I’ve been reading through Jeremiah. In chapter 32 God instructed Jeremiah to buy a field. At the time, Jeremiah was shut up in the court of the prison. Babylon’s army had besieged Jerusalem.

In verses 16-25 Jeremiah prays for understanding. Interesting to note that he started out rehearsing who God was. He fortified himself through recalling God’s greatness. Great pattern for us.

God had rescued His people from Egypt and gave them the land, yet they didn’t obey His voice or walk in His law. In verse 24 Jeremiah said, “Look at the siege mounds!…”

Then he asked his question in verse 25. “…You have said to me…Buy the field…yet the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans.” God’s answer was in verse 26. It says, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?”

We are to obey even though we don’t understand. Why? Luke 1:37 says, “For with God nothing will be impossible.” Abraham obeyed God, yet he had no understanding. His obedience opened the way for our salvation. Genesis 12:1-3.

I always marvel when I read through the book of John. Jesus personally stood before Pilate. John 18:37 says, “Pilate therefore said to Him, Are You a king then? Jesus answered, You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

Truth stood right before his face, yet in verse 38 Pilate asked, “…What is truth?” Then he announced to the Jews that he found no fault in Jesus. Truth is absolute.

Truth is eternal. It will never be changed because Jesus is always the same. Hebrews 13:8. Malachi 3:6 says, “For I am the Lord, I do not change…” Our circumstances change constantly, yet the Lord is Ever Present in them as our Steadfast Rock.

I like to ask folks that I meet if they have a personal relationship with Jesus. Our relationship with the Lord is through intimate communion with living Truth. He meets us where we are.

Paul clearly understood the struggle between flesh and Spirit. In Romans 7 he wrote of his struggle. Verse 19 says, “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.”

The truth is, at salvation, we died with Christ. Romans 6 is a great chapter to help us understand how to live for Jesus. First we have to understand that we died with Christ.

Verse 4 says, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

Verse 11 says, “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Dead things have absolutely no ability to respond to any stimulus.

Verse 13 says, “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourself to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” 

I think of the hymn’s words, “Living for Jesus, a life that is true, striving to please Him in all that I do; yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free, this is the pathway of blessing for me.”

Colossians 1:10 says, “That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.” This is a verse I use often in praying for others who are struggling.

We struggle when our flesh seeks preeminence. Galatians 5:16 says that when we walk in the Spirit, our flesh is subdued. However, when we walk in the flesh the Holy Spirit resists us.

I like to think of two magnets trying to come together. There is polarization that keeps them apart. Verse 17 says, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”

Daily walking in the Spirit allows Him to direct us so that our lives will bear fruit that glorifies the Lord. Galatians 5:22-23.

We walk in truth as we daily apply what we have read in His word. Joshua 1:8 says to observe to do. Experiential knowledge is active because His word gets inside us. It becomes like yeast in bread dough ~ it permeates our entire being.

His word is succinctly expressed in Hebrews 4:12 as living, powerful, “…sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Verse 13 in the Amplified says, “And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.”

1 Chronicles 28:9 Amplified says, “…For the Lord searches all hearts and minds and understands all the wanderings of the thoughts…”

Mark 4:22 says, “For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.” Great news! The Lord will be faithful to reveal flesh-driven intentions.

Ephesians 3:19 Amplified continues to explain what experiential knowledge does, “…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)!”

The disciples of Jesus had experiential knowledge. 1 John 1:1 says, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life.”

Verse 2 says, “The life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us.”

John 14:21 is for us now. We enter into experiential knowledge of the Lord through intimate communion with Him through His word. It says of those who obey His word, “…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.”

In John 17:17 Jesus asked His Father, “Sanctify them by Your truth, Your word is truth.” John 14:6 says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Verse 14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

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.” 

The Strong’s definition for know is: to perceive, understand, recognize, gain knowledge, realize, come to know. It is the knowledge that has an inception, a progress, and an attainment. It is the recognition of truth by personal experience.

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)…”

Great assurance! I love Titus 1:2 which says that it is impossible for God to lie. Genesis 18:10 was Abraham’s promise. It says, “…I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son…”

Genesis 21:1 says, “And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken.” I wonder if Abraham recounted God’s words ever so often, thanking Him for what He would do.

Verse 2 says, “For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.” God has a set time fulfilled through His impeccable timing. Not before nor after, but in the exact timing of His purpose.

Ephesians 1:11 says, “…being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.”

Romans 4:16 says, “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace…” We are saved by grace, and He empowers us to live by grace. 

I love the story of Abraham recapped in Romans 4. Verse 18 says, “Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, So shall your descendants be.”

Though our circumstances may seem impossible, we have a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3. Our trials bring us through a progression. Recapping Romans 5:3-5. Tribulation produces perseverance, that produces character, that produces hope which does not disappoint. 

Romans 4:19 recorded that Abraham was about one hundred years old, and Sarah’s womb was dead. Yet verse 20 says, “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief…” Amplified says, “…he grew strong and was empowered by faith AS he gave praise and glory to God.”

Are you thanking the Lord now for the promises He has given you through His word? We stand and keep on standing though our circumstances do not outwardly change, The Lord is at work, “…who works all things according to the counsel of His will.”

Thanksgiving is our powerful weapon against negative thoughts that plague us when we are slighted, offended, ignored, or we fall into a downward spiral of self-condemnation. Psalm 103:1 says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!”

Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” Isaiah 5:13 says, “Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge.”

Where does knowledge come from? Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

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.”

The more we get to know the Lord through His word, the more our heart’s reservoir is filled with praise. Praise is like a relief valve for pent up emotions. Praise defeats the enemy’s purpose to keep us overwhelmed.