The Lord's Desire

You are listening to a message from Thrive Community Church, a church located in Southwest Florida. For more info, visit us at thrive-fl.org. Who really knows you? Yeah, God. Does anybody spend their lives, typically we spend our lives trying to be known. However, there's a hindrance to being known, and that is the fear of being known. You tracking with me? It is probably our greatest need of our soul, of ourselves, to be known. Who really knows me? The problem with being known is that it brings fear and wonder, because if you really know who I am, what I'm thinking, where I've been, what I've done, with whom I've done it, you might not like me. And specifically, you may never ask me to come back and be your substitute preacher. So, rather than asking you to do something, rather than asking you to try to muster up a resolution, rather than asking you to drop a list and prioritize God and put God on top, and those things which aren't bad, but I don't think they're the place to begin. I would invite you to take a deep breath and allow yourself to be known. You get that? See, it's harder than you think. James prayed for the Holy Spirit to be a part of this message, and I would offer to you that it is the Holy Spirit who directs you to be known, that we even like to hide ourselves from being known by God. Now, doesn't that sound silly, just to say that out loud? Yet, from the very beginning, early on in Genesis, when they sinned and began to take on the world for themselves and try to be the center of life, they were hiding. They were hiding from God. And God plays along and says, Where are you, Tovubistu? Where are you? Which one of us hasn't come to church today with some part of us hiding from God? Just try to present ourselves in some form or some fashion that is acceptable to God. So, I would pray for you, and the whole focus of this message is to try to get us into a different posture. Rather than a doing, focusing, get it done, organize our lives posture, I would rather us be in a posture of readiness, acceptance, receiving, and allow ourselves to be known. I would offer to you that being known will change you in ways nothing else can. The new normal. First of all, indeed, as I've mentioned already, those of you who have been at Thrive for a while are keenly aware, especially Mrs. Roth, that I am not John. But I do enjoy the privilege of being a regular substitute here, and I thank you for the opportunity to proclaim the Word of God in my retirement. It's a joy to be here and to get to know you and to be known by you. What I love about Thrive is that that's so part and parcel to who we are as a congregation. The sign out there says, Thrive, you belong. Don't we all want to belong? But in belonging, don't we have to reveal and take the risk? What a joy it is to be a part of a place that longs to connect with others and take the huge risk of being known. Let's see if we can walk through this. The new normal. When John first gave me the message title or the sermon series title, I went, Brother John, let's go back to your grammar and spelling days. And he was way ahead of me, of course. The new normal. Let's see here. The new normal. There we go. This is the focus of our attention from Jeremiah chapter nine. Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom. That word could also be translated knowledge. In his wisdom or knowledge. Let not the mighty man boast in his might. Let not the rich man boast in his riches. But let him who boasts, boast in this. That he understands and knows me. What do you know about God? That I am the Lord who practices steadfast love. The word there in the Hebrew is chesed. There will be a test later on. You've got to be able to get that out of the back of your throat. Chesed. No, you're not going to do that. I practice steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord. I want you to begin. I want us to begin the new year with an understanding of God's purpose. And you know what it is? To know you. And to let you know you're known. And let that knowing change you. Even as you are fully known. Boy, say that fast. I couldn't. So let's walk on together. There are basically three things that Jeremiah is saying that God is directing. They don't really work. He's talking about health, physical ability. Because there's a likelihood that you and I are going to make resolutions or say, Oh, this year I'm going to walk a mile. I'm going to lift more weights. I'm going to play more pickleball. And that was legitimate. There's nothing wrong with that. Play more pickleball. I've recently discovered Naples pickleball and competition. And I think that's a great resolution. Nonetheless, I digress. Many of us with wealth. I know some folks who are trying to get their finances in order. And that's sort of an ongoing process, isn't it? Especially in retirement, to keep things balanced. And then wisdom or knowledge. I want to continue to utilize my resourc...