The Prelude of Love, The Journey of Faith: Part 3 - Knowledge

"... giving all diligence, add to your Faith, Virtue; and to Virtue, Knowledge ..."
-2 Peter 1:5

This section of PL-JF (The Prelude of Love, The Journey of Faith) was surprisingly the most difficult yet, as suggested by my long silence. I have always prided (there's that sin again) myself on my knowledge, but the Lord chose this section of PL-JF to teach me just how ignorant I really am, and to show me how His Grace truly "is sufficent for me." -2 Corinthians 12:9

That scripture reads in its entirety;

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
-2 Corinthians 12:9

Throughout the last two months, our Liege has slowly revealed to me many aspects of this scripture, and they all have come together to provide a firm foundation for "Knowledge," one that is much greater than any human could compose. Yes, I know I'm mixing my metaphors, but truly, God has Orchestrated, has Composed this Foundation of Grace for the building of Knowledge.

Please, permit me to share what the Lord has shown me, and let me be an instrument of Glory and Honor for our Lord.

Knowledge

There are 4 basic meanings for the word "Knowledge:"

1. Cognizance
2. The the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association : acquaintance with or understanding of a science, art, or technique : the fact or condition of being aware of something
3. The circumstance or condition of apprehending truth or fact through reasoning : the fact or condition of having information or of being learned
4. the sum of what is known : the body of truth, information, and principles acquired by mankind : a branch of learning

At first, I was approaching this verse with the mindset that one or more of the definitions above was what 2 Peter meant, but the Lord showed me through a book that there was much, much more to it that that. Then I tried to find the answer using only that one aspect of Knowledge, and ignoring the rest! At that point, He pretty much gently walked me through everything step-by-step.

Ho-hum, sorry about the rambling again, I'll try to do better throught this post.

Anyway, what is knowledge?

I have an aquaintence, his name is "Conan," and I know him.

He has blond hair, has talent in drama, and is brother by marriage to someone who he didn't get along with. I know him.

I have a friend, his name is Pastor Luke, and I know him.

He is relatively short, is a Man of God, and loves his wife and three children. He has been hurt by many people at many times, and yet loves Jesus all the more. His prayers are amazing, and his life reflects Christ in many ways, and in those ways he doesn't, he prays for deliverance daily. I know him

I have a wonderous Friend, her name is "Sandra", and I know her.

She is Very Beautiful, loves our Jesus with all her heart, and has a boyfriend. She will take people under her own wings, opening herself to great pain and heartache, and while we have gone through fewer trials together, we have both gone through many similar trials. Her prayers are powerful, and our Lord has given her gifts so amazing that even she has not fully grasped them.

She loves children, and would do anything to protect one of her friends. Her Father is a Pastor whom I greatly honor, her Mother is a great Woman after God's own heart, and I barely know the rest of her family, yet I love them deeply. Her worship is powerful, and she ushers many into the presence of God. I pray for her and her family every day, and am exceedingly honored to be considered her Friend. I know her.

I have a great friend, his name is Tim, and I know him.

For years, he was my only friend, and even now that we live the width of the country away, I still consider him my best. I used to live in his Dad's church, and will never stop owing his family for many great and wonderful things that they showed my about my Liege.

He strains after God's heart and will with every breath that he breathes, and will continue to do so for the rest of his life. His family is like my family, and I would do anything for them, as they would for me. I trust him implicitly, and know him as a man of honor, who has fallen, but who has risen far beyond what he himself has been capable of. I know him.

I have a true friend, his name is Aaron, and I know him.

In my time of greatest need, he went far beyond the call of duty, to bring me from the edge of death itself, and return me to new life. When I knew nothing, he taught me, when I lost who I was, he came alongside and help me rebuild. When no one was there, he stood faithful and true.

He has fallen, and has become great. He has failed, and become a man of True Success. He has wept, and had his tears dried by God Almighty, he has prayed, and seen the foundations of Heaven shake.

He is Aaron, a true child of the Most High, an ambassador to the nations, and I am honored to consider him a friend, and humbled to be considered his friend. I know him.

I have a sister, her name is Lorrie, and I know her.

She has seen me at my worst, and she always seems to miss seeing me at my best. She has grown from a small child, to a mighty warrior for our Lord. She still stumbles and falls, but she has grown into an amazing woman of God.

She is my friend, and I love her dearly. I know that when no one else, when even Aaron and "Sandra" would turn their backs, two people would stand by me. My Lord and my God would stand with me, and my sister would stand with me too.

I have seen her at her worst and always seem to miss seeing her at her best. I know her.

I know "Conan".
I know Pastor Luke.
I know "Sandra".
I know Tim.
I know Aaron.
I know Lorrie.

"... giving all diligence, add ... Knowledge"

I know "Conan". I am "Cognizant" of him.

I know Pastor Luke. I am "Cognizant" of him. I know him because he is my friend, I "Associate" with him. I know him becuase we have spoken deeply before, I have asked qestions of him, I have "Learned" from him, he has taught me. We have spent many hours together, often just working, many times talking and learning about each other, sometimes just playing around or goofing off. We have become friends, and I am honored by his friendship.

I know "Sandra". I am "Cognizant" of her. I know her because she is my friend, I "Associate" with her. I know her because of truth learned by reasoning, I know her from "Information." We have spent some time together, sometimes just working, many times talking and learning about each other, sometimes just playing around or goofing off. I know her becuase we have spoken deeply before, I have asked qestions of her, and she has asked questions of me, I have "Learned" from her, she has taught me. We have become Friends, and I am immensely honored by her friendship.

