John 17:3 says, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Our first ‘knowing’ is through salvation.

We begin our journey to know the Lord through His word. Since we are created in the image of God, we have a heart-capacity to commune with Him. John 15:1-8 calls it abiding. The Amplified uses words like being vitally united.

I love John 15:8 which says, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” Fruit is borne through abiding.

As we read God’s word and begin to walk in it, our knowledge of the Holy One increases. We go from print on a page to experiential knowledge. Let me describe that through Proverbs 3:6. It says, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

The Hebrew word for acknowledge is ‘yada’ which means to know by observation, investigation, reflection, or firsthand experience. ‘Yada’ in its highest sense means life-giving intimacy. That aptly describes the power of abiding which yields experiential knowledge. John 8:31-32 says, “…If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

When we bring His truth into our heart it will become part of our thought processes. It is living heart-truth that brings inner transformation. It aligns our thoughts with His. It is the truth we know experientially that sets us free from the entanglement of sin.

2 Peter 1:3 says, “As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the KNOWLEDGE of Him who called us by glory and virtue.”

Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” Hosea 6:3 says, “Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord…”

How do we pursue knowledge? I love Proverbs 10:9 which says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

A. W. Tozer wrote “Knowledge Of The Holy” and “Pursuit Of God.” Both are excellent. I would encourage you to read them to strengthen and help your walk with the Lord.

The words in Proverbs 2:1-4 set us up for the ‘then’ in verse 5. I will encapsulate the process of pursuit: treasure His commands, incline your ear to wisdom, apply your heart to understanding, cry out for discernment, lift up your voice for understanding, seek and search.

Verse 5 says, “THEN you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.” Is it worth the pursuit? I answer with a resounding ‘yes’ because the deeper the root the sweeter the fruit. It is all about intimacy with Him.

Proverbs 10:4 says that wise people store up knowledge. Hosea 6:6 described the Lord’s desire. It says, “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”

The Lord takes no pleasure in outward religious rituals. He is looking for heart involvement that pursues Him above all else. Experiential knowledge comes through intimate communion as He reveals Himself to us. John 14:21 says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” Pursuing Him is a heart demonstration of our love.

Ephesians 3:19 Amplified says, “(That you may really come) to know (practically, through experience for yourselves) the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge (without experience); that you may be filled (through all your being) unto all the fullness of God (may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself)!”

I finished Isaiah and am now heading through the minor prophets. As Hosea began, the Lord told him to marry a harlot. Each of her children were given names that reflected the spiritual condition of Israel.

Hosea 2:6 says, “Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and wall her in, so that she cannot find her paths.” FYI: this is a great verse to pray for someone who has strayed from the Lord.

Verses 14-15 give us a precious insight into God’s purpose for our wilderness of trials, hardships, and adversity. Verse 14 says, “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her.” The Amplified says to speak to her heart.

Verse 15 says, “I will give her her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; she shall sing there…”

Spiritual harlotry is the turning aside to heart-idols. The Lord is a jealous God. Exodus 20:3 says, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” David’s prayer is a great one to adopt for ourselves. Psalm 86:11-12 says, “…unite my heart to fear Your name. I will praise You, O Lord my God, with ALL my heart…”

David’s words expressed his desire to be wholehearted and single minded in his devotion to the Lord. I remember the song: Give me an undivided heart, that I might fear Your name.

The Lord uses our wilderness to draw us closer to Him. He reveals His heart through intimate communion. He manifests Himself in ways that we could not experience in any other way.

My book: He Drew Me Out Of Deep Waters: encouragement for hard trials is on Amazon in paperback and ebook. It is a testimony of the Lord’s miraculous interventions in my life. He has given me rich insights I would not have gained except in this wilderness-trial.

When we presume something, we are not taking into full account what we don’t know. Presumptuous sin is first a thought. We have the choice to continue processing the thought or stoping it. Always it is a choice to sin or not.

This is brought home to me every time I read the account of Simon. Acts 8:20 says, “…you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!” Verse 22 gives us direction when we have an enemy-thought. It says, “Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.”

