how well do you know JESUS?...

lasting joy comes from knowing CHRIST better and better. philippians 3.10 (ms), i gave up all that inferior stuff so i could know CHRIST personally, experience HIS resurrection power, be a partner in HIS suffering, and go all the way with HIM to death itself.

paul says his number one goal in life is to know CHRIST better and better. how well do you know JESUS CHRIST? i know a lot of CHRISTians who have been CHRISTians, 5, 10, or more years and they really don't know JESUS CHRIST well. the word "know" in the greek is the word "yada". it means to know intimately, experiencially. it is the same word used when greeks translated the old testament where it says "adam knew eve" and she had a child -- that kind of knowledge. it's the same word in the new testament in the verse that said joseph did not know his wife until JESUS was born.

the amplified version describes this value more clearly. for my determined purpose is that i may know CHRIST – that i may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with HIM, perceiving and recognizing and understanding HIM more strongly and more clearly. this kind of knowledge is personal and progressive -- it's continual and ongoing.

there is a big difference between knowing and knowing about.

just a thought from the front porch...