God Wants You to Know His Heart

By Mike Harding

 But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD.  Jeremiah 9:24

 Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.  Jeremiah 24:7

 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."  Jeremiah 31:34

 From these three verses in Jeremiah, we can see that God has a heart's desire. His heart's desire is that His people would know Him. He doesn't just want people to know His name, or to know that He is God or that He is powerful. He wants people to know His heart.

 All people have the desire to be known, to love and to be loved. Where did we get that desire? From God, because God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness..."  Genesis 1:26

 God made us in His image. We are like Him in many ways, even though we were corrupted by the fall of Adam and Eve. He made us like Him, with the desire to know and be known, to love and to be loved.

 Think about this: If God did not reveal Himself to us, we would never know Him at all. He is the self-revealing God, with a desire to be known and loved. His true nature is the heart of a father.

 He also reveals Himself most to people who will love Him and appreciate Him. He doesn't usually reveal Himself to people who don't want to know Him. He draws near to the heart that draws near to Him. He is the friend of the soul that values His friendship.

When Jesus said, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you," (John 20:21) we often misunderstand. We think He was giving us a task, a job, an assignment. He wasn't just giving us a task. He was inviting us into a relationship. He was inviting us into the family. How do we know? He said, "As the Father has sent Me…"

 When Jesus began His ministry, the Father spoke from Heaven in an audible voice. He didn't say, "Jesus, I'm giving you a task." He said, "You are My beloved Son." (Luke 3:22) Jesus said, "The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."  (John 8:28-29) Jesus loved His Father and lived to please Him.

 If Jesus just gave us a task to do, that would just be religion. But He said, "As the Father sent Me…" How did the Father send Him? He said, "You are My beloved Son."  Jesus knew the Father's heart. He knew the Father's voice. He lived daily in the Father's love. Jesus sends us the same way.

 When Jesus said this to the disciples, He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." (John 20:22) They were born again. They were beloved sons of God in that moment. Jesus called them His brothers. He called God "My Father and Your Father." (John 20:17) This was not a task. This was an invitation into relationship. This was an invitation to become family.

At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus called His twelve disciples.

 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons…  Mark 3:13-15

 When Jesus called them, He called them to friendship and relationship before He called them to a task. He wanted them to be with Him. That was just as important as being sent out to preach and do His works. It was actually more important, because if they did not really spend time with Him and know His heart, they could never truly represent Him. If they did not become His friends, He could not send them.

 These twelve men had to change the whole world. They weren't just given a task. They were given the very heart of God.

 Jesus doesn't call us to a task. He calls us to a relationship. He wants to pour His heart into us. He wants to reveal Himself to us and transform us day by day. He wants us to value His friendship and explore His heart. He wants us to pursue and develop this friendship. If we think it's just a task, then He is just a taskmaster and this is just a religion.

 Three years after He called them, at the end of His ministry, He told them: No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.  John 15:15

 They had spent three years together. He had revealed Himself to them. He had poured His heart into them. Now He said, "I call you friends." Right after that, He went to the cross, died for them and for us, and then rose from the dead. When He appeared to them in John 20:21, He said to them, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send You." He sent them as His friends, because they knew His heart. They were family now. They could truly represent Him. They weren't just religious men, they were men who had looked into the heart of God.

 In the Old Covenant, only one man was called a friend of God. That was Abraham. (Isaiah 41:8) Other men were God's friends also. Moses was God's friend. King David was God's friend. But it was a rare thing to be a friend of God. When Jesus told these disciples, "I call you friends," this was revolutionary! You and I have the same invitation today.

 God gave us the gift of righteousness (Romans 5:17) so that we could become His friends. Without His gift of righteousness, we could never be God's friends. We would be His enemies, condemned and separated forever. But Jesus paid for our sins on the cross. He poured out His life and His blood as the payment for our sins, and He rose from the dead, so that we could be granted right standing before God. This was God's idea, because He values relationship. He values us. He didn't want to lose us.

 Receive God's gift of righteousness. Answer His call to be His friend, to be with Him and to know His heart. Pray this prayer with me: “Heavenly Father, Jesus paid for my sins with His life and His blood on the cross. I receive Your forgiveness and Your gift of righteousness. I want to be Your friend. I want to know Your heart and know Your voice. I value Your friendship, and I want to know You and represent You as You truly are. In Jesus' name amen."