When you truly know God, you have energy to serve Him, boldness to share Him, and contentment in Him.”īut there’s a problem. Packer put it this way: “There’s a difference between knowing God and knowing about God. The heart that deeply knows and loves God will bear the fruit of the Spirit, and overflow with joyful service to others. The problem with the Pharisees isn’t that they knew too much Bible, but they failed to embrace and live out a central core of the Bible-love, grace, and kindness. The Apostle Paul saw love for God and knowledge of Him as being inextricably connected: “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9-11). We need more of it, not less, and when we learn it properly, it will draw our hearts to God. In fact, Christians know less about the Bible and biblical doctrine than any time in memory.

We need to live it.” Of course, we need to live it, but the solution is not knowing less. I cringe whenever someone says, “We know too much truth/doctrine/theology. Jen Wilkin writes, “The heart cannot love what the mind does not know.” And “If we want to feel deeply about God, we must learn to think deeply about God.” To touch us at the heart level-and to keep touching us over days, months, years, and decades-truth must work its way into our minds. Truth matters. When you speak truth, you come to believe it. It is the center of all your inner life.” It also refers to your mind and thoughts as well. But in Hebrew, the heart…doesn’t just describe your emotions. Lois Tverberg explains, “In English we speak of the heart to refer to our emotions, sometimes even contrasting our hearts with our heads-our rational thinking. You are a whole person, and the path to your heart travels through your mind. Bruce Ware says, “If you don’t have it in your head, you can’t have it in your heart.” The head and the heart should not be pitted against each other.

The book heaven by randy alcorn