11-26-19 The First 15

The Overview To know God is to experience God. Just as we experience aspects of one another as we grow in friendship, we experience the wonders of God as we seek to simply know him. God is calling us to a life of seeking him with all we are. He is calling us to value relationship with him above all else that we would love no other but him. May you encounter wonderful aspects of relationship with your heavenly Father this week as we wholeheartedly seek to know him with all we are. The Scripture “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” - Psalm 46:10 The Worship Experience United Pursuit Song: Simple Gospel

The Devotional The single greatest privilege in life is to know God. The God who formed you, provides for you and sent his Son to die for you longs to have real relationship with you. He longs to be known by you. And through the powerful sacrifice of Jesus, we truly can know him like any other person. And in fact, in some respects he is infinitely more knowable than any other person. Jeremiah 31:33-34 says,   But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.   “From the least of them to the greatest,” says the living God. No matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, you can know the God of love. Knowing God is no longer reserved for those individually appointed as his leaders. Knowing God is no longer reserved for those like David, Isaiah, Peter, or the clergy. All of us have equal access to the living God.   And from the place of knowing God, we are granted the ability to experience his incredible attributes and be blessed by a greater awareness of our union with him. When we seek to know God, the Bible is clear that we begin to experience his love (Romans 5:5), hear his voice (John 10:27), and feel his peace (2 Thessalonians 3:16). We can partner in his purposes (1 Peter 2:9), experience his freedom (Romans 6:4), and rest in his presence (Psalm 16:11).   When we center our lives around knowing God, we gain experience with him like we do any other person. I don’t seek to hear my wife’s voice, rather I seek to know her and have conversation with her as a byproduct of that. I don’t seek just the emotion of love from my wife; rather, in getting to know her and walking in relationship with her, I experience her affections for me. So it is with God. When we simply seek to know him we gain experience in return.   I pray that as we look at the individual aspects of experiencing God this week your heart is stirred to simply seek deeper relationship with your heavenly Father, whatever may come as the result. Your Father loves you enough to pay the ultimate price to have relationship with you. Seek him and discover the wealth of his affections for you.

The Prayer 1. Meditate on the availability of knowing the living God. Allow Scripture to stir up your desire to seek him with all your heart.   “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10   “You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.'” Psalm 27:8   “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:33-34   2. Is your life centered around the pursuit of knowing God? Check the posture of your heart today. Look at the way you spend your time, your emotions, your thoughts, and your actions. What seems to be your greatest pursuit?   3. Spend some time centering your heart around true relationship with a knowable God. Ask him to help guide your heart through your day toward this pursuit. Ask him to give you a check in your heart when something takes his place as the greatest desire in your life. Live today with him as your highest priority.   “With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!” Psalm 119:10

Jeremiah 9:23-24 says,   Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.   May we be those who boast solely in our relationship with God. May his love and nearness be our highest joy. And may it be said of us at the end of our days that we sought the Lord above all else.   Extended Reading: Psalm 46 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Psalms.