Faith Walk / William Carroll
We will be talking about the word of God and how he moved in my life as I stood on his word. His signs and wonders that I have seen during the last forty years praying for my needs and the needs of others. I hope to encourage a new generation of believers to pray the word of God and to believe that He will move on their behalf. God answers prayers!
Faith Walk / William Carroll
Ep 83 Faith Beyond Knowledge
What's the difference between knowing about God and being known by Him? This question strikes at the heart of authentic faith and challenges us to examine our spiritual lives beyond religious performance.
Many believers find themselves in a peculiar position—they attend church, know scripture, participate in good works, and yet something essential remains missing. As your host William explains, Jesus warned about those who would one day approach Him saying, "Lord, we preached in your name, fed the hungry, and did many wonderful works," only to hear the devastating response: "Depart from me, I never knew you." This sobering reality forms the foundation of today's exploration.
Through the story of Job, we discover a man who knew about God his entire life but experienced a profound transformation through suffering. Despite his religious devotion, it was only after intense trials that Job could finally say, "I have heard of you by the hearing of the ears, but now my eyes have seen you." This pivotal moment distinguishes intellectual knowledge from intimate relationship—the difference between religion and authentic faith.
Faith that moves mountains comes from relationship, not mere religious activity. Jesus should be your best friend, not just your Savior. God still speaks today as He always has, from Genesis through Revelation, unchanging in His nature and desire for connection with us. He knew you before you were formed, and wants you to truly know Him now. Whether you're beginning your faith journey or have walked with God for decades, this episode invites you to move beyond knowing about God to being known by Him. Share this message with someone who needs to hear it, and join us next time for more insights that transform religious knowledge into living faith.
Well, welcome to episode 83, Faith Walk. I'm your host, william, get you a cup of coffee, crack open your Bible. Let's break open the Word of God. Today we're going to be talking about what God's kind of been laying on my heart lately and we'll get back, probably, to the book of Matthew, maybe, if the Lord leads, if he don't, we'll go somewhere else.
Speaker 1:But this is what he's been dealing with me about. He's been dealing with me about the church, you know, and the way church is, the way people believe, and you know. What he asked me is is you know, is how many in the church know of me, know, know my teachings, you know, follow them to some extent, but they don't know me and they are not known by me. See, the thing is, we can know all about God. We can know God, we can know His Word, we can quote His Word, we can go out and we can minister His Word, we can pray for the sick, we can give to the poor, we can do all the works and then, at a certain time, when the time is there and you knock on the door, and this is in a parable that Jesus was speaking about the kingdom of heaven, in Luke 13,. He says they say Lord, lord, let us in. We preached in your name. We fed the hungry. We did all these things. We preached in the street. We did all these things and preached in the street. We did all these things and the Lord said depart from me, because I never knew. You See, we can do what we think we know is right, we can do what we've been taught. But if we don't know, if we don't know him, is he your best friend? He should be your best friend. He should be your best friend. Jesus should be your best friend. You know, and you ought to be able to talk to him. You ought to be able to hear from him. You say here oh, he don't speak. Yes, god's always speaking. God spoke in Genesis 1, and God spoke in Revelation, at the end of Revelation. God is still speaking to the day. Jesus is the same yesterday and the same yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews 13.8.
Speaker 1:And yeah, I use that one a lot because I like that one, because it reminds me of who God is. It reminds me that God is still the God. God is still the God that can provide a pillar of fire at night if you need it, and a cloud during the day. That's the kind of God I serve. That's the kind of faith you need to have. You need to have the faith that can move mountains. You see, it's not God that moves mountains, it's your faith that moves the mountains in your life. God does it, but it's your faith that quickens Him to do it. Because faith moves God, because we know that without faith, without faith, you can't please God, right? Well, listen, I just wanted to kind of talk today about Job.
