A Heart That Is Known (Wednesday Morning)

Me and We

Recap

What did we learn about last evening?

We learned about keeping our focus on Jesus! Why should we not focus on our problems but keep our eyes on Jesus?

Jesus is more powerful than anything we will ever face! Focus on the answer, not the problem.

Intro

We want to be known. Everyone wants to be known. Its why we do crazy things.

Like how on August 25, 2018 Karate Nataraj stuffed 650 straws in his mouth to be famous.

Or how about when Huy Giang rotated 148 times while hanging from a power drill. Why? Just why?

Sometimes people will do crazy things just to become famous. We want to be known. We want other people to know about us.

If being known is important to us, do you think it might be important to God?

God

There’s is really strange yet famous story in the Bible. Let me tell you about it. Theres these two countries. Israel and Assyria. Israel are the good guys. The Assyrians are the bad guys and they did a lot of bad things. They were so evil in fact that everyone was afraid of them. The biggest city in Assyria was Nineveh.

But even though the people of Nineveh are evil God still cares for them and wants them to know about Him. So God’s got a good friend named Jonah. And He tells this bloke named Jonah to go to Nineveh, because God cares deeply about all the evil people there and wants them to know who he is so that they experience the goodness of God.

But Jonah says, nope! Nope! Nope! Not gonna happen. You know I’ve always wanted to go on a vacation and visit this place called Tashish! Now would be a splendid time to visit! I have heard so many great things about Tarshish and I just need to go and check it out.

So Jonah, who’s tight with God by the way, decides to travel in the opposite direction from Nineveh and goes to Tarshish.

But along the way, Jonah encounters a storm. The storm is so terrible and frightening that it scares the sailors and they throw Jonah off the ship.

Jonah doesn’t last very long in the water and is swallowed up by a giant fish. Maybe it was a whale, but who knows? Jonah spends 3 days in the stinky, moist belly of this giant fish and is eventually thrown up onto the land.

Can you imagine how bad he must have smelt! Like when we eat good food, but then vomit for some reason the smell is horrible. But can you imagine if it was seafood? And you were swimming in it? Yeah not a good look. I probably would have gone swimming in the water just to clean off.

God again tells Jonah to go to Nineveh.

Now at this time, Jonah realizes that he can’t turn around, and decides to obey God this time and walks to Nineveh.

When Jonah gets to Nineveh, he does exactly what God tells him. He tells the whole city that if they don’t repent of their sins, God will destroy the entire city in 40 days.

Well something astonishing happens! Everyone listens! All the evil people. Even their evil king! They repented of all their evil ways and asked God for forgiveness.

When Jonah realized that God had forgiven the people of Nineveh and wouldn’t destroy them, he was angry. He knew two things. God is good. God is loving. God is filled with mercy and compassion. He knew who God is.

But Jonah also knew who the people of Nineveh were. They were evil. They did horrible things and didn’t deserve to live.

So when they weren’t destroyed, Jonah was angry.

Jonah 4:1–3 ESV

1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

But God knew all this too and much more.

God needed Jonah to tell the people of Nineveh about Him. Because God knows the power of knowing who God is. God knew that if the people of Nineveh who are evil in every possible way, had the chance to know Him.

That their hearts would change. Their actions and decisions would change. Because that is what happens when we get to know who God is. It changes who we are.

You and We

The truth is that God also knows you. He knows everything about you. He knew what time you would be born. He knew how many times today you would complain to your counselors. He knew how you would discover your favorite color and why you would change your favorite color years later.

God knows just how good you are. He also knows how evil you are as well. He knows everything there is to know about you.

The Bible says,

Psalm 139:1–6 ESV

1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

Psalm 139:

God knows it all. God also cares deeply about you. So much so that He knows what would happen if you had the opportunity to get to know Him.

God wants all of us to get to know who He is. Not because He wants to be famous. But because when we know God, our whole life will change.

When our hearts see a glimpse of the heart of God, we can take the first steps of being more and more like Jesus.