Knowing Jesus More Intimately

Hi everybody, I hope your week has been awesome so far?
Revved up spiritually and not dumping God in a corner? But fellowshipping with Him as you should?
Yes.

Today’s Bible study is one that I need also, as you read, you will understand that this speaks to us all(myself inclusive).
I remember sitting in a place two weeks ago where “normal jams”  music was being played. Last week too on my May 12trip challenge, “normal jams” music was also being played where I was, and I just couldn’t get it in me to give value to it.
I couldn’t talk about it with those talking about it, I couldn’t “gbuge” to it at all.
And when I got to my study time, I started thinking as to the reason why some Christians are in Christ but then are still all up in the world’s business (now, I have got to be careful how I say this because it’s a debate now and I want no part of that)
But I wrote on feeding our spirit here and contrasted what we get when we are all up in the worldly music and what we get when God is our all, down to the kind of songs we listen to.
Am I saying that worldly music is bad?
No.
But Paul says in 1Corinthians 6:12
“Just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean that it’s spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I’d be a slave to my whims.”

I know how I was convicted to let the “bogey world songs” go. I used to have Nigerian tracks playing in my head even in my quiet time with God. Yes, what you put in your heart is what comes out of you. So now, down to my jogging songs, I play Christian jams. I don’t want a break in transmission in my spirit even for one minute. But that is my conviction, study the Word for yourself and get what God is saying about it for yourself.
Now, as I thought about this, the scripture I studied for this study came to mind.
Philippians 3
I have written on a desire of mine arising from what Paul said in this post before.
But I read again and was absolutely blown away again, more so because I feel God calling me into it in this period of my life again.
So Paul says in Philippians 3:5 (MSG).
“You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God’s law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God’s law Book. … The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him.”
And why did he dump all that He knew/had? Because of Christ…

Philippians 3:7-8 (NLT)
“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!”
Now I got to that place and I wrote in my Bible – “how does one get to this stage? How did Paul get to this stage? Where the taste for every other thing have left you but only God remains? Where you come in empty with nothing and say “God fill me up with yourself, Lord fill me”
Is it possible for everything else to fall away but the desire for Christ in my life?
In our lives?
That all the things we once thought to be important but aren’t spiritually appropriate, we let them go just to let Christ come in fully?
As I studied, I noted that for Paul, he said – “I want to know Christ.”
“I want…”
He started with the desire to know Jesus.
The desire to say Jesus be the centre, be the left and right, back and front, be my all in all.
So much so that anything in the world that doesn’t arise/align with you, I will let it fall away from me.
What did Paul count as worthless?
All his pedigrees – elite birth, Pharisee training, whatever, he discarded them all and let only Christ stand in his life.
Only one person stood out for him – Jesus.
It always amazes me when Paul talks about wanting to share in Jesus’s suffering.
I was reading my Bible one day and read where he said “I am glad when I suffer for you in my body. Because I am sharing in the suffering of Christ (paraphrased)
I got there and I had to stop and wonder.
Lord, what did it take for this man to get to this point? How did God so permeate his life? So much so that the world fell away? Suffering became joy to him as long as he had Christ.
And the answer is still the same, it began with a desire.
He desired to know Christ and be wrapped in Him.
How many of us really desire Jesus?
How many of us are still wrapped up with the world, one leg in, one leg out?
How many of us are ready to put in what it takes to know Jesus?
How many of us are ready to let the world and all it represents fall away from our lives just so that we can know Christ?
Am I ready?
Are you ready?
Ready to let go of your pedigrees?
Of whatever it is that still holds value to you in this world?
Ready to allow Christ fill up all the crevices of your life, let His light shine on you, not just shine, but overhaul everything in you totally?
Paul calls knowing Christ “a high privilege”
Are we taking it for granted?
Is that why we aren’t pressing in to increase in Him?

Or are we indeed ready to know Christ?
If we are ready, then there’s a question of where to start from.
But I found this verse in Hebrews when I read it a few days back.
Hebrews 1:3
“The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God…”

You want to know God? To know Jesus? Know His character? Know His ways?
Then start fellowshipping with Him.
How?
In His Word.
He is alive in His Word and God so graciously allowed Him to live on earth, all His life and work on earth are written in the Word.
The Word is Him Himself in print.
At the beginning of the year when I knew this year is my year of purpose, I remember writing in my journal, “you want to know how to walk in purpose, to do ministry? Study Jesus, read the book of John”
I didn’t study the book of John then/i started and stopped.
Recently again, I have been feeling overwhelmed, working on 2 ebooks and a book, planning for the stuff I do in schools, writing on this blog and all.. it’s not what I am doing that was making me feel overwhelmed, it was the thought of what I was doing.
Like the thought of “how do I get this done?”
And again I felt pulled to study the gospels – study Jesus – know His character – know how He did it.
And this time, the need to know Him is so great, I was actually feeling restless in my spirit.
I had to commit to a plan to study the new testament and know my Lord Jesus through His word.
So if you too feel the itch to know Jesus, start from somewhere.
If you desire to let Him come in and let the world fall off then fellowship with Him.
Let Him take first place and every place in your life.
For me, as I wrote this study, I also jotted down “What are you really calling me into Lord? What”?”
I think that there’s more that God wants us to press into. I don’t know what yet but there’s more.
The stage where we are now in God can go deeper.
God wants our spirits to be enlarged in Him, fully and always being enlarged.
But it will start with our desire to KNOW Jesus more intimately.
To be drawn into Him fully and totally.
Letting the world fall off of us and letting Christ fill our senses.
Ah, as I wrote that I just thought, how awesome will it be to see Jesus, feel Jesus, hear Jesus… IN EVERYTHING.
Like come in and fill me up Lord!
Are we ready to press in?
Till we get to Paul’s point where he simply dumps everything and takes up Christ, we will keep struggling.
I don’t think that anyone of us is there yet, but Paul says in Philippians 3:12-14

“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.””

So we should all press in.
Desire to know Jesus even more and more and press in to get there.
God help us all.

Philippians 3:15 (MSG)
” So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it”

Our prayer for today is one I wrote in my journal as I studied and evaluated myself…
Prayer:
Lord, I simply want to know You. I want You to wrap me securely. I want you to be everything in my life. My all in all.
My Father, king and Lover. My God.
I want the attachment to the world to fall off of me. That’s the truth Lord, I want the attachment to the world to fall off of me. Grant me grace.
This is my desire, to place you first. To hold you in top priority.
Come in and overwhelm me with your grace.
Totally overwhelm me with your grace.
Come in and totally encircle me with yourself.
I want to dwell and live in you.
I want the knowledge of who you are to be my lamp, the light in front of me.
Yes Lord, be the only lamp in my heart, lighting up my way… in Jesus Name, amen.
As usual, please share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.
Are you itching to know more of God?
Did this help to awaken a desire in you?
I am grateful to have you all every week in our #OnlineBibleStudy.
May God keep molding us in Him.

Till our next #OnlineBibleStudy,
Love,
Frances.

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