Known by God

When we read the sobering words written in Matt 7:14-28 we see that there will come a day when many people who call themselves christians today will be told by Jesus "away from me you evildoers" or words to that effect:

Matt 7:21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

What struck me in my reading this morning was this idea of being "known" by God. Do you think it might be important to be "known" by God so that whenever you stand before the Lord you don't hear the dreaded words we read in Matt 7:23? Issues don't get much bigger than this.

Here's what I read seemingly out of the blue, a statement stuck in the book of Corinthians that has no apparent relationship to the other words around it:

1 Cor 8:3 But the man who loves God is known by God.

When you read that chapter of Corinthians that statement seems to be stuck in there almost hidden among the rest of the words. We are told what it takes to be "known by God." It says that a man who loves God is known by God so next we need to know what it means to love God.

I'm sure many people will read 1 Cor 8:3 and say "oh yea, I love God! Of course I do" but we need to understand that our Lord does not see things the way men see them. What does "loving God" mean to God? To love God means to OBEY HIM.....and that's a big deal friends:

John 14:15
"If you love me, you will obey what I command.

So putting this together we see this clearly now:

obedience=love=being known by God.

Friends, we MUST be known by God. We cannot, must not be found in a place where our God will tell us he "never knew us"..... 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Unfortunately there are many people in this world who would tickle your ears with the idea that the Lord could never say something like "i never knew you" to you. Those people tell you one thing and the bible tells you another. Todays posting is not a beat down for you, rather it is an encouragement to live obedient to the Lord. Our walk in obedience is not over until one way or another we are standing before the Lord. While we walk this earth there are still "works" for us to do in accordance with this statement:

Phil 2:12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,

Paul said it, not me. Do you think that maybe walking in obedience in order to "love God" so we may be known by God is part of this "work out your salvation" thing? I do.

In a broad sense, looking at what the Lord has been saying to me, I see the Lord getting his people ready to meet him. When will that happen? It could be years from now, or it could be Saturday, September 19 (Sabbath day)-The Feast of Trumpets which is just weeks away, or it could be today. In one sense I am amazed at how little emphasis I see the Lord putting on the "dates and times" coming quickly for mankind, on the other hand the bible reinforces the fact that we should not be concerned with "dates and times" but we should be very concerned with being READY whenever those "dates and times" show up.

The message from the Lord over the past 4 months to me has been one of readiness. Not necessarily for any one event but readiness for HIM. In other words the message has been one of getting ourselves to the place we should be in every day regardless of the end of the world, rapture, tribulation, whatever. There is a way we are told to walk and talk and act and think and believe and I see the Lord calling us into the very center of that "way" right now. The road that leads to life is a narrow one (Matt 7:14) and I see the Lord painting a big bulls eye in the middle of that narrow road for us to position ourselves so that we will never hear the words "away from me you evildoers" or anything like that.

Let us strive to be obedient today and every day hence so that we demonstrate our love for the Lord according to how he defines love, so that in turn we may be "known" by him.

P.S. I suspect being "known" by God also has something to do with our prayers being answered but thats a topic for another day.

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus be with you today and always.