Can I know...I know God?

This past year has been a difficult journey, with failures and victories. As emotional beings we can have feelings that cause us a lot of stress and even doubt. I cannot tell you how many believers I have met that in confidence have shared that they were worried if they really knew God. I would have to admit to that same struggle at times when my life is not what I know it should be. Sadly, there are those that have decided they have arrived and believe their righteousness is sufficient. I have come to the solid conclusion that I will never be righteously acceptable, God is the One that makes me acceptable. This begs the question then..."How can I know I know God?" In the Scriptures it is clear there is never "arrival," even Paul stated that. Take any individual in the Scripture and you will see - it is in the journey where the evidence is seen. When a person tenaciously continues to pursue the Lord, never quitting, that is a person that knows God! One of my favorites is Moses, and he gives us great insight from his life!  

Exodus 33:7–34:8 Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting.

A person that truly knows God makes time to be with Him. This is not an afterthought, but is the priority in his schedule. Do you have a “tent of meeting”?

And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp. And it came about, whenever Moses went out to the tent, that all the people would arise and stand, each at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses until he entered the tent. Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; and the Lord would speak with Moses. When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would arise and worship, each at the entrance of his tent.

When you truly know God, your heart burns for others to know Him also. Not to make you appear right or feel more secure. That would show that you have a religion only, not a relationship. When you KNOW God, He is so wonderful that you desire all that you care for to experience His presence also! Do you ask the Lord to open doors with those you know, to share His love with them? Do you live in such a way that those around you see the Hope you have and ask you about it?

Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend.

When you know God, really know Him, He is never the enemy. He does not intend harm, or delight when you suffer. Even His strokes in chastisement are from love, and you understand that. When you think of Him; not only God, Lord, Father come to mind; but also Friend and Daddy. Are you able to relax with the Lord…laugh with Him? When you sin, are you mainly concerned about your weakness and being judged, or are you upset that you have hurt your friend? 

When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people!’ But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, ‘I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’  “Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people.”  And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.”  Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. “For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?”

When you truly know God, you are not afraid to ask what is on your heart. Can you speak freely to the Lord? This does not mean irreverently, it means; can you share your heart with Him…even the things He may not like? This includes your doubts; your pleasure with certain sins; your anger at various issues. When you are that honest…you know Him!

The Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.”

When you truly know God…He will answer your requests. Does He?

Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock;  and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. “Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”

When you truly know God, you will want more! Like Moses, you will not settle for a little bit of God, you want all you can get.  Are you content to just stay where you are or do you desire a deeper, more intimate walk with God?

Now the Lord said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered. “So be ready by morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain. “No man is to come up with you, nor let any man be seen anywhere on the mountain; even the flocks and the herds may not graze in front of that mountain.” So he cut out two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and he took two stone tablets in his hand.

When you truly know God, you obey Him. Do you? If you fail, do you run to Him and confess?

The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the Lord. Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.

When you truly know God, no matter the encounter, you will worship Him. The scriptures are full of those that encountered God, no matter the situation; i.e. blessing, judgment, revelation or mystery, each time the individuals ended with worship.

With all the things about our Lord that are beyond our understanding…are you able to put all that aside and worship Him? One secret…the more you worship – the more He gives you understanding of His mystery!