Reflections on “That They Might Know!” January 7, 2025
Yet, indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:8-11.
Have you ever doubted God’s Love? Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. I John 4:15-16.
Why were shepherds told not to fear? Do you worry? Or feel deep anxiety about something? I recently realized that fear is a symptom of not trusting God!
When we put our future and our days in God’s Hands, we realize how much God loves us. And we feel His Peace. One day, a friend shared this scripture with me. Peace, I leave with you, My peace, I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I. John 14:27-28.
When God gives us Hope, we have an anchor for the promises of God. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all disputes. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. Hebrews 6:16-18.
Just as an anchor keeps a boat from drifting in high winds, Jesus is our anchor from drifting away. Revelation 22:20, reminds me of what Jesus promises: He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
When we read the glorious stories of the first covenant with God, this readies us for the vast glory we have in the second covenant when Jesus became a sacrifice to give us hope.
And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:3-5.
How can we have Peace, the 3rd gift from the Holy Spirit? When we realize that Peace comes from Love and Joy, it comes from being loved by obeying the commands we read from the Old Testament to the New Testament.
And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. John 17:22-23.
Jesus loves extravagantly of what God gives. Do we realize how He learned to love from His Father God? Begin with love and joy and the blessings will flow. Trust in Jesus and in His Love.
And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. I John 5:11-13.