Speaker 1:Job's a long book and we're not going to go through the whole thing, but on this vein that I was thinking in, are you known by God? Do you know God or do you just know about him? So you know the story of Job. You know his family was killed. His wife was still there. His wife told him curse God, god and die. And all of his friends said well, what sin have you committed? What sin do you have that God would bring all these tragedies upon you? Because he doesn't bring it upon the righteous? And you know, when God spoke to Satan and he told him, he said have you considered my man, job? And Satan said well, you protect him from me, so your hand protects him. Nothing happens to him and he says if something bad happens to him he'll curse you. And God said you know, know, you just can't take his life.
Speaker 1:And all these tragedies happened under Joe, all of his friends except one. There was a younger man there. There was three friends and there was a younger man there and the younger man spoke wisdom. You know, you never hear I'm talking about the young man that spoke wisdom. I've never heard a sermon other than the one I preached about a man, about the young man that spoke wisdom to Job. You know, he told him. He said Job, he said are you not, are you not wrong in this? You think your righteousness is greater than the righteousness of God? You think God is being unfair to you and your righteousness is better than him. And he said you know, the fact of the matter is he says you like it when you go into the city and into the, the meetings, and people listen when you speak and and they revere you. And you know that's pride in a lot and just so you know, pride cometh before the fall. Well, that's pride. And he told him all these things. He said you know you're not righteous in this thing. And so, job, after that it kind of pricks his heart. And, and I believe Job had a conversation with God after that and God began to ask him questions and Job began to answer him.
Speaker 1:But listen, in Job 4, 42, I'm sorry, job 42, starting in verse 1, it says and Job answered the Lord and said I know that you can do everything and no thought can be withholding from you. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore, I have uttered that which I understood. Not things too wonderful me that I knew not. Hear me. I beseech thee and I will speak, I will demand thee, declare you unto me. He said I have heard of you. Job is saying to God I have heard of you by the hearing of my ears, but now my eyes have seen you and I harbor myself and I repent and dust in ashes and Job was left alone. I'm sorry Wherefore I harbor myself and repent and dust in ashes.
Speaker 1:So Job had known of God, had spoke of God, had talked of God, had proclaimed God all his life, but he didn't know God in a personal relationship and God didn't know him. Well, we do know that God didn't know him. God said have you considered my man, job, right? So he knew Job, god knows us. It says that God knows us before we were created in the womb. Have you ever thought about that? That God knew us before we was ever created? God knew exactly who we were, what we were, what we were gonna be, the trials and tribulations we were gonna walk through, and nothing catches God by surprise.
Speaker 1:You know, you can, you can know the things of God. You know, I have known people that knew the Bible and man. They could quote the Bible and they could talk about the Bible and they could tell you all kinds of things. But I want to tell you something they did not know God and it showed in their life how they lived their life. They did not know Him. They knew of Him. They didn't have a personal relationship with him.
Speaker 1:See, that's why we always pray this prayer. This is why I pray the prayer. Lord, open my eyes to see as you see. Open my ears to hear as you hear. Open my heart to feel what you feel. And open my mouth to speak as you speak, because I don't want to speak upon on my own. How do you know you can know God? How do you know that you're known of God?
Speaker 1:We're going to be addressing that question next, how do you know? And I'll just answer for me. I'm not going to give you a direct, you know I'm not going to say well, you know, this is the way you have to know God, this is the way you have to do it. But I'll tell you how it is with me and I've seen that in the friends that I know know God because we can sit down and we can talk and we can understand and we know what each other is saying and we know the things of God. That they're saying is true because we walk through it.
Speaker 1:See, to know God, you have to walk with him all your life. It has to start out when you first meet him and you have to walk with him. But listen, if you don't know him, if you don't know him, you need to call out. If you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, because it's the only name by which a man can be saved call out upon him. Say Lord Jesus, come into my heart, be the Lord of my life, wash me and cleanse me from my sins. Lord, give me the Holy Spirit that I might learn of you, teach me and give me a desire to know you better than I know any person in Jesus' name. Now you pray that prayer. That's the start of it. That's just the start of it. You know, that's just the start. Now you've got to get in the word. You've got to learn of him, you've got to know him and you've got to learn the voice of the Holy Spirit. Listen until next time. God bless you. Thank you for listening. Share with somebody and like
