What first comes to your mind when being asked “Who is God?” You might simply respond by saying God is Love, He is the Creator, The one true God, The only one worthy to be praised, our Father who cared to send His one and only Son, Jesus to be born as a man to come testify and then die for our sins. The list can go on and on and on. He is the trinity, the Three in one consisting of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I personally like to refer to God as our loving and mysterious God, because if He is the one who determines our paths for those who follow Him, and since He is the one who determines our path and we do not know what to expect, then how can we fully understand everything there is to know about God?

One question to ask is can we fully know God? To answer, I’ll let scripture do the talking. Here we find in the book of the Isaiah saying “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways my ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.’ (Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV)” One can easily conclude as written by the Prophet Isaiah that we cannot fully know or even grasp everything there is to know about God. Think about it… we cannot think the way God thinks… and don’t hurt your brain in the process of thinking about this either ;-). He is unfathomable. To say we can fully know who God is would be to claim that God is comprehendible within our own mindset, and if God was able to be understood within our own mindset is to also claim that we are better knowing and above God. How can one know better than its own creator? When the creator can also destroy what He created and there’s nothing we can do to stop Him. There that was easy the answer is NO, we cannot. Okay kidding, but if your still with me then you know there is more to the question. And there is.

After returning home from work one night and after a time of prayer this scripture came to my mind. “’Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. 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 the Lord will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matt 7:21-32 NKJV).” Some versions use the phrase “…you who break God’s laws (NLT), “…depart from me, ye that work inquity. (KJV),” “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers! (NIV),” and “I never knew you! Depart from me, you lawbreakers! (HCSB),” are just a few examples. Here we see He specifically says “I never knew you…”

     The verse alone is alarming and troubling just knowing that there are those who, despite knowing the truth and even to the point of doing wonders and miracles in the name of Jesus, still decide to disregard the law by their own sinful and selfish actions.  These people live just like the well-known law breaking pharisees mentioned in Matthew 23:27-28 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you are outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (NKJV).”

     These Pharisees enjoyed living as if they are above the law.  They have all the rich clothing that most wish they had and may have always had the right answer or advice but yet they lack to abide by the very truth they uphold.  They were the type that make sure everyone else lives accordingly by the law while they live as they are above the law.  I believe there are a lot of people that justify their own private sins because they think God will overlook their evil doing because of their position they hold and/or they don’t want to be vulnerable and let their sins be known so they continue to hide not realizing they have separated and blinded themselves from God.  

     Again, these are those who follow the rules but also decide to live in sin at the same time.  We as humans will mess up and we have a loving and forgiving God, but to know God is to desire to live in accordance in His will which Jesus made clear in John 14:15 “If you love me, keep my commandments. (NKJV)” It makes me wonder how many leaders we have in our churches across the world today that willfully live-in sin yet claim the truth.  With this said it is important that we meditate on God’s word daily and pray to Him because this is God’s way of leading us into His truth and also His protection from being led astray either by other people or being deceived by our own understanding.  There’s more to God than just identifying Him vs knowing Him.  To simply identify does not mean one knows who God is.  The last thing we ever want is to assume that we are living according to God’s will and think that it’s okay to hide a few sins here and there just because we acknowledge God with our lips.  If you read revelation 3 the letter written to the Church in Laodicea says “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea.  This is the message from the one who is the Amen- the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation: ‘I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold, I wish that you were one or the other!  But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!’ (vs 16 NLT).”  

     There’s more to pleasing God than just acknowledging Him with our lips.  It’s a lifestyle that we choose to live in front of people and behind the scenes.  If someone was to unravel all that you are doing right now both publicly and secretly what would be found out about you?  Just as Adam and Eve had sinned, they could not keep it a secret from God and because of their sin they were cast out of the garden.  In hindsight, if we are not obedient as God calls us to be, we won’t be able to inherit the Kingdom of God.  He doesn’t take sin lightly and therefor neither shall we as our life literally depends on how we live according to the commandments Jesus commanded us to obey. 

    There now the nitty gritty ‘hey, you must be all in or your all out,’ is out of the way we can turn to knowing God more.  It’s important to stop and ask yourself where are you in your walk with Christ?  Are you obedient to what He expects of you?  Are you living according to His ways?   The way we live will help us to know God more.  God is not a textbook that can just be read and understood, it comes with a personal relationship with Him.  Living for God is not done out of moderation, it is a whole new lifestyle apart from the rest of the world.  It is not about man made religion, but knowing God’s son Jesus and His Holy Spirit.  In John 14: 16-18 before Jesus ascended into Heaven He mentioned that God would send another advocate and  said “…He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.  The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him.  But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.  No, I will not abandon you as orphans-I will come to you (NLT).” 

     To understand God more, we must live in His truth.  To live in His truth we must be born again by accepting Jesus and the Holy Spirit into our lives.  I personally have noticed where a lot of people will accept Jesus into their lives, but they don’t acknowledge God’s Holy Spirit.  But it’s with the Holy Spirit and our obedience to Christ where we start our journey of faith in God.   

       Let’s read 1 Corinthians 2:9-12 “But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’  But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.  For what man knows the things of a man except which is in him?  Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God (NKJV).”

