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The
hidden things of God are only known by God. They are not for us. But
that which God makes known is ours that we may share in His life and
live in
the warmth of His love forever. I implore you, hunger and thirst for
what He
has made known.
It
has been said the fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom. To fear the Lord is not to be afraid of Him or terrified of Him
so as
to avoid Him or appease Him. To fear the Lord is to reverence Him, to
be in awe
of Him, to respect Him, to adore Him, coupled with a healthy dread of
Him.
Therefore, proper fear of the Lord is deep love mingled with
reverential dread.
It is knowing He loves perfectly so as to be drawn in by His love in
order to
know His love intimately. It is knowing He punishes thoroughly so as to
fearfully and carefully live up to what He says in order to return love
to the
One with whom we share love.
In
like manner, we will not live up to what He says if we
do not know Him personally and intimately. As the scriptures say,
“He who loves
not, knows not God, for God is love.” In other words, we may
live up to some of
what He says but we will not live up to what we know about what He says
if we
do not know Him personally and intimately. And, we will not want to
know Him
this deeply unless we repent, which means changing our mind about Him,
about
sin, and about ourselves. To obey God, to live up to what we know, to
do the
right we know is right, takes a changed mind leading to a changed life
which
hungers and thirsts for intimacy with God.
Therefore,
intimate communion and companionship with God
coupled with living up to what we know God says is the pathway to
wisdom. Skip
either side of the equation and we might become smarter, but we will
not grow
wiser.
Wisdom
is understanding, clear thinking, and sound
judgment used in the most sensible manner possible by mere mortals to
live in
such a manner as to love God supremely and everyone else as much as
they love
themselves.
Now,
the purpose of what has been written in this book is
to increase understanding. It is hoped the increase in understanding
will
promote clear thinking and sound judgment (wisdom)
which in turn will
encourage choices and behavior that seek the good of everyone affected
by your
choices and behavior, including God.
Those who are wise value the love of the Lord and live according to the ways of the Lord. Those who hunger for the knowledge of God grow stronger and stronger in the ways of God. So be prudent. Make it your goal to know God personally and intimately, living up to what you know He says about how to live. In this way your relationship with Him will affect your whole life, life-long.
“Not
everyone who says to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord,’
shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My
Father who is
in heaven.”
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