyed in the end.  To be fully free, we must have the desire, ability, and the opportunity to do what will make us happy forever, with no regrets, and no second thought doubts.  This is being truly free.  Our promise from Jesus is Himself. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Only Jesus, the Son of God who died and rose again for us can make this freedom possible for us. 

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October 6 – All Things Indeed

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”  -  Romans 8:28  (NASB)

Our selected verse is often used to comfort ourselves and others when we have experienced some crisis.  Health, accident, career upheaval, marital conflict, death, or whatever we would rather avoid experiencing if we could.  It is a good truth for times like these,  but it is more than just for crisis times.  It is a promise that we can take to heart every day as we go forth.  God knows all things and the outcome of all things before all things even happen to us.  He loves us and we have come to love God.  We believe He has a purpose for us in all we think, say, and do.  God is weaving the events of our lives into His plan.  Yes indeed, His plan is good and glorious and He can take our efforts and all the things we do and encounter and experience, and weave them into that good plan He has determined for us.  After all we are His because He has called us.  His call is according to what He has determined for us and it is His purpose.

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July 18 – He Knows

“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,”  John 10:14 (NASB)

We are glad and comforted knowing that we have a wonderful Savior who is watching over us every day.  We have not been left alone to live our Christian lives by ourselves.  Jesus used the imagery of a shepherd and his flock of sheep to teach us how He cares and takes care of us who have believed and received Him as our Savior. When Jesus was teaching His followers He wanted them to realize how closely He would be paying attention to their needs.  A good shepherd always knew his sheep, where they were, what they needed, and he watched out for their safety.  As our good Shepherd, Jesus knows us because we are His and we know Him. We've looked at this lesson previously and it is always good to be reminded that Jesus knows us, His followers, and calls each of us by name. He knows our name and He knows our needs and He watches over us.  He protects us from evil and the evil one who seeks to destroy our faith.  Let's stay close to Him today and each day.   

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May 20 – Known and Know

“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”  John 10:14-15 (NASB)

Not too many days ago we considered the promise made by Jesus that his followers knew Him and knew His voice to follow Him.  From the same chapter in the Gospel of John, are these few verses earlier in the chapter.  He declares Himself to be the Good Shepherd.  When we put our trust in Him we became one of His own – we learned who He is.  Today the promise Jesus makes is very much the same as verse 27.  Just as Jesus knows us, we know Him.  This is the same kind of inter-relationship Jesus, the Son of God has with God His Father.  Jesus goes further though, He declares what the extent of his commitment is to us.  Just as a shepherd is willing to risk his life to save his sheep, Jesus was willing to lay down His life for us, His sheep.  He is presenting to His followers why He came to earth.  Because Jesus did lay down His life for us, we have eternal life.  We do not need to fear or shrink from death because even when we die, we will live forever with Him.  

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May 18 – Living Because He Lives

“After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”  John 14:19-20  (NASB)

Jesus spoke these words to His disciples while observing His last Passover meal  with them in the Upper Room.  It was the night that He knew He would be arrested and taken to be crucified.  His disciples were not yet fully aware of the significance even though Jesus had repeatedly told them what was going to happen.  Now, it was unfolding and about to happen.  Jesus was preparing them for the time when He would return to heaven after His resurrection from the dead.  Knowing that His followers would be affected He is giving them this promise as an assurance that He would still be with them and even though the world would not see Him, they would still see His work in their lives.  We have received eternal life by believing in Jesus and we live this new life by faith in Him.  We are alive in in Jesus today and He is alive in us and this is essential part of our Christian experience every day.  Let's commit to live this truth and promise out each day.    

