Whatchyou Know About Him?

by Nikki Lane

You know that friend you hardly ever see? You see them once a week, maybe twice if you’re lucky? We all have some of those friends. And when you do see them, it’s always in group settings, right? Question: how well do you think you REALLY know that person? I’m not talking about the friend that use to be your best friend but now you have drifted apart. This friend is new…but you don’t see them that often. You with me? I know, it’s kind of hard to follow… but you’ll see where I’m going with this. Do you think you REALLY know what that friend likes and dislikes? Do you know their opinion on certain topics? Do you know how they treat people or how they talk? Let’s be honest, or in your words, LBH: you don’t really know them at all. Not if you only see them once or twice a week in group settings. Impossible!

So, why do we think it would be any different with our relationship with Jesus? No way. It’s the exact same thing. If the only time you spend time in prayer, reading His word, or worshiping Him is on Sundays or Wednesdays, then there is no way that you REALLY know Him. There is no way that you REALLY know what He likes and dislikes. There is no way that you REALLY know what He says about YOU, either. Knowing what God says about you is vital to your growth as a Christian. Unless you know what He says, you will believe all sorts of lies from the enemy of your soul. Satan wants to steal, kill and destroy every part of you and I believe a lot of times he goes straight for your identity. If he can get you to question and doubt who you are or Who’s you are, then he wins.

READ: Luke 4:1-13
Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, ² where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.
³ Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”
⁴ But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’”
⁵ Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. ⁷ I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”
⁸ Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say,

‘You must worship the Lord your God
    and serve only him.’”

⁹ Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! ¹⁰ For the Scriptures say,

‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you.
¹¹ And they will hold you up with their hands
    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”

¹² Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

¹³ When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.

 I know what you’re thinking: “Nik, what on earth does the devil tempting Jesus have anything to do with what you’re talking about?” I’m glad you asked. If you notice, Jesus quoted scripture back to the devil each time he was tempted. He knew what God said. He knew what the Truth was. Jesus had just finished fasting for 40 days (which means he didn’t eat anything for 40 WHOLE DAYS) and the first thing satan does is he tries to get Jesus to turn a rock into some bread. That’s just wrong isn’t it? You know Jesus was hungry! But, He didn’t do it. He wasn’t going to fall for it. So, if Jesus, WHO IS GOD, needed to know scripture, how much more do we?!

Maybe you don’t know where to start with reading your Bible, so here are some ideas:

• Read one chapter of Proverbs for each day of the month.
• Start in the Gospel of John. Read John and then go back and read Matthew, Mark and Luke.
• Download the YouVersion Bible App. There are TONS of devotionals on that app that you can start. Each day comes with a scripture to read.

Here’s the thing: start somewhere. It doesn’t matter where or how, just start. You will be so glad you did.