Knowing Jesus

Reading the Bible and having knowledge of the word of God does not mean we have established an intimate relationship with Christ. Intimacy is defined as, “close familiarity or closeness.” But it takes more than familiarity or closeness to be intimate with God. It requires that we engage not only our minds but our hearts; our heart must be open to and prepared by the Spirit of God. That is why studying the word is not enough.

As we draw nearer to God intimately, we will gain knowledge of our Father and His intentions for us. This will build confidence in us to move closer to Him. Why? Because for our public ministry to be effective, we must have established a deeper relationship with Him in our prayer closet.

To know Him intimately requires that we become acquainted with Him. In order to do so we must sit quietly before Him, we must learn to be still and open our hearts and be vulnerable before Him. We must allow God to love on us and quieten our souls, to hear from Him how special we are to Him and how much He loves us regardless of how unworthy we may feel. God won’t throw your deeds in your dace; He loves those who seek Him, especially when they do so with contrite hearts. He is a good God who knows everything about us including our fears and our hurts, but more importantly, He knows our heart.

Once we become acquainted with Him friendship will follow. Jesus offers us salvation and when we accept it, it’s not enough just to be saved; we want to develop a friendship with Him. Here are Jesus words to us in John 15:15-16, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” (‭NIV‬‬). 

As we become acquainted and develop a friendship with Christ, then what follows is trust. It Is not easy; we must make a conscious decision to place our trust in God because we tend to associate trust with emotions (feelings). We become disappointed in others based on a misplaced trust in people. With God that trust, as I stated before, must be by choice. We must trust Him to hold us, heal us, provide for us and lead us. We cannot equate trust in people with trust in God. People hurt and abuse us, yet we place our trust in them and love God. It’s turned around; we should love people and trust God because He never betrays our trust. He’s the one we lean on when we’re betrayed and hurt time and again. That right there should be our wake up call! Psalm 125:1 states, “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.” When your decisions, plans, and ideas are rooted in your trust in God, you will be able to stand firm despite the storms that may come your way.  

Letting Go

Fear, anger, worries… these are all things we cling to.  We fear that which is unknown; we get angry when we feel we are wronged, or slighted, or misunderstood; we worry about everything… how we look in the eyes of others, how we live, what we eat or wear, we even worry about what others may say about us.  All of these come from some place in us that refuses to let go: let go of the fear that we don’t know or can’t see; of the anger we feel against those we feel have wronged us; of worrying about how we will make it or how we will survive.

A card I made for a friend diagnosed with cancer of the lungs.

I recently re-read one of my favorite books, “When I lay my Isaac Down” by Carol Kent.  Carol and her husband had to surrender their only son to the prison system after he committed the unthinkable crime: murder of another human being.  With that one act, their son, Jason Paul, or J.P. for short, had turned the family’s whole world upside down.  Throughout that whole ordeal, the Kents had to learn to surrender all – their hope for their son’s future, their living as it had been up until then to the Lord. They had to trust God to bring them out of the wilderness of anger, pain, fear, and worry, to a place where they could hope for the future and the future of their only son, who is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Today’s devotion in the Upper Room Disciplines 2014, deals with letting go of our Ishmaels (read Genesis 21:8-21); having the courage to release our grasp on that which we hold dear and to cling tightly to God and trust him with our future.   How can we do this, we wonder? I suggest that we start by building a relationship with God; one that will allow us to trust that when we stumble and fall, he’ll be there to catch or pick us up.  I’m not saying this will be easy, but once we invite God into our private space and begin giving him our fears, worries, pain, and anger, we will find the courage to surrender all of these to him and he will show us the way out of our wilderness.

I recently heard a song that spoke to my spirit, “I Will Follow” by Jon Guerra.  The lyrics to this song moved me to tears and it validated my trust in this God who loves me despite my faults and my failures. Despite my problems, my fears, and insecurities, I will follow him; I won’t turn back, I’ll keep moving forward.

I leave you with the video and lyrics to the song:

I Will Follow
Worship Leader: Jon Guerra
(Jon Guerra, Jacob Sooter)

When the sea is calm and all is right
When I feel Your favor flood my life
Even in the good, I'll follow You
Even in the good, I'll follow You

When the boat is tossed upon the waves
When I wonder if You'll keep me safe
Even in the storms, I'll follow You
Even in the storms, I'll follow You

I believe everything that You say You are
I believe that I have seen Your unchanging heart
In the good things and in the hardest part
I believe and I will follow You
I believe and I will follow You

When I see the wicked prospering
When I feel I have no voice to sing
Even in the want, I'll follow You
Even in the want, I'll follow You

When I find myself so far from home
And You lead me somewhere I don't wanna go
Even in my death, I'll follow You
Even in my death, I'll follow You

When I come to end this race I've run
And I receive the prize that Christ has won
I will be with You in Paradise
I will be with You in Paradise