Draw close to God and He will draw close to you. James 4:8.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלוהים) says:
Although I speak of the eternal, everlasting, days of eternity, length of days, forever, and eternal life, there is only place that eternal life is defined for you in the Bible, and it is defined by the One in whom you have eternal life, Jesus.
Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17:1-3.
The Spirit, the Water and the Blood all testify that I have given you eternal life, and this life is in My Son. If you have Jesus, you have this life in you, if you do not believe in Jesus, you do not have this life in you. 1 John 5:10-12. And Jesus defines eternal life, the eternal life He gives you, as knowing Me, the only true God, and Jesus the Messiah whom I have sent.
This knowing one another, for My desire is for all to know Me from the least to the greatest, the youngest to the oldest, is essential for eternal life.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” Matthew 7:21-23.
I have always been seeking to dwell among you from the beginning until now, and it will continue for eternity. I never grow tired of being with you, to Me, it is always new. It is always first love.
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you. Isaiah 62:5.
And I want you to find the joy of first love always in Me as well.
I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10.
Never let your love get cold or old, and if you draw close to Me it never will, for in My presence is fullness of joy. If you have lost your joy, draw close to the fountain of the anointing, the oil of joy.
“I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” Acts 2:2-4.
This knowing has to do with loving one another. You cannot truly draw close with no hindrance to someone for whom you have no love. Love has to do with holding close, has to do with cherishing, and has to do with the interest you will have in the relationship, it has to do with the excitement that comes upon seeing and having time with the beloved.
Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste. Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love. Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love. His left arm is under my head, and his right arm embraces me. Song of Songs 2:3-6.
In a worldly way the closest you can draw to someone is the covenant of marriage, but that is true in the spirit realm as well. Death severs the physical bond of marriage, but the joining of your spirit with My Spirit is never severed for it is the basis of eternal life. Once My Spirit dwells in you, you cannot go to hell for the Holy Spirit cannot go there and He is in you who believe.
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:13-14.
This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:39-40.
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:11.
And that knowledge of Me and that bond of first love is within your spirit when the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in you upon your receiving Jesus as Lord.
But you may be thinking you would like to know Me better, even as I know you. I call you by name you are Mine. And that is key to knowing someone. You know their name, and even closer, in marriage you take their name as your own. The whole family in Me in Heaven and on earth has My Name. To you who know Me, I have given My Name.
Knowing someone all begins with knowing their name. It then goes on to knowing their words, and finally through knowing their actions. When the name, the words, and the actions (interactions with you) are known, the person is known. And the more of these three you know the closer you are to one another.
Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His Name or His Son’s Name? Surely you know! Proverbs 30:4.
I have revealed to you My Name and My Son’s Name. And this is the way you begin to know Me.
“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.” John 17:6-11.
Here you see the elements of knowing Me: the manifestation of My Name as shown in the actions and work of Jesus, My Words given to you, and my interactions with you—the work of your glorification, I take you from glory to glory as you behold Jesus for who He is, your Salvation. Keep your eyes on Jesus and you will know Me.
Think about Moses on Mt. Horeb tending his father-in-law’s sheep. I appeared to him as I called him by name. He responded to draw close to Me as I called his name.
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. Since you are precious in My sight, since you are honored and I love you. Isaiah 43:1-4.
And after talking with Me, he wanted more. He asked Me for My Name.
Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it, the LORD is His name, “Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3.
And I gave Him My Covenant Name that he was the first man to hear. Yahavah. I AM, I WAS AND I AM TO COME. And from that point on I began to tell who I am to you and who you are to Me in adjectives attached to My Name as Covenant promises.
Do you know My Covenant promise Names? I tell you that I lift you on high, free from the snares of the evil one, when you know My Name. Let Me introduce Myself: I AM the LORD your healer, Exodus 15:26, the LORD who sees ahead and provides for you, Genesis 22:14, the LORD who is there for you, Ezekiel 48:35, the LORD your Shepherd, Psalm 23:1;Ezekiel 34:16; John 10:11, the LORD your Righteousness, Jeremiah 23:6, 2 Corinthians 5:21, the LORD your banner (victory, miracle), Exodus 17:15, 1 Corinthians 15:57, the LORD your peace, Judges 6:24, John 14:27, the LORD your fortress, 2 Samuel 22:2, the LORD your shield, Genesis 15:1; Psalm 144:2, the LORD your Refuge, Deuteronomy 33:27, the LORD your strength, Psalm 18:2, the LORD your rock, Psalm 18:2, the LORD your sanctifier, Exodus 31:18, Leviticus 20:8, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, the LORD your redeemer, Isaiah 43:14; and the LORD your Savior, Isaiah 49:26.
And Jesus adds His “I AM” names to the promises of the New Covenant as well, all of which you find in Him for I have given Him My Name as well: The Light of the world, and the promise with that Name is that no follower of His will ever walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life. The way, the truth and the life, the good Shepherd, the Bread of Life, the Door, the Resurrection and the Life, and the Vine.
And the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus called the “Spirit of truth,” and the “Helper,” adds His Names as well: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD, and He will delight in the fear of the LORD. Isaiah 11:2-3.
Moses learned My Name and he got excited. After receiving My Name, I gave him My word. In fact, I gave Moses the first five books of the Bible to write. He went all the way back to the beginning of creation in what I revealed to him. And in My Name, My Words, and the amazing works he witnessed by obeying My Word, including the ten plagues, the Passover, the parting of the Red Sea as a path for the Israelites, the Manna in the wilderness, the quail, the water from the rock, the plans for the tabernacle—it changed his whole life from a limited existence to a life without limits where the impossible became possible. And he became My friend. We spoke face to face. It was a real and living relationship that never faded or grew cold. And it is forever. He was on the Holy mountain with Me and Elijah at the transfiguration of Jesus, just as close in death as he was in life. I did not have to say to him, “I never knew you!” I said, “Well done, good and faithful servant, come share your Master’s joy!” And he is. And that is eternal life. A relationship of wonder, awe, miracles, and majesty, but above all of mutual love that never wears out or grows cold, that is forever.
It is knowing one another in perfect trust that never doubts the goodness of the other. It is knowing Me at the core where Jesus draws you back in with Him.
When everything is shaken, and it will be to its very foundations, all that remains in your life is your relationship with Me. Do you know Me? Do I know you? Surely you know!
I love you. Draw close to Me and I will draw close to you, closer and closer until you walk right across the line into eternity to be with Me forever.