Know Him (Devotion)
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข What is your preferred way to get to know someone more? Do you meet up with them or send them a message? Recall an instance explaining this.ย
โข What is one thing youโre always excited to do? Would you call it your passion? Why?
โข What is one partnership or collaboration youโve participated in? How did it turn out?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
โ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต.โ ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ญ๐ณ:๐ฏ
โ. . . ๐๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.โย ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฎ๐ฌ:๐ฎ๐ญ
(Read also ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐ญ:๐ฎ๐ฒโ๐ฎ๐ด; ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ต; ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก ๐ณ:๐ตโ๐ญ๐ฌ.)
Jesusโ prayer in John 17, right before His betrayal and crucifixion, was an intercessory prayer to Godโfor Himself, His disciples, and all believers. In this prayer, Jesus declared that eternal life is knowing God and Jesus. To know here is not the superficial knowing of God and what He did. It means to truly learn and realize deeply who God is. When we know God, we will find our source of joy and our meaning in life. When we know God, we can recognize His voice and get a glimpse of His nature. Today, we will talk about how knowing God connects us with His heart and mission.
๐ญ. ๐ข๐๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
โ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต.โ ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ญ๐ณ:๐ฏ
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, โ๐๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ.โ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐ญ:๐ฎ๐ด
Godโs creation of mankind sheds some light on His heart and mission. We were made in His image and are called to ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต as His representatives. Godโs mission is for all of creation to fully know and experience Him, as people bear His imageโfilling and taking dominion of the entire earth. However, because humanity sinned, humanity and the rest of creation are in a fallen state. The good thing is that Godโs mission remains the same. Godโs goal is to redeem humanity and creation so that we can be restored to His original purpose for us. This story of Godโs mission of redemption is the overarching story of the Bible. Have you ever read the Bible in this light? How does Godโs word help us understand this truth?ย
๐ฎ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
โ. . . ๐ผ๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐จ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ข๐, ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.โย ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฎ๐ฌ:๐ฎ๐ญ
We humans cannot save ourselves from sin. In order to accomplish His mission, the Father sent His Son on a mission to redeem us. Jesus was given the greatest mission of all time. He was born on earth to live as a human, and then died a grisly death on the cross to take our sins on Himself, though He was sinless. He then resurrected, defeated death and sin forever, and made salvation available to all. Jesus is the only way that people can be reconciled with God and be restored to their original purpose. What is the importance of knowing that Jesus is the only way?
๐ฏ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
โ. . . ๐๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ ๐จ๐ค ๐ ๐๐ข ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช.โย ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฎ๐ฌ:๐ฎ๐ญ
We are participants in Godโs mission. His heart is for the nations to know Him, and Jesus gave us our greatest commission: to make disciples. This could be to our family and community, and to the nations as well. Our calling as His body is to make Him known. We are not just to hear from God and know Him personally, though thatโs how it begins. We are meant to partner with God in making Him known. The ultimate picture that Jesus has for the world is for redeemed people from every nation, tribe, people, and language to know and worship God (Revelation 7:9โ10). How has knowing Godโs heart for the nations helped you have a heart for the nations as well?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข To know Jesus is to experience life in Him. What are some ways you get to know God in a deeper way?ย
โข As we go deeper in our devotion with God, we hear Him speak and experience His wisdom. What are some things that you believe that God has spoken to you recently? What do you think is He asking you to do?ย
โข The ultimate picture God gives us is every tribe worshiping Him. How does partnering with Him in this mission play out in your life?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for His heart for the nations. Thank Him for sending His Son, Jesus, on the mission to save us.
โข Ask God to continue revealing His heart to you as you talk to Him and meditate on His word this week.ย
โข Pray for His strength and grace to wholeheartedly fulfill His call to partner with Him in the mission. Pray for clarity on what your mission field is and the grace to obey God in it.ย