God who knows the heart

These days we look at out willingness to see and to search for truth. We also, in our ecclesia, shall look for ways to come more to insight and to find ways to help each-other to build up in strength and knowledge.

Coming closer to the end times it becomes more important that as many people as possible come to know God. The knowing of God has to be a willingness to know more about Him and His Works, wanting to have a good relationship with Him. For sure we have to know that God can not be fooled. He knows what goes on in our hearts. May we all know God in our hearts and realize he knows us.

To come to really “know” God we must find the tools to come to know more about Him. Therefore He gave His Word to the world. In the book of books every person should be able to find out more about God and His Plan. In that Book of books, the Bible every person also can find ways to communicate with the Most High Creator of heaven and earth. From the text presented in the 66 books we can come to more insight and can find ways to make the best of our life. That life has to be one of making good relationships with the creatures God provided on the earth, and a good relationship with Him, including having an intimate prayer life. Our willingness to come close to God and to have an intimate conversation can provide the strength to do get to know God better and to come closer to Him. In the coming days we shall look how our regular reading and meditation on his word can achieve this.

“God who knows the heart …”

(Thought for the readings of May 5)

Today we read about a conference of a serious nature that took place in Jerusalem among the disciples and other principal brethren, it was about problems that had arisen among the believers. Some of the Pharisees who were now believers in Christ were saying that the Gentiles whom Paul had been converting, that

“it is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses” (Acts 15:5).

Peter recounts to the assembly how God had acted to bring about the conversion and baptism of Cornelius, a Roman, and also his relatives and friends so God ordained, says Peter, that

“by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God who knows the heart, bore witness to them …” (verses 7,8).

How powerful to fully realize that “God knows the heart”! We must meditate on that fact.

The result of the conference is that they decide to write to the Gentiles saying that

“it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these you will do well …” (verses 28,29).

Nowadays, at least in this country, there is no sacrificing to idols or drinking blood or animals strangled so that they retain the blood in their bodies. The one thing that there is – here and it seems in all countries – is an increasing abundance in “sexual immorality”. It was widespread in those days as we see it is mentioned in nearly all the letters of the apostles and in the final messages of Jesus to the churches (Revelation 2:15,20).

The final message of Jesus in the last chapter in the Bible has Jesus telling us.

“Behold I am coming soon [in God’s sense of ‘soon’ for he sees “one day is as a thousand years” (2 Peter 3:8)] bringing my recompense (reward) with me, to repay everyone for what he has done … Outside are the … sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood” (Revelation 22:12,15).

Let us all know God in our hearts and realize he knows us – so let us keep ourselves from these. To really “know” God, which must include having an intimate prayer life, provides the strength to do this – and our regular reading and meditation on his word is an essential part of achieving this.

– the Christadelphian

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