Does
God Know You?
Jeremiah 1:4-5 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
This prophesy was for Jeremiah, but it is written here to help us as well. It reveals something about God that is often either unknown or simply ignored. If God knew Jeremiah before he was born, does He also KNOW about you?
-Does He know who you are?
-Does He know your name, your address, your telephone number?
Consider a man named Cyrus; Cyrus was the warrior king who conquered and united the Media-Persia Empire. His kingdom overcame the Babylonian kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar.
Isaiah 45:1-3 Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;
2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:
3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.
The reason this passage should help Cyrus to KNOW that the Lord is God: this prophesy was written 150 years before Cyrus was born!
Isaiah 45:4-5 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
5 I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
God continues on to say that He called Cyrus personally and gave him his nick-name (surname) Cyrus the Great. God did this even though Cyrus did not know God, nor seek God! God used Cyrus to bring His people back to Israel.
Each one of us should consider that God has a plan for us even if we don’t know Him.
For those Israelis that were taken captive into Babylon, the Lord prophesies that He has planned these events all along:
Jeremiah 29:11-13 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
It is so common for people to criticize God for the troubles and suffering in their lives. The truth is that these things are VERY IMPORTANT. It is God’s love that caused Him to plan such a wonderful salvation for you.
God knew where you would be born (He planned it). Where you are now…
God knew who your parents would be (and how they would treat you).
Brothers, sisters, cousins, etc… Each one of a certain importance to
God and you.
He planned your race: are you light-skinned or dark?
Are you handsome or plain, strong or weak, educated or
illiterate?
Some things that really seem irrelevant and unimportant to us are important to God and His plan for you. He even knows how many hairs are (still) on your head (Matt.10:30).
God also knows the dark and secret places:
-He knows WHY we do things…
-He knows the thoughts and intentions of our hearts and minds.
-He knows the tears that fall from your eyes and the ones you’ve
held inside.
-He knows your hopes and disappointments.
Matthew 6:7-8 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
So how do we seek God? How do we pray? He already knows our needs (and what He will be doing about them)…
Let’s read what Jesus invites us to do:
Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Come unto me…
This is not a call for church attendance, it’s a call for prayer and worship. Have you gone to a quiet place alone and kneeled down and prayed? I’m not referring to thinking “Godly” thoughts or murmuring your needs or desires to God while you are driving, shopping or lying in bed waiting for sleep. This is a call to SEEK JESUS.
Take my yoke upon you…
This is Jesus asking you to help Him! Jesus has a terrific ministry. The ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:17-19). First, be YE reconciled. If you are not born again, you MUST BE!
John 3:7 Marvel not that I (Jesus) said unto thee, Ye must be born again. When you “repent”, the idea is that you are choosing to serve God and let Him use your life to please Him. It is not simply feeling bad about sin and being in favor of God and His Church. If you love God and you want to serve Him; you must turn away from sin and selfishness.
My yoke is easy…
Isn’t it strange how people will say that it’s “hard” to serve God, yet they say it’s “only what Jesus does” that counts? Being religious can be difficult, but is being a child difficult?
A yoke is the contraption used to connect a working animal to a plow, carriage or grindstone. If you connect two animals to a plow, one animal often does most of the work… Jesus says that if you join with Him, HE will do the heavy work. You will walk alongside Him and be part of the work, but your job will be EASY.
You will wake up early, go into the field and suffer the heat of the day. At the day’s end, people will say: Look at how much work they did today!
-A preacher preaches a message that God gave him.
-A Christian offers money to the poor that God has given to him.
-A Christian will pray for the sick, and the Holy Spirit heals them!
-A teacher shares the Scripture that God wrote.
The morning comes early and the sun is hot. You will be mocked and insulted and lied about. You will betrayed by men and harassed by demons and the enemies of God: but even then, they will be doing all the work…
It is WONDERFUL to serve God!
Every day you can watch Him working.
Every day you can learn more from Him.
Again and again you will see tears of thankfulness, see broken
hearts mended and see peace and joy filling the faces of those
that come to Him.
This is God’s plan for you! This is the “expected end” for all those troubles that you have been suffering.
God KNOWS you, won’t you come to Jesus so that YOU can know
HIM?
Today is the Day of Salvation!!
