Dear Father,
Lately I have been convicted on knowing you. A couple of weeks ago I went to Ethos in Nashville and the preacher gave a sermon on John 3. In John 3 it is the story of Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a jewish religious leader. He was the smartest person who knew information about the bible, but yet he humbles himself before God to accept that he does not KNOW Jesus, meaning he has no relationship with Jesus.
The story of Nicodemus really relates to me. I grew up in a Christian home and a Christian school. I knew all the sunday school stories like the back of my hand, I could tell them to you before I learned to write about them. In sunday school, I was the person who "knew" all the bible school answers but did I really KNOW Jesus or did I just know about him?
Our school theme for this year is get low. Humble yourself, let go of your pride to allow the work of God to be done. I think my problem is that I won't humble myself to let others know I haven't had a true relationship with Christ and honestly I do not know what one looks like. I read my bible, I make connections, I feel the Holy Spirit, and I pray to God daily; but what does a relationship look like?
Back to Ethos, the preacher said you always need the power of God. In John 3:3 it says, "I tell you the truth, unless you are BORN AGAIN, you cannot see the Kingdom of God". That really hit home for me. My knowledge of Jesus is exceeding my obedience and experience with him. Nicodemus asks multiple times how is this possible? how can we be born again? Our knowledge and performance do not get us into the Kingdom. It is possible to get into the Kingdom through Jesus. Love came down so we can perform, not we perform to gain love. Love came first. Nicodemus humbled himself. He hadn't received God's love but yet was performing. I need to humble myself so God can write my story.
Tonight I went to Passion and they talked about being rooted in Jesus. Being rooted in the word of God. One quote that stuck out to me is when we know who He is we know who we are. There are two types of knows. One is knowledge- learning, understood fact and then there is the other one know- to be acquainted with, to have a relationship with. When people talk about me I want them to say she knew Jesus, Jesus was her acquaintance. When I think about these two times of knowledge I think about the verbs saber and conocer. Saber is to know knowledge facts, conocer is to know people, to have a relationship with them. These two types of knowledge are important. To know facts about Jesus is important because you can tell others the story of Jesus and tell them what the word of God says, but first you must be acquainted with Jesus and have a relationship with him.
These two talks really hit me hard, it made me reevaluate my relationship with Christ. Yes, I am a sinner and I know Christ died to save me from my sin so I can live with him eternally in heaven, but know I have to do the will God has called me to do. To share his story, but let him be the writer. I need to humble myself. I do not know it all and I have a ton of room to grow in faith. Yes, I might know all the bible school answers or all the stories; but there is information or connections I do not know. I learn something new each day and through gaining this knowledge from mentors and leaders I will be able to share this knowledge with other people.
Thanks your daughter and princess,
Heather
