(Formerly under the Devotions tab, originally published 2/6/23)
Psalm 139:1-3, “You may not know me, But I know everything about you. I know when you sit down and when you rise up. I am familiar with all your ways,” MSG.
Have you ever stopped to think about the knowledge of God? We’re not talking about his knowledge of creation, or his knowledge of science, or his knowledge of what’s going on in the halls of Congress before it happens! Do you think about how much God knows your thoughts and your imaginations? Don’t freak out! He said that he chooses not to remember the sins of those who believe that Jesus Christ suffered, died, and rose from the dead to personally take the punishment for our sins! What does it cost to buy into an awesome plan like this? Belief. Confession. Acknowledgement. Intention.
Let’s assume that we have accepted these gifts of God, and we want to live our life showing gratitude to Jesus, our Savior. Why, then, do we feel like God is always looking over our shoulder and into our minds to judge us and whoop us? Because the enemy of our soul wants us to believe that God is angry, terrible, looking for every flaw. God is not the Lord of condemnation, fear, hatred. God has written a letter to mankind that specifically says that he “forgets the sins” of those who have accepted salvation and confess their sins with the desire of forgiveness. Psalm 103:10-12, “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalms 103:10-12, NIV.
The things that tempt and plague us today are not new to God. He has been working on mankind and dealing with the same problems since before the beginning of time! Our situation is not special. Our circumstances are not something new that fall outside of God’s knowledge base. He is not peering into us to judge and kill us. His story, the Bible, is not a threat or a warning. His Word is his love letter to us! His plan is to show us the opportunity that we have to chart a new course through our thoughts and imaginations. It is fuel for our strength and wisdom to change our minds and believe that our lives will be changed. When we read God’s Word and hear God’s words let’s see them through a lens of a good, good father who will never give up on loving and training his child into an heir of the kingdom!
The Message paraphrase of the Bible is easier for me to read and understand that everything God knows about me and protects me from going the wrong way and getting hurt! He knows that I get confused and upset and sometimes lost. He gives me strength, confidence, wisdom and hope through his love letter to me! I will choose to believe in him 100%. I agree to confess to him the things that I know are hurtful to him. I own up to my choices and I intend to devote myself to learning how to be more like his Son!
“God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. I’m an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I’m never out of your sight. You know everything I’m going to say before I start the first sentence. I look behind me and you’re there, then up ahead and you’re there, too— your reassuring presence, coming and going. This is too much, too wonderful— I can’t take it all in!” Psalms 139:1-6, MSG.
“Father, I am so sorry for doing things that the devil wanted me to do. Please forgive me again. Thank you for offering training to me that I can be free from the desires that make me give in to temptation. Thank you for loving me so much that I can always talk to you about life. Thank you for telling me that I am so much more than what I ever thought that I was! Thank you for knowing me better than I know myself!”
Joe Fabean
- NIV notation from the New Interbational Version, published 1973
- MSG notation from the Message paraphrase, 2002