“Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, (or, in the NIV:  a faith as precious as ours) by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  grace and peace be multiplied to you (or, NIV:  grace and peace be yours in abundance) in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;”  2 Peter 1:1-2

“…in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord…”

What is this…“knowledge of God and Jesus”??

Knowledge.  That thing that we chase after.  The “Pursuit of Knowledge”.  We want to know things.  And we want to know now.  We are Googlers with instant “knowledge” gratification…we are “experts” on all things.  We can define all things.  We know birthdays of movie stars and rock stars and we know what foods help with what ailments and how many calories are in anything and we diagnose ourselves with all manner of things without ever attending medical school.  We “KNOW”  a whole lot, right?

Is that what this is, this “knowledge of God and Jesus”??

Not so.  This is not a knowledge we can Google.

This is not knowing ABOUT God.  It’s not knowing all of the Bible answers and Bible stories.

It’s not about knowing the books of the Bible or knowing the Greek and Hebrew roots of things.  These things are not bad.  These are good things and helpful things to know.  

This knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, though, is knowledge that we can only gain by and through a first~hand relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  

This is contact~knowledge.

Experiential~knowledge.

Relational~knowledge.

Knowledge that one gains from walking side~by~side, hand~in~hand, heart~to~heart, through~the~fire~and~back~again with Someone kind of knowledge.

God wants us to KNOW Him.  Deeply.  Intimately.

He wants us to learn that He is all things to all people.  He wants you to know personally that He is all things to you.  He wants me to know personally that He is all things to me.  We can know Him in this way by learning His names through His Word.  We can know Him relationally…experientially.  We will know Him better when we begin to fully trust that He alone is the I AM for every need that we will ever have.  He is faithful.  

He is Father.  He is before all things.  He is our Savior.  Our Deliverer.  Our Friend.  Our Safe Place.  Our Peace.  Our Light in the darkness.

“The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.”  Proverbs 18:10

When we begin to run into His name at all times for all things, when we put complete trust in Him and fully depend on Him alone, we find that we begin…and only begin to have a knowledge of this Great and Awesome, HOLY God.  This is when grace and peace will be ours in abundance.  When we begin to know our Father’s heart.

He is an ocean, we are a speck and we will never reach end nor bottom of Him.  But we can dive in and let His greatness saturate us.  

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”  Romans 11:33

We can dive in and begin…only begin…to know Him as we are fully known.

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”  1 Corinthians 13:12

For now, we can know Him in part…but only knowing Him in part is still ENOUGH for this life!!  We, in our earthly tents, could not handle knowing all of Him!!  One day, though, we will know Him fully, the way that He fully knows us NOW!!!

So, then, how are you…and how am I…seeking to know Him better today??

Not just knowing about Him, but KNOWING HIM.

I pray that we will seek Him with all of our hearts.  That we, as the Church, will seek to know God and not just know a lot of things about Him.  

“You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do I seek.””  Psalm 27:8

I pray today that “…according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”  Ephesians 3:16-19

Blessings,

~Nicole

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”  Colossians 3:16