Title: Those Who Know God, Buy God...
Contents
To those who know God and those who love God (Psalm 91:14-16) 2001.09.02.
Those who strive to know God can have eternal life
Many young people get married after meeting each other for a certain period of time, whether it is an arranged marriage or a love marriage, but whether it is a month or 10 years, they do not get to know each other sufficiently. Marriage is not done because you know everything about the other person, but you can only know the reality of the other person by getting married.
Not every young man who gets married says he doesn't know about each other. He confidently says he knows him better than anyone else in the world. But there is no greater illusion than that. How many times or dozens of times can you fully get to know each other? If you know anything, it's just an illusion or a false prejudice of your opponent. Nevertheless, because they mistakenly think that it is everything about the other person, they lose the way to get to know the other person forever. As a result, even though a couple may live together under the same roof, their minds and thoughts will draw parallel lines for the rest of their lives.
Young men and women cannot fully know each other, but they can enjoy the joy of getting to know each other's hearts and thoughts wider and deeper than the sea as time goes by because they marry by faith and thus start living together. And you can enjoy the joy of living together in a beautiful harmony by getting to know each other right away and complementing each other. Therefore, from the moment you judge that you know the other person at any time, the way to know the other person more deeply is blocked. It is foolishness to simultaneously reduce and distort the other person's potential and one's own. However, only when we do not lose the humility that we do not know each other for the rest of our lives will we be able to fully understand the reality of each other.
Just because a couple lives in the same house doesn't mean they get to know each other automatically. On the contrary, it is easier to not know than anyone because we live together closer than anyone else. In order for a couple to get to know each other, the desire to know each other and the effort to get to know each other are more important than living together. Without this, a couple's cohabitation cannot be happy and joyous, no matter how long the period. Living together without wanting to know the other person is really just living with painful pain.
The same goes for us Christians. No matter how long you have been living your life of faith, no one knows enough about God. No matter how long the period of faith life may be, a life of faith that does not want to know God more is never a life full of joy and happiness.
The Lord clearly reveals the purpose of God sending Him to this earth through the Word of the Bible and the purpose of giving Him the authority to rule over all peoples on this earth. Its ultimate purpose was only to give us eternal life, eternal life. In other words, it was to give them eternal life on this earth. “For you have given your Son authority over all peoples, that he may give eternal life to all whom you have given him” (John 17:2).
So, how can we live eternal life on this earth? The Lord continues to confess this. “Eternal life is to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). Isn't it? Without knowing the Triune God, who is the source of eternal life, it is quite natural that we cannot obtain eternal life or enjoy it in this world. But why is the Lord repeating these natural words over and over again in this urgent moment of death? When the Lord prayed this way, he meant that he was praying to God that human beings would really know God and Jesus Christ rightly and live a life of eternal life. The Lord knew that humans want eternal life, but do not seek to know God, and that knowing God is not just a matter of course.
Here, the verb 'to know' has the meaning of 'to sleep with' or 'to live with'. Even if a couple who can see each other with their own eyes live together for the rest of their lives, if they do not try to get to know each other, they will have no choice but to live as husband and wife. Can you do it, and how can you live the life of eternal life in Him? That is why the Lord is begging God for us to truly know Him, even at this last moment, when His death enters the first reading.
There were people who had a hobby of collecting money in the old days, and the source of the money they collect was mainly tombs. The money that people who lived in the coffins of the dead put in to be used as money for Lao-tzu going to the afterlife was robbed by robbers and passed through the money dealer and into the hands of collectors. But one day, he came to a precious realization. Even though Lao-tzu's money was put in to say good-bye to the underworld, the corpse could not go even an inch ahead and rot, rather, the tomb that was supposed to be sacred because of the Lao-tzu's money was robbed. In other words, it was the realization that money, no matter how large the amount, was never responsible for a person's death. After that, he gave up his old hobby of collecting money altogether. I knew it was all in vain.
The prophet Hosea exclaims, “Let us know the Lord, let us strive to know the Lord” (Hosea 6:3), and the Bible repeatedly emphasizes, “You shall love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Hosea 6:3). . Does that not mean that you should know the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength? Because only those who know God rightly can love rightly. Who would be more foolish than to risk a lifetime for money that never pays off after death, and show no interest in knowing the God who will give me eternal life?
