28/04/10

Seek to know Jesus continually

1 Chronicles 16:11 - Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.


In the message we received today the Lord tells us to do three things:

    1) Seek the Lord continually
    2) Seek His strength continually
    3) Seek His face continually


1) Seek the Lord continually

If I ask any person on earth who is alive or dead to describe God, I am very sure no one will ever be able to do so. What they will do is describe His nature, His character, His ability etc. all these are in their limitations as to what man has experienced over the years. No one can describe God the Father for no one has ever seen Him except for God the Son.

Forget about knowing God the Father, even God the Son is impossible for man to know and see Him in His glory. When Moses made this request, the Lord showed him His reflection (glory) but not Himself. The glory of God what we see is just the reflection of the reality. The different is in seeing the sunrays fallen on an object and looking directly at the sun. Man with naked eyes will lose his eyesight if he glares at the sun. The sun light we receive is also a filtered light, filtered by the atmosphere surrounding the earth.

If we cannot know God the Father or God the Son then it is a dream that we will know God the Holy Spirit. When Jesus said baptize them in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit that order is the order in which we can know Him. The Father reveals the Son to man and the Son reveals the Spirit of God to man. Those who know the Father (God the Father - Heavenly Father) will know the Son (Jesus the Son of God) and those who know the Son (Jesus Christ - Son of God) will know the Father (Holy Spirit - Father of Jesus and our Father too since Jesus called us brother). It is the Father (Holy Spirit) Who reveals the Son (God the Son) and it is the Son (God the Son) Who reveals the Father (God the Father).

Forgetting about knowing God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, many of us do not even know Jesus the Son of God who is the human form in which the God the Son came. People do not know when they refer to Jesus who they are referring to, or when they say Christ who they are referring to, or when they say Son of God who they are referring to, or when they say God the Son Who they are referring to.

What man has known of Jesus is just like knowing a drop in the sea. As humans we need to eternally thirst for God and know Him to experience His glory. The only way to start knowing God is to know Jesus.


2) Seek His strength continually

The word used as strength is also translated in many places as power. To receive the power we need to seek His authority and we receive His authority when we know His Name. The authority of God is in the Name of God and this Name is evoked when take the Name of Jesus. It is written the Name of Jesus is above all names and everything on earth, below the earth, and in Heaven bows to Name of Jesus. That does not means it is above the name of God but in the Name of Jesus is the Name of God. That also does not mean that Jesus is God痴 Name.

By saying 'Jesus' by our lips we will be saying the name of the man Jesus, but when we say the Name of Jesus from our hearts knowing Who He is, we will be evoking the Name of the Lord and that will make all things to submit to the Name.

Thus to have authority we come back to knowing Jesus.


3) Seek His face continually

Seeking the face of God means to seek His favor. When Moses wanted to see the Lord's face (favor) the Lord asked him to stand between the clift of the rock (gap between the rock) and he would see the reflection of His glory pass by.

We the people of God who are born after Jesus came as man are more privileged than Moses. We can see the face (favor) of God which Moses was not allowed but for us too we need to stand in between the gap in the Rock. This Rock is not a rock in any mountain but the Holy Spirit. It is when we stand in the Holy Spirit we see the favor of God in us and in our lives.

Now the irony is to stand in the Holy Spirit we need to stand in the Name of Jesus and to stand in the Name of Jesus we need to know Jesus, so all things come back to knowing Jesus.

So my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we may think we know Jesus but if we do not see the glory of God around us and in our lives then we need to understand that there is lot we do not know about Jesus.

When God the Son humbled Himself as man God stretched His Hand and made it easy for man to know Him. So let us reach out to Him by knowing more and more of Jesus, by studying His Word and having a relationship with Him.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord God, You are an awesome God. No human can ever know You or imagine You. It is by your mercy and grace that we are getting to know You through Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus by your Spirit reveal Yourself and the Father unto us. That we may see and experience your glory in our lives...

We make this prayer in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference Scriptures ]
Exodus 33:13-23
13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.
14 And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
15 And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
16 For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.
17 And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.
18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
21 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

John 17:12
12 While I was with them, I kept them in thy name which thou hast given me: and I guarded them, and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

Acts 19:13-17
13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.
14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

Matthew 28:19
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit:

The Word of God was given free to us, therefore we should also share it freely with others. (All rights are with God)