When I was first saved I was ignorant of the power of God in my life but I could see it in others’ lives or at least I thought I could. My ignorance resulted in my belief God was under our control. I learned all manner of lies and believed them. The biggest problem with that is I could not predict what God would do next. I was always surprised by what He was doing. God can surprise us but that is not what He wants to do. He wants us to know Him well enough to know what His next move will be. The reason we are living such unspectacular lives is because we are controlling God, He is not controlling us.

The maturity of the skills we use to get what is available to us through the Father is concurrent with our knowledge of Him. For example, when setting a boundary regarding a person who is toxic to you (Christian or non-Christian) an immature in knowledge of God (IK) Christian would just stay away from that person based on their out of control reaction while in their presence. A mature in knowledge of God (MK) Christian would be seen in their presence but have a boundary to mind their own business while talking to them. The difference is striking between the two. The power is different between the two. The knowledge is different between the two. How they control themselves is different between the two. How they manage the life God has given them is different between the two.

In the example above the immature in knowledge Christian will avoid those she does not get along with and blame it on them. When we argue with a fool we look like a fool as well. Although the IK Christian doesn’t know that yet because she is not in the know with Jesus. Her life skills are lacking because she has absolutely no idea yet the Bible is an encyclopedia of knowledge in how to improve our life skills. She continues to avoid the lessons therein because she thinks the world has all the answers. She cannot manage the little number of gifts given to her by God; they are being managed by the world still. Day by day the Father teaches her about how to manage the life He has bestowed upon her. He buries a dream deep in her that He puts on fire every so often to draw her to Him. She continues to wonder how she will have the dream burning within her. She works hard to get it with worldly skills but all of her work fails. She continues to lose control of her emotions, she continues in debt, she continues to argue, she continues to set goals that will fail and she continues to think like the world. In her personal time with God she is learning the dream is God’s not hers. She is losing the fight to control her life. She is relenting more each day until one day she becomes an MK Christian.

The mature in the knowledge Christian faces the God she knows constantly because He speaks truth into her life. She gives her heart to Jesus over and over again until He does what He wants with it. Her actions reflect His way and her thinking His thoughts. She begins to manage her goods for His glory and she sees the dream He has planted in her as hers to live. Everything she does is toward that dream. She begins to control her behaviour when in the presence of those she previously had lost control. She thinks about the souls of others before her own because her hope is established within her. Knowing Jesus has freed her to work toward her dream knowing He will establish that too. She praises Jesus for who He is and burns to introduce Him to other people His way. She is different from everyone else. Her life is salvaged by our God and she knows it. Her knowledge keeps getting deeper of her God through His Words to her. Her life has become skills the Biblical way.

Our life skills will never improve without our God to show us how to improve them and for what reason. He burns a dream in your heart and it is for that reason you will improve every life skill. Knowing God is the only way to find the answers. His knowledge pours out over us like a drip at first then He floods us with His knowledge as we use it to mature our skills to His glory. We have to search for people who have mature skills and ask God to explain it to us. We tolerate being in the presence with those whose skills are set against God and ask Him to explain it. We must be with those who know Jesus because they know how to be different. Being with them shows us how to be different. The difference is simply in our education. I want the whole world to say there is something different about me and I want that for you too. Don’t let the prospect of being different scare you, educate yourself and know your God!