#4th anniversary Celebrations of 77 D.O.Gs – Sept 18th
This is the moment that a cry must come forth out of our hearts, like the cry out of Apostle Paul: “that I may know Him.” Paul the Apostle was 57 years old when he cried that. Paul began to preach at the age of 30, at the age of 57 he began to cry that. We ask the question, why do you say that, Paul? Don’t you know the LORD already? What was that hard which caused you to cry? “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” [Philippians 3:10].
Moses in Exodus 33:13, we see the same cry here. He begins by saying, Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee,… Moses, we would think that he had already known the LORD; he had seen Him face to face, but he said these words; that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation [is] thy people. The cry came out that he [Moses] wanted to see the glory of God. What a powerful cry? And then we look at Exodus 34 and we see something beautiful. How the Lord answered his (Moses) prayer, he says, And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD [Exodus 34:5]. Moses experienced all that to the full knowledge of God. So, out of knowing the Lord is ongoing; we move from great knowledge to greater knowledge; from great fellowship to greater fellowship.
I am 68 years old, my cry today is the same cry; “I want to know this same JESUS.” I want to know this wonderful Savior. I don’t want to get to heaven and see how much I missed on earth, because it all begins here, that’s when you fully know the Lord here. The bible has something to tell us in Psalms 86:11, David cried, “Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.” Here, another man cried to know the Lord, His ways and to walk in His truth. So those who hunger to know the Lord will always know His truth. Meaning they will be protected from deception; they will be protected from the enemy and they will be protected from terror. God’s greatest desire is you and I to know Him, not with a mentality that looks for benefits but to make Him the God of our lives who holds the supreme place in our hearts.
In Philippians 3:8, Paul says, Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them [but] dung, that I may win Christ. There’s something profound about this verse; we cannot fully know God if we are a part of our past, because he says, “doubtless, he counts all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus His Lord: for whom he has suffered the loss of all things.” This is the key; You are going to know God when you lose all things in this life. Paul said to Timothy that no solider of Jesus Christ will entangle himself in the affairs of this life [2 Timothy 2:4]. We are to carry our own cross. We cannot know the Lord if we love the world. He will not reveal Himself to any individual who is entangled with the affairs of this world. Verse 9, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Notice again, not only in verse 8 but also in verse 10, the same cry which is in verse 8, “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings.” This is after he went to the third heaven and all that he had experienced. No one talks about the sharing of Jesus because they believe that is past and not present. Why did Paul want to know it [the sufferings of Christ and the fellowship of his sufferings]? He never said unto His image but he said unto His death. In other words, he wanted to disappear. He wanted Jesus to be all in all in his life. He wanted to experience death on a scale which is weighing on a physical death; death to the things of the world and even his whole life. What he was looking for was his own consolation. He removed his own consolation out of the picture that what he would know and live is Jesus. And he goes ahead to say in verse 11, If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. You are a son of God, would you attain to that? That is rubbish to most of us but you see that he was not dressed in his own flesh, his own strength, his own mind, his own heart, he didn’t trust himself. Verse 12, Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. He was a prisoner, he was captured, he was surrounded by soldiers, he was chained and he wanted to capture Christ. He wanted to apprehend, and that word “apprehend” is very powerful in Hebrew, it means to “lay hold of”. He wrote this episode in prison; he was bound in prison; he was chained in prison and he said, “I am apprehended now.” I apprehend Jesus as this prison has me.
He says in verse 13, Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. What an amazing thing that God or man would make available to all of us like that, that we can’t apprehend Him? So, He is either hiding from us or making Himself invisible or impossible to find Him and to apprehend Him; He is a hiding God, He is a running God towards us calling our names saying, “come unto me, I want you.” So Paul says, verse 14, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. What is the prize? Jesus is the prize. The high calling of God in Christ Jesus is the upward calling; going upward to where He is.
The bible tells us very clearly that our knowledge of God must increase because if our knowledge doesn’t increase, there’s danger. But look at what it says in Colossian 1:10, That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. So, knowing the Lord is daily, on-going, for life, and God is looking for a people that will know Him. In fact in the Psalms, He said to Israel, if you would know Me, look at what I will do for you. “Knowing the Lord”, in that one word is everything that the bible talks about. When you know Him, your prayer life is strong; your fellowship is strong, your worship is strong. Everything you want to do is the reason you and I were born. We were not born to know our parents, they are only vehicles that brought us in this world but we must know one person and that is Jesus Christ; not sisters, not children, not brothers, not family, not friends but JESUS. Why was I born? To win Him, that’s it. You know when people are crying, oh Lord do this, oh Lord do that, He says, “If you know Me, I will do ALL.” We cannot know God through His nature because we are revealed in parts of His ways, and the bible tells us that in Job 26:13-14. Verse 14, Lo, these [are] parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?
