October 11. Matthew ch 15-17
KNOWLEDGE BRINGS CONSCIOUSNESS LEADING TO FAITH
“For last night an angel of the God I belong to and serve stood by me and said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. It is necessary for you to appear before Caesar. And indeed, God has graciously given you all those who are sailing with you.’ So take courage, men, because I believe God that it will be just the way it was told to me. Some sailors tried to escape from the ship; they had let down the skiff into the sea, pretending that they were going to put out anchors from the bow. Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.””
Acts 27:23-25, 30-31 CSB
GOOD DAY: Knowledge brought awareness of God to Paul. Awareness gave him faith to trust what the angel told him. Really awareness makes all the difference in how we react to situations. Awareness comes from two sources.
The first is what we can feel with our senses. The facts that the senses present and we process them and decide on what action to take. Awareness from the senses also breeds emotions. From what you sense, you can be happy or sad, loving or hateful, strengthened people weakened, even dead or alive. Facts presented by the senses are not too dependable as they change frequently. In the case above, the senses presented a storm and death one moment and the next moment the storm was calm! It did some damage, but did not kill anybody as expected of a storm of that strength.
The second source of awareness is from the knowledge of God. Paul belonged to God and served Him. He was aware of God. He knew God was with him in the storm. Awareness of God brings peace and faith. To become aware of God, you need to meditate on some of His promises that tell us He is with us and in us and will never leave us. Some of such include: “…teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20 NASB1995
In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
John 14:20, 23 NASB1995
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 1 Corinthians 6:19 NASB1995
No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Joshua 1:5 NASB1995
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5 BSB
You can take any of these scriptures and make it your meditation point until you become conscious of the presence of God with you.
The consciousness of His presence will give you peace, instruction and faith.
PRAY: Dear Lord, make me conscious of Your ever abiding presence no matter what my senses tell me.
