Do you know Jesus? Does Jesus know you?

Do you know Jesus? Does Jesus know you?

Analogy: I can say I know a lot about President Barak Obama. I see him a lot on the news. I know he has a fashionable wife. I know he has two daughters who are becoming teenagers and now Barak is "in" with hip youth culture. He's got a Nobel peace prize. He is trying hard to change the economy and has made various promises and actions to pursue that (whether he is succeeding or not is unimportant to this discussion). He seems to be buddy buddy with Ellen Degeneres and likes kids. I might even have read several biographies about him.

But if I were to go to D.C. and walk up to the White House and tell the secret service that I want to see my friend, the reply I will get is "I don't know you." Reminds you of a certain verse? (Luke 13:24, Matt 25:12)

Do we talk about Jesus as if we know Him intimately, or do we talk about Him because we have heard about Him, from songs or other people, but never sought Him directly ourselves?

So there are two questions: Do you know Jesus? Does Jesus know you?

If we sincerely know someone, we love them.

Jesus Himself has said, "If you love me, you will..."

Jesus told us to love our brothers and sisters and that we are His brothers and sisters, co-heirs to the Kingdom of God (Matthew 12:49). He calls us His friends (John 15:15), and whoever loves His brothers and sisters loves Him (Matthew 25:40, 1 John 4:20-21). He also says those who love the world do not love God (1 John 2:15). John and OT prophets teach us that if we don't provide for the poor or needy, or a brother in need, then we do not have love in us (1 John 3:17, Isaiah 58, Proverbs 19:17...list can go on). You can't hate or neglect the poor and love Jesus. Jesus Himself tells us that the greatest love is to die for our friends (John 15:13). Guess what Jesus did on the Cross eh?

Jesus says, "If you love me, you will keep my commands" (John 14:15, 1 John 5:2). What are Jesus's commands? Some of them are listed above, but obviously not exhaustive. Are you following them? Not trying to be legalistic, but there is a cause and effect. If we truly believe, then there will be a heart change, one that seeks God's heart. The old has gone, the new has come (2 Cor 5:17).

To know God, we have to fully confess our brokenness and sin, because only then do we understand God's glory and Love and why He must punish us. That is why there is repentance and a heart to do good and sin no more (1 Peter 4:19, 1 John 3:6, 1 John 5:18, 2 John 1:9).

Test and examine yourself (2 Cor 13:5). Ask again, "Do I know Jesus? Does Jesus know me?"

I ask these questions daily myself, and to be honest, I always seem to come up short. But that just leads to a more passionate pursuit of God's heart and God's Word the next day.

http://thinkpoint.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/he-says-hes-a-christian-but/