Devo - Know Him Personally
Know Him Personally
Matthew 1:23
Our God wants us to know him personally. This devotion is taken from the message “God Gets Personal” from Matthew 1:23.
When we go to Bethlehem (and it’s a little hard to go to), there’s a cave cut in a rock right near a valley where they herd sheep, where the Church of The Nativity is. And it’s this phenomenal picture that a sheepfold is mostly a cave cut in limestone, cut in a rock, or made naturally. It’s a cave. And the animals would be herded in there to be protected for the night. The manger, just a feeding trough inside this cave.
Here’s what we know about the caves. They’re cold, dark, and dirty. They were the coldest and darkest, and dirtiest place around. The animals slept there. They stayed there at night. And it’s been said often that where Jesus came into that cold, dark, and dirty cave is where he comes when he’s born into every single heart.
He is born into a cold, and dark, and dirty heart with sin. And so you and I can’t say, “Oh. Jesus would never accept me. Jesus would never come into my life.” Really? Did you see how he was born? Not how the nativity scenes show it, but how the real world shows it because it’s really lowly.
Jesus was born in that animal shelter so that he could be in your heart so that you could be born again so that you could know God personally and have a personal relationship with him for eternity. Guys, the Creator of the Universe does not want to be an impersonal spiritual force in your life. He could have done that without breathing his life into you. He could have done that without creating you in your mother’s womb, without writing down every day of your life before one existed.
Listen, God is an impersonal spiritual force to the world, to the creation of the world. To you, he is a personal Savior and Lord. He is so personal to you; he came and lived your life to die in your place to overcome sin and death and the grave on your behalf. To rise again so that you could rise again in him. That’s very, very personal.
He wants to have a real relationship with you. And he proved it by what he went through, coming to this earth. He came like you. He lived a perfect life in your place so that he could justifiably be the perfect sacrifice for your sins so that you could know him personally and spend eternity with him in personal relationship with him. That’s how personal our God is.
When we go to Bethlehem (and it’s a little hard to go to), there’s a cave cut in a rock right near a valley where they herd sheep, where the Church of The Nativity is. And it’s this phenomenal picture that a sheepfold is mostly a cave cut in limestone, cut in a rock, or made naturally. It’s a cave. And the animals would be herded in there to be protected for the night. The manger, just a feeding trough inside this cave.
Here’s what we know about the caves. They’re cold, dark, and dirty. They were the coldest and darkest, and dirtiest place around. The animals slept there. They stayed there at night. And it’s been said often that where Jesus came into that cold, dark, and dirty cave is where he comes when he’s born into every single heart.
He is born into a cold, and dark, and dirty heart with sin. And so you and I can’t say, “Oh. Jesus would never accept me. Jesus would never come into my life.” Really? Did you see how he was born? Not how the nativity scenes show it, but how the real world shows it because it’s really lowly.
Jesus was born in that animal shelter so that he could be in your heart so that you could be born again so that you could know God personally and have a personal relationship with him for eternity. Guys, the Creator of the Universe does not want to be an impersonal spiritual force in your life. He could have done that without breathing his life into you. He could have done that without creating you in your mother’s womb, without writing down every day of your life before one existed.
Listen, God is an impersonal spiritual force to the world, to the creation of the world. To you, he is a personal Savior and Lord. He is so personal to you; he came and lived your life to die in your place to overcome sin and death and the grave on your behalf. To rise again so that you could rise again in him. That’s very, very personal.
He wants to have a real relationship with you. And he proved it by what he went through, coming to this earth. He came like you. He lived a perfect life in your place so that he could justifiably be the perfect sacrifice for your sins so that you could know him personally and spend eternity with him in personal relationship with him. That’s how personal our God is.