Knowing Jesus | Daily Devotional 1642

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional Podcast, episode 1642. Today's Devo is called Knowing Jesus.

Hey there, we're the Alexis, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy, the to-do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why every weekday we share a five-minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast.

Hello everyone. My name is Lauren Alessie Burgos, and I am your host for this week. We are talking about what is actually worth it. Sounds really funny, actually, out of context. But we're talking about how our perspective can maybe change when we what when we understand what has eternal value and maybe how we spend like energy on things that really take up way too much of our time and our effort and our energy. Um just when it doesn't matter and it's not worth it. And we stress about things that we don't even take with us to heaven at the end of the day. Um so here in Philippians 3, 10, which is our verse for the day, we're gonna talk about knowing Jesus. So let's continue. We read a lot of the word yesterday, and it was Paul talking about how he's like, hey, look, if you think you can put confidence in yourself, I have more of a reason to put confidence in myself, but I consider those confidences like losses to me for the sake of Christ. So now we're reading and we're continuing on with that in Philippians 3:10, and it says this I want to know Christ, yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. Again, guys, I just I love Paul. He's so like zealous and hardcore, which he says like earlier on in this. Again, if you haven't read the full chapter, please do. It's so good. But he's talking about like, look, if you think you're confident, I'm 10 times more confident, basically, is what he's saying. And then he's like, but the things I have to be confident in, those were like whatever you consider gains to me. Now I consider losses for the sake of Christ. What more? I consider everything a loss. This is what we're talking about yesterday. We jump down, he says, I even consider them garbage that I may gain Christ and be found in him. Yada yada yada. We fast forward the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. Then he says, I want to know Christ. Yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. So I just want to say that there's a difference between knowing about someone and actually knowing them. There's a difference between knowing about Jesus and actually knowing Jesus. And you can know facts about Jesus, you can know stories and the Bible stories, you can be like, I can quote the NIV and the ESV and the KJV, yes, King James Version. You can know all these facts and you can spit fire. And like Paul says, Paul's like, look, you you guys think you have a reason to be confident. I have every more reason to be confident than you, but I consider that all a loss for the sake of Christ. Not even that. I would throw all of that away for the sake of knowing Jesus even more. And I actually, okay, fun fact, I did this episode and I was like, I'm not feeling this episode, I want to redo it because I didn't love it. And now as I'm redoing it, I'm like, I feel like in today's day and age, sometimes, I don't know, on social media or on a lot of even like, yes, Bible podcasts and things like that, people just want to be like Bible know-it-alls, and they just want to be like Christian know-it-alls. And I don't know, I feel like sometimes the biblical know-it-all, unless you're like a theologian and that's your job, awesome. But it can get in the way of actually wanting to know Jesus and to know his word. Paul is saying, I want to know Christ. This is coming from somebody who, guys, he already followed Jesus. If you do a deep dive on Paul, which I suggest you do, I did one time, like I'm not claiming to be an expert. I literally just happened to do it one time and I loved it. But Paul wasn't saying, like, I don't know anything about him. He was saying, I know him, I walked with him, and there's still more I want to experience, I want to learn from him. Christianity isn't primarily about becoming impressive and like, look how much I know about the Bible, and and I can debate you on this. That's not Christianity. Christianity is about it, it's about being in a relationship with Christ. It's about being in his word enough to know him and to to know his character, to know his words, to know his cadence. Sometimes our faith becomes centered around what we are doing for God rather than who we are becoming with God. And sometimes I see this a lot. Like, I'm gonna debate this guy on the street about what the Bible says and whatever, to each his own. Honestly, to each his own. But it's like, are we just trying to do that for God? Like when I read God's word, I don't know. The more I read God's word and the more I get to know God, I just don't think that is in God's character, that God would be like, follow me around with a camera on YouTube and I'm gonna debate people on the side of the street. That's me. You can have your own opinion and we can disagree, and that's fine. But that's the kind of knowing Jesus and knowing Christ that I think Paul is talking about here. And you know what? If I'm wrong, I want to know Jesus so much that I want to get in his word and be proven wrong. That maybe Jesus is like, no, Lauren, that's exactly what I want to do. I want to follow people around with a camera in downtown and confront them on their lifestyle and debate them about it for YouTube. I don't know. I want to know Jesus is that way. I'm sorry for my sarcasm, guys. But, anyways, so today, because we just have a tendency for doing things for God instead of really knowing or wanting to do things to know God more. Let's just ask ourselves, what should I accomplish spiritually? And ask ourselves, how can we know Jesus more deeply? Is that getting in his word and just not getting in his word so we can get revelation out of it? And we talk about this a lot. But don't go reading in your word to be like, oh, yay, I got a word out of it. Good. Like sometimes this podcast, I love our podcast so much, but sometimes the word is simply just because you need to hear God's voice and hear what he says and to develop a relationship with him and get to know him more and more and more. Like when you text a friend every single day, you know their tone. You know when they're angry through text, you know when they're sad through text, you know when they need to vent through text. You know, with someone who you don't text very often, when they do like a straight period, you're like, are they mad at me? Because you don't text them very often. It's the same thing with the word of God. You have to read it every single day repeatedly to be able to pick up on the tone, to be able to really pick up on who God is. You have to get that in your spirit. So ask yourself, how can I know Jesus more deeply today? Because the goal isn't simply to become a better Christian. The goal is Christ. The goal is to become like him, the goal is to know him. So let's pray. Dear Lord, we thank you so much, Lord, for just your word that's always sharpening us and teaching us, Lord. God, help us to know you, God. Help us to know more about you. Help us to become like you. We can't become like you if we don't know you, God. So help us really learn who you truly are in your word. Help us to know your true character, not our own. And Lord, even I lay down my opinion here and I lay down my own interpretation. Help us not read through our own lens and our own interpretation and try to become like that. No, God, help us go in with a pure heart, with pure eyes, and read your word through purity and learn more about you so we could become more like you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

So there you have it, your five minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you've found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.