Do You Know Him?

Today's Verse:

Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?... ~John 14:9a

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When I am at church, the faces and names of our members and attendees are very familiar to me. However, when I am out of the church environment, my recognition ability is not as good. There have been times when shopping at a store or somewhere outside of the church when a member or attendee, who I only see once per week, will recognize me and say, “Hi, Pastor,” but I cannot remember at the moment who this person is. I am embarrassed to ask, “I’m sorry, what is your name?” The question Jesus asked to Philip and the other disciples was, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me?” He was asking, "Why is it that you don’t know Who I am?"

We see a pending crisis. 

The disciples were saddened that Jesus had announced His imminent death, resurrection, and departure back to Heaven. As far as they were concerned, they were hoping they would spend much more time together on earth. They had a tough time accepting that Jesus would suffer, die, and leave them. Many times, a crisis brings the best and worst out of us. A crisis causes us to see things in a different perspective. We might have a different and incorrect perception of Who Jesus is. 

We see a partial cognizance. 

Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father. Philip and the others had not grasped that Jesus and the Father were one. After three years together, the disciples acknowledged they had only a partial idea as to Who Jesus was! This is so true of many of us. We can be around the Bible and have even taken theological classes, and still not have a deeper and meaningful relationship with the Lord. We can be a Christian for many years, and yet our relationship with the Lord could be no different than it was many years before. Could it be we do not recognize the Lord in His works? Could it be we do not recognize the Lord in His power? Could it be the Lord has done great works that we have witnessed, and yet we do not know Him? 

We see a pressing conviction. 

The question Jesus posed to Philip was very convicting. Let us apply this same question to us. Have we been so long time with the Lord, and yet do not know Him? We should be stirred if our spiritual growth has been stunted. We should be stirred if the increments of grace are not evident in our life as indicated in 2 Peter 1:5-8. We should be stirred in our heart if a trial or suffering in our life has not brought us closer to the Lord. We should be stirred if our life does not show that we have been with Jesus. 

We see a prioritized correction. 

Jesus wanted Philip and the others to know Him deeply and in a spiritually intimate way. We see all of the disciples making a prioritized correction to this deficiency in their lives. In Acts 4, the chief priest and the elders tried to censure Peter and John from further witnessing. In Acts 4:13, they took knowledge of them that they were unlearned and ignorant men, but despite this, they had been with Jesus. Let us say like Paul, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable to his death.” The longer we are saved, the sweeter our fellowship with the Lord should be. The longer we are saved, the more we should know Him in His person, His power, His presence, and His priority. 

Don’t let it be said that you have been saved a long time, but you do not know the Lord. Make every daily devotion, church service, and service accomplishment an opportunity to know the Lord in a deeper and fuller relationship. 

Have a close-knit God Morning! 

Bible Reading Schedule: Deuteronomy 1-3

#John #Belief #Christ #Faith #Knowing #Relationship