Eternal life is to know the only God and Jesus Christ whom he sent. Eternal life begins with knowing God. Only those who diligently know God can possess, enjoy, and obtain eternal life with Christ. In the life of eternal truth, the life of life, there is no bye-bye.
Psalm 91 is a precious psalm that praises the fact that those who trust and rely on God are guaranteed safety by God's protection. Modern people live surrounded by various anxieties. So I try to deal with my anxiety in different ways. There are fears about life, anxiety about various accidents, job loss, illness, and fear that unhappiness will happen to the family.
One of the efforts to relieve such anxiety is to get insurance. There are also many types of insurance. Before, I only knew about life insurance, fire insurance, and auto insurance, but now there are countless insurances that I have never even heard of. This means that society has become more complex. However, with insurance, you may have the ability to solve the problem after the fact, but it does not have the ability to prevent it. All you have to do is be careful.
In the Psalms, we can see that it is said, "We who believe have the protection of God that is incomparable with anything in the world." If you look for words that describe God's guiding and protecting grace, you will find the secret place of the Most High..... The shadow of the Almighty....The Lord is my fortress.... Refuge....Shield and hand. A shield...God is our perfect bodyguard...our sentinel... our comfort zone. Not only does he protect us, he grants us peace of life and becomes our will.
Psalm 91 is a confession of absolute faith experienced amidst the many adversities of life, and the text is a promise premised on the conditions for who can enjoy God's perfect and supreme blessings in a difficult life's journey. In other words, God will deliver those who love God, exalt those who know His name, answer their prayers, deliver them in times of trouble, glorify them, satisfy them with longevity, and show them salvation.
There is no discrimination in God's love for man.
There is no discrimination in God's love for mankind. However, God's benefits differ according to man's attitude toward God. Even though God says, “Flee the scorching sun and come into my shadow,” you go into the world of heat waves, and even when He says, “Do not tremble in the cold world of torment, come into my nest.” If you are in me, you will escape from the hunter's snare, so do not depart from me." If you run into the hunter's trap, God's perfect love of protection cannot come. In other words, putting my life in hardship and danger was something I did on my own, not because of God's discrimination.
The article '10 Commandments for the Unemployed of Faithfuls' lists 10 advice for the unemployed who are believers.
The first is that you should not dream of making money.
Second, avoid jobs that require you to ask a colleague or friend.
Third, let go of the elite consciousness.
Fourth, think that I have the ability. When I lose my job, it's easy to think I've been abandoned because I'm incompetent, but I don't have to. There is no need for frustration or self-deprecation. Because it is because of the social structure.
Fifth, think it's my fault. If you lose your job, you will resent several people, including your boss, and there is no need to have such resentment against the individual.
Sixth, think of your neighbors who are more difficult than you.
Seventh, your home is always your sanctuary.
Eighth, attend the morning prayer meeting.
Ninth, pray.
The tenth thing is to wear neat clothes.
I think it makes sense. But in the midst of this, we must take God as our refuge. We should take God as our refuge, take refuge in God, and use it as an opportunity to meet and fellowship with God. When we come to God in this way, today through Psalm 91, God says that He will save us.
Verse 15 says, “He will call upon me, and I will answer. I will be with him in their troubles, and I will deliver him and glorify him.” Among the many promises God has made to us, the most important one is the promise that “God is with us.” It means that you take God as your refuge and go to him. Why is it the safest place? Because it is a place where God is with us, it is a safe, comfortable and warm place.
I will rescue, I will exalt
“Because he loves me, I will deliver him; if he knows my name, I will exalt him” (verse 14). do. Therefore, it is saying that in order to receive God's help, it is necessary to absolutely trust and depend on God. Also, ‘hashaq’ means ‘to dedicate’, and it also means a close relationship with God through loyalty and obedience to God.
“I am the vine and you are the branches; if he in me and I in him, this man bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). In the words of the 'branch' is man, the 'vine' is the Lord, 'attached' is love for unity, and 'fruit' is compassion and mercy. ‘I know’ means ‘believe’ or ‘acknowledge’ and means total personal trust in God.