Knowing God

[Reginald Lee]

        "He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? Saith the Lord." Jeremiah 22:16. This verse is part of a text taken from Jeremiah 22:13-19. God said that Josiah took care of the poor and this act of benevolence demonstrated his relationship that he had with God. God said that because of Josiah's benevolence the favor of God was upon his life. How we treat the poor is a strong witness to the world about our faith in God.
       Knowing God always will bring one into a right relationship with others. The Spirit of the Lord in the heart of the believer is power to love others. The true work of God's grace upon the heart can be experienced in the practice of love, "By this shall men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." John 13:35.
       There is a divine love at work in self-denial and self-sacrifice on the behalf of others. It was the work of the Holy Spirit in a multitude of Saints who sold land and houses and gave the money to the Apostles and distribution was unto every man according to his need, Acts 4:32-35. The Holy Spirit filled the believers whit love that was evident in there care for one another.
        We know God by faith, the fruit of faith is love. The more we love the more we grow in our relationship with God by faith. Faith is the gift of God but each of us as with the gift a responsibility to use it or lose it. We all have a stewardship as faithful servants in the labor of love. To refuse to love others is to fail to love God. For no man can say that he loves God and hate his brother.