Jeremiah 1:4-5 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
This prophesy was for Jeremiah, but it is written here to help us as well. It reveals something about God that is often either unknown or simply ignored. If God knew Jeremiah before he was born, does He also KNOW about you?
-Does He know who you are?
-Does He know your name, your address, your telephone number?
Consider a man named Cyrus; Cyrus was the warrior king who conquered and united the Media-Persia Empire. His kingdom overcame the Babylonian kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar.
Isaiah 45:1-3 Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;
2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:
3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.
The reason this passage should help Cyrus to KNOW that the Lord is God: this prophesy was written 150 years before Cyrus was born!
Isaiah 45:4-5 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
5 I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
God continues on to say that He called Cyrus personally and gave him his nick-name (surname) Cyrus the Great. God did this even though Cyrus did not know God, nor seek God! God used Cyrus to bring His people back to Israel.
Each one of us should consider that God has a plan for us even if we don’t know Him.
For those Israelis that were taken captive into Babylon, the Lord prophesies that He has planned these events all along:
Jeremiah 29:11-13 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
It is so common for people to criticize God for the troubles and suffering in their lives. The truth is that these things are VERY IMPORTANT. It is God’s love that caused Him to plan such a wonderful salvation for you.
God knew where you would be born (He planned it). Where you are now…
God knew who your parents would be (and how they would treat you).
Brothers, sisters, cousins, etc… Each one of a certain importance to
God and you.
He planned your race: are you light-skinned or dark?
Are you handsome or plain, strong or weak, educated or
illiterate?
Some things that really seem irrelevant and unimportant to us are important to God and His plan for you. He even knows how many hairs are (still) on your head (Matt.10:30).
God also knows the dark and secret places:
-He knows WHY we do things…
-He knows the thoughts and intentions of our hearts and minds.
-He knows the tears that fall from your eyes and the ones you’ve
held inside.
-He knows your hopes and disappointments.
Matthew 6:7-8 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
So how do we seek God? How do we pray? He already knows our needs (and what He will be doing about them)…
Let’s read what Jesus invites us to do:
Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Come unto me…
This is not a call for church attendance, it’s a call for prayer and worship. Have you gone to a quiet place alone and kneeled down and prayed? I’m not referring to thinking “Godly” thoughts or murmuring your needs or desires to God while you are driving, shopping or lying in bed waiting for sleep. This is a call to SEEK JESUS.
Take my yoke upon you…
This is Jesus asking you to help Him! Jesus has a terrific ministry. The ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:17-19). First, be YE reconciled. If you are not born again, you MUST BE!
John 3:7 Marvel not that I (Jesus) said unto thee, Ye must be born again. When you “repent”, the idea is that you are choosing to serve God and let Him use your life to please Him. It is not simply feeling bad about sin and being in favor of God and His Church. If you love God and you want to serve Him; you must turn away from sin and selfishness.
My yoke is easy…
Isn’t it strange how people will say that it’s “hard” to serve God, yet they say it’s “only what Jesus does” that counts? Being religious can be difficult, but is being a child difficult?
A yoke is the contraption used to connect a working animal to a plow, carriage or grindstone. If you connect two animals to a plow, one animal often does most of the work… Jesus says that if you join with Him, HE will do the heavy work. You will walk alongside Him and be part of the work, but your job will be EASY.
You will wake up early, go into the field and suffer the heat of the day. At the day’s end, people will say: Look at how much work they did today!
-A preacher preaches a message that God gave him.
-A Christian offers money to the poor that God has given to him.
-A Christian will pray for the sick, and the Holy Spirit heals them!
-A teacher shares the Scripture that God wrote.
The morning comes early and the sun is hot. You will be mocked and insulted and lied about. You will betrayed by men and harassed by demons and the enemies of God: but even then, they will be doing all the work…
It is WONDERFUL to serve God!
Every day you can watch Him working.
Every day you can learn more from Him.
Again and again you will see tears of thankfulness, see broken
hearts mended and see peace and joy filling the faces of those
that come to Him.
This is God’s plan for you! This is the “expected end” for all those troubles that you have been suffering.
God KNOWS you, won’t you come to Jesus so that YOU can know
HIM?
Today is the Day of Salvation!!