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May 11 – Listen. Hear. Know His Voice

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;” John 10:27 (NASB)

Perhaps you have had the opportunity to see a modern day shepherd, or sheep farmer, in action.  In the video link below one gives others the opportunity to call his flock of sheep together. As each one tries, the sheep ignore every attempt. Then the sheep farmer steps up and begins to call and the sheep perk up their ears, listen and come running.  Sheep  know the voice of their shepherd.  That is what Jesus was illustrating here by telling the people that those who are known by Jesus because of their faith in Him also know His voice when He calls us.  That is why, when we are willing to listen, we will hear Jesus call us. It may be through the tug in our heart or the stirring of our thoughts and our conscience by the Holy Spirit.  If we know the Lord Jesus, we will recognize the call and we will know know that God is prodding us to move this way or that and to follow Him by observing His words of instruction.  Following Jesus means we are listening for His voice and hearing its we are seeking His direction for the decisions that direct our steps and make our path straight.  

Watch how sheep listen, hear and respond to the shepherd's voice. 2:00 

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April 30 – We Can Know

“but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him”  1 John 2:5a (NASB)

We can be reminded again today that our God is a wonderful God.  He has demonstrated His love toward us by providing a Savior, a Helper, and a Guide.  Of the many gifts we have received from our God in heaven and that is a sign of God's love is His Word which we have in the Bible.  We find our example of righteous living in the Bible and learn from the accounts of those who believed and followed God from Genesis through to Revelation, the first book to the last.  Our verse today reminds us how important it is for us to obey God's Word, because God has given it to us to show us how much He loves us. When we obey God's Word we are allowing God's love to complete His plan in our lives as we follow the path He has made for us.  So, when we read the Bible, we are reading a message of love sent by God, because He knows we need this kind of help.  Let God's love work in each of us today. Let's live today, tomorrow, and beyond according to the Way He has taught us.

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March 18 – He Knows Us, We Know Him

“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,”   John 10:14  (NASB)

Jesus had said that He was giving His Life for us so that we might have access to becoming one of His. We have accepted what Jesus did for us in dying on the cross and by faith we have become His sheep.  The visual image of sheep appears often in both Old Testament and in Jesus' teaching in the New Testament.  Jesus considered those who believed in Him as His flock like sheep and Himself as our Good Shepherd.  In our verse today we are reminded that Jesus knows each one of us who are following Him today.  He knows who  we are and what each one of us needs.  He knows what we are thinking and what our motives are.  Yes, our good Lord is our good shepherd and He'll be watching us as we follow Him today.  Let's follow Him closely.  In our verse Jesus also says that His sheep know Him.  How wonderful to know Him today.  And to trust Him to meet our needs.  

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March 7 – Know. Teach. Lead. Wait.

“Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.”  Psalm 25:4-5  (ESV)

One of the wonderful promises we have from our God is the promise that He will lead us on the path of life that He has designed for us.  Another verse in the Book of Proverbs that we looked at recently tells us to not trust our own understanding only but to acknowledge God in all our ways.  He promises to make our path straight and clear.  Our verse today is a prayer asking God to fulfill his promises by making known what His ways are and teaching us the right path – the straight path He has made for us.  Yes, our loving Lord is ready to lead us along that path in His truth.  He is eager to teach us how we should then live for our best benefit and for His own honor and glory.  And why should this matter to us?  Why should this path be the one we seek?  Because our salvation comes from the path-maker.  The psalmist ask the God of his salvation to make known, to teach the way, to lead in God's truth, and to teach that truth.  After asking for this, we wait.  We wait all day, and every day.

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January 29 – He Knows Us Fully

“You have searched me, Lord,  and you know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise;  you perceive my thoughts from afar.”  Psalm 139:1-2  (NIV)

These words of the psalmist remind us that we do not live our lives by ourselves.  With us all the time and even in our though processes is our Lord God.  The writer of Psalm 139 had learned how much the Lord was involved in his life and we believe that God is very closely involved in our lives these days also.  Our Lord knows what each one of us is doing every day and what each one is thinking about.  He knows our motives for each action and He can help to purify our motives in order to make them pleasing to Him Let's be sure that we respond to His attempts to do that.  Let's thank the Lord for His involvement in our lives and for the attention and wisdom He has.  It is a promise of protection and comfort from God who is our creator. 

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