KNOWING GOD’S HEART (1)

“And this is eternal life, that they may KNOW YOU, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” – John 17:3

Seeking, longing after, and panting for God, are all targeted at KNOWING GOD’S HEART: “And this is eternal life, that they may KNOW YOU, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (Jh.17:3). God longs to be known by His children: “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (Jh.1:18). God longs for us to make time to seek His face, feel His Heart, and get to know His Personality, the nature of His love, and the reality of His Presence. We don’t have to live without a real, revelatory, and experiential knowledge of God’s Heart. We don’t have to live with the uncertainty of whether we are cared for, provided for, and loved. We can know and be assured of these and much more.

In the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God proved His longing to be known by us. Jesus took on flesh not just so He could save and redeem us, but so He could usher in a better, clearer revelation of who the Father is. In verse 26 Jesus prayed to the Father, “I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them” (NIV). Jesus came that we might know the love of the Father and have communion – unhindered relationship with our Creator, Maker, and Redeemer. Through Jesus we’ve been granted eternal access to our heavenly Father. And in the Holy Spirit we can search the deep places of God’s Heart and grow in restored relationship with Him.

God has made the way for us to know His Heart. We can know Him in infinitely deeper and more transformative ways than we can know even our spouse or best friend. But we must have faith in our Heavenly Father’s ability to reveal Himself when we seek Him and set aside time to know His Heart. Here are three practical steps to knowing the Heart of God:

We should meditate on Scriptures about knowing God’s Heart, and let His Word build our faith to seek deeper relationship with Him: “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God” (1Cor.2: 2:10-12). The Holy Spirit dwells within us and longs to reveal the “deep things of God” to us.

We should seek God’s Face, asking Him to reveal any aspect of His Heart we need to know and how He feels about us, as we rest in His Presence: “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter” (Pro.25:2).

We should thank God for how available He is to us, and for His caring and loving Heart: “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1Pet.5:7). The Lord is worthy of being worshipped for paying the ultimate price for us to know Him. As we pour out thankfulness on Him, He’ll pour His Presence over us.

It’ll be unfortunate not to take full advantage of what Jesus paid so high a price to accomplish. It’ll be a waste to live as if God isn’t fully with us, fully for us, and fully available to us. He couldn’t make the way to His Heart any clearer. The Holy Spirit dwells within us, as close to our hearts as He could possibly be; and we can grow in knowing the Father’s Heart!