5 Stages of Knowing God: Submission

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field

Matthew 13:44

There is an old hymn that I love so much, it is titled ‘Jesus is all the world to me’. Here is an excerpt of the first stanza:
Jesus is all the world to me:

  My life, my joy, my all.

He is my strength from day to day;

  Without Him I would fall.

When I am sad, to Him I go;

No other one can cheer me so.

When I am sad, He makes me glad;

  He’s my Friend.

We ended our conversation yesterday, noting that experiencing God is not an end in itself. Those who settle for the level of experiences and manifestations rob themselves of deeper things. Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:3 that “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” As we experience God, we are enabled to love him deeper, and this love propels us to seek him and do His will.

In Peter’s case, after he had caught an abundance of fish, he looked around and saw that Jesus could be trusted. He realized that Jesus was not closing his eyes to his need in his quest to command his followership. More importantly, he realized that there had to be more to him than just a catch of fish that would soon vanish. So, they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything, and followed him (Luke 5:11). Leaving everything to follow Jesus is not a small matter. It is a realm that must be grown into.

In Matthew 19, Jesus made this demand of a rich young ruler: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth (Matthew 19:21-22 NIV). This man, by the way, was like a senior believer, for the Bible says he had earlier told Jesus that he had obeyed all of the laws of Moses since his youth. Meanwhile, when a renowned sinner named Zaccheus encountered Jesus, he said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I am giving half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” (Luke 19:8 NIV).

If you have not come into that realm where Jesus is more important than anything else in this world, you will never be able to grow into true maturity where you no longer seek to use God but to be used by Him. 

PRAYER

Dear Lord, I want to truly experience you. Please Lord help me to know you, to trust you and to obey you until I come into the experience of the things I have come to believe.