I know Tim. I am "Cognizant" of him. I know him because he is my friend, I "Associate" with him. I know him because of truth learned by reasoning, I know him from "Information." We have spent much time together, sometimes just working, many times talking and learning about each other, often just playing around or goofing off. I know him becuase we have spoken deeply before, I have asked qestions of him, and he has asked questions of me, I have "Learned" from him, he has taught me. We have become friends, and I am honored by his friendship.

I know Aaron. I am "Cognizant" of him. I know him because he is my friend, I "Associate" with him. I know him because of truth learned by reasoning, I know him from "Information." We have spent much time together, sometimes just working, many times talking and learning about each other, often just playing around or goofing off. I know him becuase we have spoken deeply before, I have asked qestions of him, and he has asked questions of me, I have "Learned" from him, he has taught me. We have become friends, and I am honored by his friendship.

I know Lorrie. I am "Cognizant" of her. I know her because she is my friend, I "Associate" with her. I know her because of truth learned by reasoning, I know her from "Information." We have spent much time together, sometimes just working, many times talking and learning about each other, often just playing around or goofing off. I know her becuase we have spoken deeply before, I have asked qestions of her, and she has asked questions of me, I have "Learned" from her, she has taught me. We have become friends, and I am honored by her friendship.

Those four aspects are those listed before of Knowledge, but they do not encompass the full "Knowledge" I have of these people.

"Conan": I know him mostly because of awareness, and our friendship is comfortably encompassed in "Knowledge"

From Pastor Luke on, I know them because of much more than awareness, much more than simple Facts and Figures, but through time spent with them, becoming their friends and taking them as my friends.

This is the friendship God wants with his children.

This is the fellowship God wants with us.

This is the relationship God wants with me.

This is the companionship God wants with you.

This is what God wants.

Not just for Him to know you, but for you to know Him. Not just that you are His friend, but he wants you as His.

God says: "...add to your Virtue, Knowledge..."

God says: "Would you be my friend?"

I know someone, and she has a saying. Sometimes she will look up randomly and say, "Am I your friend?"

"Am I your friend?"

God says: "You are my friend. Am I your friend?"

There is one common factor between all of the people listed above.

One.
Single.
Thing.

I have seen them weep. They have seen me weep.

We have seen eachother weep.

I can stop and think of times each of them have wept, and I'm certain that each of them can remember me weeping. All but one of them I have comforted, and all but one has comforted me.

Tears seem to be something that is used to bring people together, maybe because it makes us seem more real. Of all the people I think of as my friends, every one of them has wept in my presence, and I have wept in theirs.

"Jesus Wept."
-John 11:35

"As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it."
-Luke 19:41

We have seen Jesus weep.

God Almighty has wept, and in full view of His friends.

His friends know Him.

We are His friends.

"Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll — are they not in your record?"
-Psalms 56:8

Jesus has seen us weep.

Jesus has seen us weep.

This week, several of my friends were hurt deeply, and there was nothing I could do. For one in particular, we were in the midst of some who would hurt my friend deeper if they know of this pain, and so we could not even weep together. But after I came home I knelt before my bed and began to weep. Tears and sobbing flowed freely for my friend, so deeply that I could not speak to pray, but I learned something that night. My tears were prayers.

For Jesus saw me weep.

He knows me.

He is my friend.

Yesterday, I found that a Friend of mine's (I'll call her Tony) Mother may have Pneumonia, and we don't know the seriousness of it yet. When I saw Tony, her face was drawn with tears, and that day I didn't see a true smile on her face. But I did see one thing. Tears. Prayers. Prayers streaming down a face, being lifted to our God and King.

"Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll — are they not in your record?"
-Psalms 56:8

Jesus saw my Friend weep.

He knows my Friend.

He is my Friend's Friend.

There is a story of a man, one of his best friends was the most gentle and Godly woman on the face of the earth, but she was tried sorely every day. He family was kept together by the grace of God, but much of what she knew in life was taken from her, and replaced with pain.

As this man got to know her more and more, he began to love her. He loved everything about her, her gentle spirit, her listening heart, and her healing hands. One day in his prayers he asked God why someone so beautiful on the inside was hurt so much, and the only thing her heard was "Wait."

The next morning as he drove to work, he stopped at a light and saw a woman get out of a Ferrari, and lead her child up some stairs to a daycare facility. He noticed that she resembled his friend and was about to turn away when the small child tripped and fell. Looking with concern at the child, he rolled down his window just in time to hear a sting of obsenities fly from the mother's mouth.

Shocked, he was about to say something when she physically picked grabbed the child and shoved him through the door.

To shorten the story, throughout the day, he continued to find people like that, from his work, to a restaurant, to a newstand, everywhere he went! When he finally returned home, he called his friend and arranged to drive her to church that night.

On the drive he told her what had occurred that day, and over the course of the drive, he realized that the Lord had answered his question the previous night. The reason was that without her trials, she would have become someone just like those he had seen throughout the day.

Because of her experiance, her knowledge of pain, she loved enough to see what her actions would do to people. In short, she knew pain, and she loved God enough to not cause pain to His people.

That is knowledge.

Knowledge is not a static thing, or even a statisticly measured thing.

Instead, Knowledge is an experience, that grows and changes with time. It's something that changes you, changes you and makes you new. Along with that change, a great part of spiritual Knowledge is pain. For, "For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief." - Ecclesiastes 1:18

But the cost is worth it.

When you find a friend, you get to know them. It is sometimes painful. It is worth it.

When you find a spouse, you get to know them. It is often painful, but if you ask two happily married couple, they will tell you that it was worth the pain.

Whey you get to know God, it is often wrought with pain. But listen to those who have truly come to be great friends of God, and they will say that it has been worth it all, and that for you, "It's gonna be worth it all!"
-David

And you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. - 2 Peter 1:11