The Challenge and Privilege of Knowing Christ

Many Christians have a desire to have a deeper relationship with Christ, but struggle to enter into one; many times thinking it's just not possible or attainable in this world.

While a number of believers may not say it that way, their actions do.

Assuming there is a determined honesty to someone wanting to know the Lord Jesus, there are a couple of things to remember before going in and talking about it.

When Jesus taught the crowds the parable of the sower, He brought His disciples aside and said this in Mark 4:

13 “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

The point He was making was extraordinary. Parable reflected the realities of who Christ was and the Kingdom of God. This specific parable was a foundational parable that gives meaning to the rest.

Jesus was basically saying that if they didn't understand this one, the rest would be misunderstood and misinterpreted.

Continuing on, Jesus gives the interpretation of the meaning of this foundational - parables of parables:

14 The sower sows the word.

15 And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. 18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”


I only bring this up not to get into the scriptures above, but to say that getting to know Jesus Christ is determined by the obstacles above, and overcoming them in Him.

A walk with the Lord can't be without conflict, challenge; both within and without. That's the point He makes above.

With that in mind, let's talk briefly about getting to know the Lord Jesus Christ.


The first and foremost thing that must be part of us is a detemination that no matter what happens, we will continue on with our walk with the Lord.

This doesn't mean we won't falter or stumble, but that even when we do, we allow Him to pick us up, while keeping our hearts open to Him.

If we don't have this, no matter what else we do, it'll be pretty hopeless and fruitless. The reason why is instead of going two steps forward and one step back, we basically take one step forward and then go one step back; making no progress, and if we're fortunate, just barely holding on to what we do have of Christ.

Now this doesn't mean we won't feel that way, just that the reality must be forward progress, and not going nowhere.

So with determination must come the desire to want to walk with Christ, even when we know we'll meet the cross immediately, and who we are begin to be weakened that Christ may show forth. This of course takes a lifetime, so we must settle into a marathon, and not a sprint mentality.

That way when we do go through struggles, we can hold on knowing they are temporary, and eventually the Lord will bring us through them.

One thing to keep in mind with the two things mentioned here - determination and desire to know Jesus Christ - we can't do it without Him. So we must ask Him to give us that determination, while also giving us the desire to know Him better in the midst of adversity and struggles, or in the best of times as well.

Without Him we can do nothing.

While there is the direct knowing of Christ, beyond that there is the knowing of Christ in fellowshipping with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Modern day church practices make it almost impossible to do that, which is a major reason for Acts29review blog and website, which challenges and calls for the church of Jesus Christ to return to a more organic church experience and practice, which empowers believers to know Christ individually and corporately.

At this time I'm not going to get into too many practicals in this, as it's most important to ask the Lord Jesus to cultivate within us the desire and determine to continue to know and fellowship within, before we think of practical ways on how to do it.

One of the better books you can get and read on that is from Jeanne Guyon called Experiencing The Depths of Jesus Christ, which you can look at and purchase below if you choose.

Once you start on a path in learning to know and fellowship with Christ, eventually it becomes a simple, immediate and continuous step of faith you walk and live in.

It's nothing more than turning to Him within you, and from a corporate standpoint, living, sharing and walking in that together.

In reality, that's the way Christ becomes all in all, and that's the process and the end result of what is called the eternal purpose of God, where we literally bear and are changed into the image of Christ while we walk in Him together.

One of Many Lessons from Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life - 7

The recent death of Alexander Solzhenitsyn on August 3, made a lot of people who lived through the times when he wrote his powerful books that changed an empire - reflective.

There's one thing I want to mention, because it has to do with our recent theme of Jesus as the tree of life.

I want to focus on what he talked about in reference to good and evil some time ago. Here's what one writer says about it:

"For Solzhenitsyn, right and wrong, good and evil, undoubtedly do exist. However, as he first expressed it in a poem written in his head in the camps nearly 60 years ago, the dividing line between good and evil passes not between warring parties, ideologies, armies, but runs through the heart of each individual and flickers ceaselessly to and fro."

This is an extraordinary understanding of the source of what becomes outward actions and deeds: it comes from the heart.

Eating of the tree of life was meant to take in the life of Christ interally, and willingly allow Him to live out that live in creation. That's the very purpose of creation, that it would bear the testimony of the invisible Christ. It's still the ultimate end of the eternal purpose of God. This is the purpose of the church, to be a letter written from God within, that then expresses itself outwardly.

Solzhenitsyn understood that everything was connected to the heart, and if that changed, the rest would follow.

That's why the scriptures teach that Christ has written His laws in our hearts. He is the king and ruler, and His kingdom is an inner one. Once we learn to eat of the tree of life, the outer starts to take care of itself as the living Christ expands who he is within us. Eventually the two will become one, as heaven and earth become a visible testimony to who Christ is.

This is why we are to embrace the kingdom coming and the will of God being done on earth as it is in heaven, because the two are one in Christ. Now He is looking for people who are willing to endure the cross so that can become a reality. The ultimate work of the cross is to eliminate who we are so He can live fully within us.

The secret is we retain our soul while He becomes everything. He never forces us, but woos us to Himself within. That puts the responsibility upon us to keep our hearts open and pliable to Him while we go through the myriad tough times those embracing the cross will always go through.

It all has to do with internalizing and eating of the tree of life.

By the way, if you want to understand a portion of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Solzhenitsyn expresses the fruit of it accurately, it "runs through the heart of each individual and flickers ceaselessly to and fro."

The tree of life on the other hand, does the opposite.

Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life Series

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

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Whatever You Do, Do it from the Heart Unto the Lord

One of the things that has helped me more than anything else in everyday life is to do whatever I do from the heart unto the Lord. It changes everything when you learn to practice this.

Whatever our circumstances are, if we will include that in our ways when we do things, it has a way of changing whatever it is we're doing without more effort.

But even the benefits it can have for others pales in comparison to the reality that we have been created from, for and to Him. To do this can become as simple as breathing. Eventually you really don't think about it, you simply live from Him, and from out of your heart give back to Him whatever it is he's given you.

Many times this includes things in relationship to people. It can make a tremendous difference when we relate to others and serve them in any way that is the same way that we would relate or serve the Lord.

There is nothing we can strive or work for here, we just open our hearts and give them to Him, and then from His heart give it back to whoever we are able to at the time.

It's a life-changing experience that we can all partake of as we walk in Him together; not only those we touch, but ourselves as well.

Our Hearts Need to be Always Open to Him

Sharing the life of Christ together takes a lot of humility and brokeness, things that can only come from the Lord. Yet it is a heart after God that enables us to open up to Him doing this work within us, and living His life through us.

A willingness to take everything as coming from the hand of God is one of the attributes that come along with this.

What this does is keep our hearts open before God and with one another. A hard heart is possibly the greatest enemy against our allowing Him to live His life within and through us.

One of the jobs we have as the people of God is to continually remind and watch out for one another that hardness and bitterness doesn't enter within us and find a home. It can devastate everything that the Lord wants to do within us if we resist Him.

All we can do is continually be open before Him whether it is painful, joyful, happy or sad. As long as He is there with us - which He is - nothing else really matters. That He is there is enough.

He is more than willing and able to renew a right heart and spirit within us. Just trust that He will, and leave it in His hands.