Knowing and Being Known

What is it like to know someone?  I mean, really know someone.  And when you know them, to love them, warts and all…?   Do you have someone like that in your life?

And…what is it like to be known…and loved?  Do we really even know ourselves?

There are things in our innermost selves that we don’t like to look at.  We’ve hidden those things there, sometimes so deeply that we don’t even know they are there.

The good news is that the Holy Spirit lives in our hearts, and He is intimately acquainted with all the deep beliefs and longings hidden in our hearts.  He is in the business of redeeming and transforming our hearts on a daily basis.  He partners with us to “put off” the old self, and “put on” the new self in Christ.  (Eph 4:22-24)

Praise His name!

In our current state of solitude, you may hear things in your thoughts and feelings that surprise you, bother you, even convict you.  A forced state of “captivity” can really get to us!  If you hear yourself being bothered, take a minute and ask God,  who knows you better than you know yourself, as David did:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me, and know my anxieties;

And see if there is any wicked way in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting.”

Lift those things to Christ, as many times as you see them.  May He lead us in His everlasting, transforming way.

Psalm 139  (NKJV) 

1 O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;

You understand my thought afar off.

3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,

And are acquainted with all my ways.

4 For there is not a word on my tongue,

But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.

5 You have hedged me behind and before,

And laid Your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is high, I cannot attain it.

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

9 If I take the wings of the morning,

And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,

And Your right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”

Even the night shall be light about me;

12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,

But the night shines as the day;

The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

13 For You formed my inward parts;

You wove me in my mother’s womb.

14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in Your book they all were written,

The days fashioned for me,

When as yet there were none of them.

17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How great is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;

When I awake, I am still with You.

19 Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!

Depart from me, therefore, you [i]bloodthirsty men.

20 For they speak against You wickedly;

Your enemies take Your name in vain.

21 Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?

22 I hate them with [k]perfect hatred;

I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me, and know my anxieties;

24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting.

Here's a beautiful love song for reflection. 💕

"Knowing You", sung by Matthew Ward

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBIklSO4JbM&list=RDHBIklSO4JbM&start_radio=1