Hello fellow sojourners. Welcome back to the Saturday Newsletter! This is where you can find prayers, promises, and treasures on the narrow way. Written for the one in need of a drink of living water.
This week is on prioritizing the pursuit of the knowledge of God. This is a central topic in Scripture for our everyday lives and the heartbeat of God’s eternal purposes. Paul models how to spend our lives discovering the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus. He counted everything as “rubbish” in comparison to the riches of who He is. I pray this too becomes our reason for living—to know Him.
Enjoy this week’s newsletter.
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“Is not God, our Lord, worthy of this struggle?” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The narrow way is war.
We are called to war. The battle isn’t over flesh and blood but against the revelation of Jesus being known. This war is first fought within our own hearts and then will touch the corners of the earth (Hab. 2:14).
The mission of the church is to attain the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13). I can’t think of anything more difficult than to attain unity in the Church and come to the knowledge of the fullness of who Jesus is.
That is why we were given the following weapons:
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. (2 Corin. 10:3-6)
We walk in the flesh but we don’t live according to it. We don’t wage war through guns and grenades but rather by destroying arguments and opinions that are contrary to the truth of who God is.
The knowledge of God fuels the maturity of the Church. This is how we are unified in Christ. When we see Jesus, we will be like Him. When we see the truth of who God is, we can’t help but respond with everything we have.
The Bible describes the knowledge of God as the highest, most costly pursuit of our lives (Phil 3:8). This is the center of the New Covenant and God’s plan made possible through Jesus’ sacrifice. We are called to display this knowledge to an ignorant world until the war is over… and the earth sees Him.
It is interesting how the last book of the Bible is Revelation and the first verse of it is “The revelation of Jesus Christ.” The end is Him.
1 TIMOTHY 1:3-7, 18-20
As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions…
This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
Paul uses the same language here on aim as 2 Timothy 2:4, “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.”
If we are soldiers, we must live accordingly. We can’t start training when it gets hard but must start before if we want to endure until the end. Paul instructs Timothy to wage the good warfare. This has much to do with our aim.
The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (1 Tim. 1:5)
These are the values that keep us steady. Love. Purity. Discernment. Faith.
A pure heart is how we see God. Purity is more than declaring that our sins are under the blood of Jesus. We must work out our salvation by making decisions that align with the upward call of God on our lives (Phil. 3:14).
A good conscience is what we determine is good and bad. It requires living in sobriety to see between right and wrong, especially in the days ahead. We need the Holy Spirit to show us what we cannot see on our own. This goes hand in hand with walking by faith.
Sincere faith is choosing the narrow way without taking shortcuts with the Lord. It is staying away from vain discussions and doctrines that follow another gospel in return for promised prosperity. The only stewardship God has given us is living by faith; walking in discipline and obedience in carrying our cross. There is no other way. Anything that the cross is not the center of endangers us to shipwreck our faith. The Word of God and fear of the Lord is our safety. It is how we stay the course.
The process of discovery is messy. It is like millions of notes and thoughts spread across a table. Only the hand of the Lord can put the pieces of the puzzle together.
I sit back and watch as His hand moves. My eyes open wider as each piece fits into one and then another.
I wish I didn’t feel like I was swimming in an ocean with God. I can’t escape the feeling of never, ever reaching the bottom. All I can do is drift, swim as deep as I can, and surrender.
This is exactly who He is. Unsearchable.
All we can do is lay on our backs in this powerful ocean and stare up at the sky. The Son hits our faces as we marvel at the mysteries of heaven. This is the holiness of God—where we bow in our shallow understanding. We live in the beauty of never knowing but always searching.
A question I ask so often is how. How do I know God? How do I mine the “mysteries of God” and discover who He is? What do I need to do? What steps do I need to take? What books? How much time?
I’ve spent my life trying to figure out “the best way” to do this only to come up with one answer—cry.
We can never understand or enter God’s treasury without being escorted by the Holy Spirit. We need help. The best way I’ve found to know God is this:
Sit before Jesus, maybe on your knees. And cry. Ask Him to come.
The tears of longing. The desire of wanting to know. The heart reaching. The desperation to see. The cry to understand.
This I believe is the secret to know God. A willing heart, a humble cry, and a big ocean.
PSALM 4
Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!
O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah
But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.
Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah
Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the Lord.
There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”
You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.
In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
One of the greatest gifts the Holy Spirit can give us is an awareness of God. We might not hear Him in an audible voice or feel His tangible presence, but we can know He is with us. This knowing allows us to sit before God and “be silent.” He can calm our raging emotions and draw close with the comfort of His promises. We can meet God like a Selah (or pause) in our own lives.
The stillness of coming before God helps us not react to the chaos around us. We can rest in knowing that we are heard. He is our source of joy and safety through flaming darts of accusation. The greatest peace is found before the Lord.
The Word of God directs our gaze to the light of God’s face—Jesus. In Him, the knowledge of God shines. He restores our vision and enables us to see. He is the lamp to our feet and the light to our path. In moments when we don’t know where to go, this light will lead.
This is not a Jesus recommendation, but worth mentioning! If you are looking for a great news source in today’s day and age (also with excellent Israel coverage), I love the work of The Free Press.
Check out the Maranatha Global Bible Study - specifically the Difficult Things series. Listen on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts.
Send us any of your “Jesus” recommendations at intheupcoming@gmail.com. We would love to hear them!
Read Psalm 119 to learn more about the power of God’s Word.
Read Ephesians 1-2 to learn more about God’s eternal purposes
Read Jeremiah 31 to learn more about the New Covenant and God’s purposes for Israel
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Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Matt. 4:4)