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Brian J Hayes
YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER KNOWS
There is a phrase in Matthew 6 which is a tremendous truth and a great blessing ! Just after the verses that make up what is commonly known as the Lord`s Prayer we
read:
For
your Heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask Him (v8); and then again in
verse 32 we
read, For the pagans run after all these things but
your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER KNOWS !!
This is an incredible truth which brings great comfort and encouragement !!
The God of the Universe; the Creator
of the Galaxies, the planets, the heavens & the earth - knows me ! The God of the Psalmists.........the Prophets & the Apostles - knows me !
Your Heavenly Father KNOWS !
What does He know ?
Psalm 139: 1-4 makes it clear that our Heavenly Father knows ALL ABOUT US !
O LORD, you have searched me and
you know me.
Because of His omniscience and His great heart of love
nothing happens without him knowing.
O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. (v1) – in other words: the Lord knows every part of me
me - He knows us completely.
He knows MY ACTIVITIES You now when I sit and
when I rise. (v2)
He knows MY THOUGHTS even before they are formed in my
mind.
You
perceive my thoughts from afar (v2).
He knows my
every thought – my good thoughts - my anxious thoughts - my evil thoughts
He knows MY INTENTIONS You discern my going out and my lying down. (v3)
The word
‘discern’ here means to sift and search out. Our Father sees into the very
depths of us.
He knows MY HABIT PATTERNS You are familiar with all my ways (v3)
The word
‘familiar’ here - implies intimate and habitual knowledge, or as the New
International Readers Version puts it: You know
exactly how I live(NIrV)
He knows MY SPEECH Before a word is
on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. (v4)
Even before I speak a word, you know all about it ! (NIrV)
That`s a
sobering thought when we think of our careless talk !
My
activities, my thoughts, my intentions, my habits, my words are all
known by God.
So when I start to sink down into the mire of low
esteem or become caught in the quick sand of self-pity - He knows both the thoughts and intentions of my heart.
Or conversely - when I have a tendency to let pride rise up within me so the view I have of myself is inflated and false
- He knows both the thoughts and intentions of my heart.
When I become critical or bitter - or
when I am quick to judge and condemn - He knows my innermost thoughts
and the true intention of
my heart.
He
knows – yet He never misjudges or wrongly
interprets me !
Everything
is transparent to His DISCERNING and UNDERSTANDING gaze - because
Nothing
in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid
bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Heb 4:13)
There is
nothing God has to learn about us because He knows us through and through – He knows everything and never forgets
anything – which is why we say HE IS OMNISCIENT.
Those who
are `not yet` Christians have a feeling that this is true and therefore would
like to get avoid this `all - knowing` God. But as christians we know that it is true and so we seek to live in the
light of His full knowledge of us - to walk carefully before Him (which is
holiness)
His
omniscience - His all-knowing – IS WRAPPED AROUND HIS HEART OF LOVE which means
Our Father loves us
completely and accepts
us totally in spite of knowing all about us !!
That`s incredible because if we knew everything about each other the outcome would be different ! He knows everything about us and yet still loves us just the same ! We are special to God. We are the focus of His love. That’s GRACE !
Can we let the Spirit reveal this to us ? He knows when we stumble and even fall
I wonder if you have ever accidentally run over a bird or an animal that sits in the middle of the road for too long ? I tend to brake hard to avoid doing this and then look in the mirror to see if the bird has escaped unharmed !! Jesus said: Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father (Matt 10:29)
And when we do stumble & fall He is there alongside us (as the Paraclete) to BLESS and not CONDEMN – but to convince and convict that His way is best for us and then to pick us up and dust us down and set us on course again totally forgiven !
Remember, the devil is quick to condemn - that’s His style. Our Father always commends because
we are “in Christ” and there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ (Rom 8:1)
He knows our frustrations
& fears
The things we find difficult to face - or the things we do not want to happen to us which sometimes brings apprehension or even fear.
The things or people or events which happen in our life that upset us - disturb us because instead of these things or people or events being absorbed by His love within us - we allow ourselves to be so easily affected by our circumstances and the people around us.
He knows that we lose our
peace and so easily become disturbed and fearful.
But OUR FATHER lives in perfect rest & peace which is part of His Perfect Love and so He invites us to live in His peace by living in His love (Eph 5:1-2)
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying (being fearful) can add a single hour to his life? (Matt 6:26-27 also Luke 12:24)
He knows our feelings - our limitations - our weaknesses
He has made us in ‘His image’ so we could have a relationship with Him. God is a PERSONABLE GOD – so just as we have feelings & emotions God has the full range of emotions that we have and therefore can identify with us (except that He is never confused, fearful or out of control).
so He understands our FEELINGS - & can enter into them He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray or as the it NIrVersion puts it – those who have gone down the wrong path without knowing it – since he himself is subject to weakness. (Heb 5:2)
He understands OUR WEAKNESSES – our propensity to make wrong choices - to not always choose righteousness – to speak and deal honestly. He also knows the sin in our life. He certainly knows our “struggles”, what we might call our Romans 7 !! This is because we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. (Heb 4:15) Which is why v 16 of Hebrews 4 says: Let us then approach the
throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to
help us in our time of need.
He knows OUR ASPIRATIONS - the desires of our heart - and He is keener than we are to see those desires fulfilled because most times the desire we have and the aspirations that are the dynamo of our life COME FROM OUR FATHER in the first place – His HEART placed into our heart.
He knows WHAT WE NEED For your Father knows
what you need before you ask him. (Mt 6:8)
The Message Version says: This is your Father you are dealing with, and He knows better than you what you need !! – which means that WE CAN ASK HIM FOR ANYTHING:
As sons of our Heavenly Father – the
King of the Universe – we can ASK HIM for anything.
Yes. We can ask Him – our Loving
Heavenly Father - anything when we ask in the Name of Jesus
So in Matt 6:26 we read:
Look at the birds of the
air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly
Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they ?
and at verse 32:
For the pagans run after
all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them
hence verse 33 !!
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well
Remember: If you, then, though you are evil, know
how to give good gifts to your children, how
much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matt 7:11)
OUR FATHER invites us to COME TO HIM.....to approach that throne of grace in our time of need
In one of our previous homes, there was an elevated bird table in the garden which always had an abundance of nuts and seeds set out on it. One day I notice many birds picking at the foot of the bird table where there were few seeds and yet there were plenty on the table. That`s so like us ! We have an abundant Heavenly Father and yet so often we try and make do with a lesser feast than that which He provides !
CONCLUSION:
YOUR Heavenly Father knows
Notice
that it is YOUR
Heavenly Father.....YOUR...... Is He YOUR Heavenly Father
in the sense that although He knows you, do you know Him ? Or is He a Father you`ve forgotten or even a stranger ?
Has Jesus, your Saviour & Lord lead you to His Father - Your Father ?
May be you need to become a christian by receiving Christ as your Saviour & Lord -
Jno 1:12-13:.....to
all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to
become children of God.
God wants to make you one of His
children.
The purpose of Jesus coming was to live, die and rise again so dealing with our sin, providing forgiveness, acceptance and reconciliation – reconciliation with a Father who loves you.
He
is a Father who so loved the world that He sent His Son Jesus – but
the mission of Jesus is not fully complete in us until we allow Him to lead us
to His Father who is also our Father - which is why He said that He is the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through Him (Jn 14:6)
YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER KNOWS !!
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