To Know Him vs To Know About Him

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

1 John 4:7-8 NIV

Each of us needs to ask ourselves…Do I truly know Jesus or do I just know about Him?

There is a significant difference. To know that He lived and the things that He did and even the things He said is to know about Him

To know Him is to meet with Him daily and communicate with Him all the time

To know Him is to ask Him questions and express your true feelings to Him

To know Him is to do what He did in your relationships with others

To know Him is to take up your cross and follow Him

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Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life[f] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” 

Matthew 16:24-24 NIV

(This photo was taken along the North Shore of Lake Superior in northern Minnesota)

The Lord Is Our Rock

You will keep in perfect peace
    those whose minds are steadfast,
    because they trust in you.
Trust in the Lord forever,
    for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.

Isaiah 26:3-4 NIV

We have been saved

We have a fortress of salvation

We have been delivered by Jesus Christ to eternal life

Trust in the Lord, there is no greater strength than the love of God

Let the Word of God wash over you and flow through you in your attitude and behaviors

When we fall down He will pick us up…He renews us and restores us

His Word is a shelter from evil

When it feels like the world is crashing down around us we need to look to the Lord for He is our Rock

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“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.  He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Psalm 18:2 NIV

(This photo was taken in Glacier National Park in Montana)

Our Source Of Strength

“Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

John 4:13 NIV

Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.”

Psalm 1:1-3 NIV

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“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
    and never fails to bear fruit.”

Jeremiah 17:7-8 NIV

(This photo was taken at a lake in northwestern Wisconsin)

He Knows…

Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.”

Psalm 139:7-10 NIV

No matter where you are, no matter what you have done or have left undone

God knows all about you and He loves you

He knows your hurts and your pain

He knows your joys and good times

He knows your struggles and difficulties and He knows your achievements and accomplishments

He has been with you the whole time and He will never leave you

Put your trust and faith in God

No matter what your circumstances are

He knows!

He Knows by Jeremy Camp

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Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Psalm 139:23-24 NIV

(This photo was taken near Arches National Park in Utah)