We have an OT example through Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel 4 is the narrative. Nebuchadnezzar had two dreams that Daniel interpreted. In verse 27 said, “…break off your sins by being righteous…” However in verse 30 the king verbalized his thoughts. He was glorying in his own accomplishments. Verse 31 says that while the words were still in his mouth, the Lord told him that his kingdom was over. God then humiliated him UNTIL. Verse 32 says that he would know the Most High rules.

Unrighteous thoughts exalt us, whereas righteous thoughts exalt the Lord. It is prudent for us to humble ourselves before Him, rather than Him having to humble us.

Presumptuous thoughts are inflated with pride. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says to cast them down because they are against the knowledge of God. Take up the sword of the Spirit and pierce your pride-thought. Deflate it by bringing your thoughts into alignment with God’s thoughts. John 15:5 is a great one. “…without Me you can do nothing.”

I want to share an insight the Holy Spirit gave me yesterday that I had not considered before. In Numbers 13 Moses sent 12 leaders to spy out the land of Canaan. Two had a good report, but ten had a bad report. Listen to what they presumed. Verse 33 says about the giants in the land, “…we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” They presumed to know what the giants were thinking. They were spies and likely the giants never saw them.

We never know what another is thinking unless they tell us. They jumped to conclusions. Based on what they assumed, they led the insurrection. Numbers 14:4 says, “…Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.” The ten spies set their own death sentence. Verse 32 says, “But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness.”

In verse 42 Moses said, “Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the Lord is not among you.” In verse 44 it says, “But they presumed…” Presumption acts independent of God. Their pride was cloaked in an act of humility. They acknowledged their sin (humility) but did their own thing (pride).

David wrote Psalm 19. Did he speak from experience? Yes! Verse 13 is one of my daily prayers, “Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me…”

Numbers 15:30 says, “But the person who does anything presumptuously…that one brings reproach on the Lord…” The Amplified uses the words, “…do anything (wrong) willfully and openly…” Reproach means to revile or blaspheme.

Presumption is acting as if we know better than God. It is flesh. Humility acknowledges absolute dependence on God. It is a willingness to wait until He shows us His way through whatever situation we face. Let us purpose in our heart, like Daniel did, to honor Him in all our thoughts and actions.

Isaiah 64:4 says that God acts for those who wait for Him. We can fully trust Him to work through every detour or delay in our lives. His timing is impeccable. He is never late nor early. He is always at work masterfully orchestrating every detail.

Waiting is a trial, but it is an essential time in God’s purpose for our lives. He uses our waiting time to expose the hidden that would sabotage the work He wants to do in and through us. We saw that played out in Saul. Samuel had told him to wait for him, however Saul took matters into his own hands and lost his kingdom. God’s purpose that He was using Saul to fulfill was then given to David.

I love Ephesians 1:11 which says, “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works ALL things according to the counsel of His will.”

David wrote Psalm 27. Verse 14 says, “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” Isaiah 40:31 says that as we wait on Him, He renews our strength. What weakens faith? Here are some weights: complaining, worry, negativity, disobedience, impatience, lack of diligence, alertness, and not feeding on His word daily are a few.

What occupies your mind as you wait? The motive behind our thoughts reveals the hidden dross. If we turn to complaining then our focus is on our circumstances. If we give in to worry, then our thoughts are focused on our inability. When we engage in a negative dialogue, we are looking for who or what we can blame.

Waiting is God’s strategic maneuver to expose the hidden that satan has planted through fiery dart-lies. They are blind spots that must be removed so we can go forward. Waiting is our time to renew our hearts through God’s truth that will ground us no matter what impossibility we face. Our confidence is to be in Him not in another nor any one thing. Hebrews 10:35 says, “Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.”

Isaiah 62:10 says, “Go through, go through the gates! Prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway! Take out the stones, lift up a banner for the peoples.”

As I read this verse several times I thought about the stones and what they represent. Hebrews 12:1 says, “…lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

When a farmer wants to sow a field, he makes sure that there are no stones to impede the seed when it sprouts. What might be ‘stones’ in our lives that would keep our faith from increasing?

Doubt, fear, unbelief; regret, shame, guilt; bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness; anger, malice, hate; worry, fretting, and impatience are a few that came to mind. Each of these would cause heart dis-ease.

