FIRST HAND KNOWLEDGE Sunday 3 June

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye

Memorise: And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 16:17

Read: Matthew 16:13-17

Some years ago, I was invited to preach somewhere for three days. The first day was on faith and the second day was on healing.  So l told the pastor l will speak on restitution on the third day, but he refused. He did not want a message he claimed could scatter the crowd. Stop following the crowd. Stand distinct. Let God look down from Heaven and say, I have one faithful son. In Romans 8:34-39, Apostle Paul says nothing can separate us from God’s Love. True, nothing except you. Knowing Him will definitely cost you something. But how do we know Him? There are primary and secondary ways of knowing Him. John 5:39 says you can know Him by what others have experienced or declared of Him. That is from a secondary source. You should never be content with just what people say about Jesus. Or what they have experienced with Him; get your own encounter with Him! He said in Matthew 11:27 that:

All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

Besides what others have shared about Jesus, you should have a first hand revelation of Him. This is the primary way of knowing Him. You need to experience Him to know Him.

While studying John 15:1-5 some years ago, insights began to come to me. If He is the vine and I am one of the branches connected to the vine, it follows that what is flowing through the vine is also flowing through me. Then it occurred to me that the day I became born again, I had a blood transfusion. The blood flowing in the Lord Jesus is the same flowing in me. To whom will He give revelations? To somebody like John the Beloved who was very intimate with the Lord (John 13:21-26). John was so intimate with the Lord that the other disciples knew it. He became someone the Master could not hide anything from. The day I understood this passage, I asked God to make me like John the Beloved. But He said: “love begets love”. Parents are expected to love their children equally. But do they? They still love one child above others. While the other disciples saw God’s acts and were in awe of Him, John saw God’s ways and touched His humanity. Knowing Him makes all the difference both in time and eternity. Seek to know Him from today. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus to you.

ACTION POINT:

Ask God to reveal Himself to you like He did to Abraham in Genesis 17:1.

 

Bible in one year: Psalms 1:3