Holy Spirit woke me up with a whisper this week, one that has repeated itself over and over again prompting me to have to write about it and share it with you. He was urgently repeating over and over Hosea 4:6:
“My people perish from lack of knowledge.”
The knowledge from this world is NOT the knowledge that God is talking about. He is talking about TRUE knowledge that only can be found in His book of direction – the Word of God, the Bible! The knowledge that the world presents is man-made perspective that often guides us away from the truth found in the Word of God. The knowledge of the world is ever changing, while God’s Word stands steadfast. The knowledge of the world is self-gratifying, temporal, while God’s word is life changing, eternal, everlasting.
We were NOT created to function without God as the very center, the very heartbeat of our lives. The knowledge of the world deceptively leads you AWAY from God. AWAY from the purpose He created you for when you were in your mother’s womb. The knowledge of the world is partial and distracting so that your focus is AWAY from God and on the things the of the world. And here is the thing, most of the time people are oblivious to it until at the end of their lives, they realize that they focused on “things” and not on finding out God’s purpose for their lives. All of a sudden, when you are facing where you are going to spend eternity, all those worldly things disappear. I’m not saying that followers of Christ don’t have their regrets, because we are a sinful people saved ONLY by God’s grace, His forgiveness and His love. The only perfect person who walked the face of this earth is Jesus. But TRUE wisdom comes from reading the Word of God. BELIEVING it IS the Word of God (yes, God used man to write it – but it was Holy Spirit inspired, and God IS able to preserve His Word, that is one of the FIRST nuggets of wisdom, believing God has the capability of maintaining His Word and using it for His glory). If you don’t believe the Bible is the infallible Word of God, then you are truly being deceived by the enemy and lack TRUE knowledge. 2nd Timothy 3:16-17 tells us:
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
You don’t have to be a “Bible scholar” in order to understand the Word of God. Jesus said before He ascended to Heaven, told the apostles in John 14:26:
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything that I have told you.”
If you desire understanding when you sit down to read the Word of God, ask Him! I have prayed prayers like the following:
“Father God, I thank You so much for Your holy Word. I thank You for each and every writer, I thank You for preserving it throughout the course of history! Lord, Your Word tells me that You will not withhold any GOOD thing from me! So, I come before you, Father, I ask first that You forgive me for my sins and wash me with the precious blood of Jesus. I desire knowledge Lord! TRUE knowledge which can ONLY come from You! Please bless my mind with understanding and show me, speak to me through Your precious Word. Give me understanding and guidance and have those Words that specifically I need to hear jump off the pages! Help me to hide Your Word in my heart and bring it to my remembrance as I go through life. I know Your Words are life changing and I desire You to be the center of my life! Guide me Holy Spirit! Teach me! Transform my mind! I know that Your Word tells me in Matthew 4:4:
““It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
So, I ask Father that You feed me! Help me to grow “fat” in Your Word. I want to know You intimately AND deeply. Thank You Father for hearing this prayer, be glorified, in Jesus’ precious name I pray! AMEN.
Make no mistake that the very last thing the enemy wants is for you to grow in Christ. He will try to distract you as soon as you pick up the Bible. He will make you all of a sudden grow sleepy. He will do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to try and keep you from knowing God’s heart. If you are looking to draw closer to God and have a deeper relationship with Him, the BEST way to do that is to know God’s heart – and His heart IS contained within the pages of the Bible.
I feel as though the urgency Holy Spirit prompted me to write this post is due to the strong desire God has for people to come to know Him! To sharpen their spiritual swords by hiding MORE of the Word within your heart! Time is short! Jesus IS coming soon! How do I know that? Because it speaks about the sign of the times in the Book of Revelation found in the Bible! It is God’s desire that none shall perish! But as I stated in the opening sentence of this post, Holy Spirit indicated:
“My people perish for lack of knowledge.”
NOW IS THE TIME
God loves you SO much, that’s why He gave me this Word! Open up that Bible that is sitting on a shelf in your house collecting dust! Pray and then read it! And TRULY taste and see how GOOD our God is! Heed His Word! It’s only a read away. Start off reading it for 15 minutes, I started with reading the Book of John when I first accepted Jesus as my Savior, made Him Lord OVER my life. You don’t have to start out reading for hours (unless you choose to). Start off slow, and I promise you – Holy Spirit will show you things you never knew! And I will tell you that every time I pick up the Word of God, He shows me something DIFFERENT than what I read previously. It IS called the “Living Word of God” for a reason!!! You will be blessed and encouraged and strengthened and filled with His perfect peace! You ONLY have to choose the wisdom of God over the pseudo fake wisdom of this world. One leads to destruction; One leads to everlasting life. You choose. Choose life! I pray you do!
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