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In Matthew 13, the disciples asked Jesus why He spoke to the crowds in parables. He answered, "It has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given."

That remains true today. It has been given to us to know His mysteries. You and I have the ability and the opportunity to understand God in ways the world cannot understand Him. However, more often than not, many of us think, "I can't hear God that well." Maybe once in a while, I will have a dream that seems to be from Him or I think He's speaking to me, but I don't know. The mysteries of the Kingdom - pretty sure I don't understand anything.

But our lack of confidence doesn't change what Jesus said: "It has been given to you to know the mysteries."

The Deep Things of God

All revelation comes through the Holy Spirit, who "searches all things, yes, the deep things of God" (1 Corinthians 2:10). That is His role. He knows the things of God because He is the Spirit of God, and He takes what He knows and reveals it to us. The greater the measure of the Holy Spirit within us, the more we will know Him and the more He can show us even the things to come:

"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come." John 16:13

Revelation of Kingdom mysteries comes through the Holy Spirit. Only by His grace are we able to have any insight and understanding into the mysteries of who He is and what He does for us. The apostle Paul talked about the mystery that had been "made known" to him (Ephesians 3:3), yet it is clear that Paul still considered the "known mystery" quite mysterious at different levels.

He declared in Romans 11:33, "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!"

It "has been given" to us to understand the mysteries, yet Paul grasped the fact that anytime God reveals Himself, He is giving us only a sliver of His revelation. He is sharing with us a very small point of His knowledge, a scrap of His omniscience, a pinprick of who He is. There is always more than what we know - more of Him, more of His understanding, more of His heart for the world, more of His strength and power.

The mysteries of the Kingdom are ours, yet all we have on this earth is a sliver of understanding. We are lifelong students of the ways of God; trouble starts when we think we have graduated! With God, there is always more.

The one little key to this deeper knowing is relationship. It requires relationship - the consistent pursuit to know more about Him.

John Paul Jackson