Most of my upbringing I was taught that we need to be obedient and to love others. But it wasn’t always clear to me how pivotal it was for the Holy Spirit to be involved until I was around 14 years old. I accepted Christ into my life at the young age of eight years old and wasn’t baptized until I was 17 years old. I was always going to church. I had my usual ups and downs as most teens and their identity crisis. However, I started noticing this movement inside my soul. I noticed I had more discernment than my peers and thought things through before responding when it came to hardships in life. No I wasn’t perfect, but I began to understand that everything we face in life is an opportunity for us to grow more in Christ. Often, we pray for God to change us, but we have got to want the change bad enough that we are willing to be obedient and practice self-control as it is written in the book of Galatians 5:22-23, self-control is a fruit of the Spirit which is also called “Temperance” in the NKJV. I was by no means perfect, but I do remember always noticing how much I felt at home with I would sing to the Lord. I began to identify His presence. This shift in my soul led me to dig deeper into scripture to see if I could gain a better understanding. There were several times conflicts would arise, which I started taking as an opportunity to stop myself and ask, is it worth getting upset about? How would others view me? How do I show God’s love in such a situation like this? Sometimes I just wanted to yell out loud due to frustrations, but what good would that do? Yes, Jesus got upset and mad, but He had a really good reason. People were making the house of prayer into a “den of thieves” (Luke 19:46 NLT)

“And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you.  And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago (Ephesians 1:13 NLT).”

With this scripture and the previous scriptures shared, explains that through Jesus Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit which teaches us all truth.   With this said we will come to understand God if we also love.  This is in obedience to Jesus saying if you love me you will keep my commandments.  And it’s EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that we love because in 1 John it says,

“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God.  Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.  But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love (4:7-8 NLT) “

And guess what part of loving most people don’t do?  What I’m about to share is in the following scriptures.  

“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:32 NKJV).”

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you (Matt 6:14 NKJV),” 

“…bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you must do (Colossians 3:13 NKJV).”

I can continue also with: Luke 6:37, Matthew 18:21-22, Mark 11:25, Hebrews 8:12, Proverbs 17:9. 

      It can be so hard to forgive. I get it. We all deal with the decision whether or not we will forgive another person. But we are called to forgive as Christ has forgiven us and by forgiving others Christ will forgive us also.   God didn’t say to forgive those who deserve it.  We never had deserved His forgiveness.  We’re not told to pick and choose who we should forgive.  It’s written, yet so many people do not forgive others and this prevents many people from knowing who God is.  Bitterness can eat our joy; it will disable our ability to be truly satisfied in our walk with Christ if we have a wall barrier that we’re not willing to let go of.  Unfortunately, bad things do happen, but we are also warned about this when Christ says “…In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world (John 16:33 NIV).” 

God is not a God of division.  It’s even written that God corrects those He loves as a Godly dad does here on earth. 

 Rev 3:19 “I correct and discipline everyone I love.  So be diligent and turn from your indifference (NLT).” 

     God truly cares for us.  He Loves us.  He let His Son die for us that we might be saved.  But it’s our choice.  We must understand that when we forgive someone it may help both sides, it may bring healing to both sides, but most importantly it’s what we must do to be obedient to God. This is the heart of understanding who God is, it cannot not just be read and understood, it must be lived out and applied to our lives.  God doesn’t want lip service, your actions must follow up with your heart, and the Holy Spirit knows our deepest thoughts.  

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets (Matt 7:12 NIV),” 

     We all want to be treated with respect or at least with common sense to where we aren’t being bothered.   But how far are you willing to go in your faith.  Are you willing to help a neighbor like the good Samaritan?  Are you willing to provide a need to someone you know is in need?   Did you know that “…It is a sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it (James 4:17 NLT),”

Let’s see if you would pass the test on the next passage of scripture which coincides with James 4:17.

“And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you have me food; I was thirsty and you have me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’  

Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give you drink?  When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?  Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?  And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, in as much as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to me. 

“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:  for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink,  I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (Matthew 25:33-46 NKJV).”

   Well where do you stand according to Matthew 25:33-46?  If your like me, when I read this I pondered it for a long time. It changes a lot of how I viewed life and you can to if you let it.  I know I desire for the both of us to be right with God.  I desire not only for Jesus to say well done my good and faithful servant, but also to claim me as His child, because I know without God I am empty.  And if you know what emptiness is you know it’s extremely lonely, something I wouldn’t wish on anyone, not even my own enemies. 

With all that has been said, it’s best that we focus on who we are in Christ first. Focus on how we love others more than ourselves and the things of this world by seeking the Holy Spirits guidance, the one who can make us Holy and come to know God more as we also love others. God is love. We must put aside what separates us, even if it hurts so we can be the temple God has called us to be. Let His love show through your actions. It may not seem easy, and it does take work, but from my experience, it takes a lot more energy holding a grudge than it does to forgive someone. There is so much freedom when we live in obedience.

I hope you are blessed as I shared my heart in the message, thank you for reading.

“Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him.  And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us (1 John 3:24 NKJV).”

Rev Gary Woods