Knowing Jesus is the Savior is not same as knowing Jesus has saved you – Leonard Sweet
Ever have a time when it seems like facts get in the way? I think that is a problem we believers all have at one time or another in our walk of faith. This past Sunday, I got the chance to fill the pulpit for a friend of mine and started a series (I’ll be back this Sunday and again in July – he’s doing two Sundays in the series in between) on prayer and the promises of God. I made the statement that the reason we pray in the first place is that we BELIEVE the promises of God, yet often our actions have us hedging our bets. Do we really believe? (I wrote about that last month and probably can and will say more about that).
I think it all boils down to a head and heart issue. We KNOW certain things in our head but we don’t really KNOW them in our heart. I’m not talking about feelings or emotions but a deep-seated, all-encompassing faith in what we say we know and believe – the love of God, the promises of God, the assurances of God. I’ve told several people – when directed by God and Lord, knows it applies to me, too – that their problem is that they have it in their head but not in their heart. One friend told me later that it took him four months to get that what I said was true. I know when I told him this, his face betrayed some surprise and maybe a little anger but he took it in and God worked on him with that bit of knowledge. He later shared something that he heard about not letting our need to understand get in the way of our faith.
I believe the we have our love of knowledge to blame for all of this. We have this need to know everything and faith just isn’t logical. But if you come down to it, if we understood everything about God, He wouldn’t be God enough for us. Faith is more than knowing Scripture, knowing the words to pray, or being able to get into worship or service. I believe that it is letting go of our “knower” enough to truly let our hearts run with the truth that God is exactly who He says He is and that what He says is does and He will and does keep His promises.
I like how The Message puts it in Hebrews 11:1 – “The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see.”
Father, help us to be satisfied with not knowing all that we feel we need to know. The saints of the past were commended for their faith and we want to be persons of faith also. Help us to shut down our heads and deep thoughts enough to let our hearts overflow with Your deep love. In the name of Your Son, Jesus. Amen!
Be well,
Steve
