“And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.” Isaiah 29:13-14
Hi friend,
Welcome to 2021! As we come into this new year we should be asking ourselves, does God know who I am? We tend to desire to know God, but does he really know us? We can ask ourselves this by looking at the posture of our hearts. As we speak and live out our lives, does it represent God well?
We show up to church and do all these things making it look like we know God, but in reality, our heart is far from him. Just because you call him your Lord, have the right theology, and do all the works but that doesn’t mean he really knows you.
Ask yourself this: do let him into the deepest part of your heart? Do you place your confidence in him? Are you giving him your loyalty and affections? Be honest with yourself, because it is silly to try and hide things from God who is all-knowing. He already knows, he is just hoping we would give those things to him. When we refuse to let him know us more and give him things of ourselves, we are just missing out on the refining and goodness he has for us.
The song Faithful by Chris Burns replays through my head daily:
‘Cause You're not looking for the big things
You're looking for the day-after-day
You're not looking for the flashy, but the faithful ones
And this is so true. He’s not looking for us to do all these things that will get his attention, we already have it. He’s looking for those who are willing to get up and serve him day-after-day. Although, he is grateful for our sacrifices for him, he is looking for our obedience because when he has our obedience, he has our heart. I think a lot of Christians in this generation confuse the idea of what being ‘saved’ is. We can say we are saved, that we read the Bible, but are we living it?
Let’s take a look at John 14:21-24 and what is says:
“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.”
It’s important we hold ourselves accountable and look within our hearts. In this verse, he is asking us to review our obedience and affections. We should be seeking to follow his laws, bearing his fruit, genuinely loving others, and being in relationship with him. Our life will speak for itself when we are living for ourselves and not for him. We should be making a home within us for God to rest.
Where are we placing our confidence? In man and this world? Or are we diligently seeking what God has for us and being obedient to what he is speaking to us? Let’s come to the Holy Spirit and ask for our hearts to be convicted so we wont be surprised later when it is too late.
“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.” John 14:21-24
After reading all of this, do you feel confident that God truly knows who you are?Have a blessed week and leave a comment below if you have any questions or comments on this devotional. Thank you for reading and being a part of this community!
-Brittany