Our heart is our belief center. Every thought comes from what we believe about our past, present, and future. Here is one constant that empowers us: God’s faithfulness. 2 Timothy 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

When we focus on Who the Lord is at all times, it grounds us so that our faith will not be shaken. Mark 11:22 is key. It says, “…Have faith in God.” Our circumstances change constantly, but the God of our circumstances remains steadfast. Our faith thrives when it is IN Him who never changes.

Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” The Lord is the Creator of our heart, but we are the keeper. He created us with the ability to think and process information, but we are responsible for our thoughts and actions.

Have you ever heard or said these words: It is just the way I am. I can’t help it. Perhaps you have heard or said these words: If only this had not happened to me. Both portray a victim mentality. They are words that come from self-focus. They are blind spots of deception. Nothing touches our lives without God’s permission.

Listen to David’s words regarding his heart dis-ease. Psalm 31:9-10 says, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; my eye wastes away with grief, yes, my soul and my body! For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away.” Verse 7 says, “…You have known my soul in adversities.” We have an adversary that prowls like a lion. He is constantly looking for those he can pick off through his fiery dart-lies.

You have read this before in my writings. Our thoughts control our brain, and our brain controls our body. David’s words were his thoughts which affected his eyes, soul, body, strength, and his bones. Here is the first part of a new song: Rejoicing Bones. When I thought about my circumstances I became gloomy inside. My heart was getting heavy and my peace destroyed. Then in Your Word You revealed the secret of health. My bones are affected when my heart is in despair.

Romans 8:28 says that the Lord works everything in our lives for our good. Psalm 84:11 says, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; NO good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

Our trials, adversities, hardships, and course corrections are strategically orchestrated by the Lord for our good. He uses them to expose and remove the dross that weakens our faith. Everything He does is to conform us to His character, so we can reflect Him in every aspect of our lives.

I encourage you to go before the Holy Spirit. Confess any hidden sin, renounce the lies that you have believed which have borne the fruit of blind spots. Wholeheartedly embrace what He has allowed in your life. It is His good for you, and for His glory.

A person who is deceived does not recognize that they are. Others do but they can’t. Why? The fiery dart-lie is deception! If we accept it as our own it becomes a blind spot. That is why we need each other for accountability. 2 Timothy 2:25-26 helps us understand why. It says, “In humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and ESCAPE the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”

Blind spots are an accident waiting to happen. They obstruct our view. Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” We sow through our thoughts based on what we believe in our heart. Of course, satan wants to pull us off the course God has set for us. Beware!

Fiery dart-lies usually come in the first person. We must guard our thoughts by inculcating God’s word into our hearts. When His truth is woven into the fabric of our thought process, we will be able to recognize the lie to block it from penetrating. How? By continually strengthening our faith.

Ephesians 6:16 says, “Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing God’s word.

When the Holy Spirit reveals a hidden fiery dart-lie that became an entrenched stronghold, it needs to be confessed and renounced. 2 Corinthians 10:4 says that God’s word is mighty for pulling down strongholds.

Find a verse that will counteract the lie you believed. From there affirm God’s truth and begin the process of renewing your mind with that truth. Ephesians 4:23 Amplified says, “And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind (having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude).”

1 Corinthians 13:5 Amplified says, “…Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it (it pays no attention to a suffered wrong).”

I know folks who have books (plural) of records of wrongs. They can recount every detail of wrong done to them. I like the example in Acts of the folks who LEFT their old way of life. They had a huge bonfire to destroy what had held them captive to satan’s ways.

Acts 19:19 says, “Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all…” The result? Verse 20 says, “So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.” The sin of unforgiveness hardens our heart and makes it impermeable to God’s truth that will set us free.

Our record of wrongs is an offense to the Lord. After Peter rebuked the Lord, Matthew 16:23 says, “…Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” Jesus paid for everyone’s sins: yours and the ones of the people who sinned against you. 1 Peter 2:24 says, “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree…”

Whether we choose to obey or disobey His command to forgive, it is a heart-issue between us and the Lord–irregardless of others or our circumstances.

Keeping a record of wrongs is sin which defiles our character to be Christlike. God is holy and He has called us to walk in His holiness. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 says, “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” God chose to not remember our sins. Hebrews 8:12 says, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”