D12 Knowing the Truth (information and experience)
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D12 Knowing the Truth (information and experience)
I have promised you important practical suggestions for the process of accepting our identity given by the Lord Jesus to us. The first and most important step I call
A) KNOWING the truth.
We need to know clearly how things really are:
a) gain biblical conviction of who Jesus is, and
b) to become deeply inwardly convinced, according to God’s Word, of who I am.
Always keep in mind that in the spiritual realm
my identity must be derived from Jesus‘ identity.
(A note: My goal in Bridges to People is not theological exposition. Rather, I am trying to be instructively practical while holding firmly to biblical foundation.)
Since I was about fourteen years old, I have memorized bits and pieces of Bible passages; single „verses,“ longer sections, even entire chapters and epistles. At the best times, I knew four or five hundred „verses,“ even with references where to find the in the Bible. This amount of biblical material became very important foundation for healing of my soul and for grasping my identity. Knowing the Truth of God’s Word was the first and essential step how Jesus reconstructed my former identity of an incompetent stammering boy. From God’s Word I came to know that Jesus (and God the Father!) loved me with maximum of His unlimited love. Nothing can be added to His infinite love and nothing can be taken away. When I serve the Lord devotedly, it is not for He would love me more, but BECAUSE I am excited about His love, because it fills me. Though following Jesus sometimes is not easy or comfortable, it is always worth it! This knowledge of the truth has brought me amazing peace and massive motivation to be closer to Him and serve Him. Knowing Jesus and His love in the written Word has tuned my inner sensors to gradually perceive Him more and more in normal everyday life; to recognize His nearness and His guidance even in ordinary situations.
What can you do in a completely practical way for this double knowledge of the Truth? That is, intellectual knowledge and also practical, experiential?
a) Read God’s Word regularly (or at least listen to recorded Bible) and meditate on it. A friend of mine, who had his value pretty well established, told me: „I use a red crayon to underline in the Bible who Jesus is and an orange crayon for who I am in Him. I’m learning to apply that to myself, and I thank Jesus for both. I do this no matter how I feel at the moment, because God’s Word is true, no matter my feelings…“ So much an experience of a believing friend.
The way to grasp the identity of Jesus and my identity is:
a) Read God’s Word diligently and meditate on it.
b) Memorize Bible passages regularly!
„I have a bad memory…“ Some often say. If someone makes up their mind and sticks with it long enough, they usually figure out their own way of memorizing! Then you start liking it, it enriches you greatly. Maybe 20 or 30 short paragraphs will be enough to get started. I suggest a number of them here, and some are below the lessons on the website. I very much wish that these passages would become a treasure of your heart that will accompany and shape you daily.
a) Read God’s Word and meditate on it.
b) Memorize Bible passages regularly.
c) Discuss the readings with your partner!
When you read God’s Word and learn the passages together, it will go much easier and faster! Talk about what they mean to you and how they affect you. Thank Jesus for your discoveries together!
Knowing the truth is the first step on the journey of grasping the amazing identity of Jesus and also the identity He gave us when we opened our lives to Him and made Him Lord.
It is recognition
− in the intellectual sense – that I „know“ the truth, I can „say“ it, and
− in an experiential sense – that I also accomplish the Truth of God’s Word in my life with Jesus, step by step, I experience it, live it.
And the experience of your partner or of more mature Christians is a great complement… But always take experience as a complement! The measure of truth is only the written Word of God.
Lord Jesus, I thank You again from the bottom of my heart for the wonderful Word of God, and at the same time for the experiences You give to those who obediently put Your Word into practice…