Can you profess an intimacy with God?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.
(Psalms 139:1-4 (NIV))

Do you think that God knows you?

I can hear people saying something like “Of course He knows me. He’s God. He knows everything.”

Does He really know you?

Do you really know Him?

What I am talking about is a familiarity, a personal relationship in which two people are aware of the inner-most aspects of the other.

Do you know God in this manner?

Have you allowed God to know you in this manner or are there things that you hide from Him?

Professing a faith that Jesus is your personal Lord and Savior is one thing, but having a relationship that is truly personal is another. This type of relationship allows intimacy and understanding.

Can you claim the words of David as your own? Can you profess an intimacy with God?

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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We must embrace Jesus as both Lord and Savior!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.
Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
(Acts 19:11-16 (NIV))

Doing things in the name of Jesus may not be enough !

Don’t get me wrong, because calling on the name of Jesus is a very powerful thing, but there is a time when it fails.

Calling upon the name of Jesus requires a faith. It requires a personal relationship with Jesus as Lord, not just as Savior. You must recognize His authority and not just His saving grace. If you do not recognize His authority over all situations, then calling upon His name will only get you in trouble. The enemy will recognize that you do not have the power and authority that is available through Jesus. The enemy knows the names of those who have truly claimed Jesus and they will turn from these servants. They do not know those who halfheartedly call upon Jesus.

We must embrace Jesus as both Lord and Savior. Only then can we:

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
(Ephesians 6:11 (NIV))

Taking on the enemy without the “full armor of God” is not a wise move. Be sure that you have fully clothed yourself in the authority that is only available through the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and not only the salvation that is your through Jesus as Savior. Then, and only then, will the enemy know your name as a mighty warrior of God.

Does the enemy know your name because you have the power of the blood of Jesus, or does the enemy overpower you?

Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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