| ¶ And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. |
| 47 ¶ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! |
| 48 ¶ Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. |
| 49 ¶ Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. |
| 50 ¶ Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. |
| 51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. |
I’ve been pondering the past couple of days about how we are known.
Looking back this morning over my life, not only do I see where God pursued me, but how He knew me better than I knew me.
Like Nathanael, He knew me “back at the fig tree.”
He knew what it would take to bring me to where I am today.
The same is true for you.
It’s not a coincidence that you are in the town you’re in, with the family you’re surrounded by,
or not surrounded by,
the “lot” you have in life,
yes God knows all about it.
The great thing that we saw about “lots” in life, is that they are subject to change, if you and I will allow God’s Word to be received in our lives.
(This should be another blog but just detour with me for a moment; )
Let’s look at what it means to Receive.
That’s my new profession. I grabbed hold of it Sunday while I was at church.
I don’t want to just profess I’m a believer in Christ,
(demons believe in Him,)
but I want to be known as a receiver of Christ.
In Him, Christ, dwells the Fulness of everything I could ever need or desire.
In Him, I’m complete.
In Him, I’m found.
In Him, I have bold access to the Father. The giver of every good gift.
In Him, I have every answer to every question.
In Him I have the cure to every disease.
But the shift of just knowing these things and receiving these things, is where we will see all that He is-
come into the here and now.
2 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: John 1:12
Believing is our access point.
Receiving brings what we believed into manifestation.
We take what we believe we have.
Ok. Back on track. He knew us.
You May be thinking, well if He knew me, why did He ……. this or that?
The fact that you’re reading this blog is a confirmation to what He knows about you and what He wants to share with you.
Every person on earth will have the opportunity to hear of Jesus.
Jesus is the way. That’s what the disciples were telling Nathanael.
“We’ve found what we’ve been looking for.”
That’s the simplicity of spreading the Gospel.
Then, Jesus makes it personal with Nathanael, and He will do the same with you and I.
We realize, as He communes with us, the reminders and the markers of where He has seen us, and even tried to pursue us all along.
He took me back to the “fig tree” this morning.
To a picture my mom took of me around age 3.
I had stacked some books up and made me a pulpit.
My eyes were closed, with my arms raised to Heaven.
I wish I would have stayed communing with Jesus right there at that moment and then allowed Him to lead me, but I swerved.
Way off the trail.
But He never stopped knowing me.
Never stopped pursuing me.
When 9/11 happened, churches were packed.
Although I had no interest of going back to mine, a dear friend challenged me to go to church with her.
I Could have received what I had been looking for then, but regretfully, I kept looking for love in all the wrong places.
Further than I ever dreamed I would have wandered, sick of the shame and embarrassment of my choices,
I heard that still small voice one day,
the One that still saw me, still knew me.
I was planning to go out for another wild weekend, and sensed God saying that if I did, I wouldn’t make it home.
(You can do with that what you want.)
Whether a wake up call or the nudge in the right direction,
I listened.
Not long after that, I met up with the man of my dreams, who is now my husband.
I wasn’t looking for Him either, but God knew my future before I did.
Life began to shift in a different direction.
I surrendered my life completely and began a relationship with Jesus I had never known before.
It’s been a journey.
And on the days I feel so far from understanding, and I’m crying out for answers, I’m reminded,
He knows me.
He sees me.
If the example of Nathanael didn’t resonate with you and you feel like God has abandoned you, here’s another example of a woman who didn’t ask for the circumstances she was in either.
It was part of Abraham’s “lot” in life, but God still saw this woman and very much cared for her.
| ¶ And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. |
| 8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. |
| 9 ¶ And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. |
| 10 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. |
She had conceived a child with Abraham.
Sarai had asked her to and now despised her because of it.
This whole thing was not Hagar’s fault.
But;
God saw Hagar-
In her desperation and depression.
Yet He encourages her to go back, and He would bless her.
And He did.
There’s never a place that God doesn’t see you.
If you will listen to His Voice and obey what He says, He can take you from here.
I assure you, life With Him, is above and beyond life lived without Him.
He formed you, and knows you, surely He knows what is best for you.
ThankFully Restored 