Knowledge: Shared and Sealed

Genesis 2:16-17 says, "The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."

Daniel 12:8-9 says, "As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, "My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?" He said, "Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed (kept secret) and sealed up until the end time.

Revelation 10:4 says, "When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them."

God has shared with us everything we need to know pertaining to, "life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence." 

2 Peter 1:2-11 tells us: "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you."

We see, from these scriptures, that the knowledge we are to grow in is that of Christ Jesus! This is not an indiscriminate collection of every vein of knowledge!

We also see that God has not shared with us EVERYTHING - the full extent of knowledge! Some revelation and knowledge is kept sealed up and secret. I believe this is the greater wealth of knowledge! And, neither will we - as God's bond-servants - share everything. Only that which God calls us to share. Some conversation (or knowledge) is meant to stay 'sealed up" between us and God!

God's People will speak the words of knowledge and life in Christ Jesus! And, as they are speaking life they are dying, daily, to their flesh and this world. 

There was a time I had a tale to tell of my life to anyone who would listen. A tale to match every situation - whether happy or sad, funny or morose. Today the majority of my conversation is kept between me and God. I am learning not to trust the world with all of my conversation. This has been a most important and challenging discipline! It has been an experience of dying to my flesh! 

Matthew 7:6 tells us not to give what is holy to dogs. We are not to cast our pearls before swine. We are to seek only God's counsel! This is not meant to be an insult, but an analogy to learn from. Keep our conversation holy. Father, forgive me for unholy conversation! Put a guard upon my speaking and writing. Amen. We must be discriminating and discerning in what we share.

Disobediently partaking in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is what brought mankind shame and drove us from the paradise of the Garden of Eden. It has led mankind to the condition of the world today - to darkest evil and violent death and destruction. What (knowledge) are we partaking in? What are we feasting on?

Former Satanists and Occultists who are reborn in Christ Jesus, who are lead by the Holy Spirit, will not share the extent of their occult knowledge with others except in prudence where needed and by God's direction! Rather, they will turn from this unholy knowledge in forgetfulness, in favor of the Garden of Eden... God's Kingdom, where nothing unclean will enter. They will point others to knowledge in Jesus Christ and stop serving the darkness. 

In fact, the scriptures tell us that there is a "Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, And fools will not wander on it." (Isaiah 35:8)

Isaiah 35 tells of a return to Paradise where this highway is... it says: "The wilderness and the desert will be glad, And the Arabah will rejoice and blossom; Like the crocus it will blossom profusely And rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, The majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the LORD, The majesty of our God. Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, "Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you." Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah. The scorched land will become a pool And the thirsty ground springs of water; In the haunt of jackals, its resting place, Grass becomes reeds and rushes. A highway will be there, a roadway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, And fools will not wander on it. No lion will be there, Nor will any vicious beast go up on it; These will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the LORD will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

The narrow road to Paradise is a turning - abstaining - from even the appearance of evil. Look away from evil. Reject the knowledge of evil, and build up your knowledge in Christ Jesus. He is the Bread of Life. Amen.

Seek; Wait

Lamentations 3:25 tells us that, "The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him."

Seeking God - His righteousness and His Kingdom - is most often also paired with waiting upon the Lord. We seek, then we wait. This wait is a wait of faith, full of promise and expectation. Jesus tells us that those who seek Him will find Him. Upon further exploration of the scriptures we learn that seeking Jesus is a continual pursuit, and waiting upon Him a continual practice.

Acts 17:27-28 says, "...that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.'"

Do you feel, or have you felt, as if you are 'groping' for God? I sure have! With groping there is a sense of dogged determination driven by intense feelings of need. As the hymn says, I need Thee every hour"! I need God! And, praise Him, He is not far from us!

Colossians 3:1-4 further affirms the need for continuity in our seeking and waiting. It is a habit of determination and a mindset. The aforementioned scripture says, "Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God." Now, here comes the 'waiting' portion of this scripture - the promise! "When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory."

Hebrews 11:6 tells us that, "...without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." Here we see the importance of faith in seeking and waiting! To seek, and to wait is an exercise of our faith.

We see the principal of seeking, God's subsequent promise, and waiting in faith for the ultimate fulfillment clearly in Isaiah 55:6-11:

"Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD…"

Now the promise: "And He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. 'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' declares 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.'"

Then comes the practice of faith in waiting: "'For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.'"

An element of seeking God is looking to Him in counsel and trusting and resting in His provision. Isaiah 30:15-26 speaks to this. It says: "For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, 'In *repentance (literally 'turning' or 'returning' - a type of seeking) and *rest (a type of waiting) you will be saved, In quietness and trust (the application of faith) is your strength. But you were not willing… 

[Now here comes the trouble in leaning on our own counsel]... the scripture goes on to say, "and you said, "No, for we will flee on horses," Therefore you shall flee! "And we will ride on swift horses," Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift. One thousand will flee at the threat of one man; You will flee at the threat of five, until you are left as a flag on a mountain top and as a signal on a hill. [Here we see that leaning on our own counsel leads to failure and dangerous vulnerability.] 

Yet, God follows this dire admonition with a promise for those who turn and cry out to Him - those who seek Him! He says, "Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; how blessed are all those who long for Him. O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left. And you will defile your graven images overlaid with silver, and your molten images plated with gold. You will scatter them as an impure thing, and say to them, "Be gone!" Then He will give you rain for the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the yield of the ground, and it will be rich and plenteous; on that day your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture. Also the oxen and the donkeys which work the ground will eat salted fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. On every lofty mountain and on every high hill there will be streams running with water on the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the LORD binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted."

In Luke 12:29-32 Jesus instructs us, "...do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

Finally I would like to consider Psalm 27:4-14 as a prayer: "One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD and to meditate in His temple. For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock. And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD. Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice, and be gracious to me and answer me. When You said, "Seek My face," my heart said to You, "Your face, O LORD, I shall seek." Do not hide Your face from me, do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation! For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me up. Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me in a level path because of my foes. Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence. I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the LORD."

The Bride

There is only One side to choose - and that doesn't include any nation on this present earth. It is the side of the Kingdom of Heaven, under the Rulership of Jesus Christ, that is my choice. In this I seek to obey His command of love, first, for God and then love for others. 

I do not believe wealth, beauty, and military might are signs of God's favor - but rather that God will use or allow all for His Purpose - and this includes His righteous judgement. Not one jot or tittle of His Word, will,  and commands will go unfulfilled. I do believe that His Temple are those of the Body of Christ Jesus, and will not be found as a physical building on this present earth any longer. 

1 Peter 2:5 tells us:

"you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." The scripture goes on to tell us that Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone of this building! For the Believer 1 Peter 2:6 tells us that, "HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." However, 1 Peter 2:8 also tells us that for the unbeliever and rebellious Jesus Christ is, "a 'STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE'; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this (doom) they were also appointed."

1 Corinthians 3:16 tells us:

"Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"

Those in Christ Jesus ARE the Temple! And there will be a NEW JERUSALEM which comes down from Heaven! Revelation 3:12 says, "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name."

Revelation 21:1-2 tells us:

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband."

2 Peter 3:13 tells us"

"But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells."

This scripture is repetitiously supported by Revelation 21:9-10 which says, "Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God..."

We see here that the New Jerusalem is the Bride of Christ! We ARE the Temple! We ARE the New Jerusalem! We ARE the Bride of Christ Jesus!