"Knowing Him"

"For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:8

It is impossible for us to know all there is to know about the Lord while we are here on earth. The depth of who He is is beyond our ability to comprehend. Now we only see and know in part. There is so much more to Him and about Him than we have experienced. Peter, James and John walked with Jesus day in and day out- thinking they knew who He was- then one day Jesus showed them who He really was by taking them to the Mount of Transfiguration.

Although we will never know the fullness of who He is while we are here, we can know at least "in part" who He is. But that knowing who He is doesn't come all at once, it is a process. We learn who He is a little at a time. The disciples were with Him for a long time yet on more than one occasion we hear them asking, "Who is this?" Paul, the Apostle, after serving the Lord faithfully for years and walking in daily communion with Him, still prayed that he would "know Him". At Philip's request for Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus responded, "Have I been with you all this time and yet you still don't know who I am?". None of them had the full knowledge of who Jesus was, they were in the process of learning Him.

There is a knowledge that we gain about Him at salvation. We know Jesus as the One who saved us, placed His love on us and forgave us of our sins. But that is just the beginning of the process of "knowing" Him. In our verse above it points to how we can be "fruitful" in our knowledge of Him. It says that if certain things be in us, and abound in us, that we won't be "barren" in our knowledge of Him.

What are those things? Virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity. (verse 7) We are to be diligent in adding these to our faith.
1) Virtue- seek to live a life of moral excellence and refrain from immorality.
2) Knowledge- seek to know, enquire into and investigate spiritual truths.
3) Temperance- self control.
4) Patience- steadfast endurance.
5) Godliness- reverence to God. Having an attitude to do what is pleasing to God.
6) Brotherly love- love one another
7) Charity- love

All these things come through the knowledge of the Truth- the truth of God's word. As we apply them, walk in them and practice them daily we are gaining a greater knowledge of who He is because these are the very character of Christ, and we are becoming more fruitful in our knowledge of Him because we are becoming more like Him.

Have a great day. Knowing Him comes through a process.

For further reading:
1 Corinthians 13:9-12
Mark 4:41
Philippians 3:10
John 14:9
Matthew 11:29
Psalm 40:7

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
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