I want to share with you an experience I had with the Lord that changed how I think about Him. While reading Proverbs 25, the Lord began to confirm some things that He was showing me about how He thinks and how He loves. This is what He unveiled to me.
Proverbs 25:2-3 It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out. 3 As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable.
While meditating on this, I thought to myself, “We are kings and priests unto our God.” (Rev. 1:6) I began to meditate on the fact that God has made our hearts unsearchable by men. Then I said out loud, “I thank You, Lord, that our hearts are unsearchable by everyone but You.”
He then spoke to me, “No, Jack, I have purposely made your heart unsearchable by everyone, even Me.” I could hear real, tangible joy in His voice when He said this. So much so, joy got on me! So, as I sat there being happy and joyful and not understanding why, I said, “Lord, show me what you mean by this. I do not understand. I remember scripture that says you search the hearts and minds of men.” (Jer.17:10)
God gave us free will. When we choose God and accept the sacrifice of His Son, He lays aside His foreknowledge in favor of experiencing the mystery of who we are in a loving relationship. The moment we make Christ our Lord, we become this mysterious new creature. His offspring, born of His Spirit. His Child, born of incorruptible seed!
He has given us His written Word, His spoken Word, and His living Word, Jesus, to help us pursue the mystery of who He is. He would never ask us to do anything that He has not done or is willing to do. Our heart is revealed to Him as we pursue Him. The only way He can know our heart is if we reveal it to him by our expression of faith. This is why faith pleases Him.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Our heart is revealed by our actions that confirm our faith. Look what the Lord said to Abraham when he was raising the knife to sacrifice his son;
Genesis 22:11-12 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” 12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
“The Angel of the Lord”, I believe, was the Lord Himself speaking from Heaven. He said, “Now I know”, meaning He didn’t know before that moment. Not because He didn’t have the ability to know, but that He chose to hide it from Himself.
Abraham’s faith became evident through his trust and obedience. God’s covenant relationship with Abraham reached a decisive historical moment at this point. This test revealed Abraham’s depth of trust in God. It revealed it to Isaac, and us. I believe that it was this amazing act of faith that gave God the license to send Jesus to the Earth while Satan still had a legal claim to it.
Our choices matter; our love is personally received; and our faith becomes visible as we act upon His Word. Abraham’s obedience did not provide information God was incapable of possessing; it brought Abraham’s faith into concrete expression within the covenant relationship.
Consider this: God has the ability to remember our sins, but the Bible says He remembers them no more.
Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
The writer of Hebrews is quoting from the Old Testament. If we look at Isaiah’s account, we gain insight into God’s reason for this.
Isaiah 43:25 “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.“
Notice that God hides our sins for HIS SAKE, not ours. He chooses not to look at them. If He can choose not to remember, we must acknowledge that He can choose not to use His foreknowledge.
God loves a mystery. That should be evident to us just by looking at Scripture. The Bible is the greatest mystery in print that ever existed; it is His glory to conceal man’s heart and His glory to search it out.”
God does not always use His foreknowledge, at least not all the time. He will choose a loving relationship over His ability to see every detail in your life every time. He loves the spontaneity, the anticipation, the surprises of growing in intimacy with His children. I see His heart toward us so much more clearly now. My understanding of His love has multiplied because of this simple truth.
Our heart is a mystery even to God Himself. He made it this way for His good pleasure. This may be the most profound thing I have discovered about His nature and His love. While thinking about the implications of this, I realized we can surprise God! That is nuts! While I was thinking about this, He spoke to me again, and this blew me away even more!
He said: “Jack, I gave man creativity so I could be surprised at how he loves Me and serves Me with it.” God likes to be surprised! Can you imagine God watching Abraham taking the long trek to the mountaintop with Isaac? God saw that he had the wood; He made Isaac carry it. He knew he brought the knife. He saw Abraham build the altar and place the wood. What was going through God’s mind as He watched this? Why do we see God getting mad or jealous throughout Scripture if He already knows what is going to happen?
God made man a sovereign being. That is the very definition of free will. He would not make man sovereign and then micromanage his decisions. That would make Him unjust.
Christians differ on how God’s omniscience and omnipotence relate to mankind’s sovereign free will. My purpose here is not to settle every philosophical question, but to emphasize that Scripture clearly reveals that our faith-filled choices are meaningful and pleasing to God. They reveal our hearts to Him. They prove our sincerity, our belief, our trust in Him.
Faith without corresponding works is a dead faith. It is a living faith that reveals our true heart toward God. He doesn’t have to read every thought because our behavior reveals our heart, our motives, our priorities, our convictions.
James 2:21-24 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
His people are so glorious and so precious in His sight that we have not even begun to understand how much and how deeply He truly loves us. I am so humbled and so excited about this that I can hardly contain myself!
Ask yourself some honest questions: What act of faith can I offer God today? How can I use my creativity to love and serve Him? What part of my heart have I not yet honestly submitted to Him? Is my theology leading me toward trust, obedience, humility, and worship?
It is our journey, but it is His work, and it is a marvelous mystery!
Thank you for visiting truthpressure.com. I hope this has been a blessing to you.
JESUS IS COMING!
Leave a Reply