When I first came to know Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior, I could not get enough of Him. I devoured His word and quickly read the Bible from cover to cover. Biblically, I was growing in knowledge. As a family, we attended Sunday school, youth group, prayer meeting, and church. So, needless to say, I was learning a lot about God.

But then, for a while, I ceased growing in knowledge. It wasn’t because I stopped reading or attending church and other meetings. I stopped growing in knowledge because I tested the word of God by comparing it to what the denomination that I belonged to said about various things.

Now, every Christian denomination (including non-denominational) has it’s ideas and interpretations of what the Word of God says about various things and how we are to live our lives as Christians. But NOWHERE in the Bible does it say that we are to listen exclusively to our Pastor. We are supposed to grow in knowledge on our own as well.

How are we going to live out 2 Timothy 2:15 if we are not studying the scripture on our own and growing in knowledge of God? “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”.

The danger in not growing in knowledge of God and His Word is that we may be so rooted in what we believe that we miss the truth and a real encounter with Jesus!

We can look to Thomas to see what that looks like. Thomas had been with Jesus. He had walked, talked, and had fellowship with Jesus. Jesus taught him in the same way that He had taught the other apostles. He had even desired to go with Jesus to Judea (when the other apostles were in fear of those who had previously tried to stone Jesus). He not only wanted to go with him, but he said let’s die with Him. ““Let us also go, that we may die with him” John 11:16.

Yet Thomas got caught up in what he believed. Jesus had said to them, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” John 14:1-4. He told them He was going away but that He would be back for them and would take them with Him.

But, when the other disciples tell Thomas that they have seen Jesus, he doubts. “So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” John 20:25.

Thomas had been present for Jesus’s messages. He had heard the truth. He knew that Jesus said He was going away but would return. But he would not accept the truth. It sounded too impossible. Did Thomas really listen? Did he recognize who Jesus really was? Or, when Jesus was teaching, did he only half listen, because he knew what he believed? Did he stop growing in knowledge?

But our story doesn’t end there for Thomas. If it did, we would know Thomas as the disciple who missed an encounter with Jesus. Because Jesus came again (and He came directly to Thomas), Thomas grew in knowledge of Jesus.

“Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” John 20:27-28. Thomas came face to face with the truth!

He didn’t hang onto his belief. He recognized the truth! “Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” John 20:28. Jesus came back!

We all have our ideas about various scriptures and their interpretations. We all have our denominational baggage. And we even have those things that we find hard to believe in the scripture.

But, if we are growing in knowledge of God, He will reveal the truth of His Word. God says to test everything and hold onto what is good (the truth). “but test everything; hold fast what is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21.

When we were in school, we were taught how to do addition. As we progressed, a new teacher taught us other things (perhaps algebra or geometry). Maybe it required us to add those numbers in a different way. If we closed ourselves off and said, “Nope. Not doing it! That is not what I was taught!”, we would not know how to do the new math that the teacher was trying to teach us.

It is the same way when we are growing in knowledge of God and His Word. It is a constant process of applying ourselves to reading His word and listening to our new teacher: the Holy Spirit. “I will send you the Helper^[a] from the Father. The Helper is the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father. When he comes, he will tell about me” John 15:26.

The Holy Spirit wants to teach us, but we have to be willing to learn spiritual algebra 😉 . We have to want to grow in knowledge of God and His Word. And we have to spend time with Him and listen to Him because God has new truths and a deeper faith that He wants for us. But sitting stagnant, hanging on to old teachings, won’t help us obtain them. We will miss an encounter with Jesus.

Father God, forgive us for leaning on our own knowledge and understanding and not on your leading. Forgive us for getting so caught up with day to day life that we fail to grow in knowledge of You and Your Word. Thank You, Father, that You have given us Your Word to help us grow. Thank You, Jesus, that You sent us the Helper (the Holy Spirit). And, Holy Spirit, we thank You for the teaching and leading that You want to accomplish in our lives. Create a hunger in us to grow in knowledge of God and His Word. Create a greater hunger in us for more of You, Holy Spirit. We pray these things in your precious and Holy name, Jesus.

If you feel like you know very little about God and His Word, please go to our Life Preserver page (https://forgiven-n-loved.com/life-preserver/). On that page, you will find a prayer outlined. Please pray this prayer. God wants an intimate and personal relationship with you. He wants to forgive you. He wants to send the Holy Spirit to you to help you grow in knowledge of Him and His Word. Please pray that prayer and, once you have, reach out to me at admin@Forgiven-N-Loved.com and let me know. I’d love to be in prayer with (and for) you and to answer any questions that you might have.

Luv Ya!