This is what amazes me when you read 1 Corinthians chapter 2, and look at this remarkable scripture beginning at verse 10-12; But God hath revealed [them] unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. What are those free things? The deep things of God. The Holy Spirit is searching the depth of God to reveal that to you. Think about what God is offering to us? I will do for you; I want anyone to know about Me. There are certain things about you, pastor and you, sweet people that you don’t want anyone to know about you. There are things about us that are secret but God says, there’s nothing secret with Me; “I will share Myself with My people.” That’s incredible. I don’t want to share myself with anyone, but God says, “between Me and you, there is no secret; I want to reveal My fullness to you if you want it, I made the decision.” I want it and I want that.
God knows us and the bible says, He knows every thought. In Psalms 139:2, the scripture says, Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Can I tell you something, that’s how God wants us to know Him. Not to just know, He is God Almighty, God of Israel, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; if God knows my thoughts, He wants me to also know His thoughts, and that’s what Paul was crying for. Now this is so powerful because we are commanded in scripture in 1 Peter 1:15-16, But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. How, and how do I get there? What brings you to that place of being Holy is knowing Him. If I know Him, that holiness is going to be transferred on my life because I am going to be holy not by works or prayer but by knowing Him. Knowing Him will bring you to that place. And the bible has more to say, Hebrews 12:14, Follow peace with all [men], and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Do you want to see the Lord? Do you want to live a holy life? Get to know Him. Getting to know Him means it’s time to stop knowing other things and other people.
Four years ago, God told me to stop watching network television, and at home I have no cable or direct TV. I have none and I am giving myself to the WORD. I want to know this God. I want to know His thoughts, His desires and His heart because I am still on a journey and so are you! Here is the key in knowing Him, and there’s a scripture in Proverbs which says, A righteous man falling down before the wicked [is as] a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring [Proverbs 25:26]. Do you know what this is? It says, anyone who falls away, anyone who stops working with God, his path will become cloudy with sins because when the word of God is gone, darkness comes. Even when he says, I want to go back to God, he cannot see his way back. When a righteous man falls before the wicked he becomes a troubled fountain. That’s why today, the cry of God’s heart is found in 1 Corinthian 15:33, because God wants us for Himself, He says, Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. That word communication means company and friends. So what do we do? Verse 34, Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak [this] to your shame. So, if people don’t have the knowledge, if they don’t know Him, they will sin. If you don’t know Jesus, you will know sins but if you know Jesus, you won’t know sins. If you walk with Jesus you will not want to sin. When you walk with Jesus, you are walking in the light and darkness is behind you. So what are we to do? We need to obey 2 Corinthians 6:14-16. And here is the cry in 2 Corinthians 6:17, Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you. Touch not the unclean things of the world including television, books and magazines, be it friends. Verse 18, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Which means, if I can do it, yes you can. Just say, Yes!
Prayer: Father, I pray right now in the name of Jesus, bring Your people into the knowledge of You. That they will know You. They will work with You. They will fellowship with You. They will know Your depth. They will know Your love and they will love You with the love they have never known; with the love that will purify them. Keep them as the apple of Your eye. Protect them from the world. Protect them from sin. Protect them from the enemy. Sanctify them for You, LORD. We want to know You more; I want to know You deep in My soul and that is our cry LORD. Jesus, wonderful Jesus, we give You the Praise. Lord God, enable us to know You deeper.
Friends, we believe that you have been blessed by this wonderful message from Pr. Benny Hinn, and if you have never given your life to Jesus, make Him today your Lord and Savior by asking Him to come into your life.
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Other great men and women of God who will be ministering from today, [Saturday] Sept-19th to Sept-28th [the day of the atonement] include; Aps. T. Vutabwashe, Dr. Paul Enenche, Pr. Margaret Court, Pr. Mirek Hufton, Pr. Paul Daugherty, Bishop Warren, Pr. Caleb, our own Pastors, Robert & Jessica Kayanja and many more. The celebration services will be LIVE on Channel 44 TV and at the Robert Kayanja Ministries media platforms and the service starts at exactly 7pm [EAT]. Remember, we are fasting in these ten days [The Daniel Fast].
©Robert Kayanja Ministries – Missions Department
