Yeah I know Him!

 For those who don't know him, this is Kirk Cameron who in the mid to late 80's was a teenage heart throb for many young girls!  I know Kirk, we go way back.  His birthday is Oct 12 and I still think of him on his birthday!  He is 5'9inches tall and his grandparents back in the day had an inground trampoline!  Yeah that's pretty cool!  His little sis got into the acting business too.  She was on Full House.  His parents named him Kirk after Captain Kirk from Star Trek!  There was a time I knew everything about Kirk Cameron!  I knew his favorite color, favorite foods, and even his dislikes!  I knew what movies he was working on and what he liked to do when he wasn't working on the set.  I really followed him and would buy whatever magazine he was on the cover of because I wanted to know more and more about him.  I really don't think there wasn't much I didn't know about him.  The problem is I only knew about him!

See Kirk and I have never met.  Which will explain why we never got married.  I really thought we'd end up together.  I knew everything about him and hungered to learn more.  The problem is we just didn't know each other.  Today if Kirk Cameron showed up here, I would immediately recognize him and speak to him by name but in return, he would be clueless as to who I am.  And that's the problem with too many Christians!  We know Jesus just like we know Kirk Cameron(or insert another celebrity idol) . We know who HE is, we know what He has done, we may even be a huge fan and we even know what He is capable of but we don't have that relationship with Him for Him to know us like He so desires!  Of course God knows us all, He knows everything but He gives us free-will to seek Him to have that personal relationship that He wants with us.    To some the Bible is more like a biography of facts about Jesus' life more than it is the Living word. Read this verse and see if it doesn't shake you up a bit.

Matthew 7:22-23 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me."

Just like if I met Kirk Cameron tomorrow and he acted like he didn't know me and I tried to say "Well you and I went to school together everyday. Your picture was on my backpack.  I spoke of you often to all of my friends and declared my love for you to all who would listen! Sure you know me."  He would surely say he didn't!  He might appreciate me being a loyal fan but that in no way shape or form means that he knows me!  Same with God, if we are going to church, have the Bible app on our phone that we carry with us everywhere we go, and declare our love for Him to all who will listen, that does not equal that we know Him. We know of Him.  We know who He is.  But do we have the relationship with Him?  That's what matters! 

I strongly feel for 2012 a strong sense that many who know Him don't have a relationship with Him.  I'm not talking about just the ones that haven't been saved.  I am also talking about the ones that have been saved.  The ones who know what Jesus did on the cross and accepted his forgiveness and salvation yet still have never experienced a relationship with God.  There's just more to it folks than being saved.  Being saved is just a first step towards a relationship with God.  What we do after we are saved is just as important as the saving moment!  I know this may be controversial to some but I feel led by the spirit to share it.  If you want Jesus to know you, if you want God to accept you into his kingdom, the first step is to be saved and the second step is to get to know Him personally.  We are each unique and God speaks to us all differently but what I do know is that you have to spend time with Him to hear from Him.  Ask God to help you have a relationship with Him, and He will do just that!  God spoke this message to me this morning and even brought up my past love for Kirk Cameron as the example.  I thought about changing the message to fit another celebrity that could appeal to more folks but God used Kirk Cameron this morning and so Kirk Cameron it is!

By the way, I am glad things didn't work out between Kirk and I.  I am pretty blessed with the life I have with my husband and kids!  :)