Oakwood Church Fresh Start Women's Devotional Encouragement for Today Hartland Delafield

Jesus Knows Me, This I Love
By Jeannine Sawall

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
John 10:14-15

There’s just something special about being with those close intimate friends who know you like few people do. The kind of friends where every pretense is removed. The kind of friend who actually knows how much you weigh…you know, the number-on-the-scale type of friend, not the number on your driver’s license! The kind of friend you feel comfortable enough to show your worst and she still gives you her best. Those kinds of friends are rare, and when you find one or two, you treasure them like priceless jewels.

I love being with these precious friends. It’s a comfortable, safe place where I never have to worry about whether or not I’ll find acceptance. Explanations are rarely necessary. It’s a place I go when I want to rest and relax. It’s also a safe place for me to cry and pour my heart out when the burdens I’m carrying feel overwhelming. It’s safe because I know these friends desire the best for me, they would do almost anything for me. They will listen, but also share hard truths when I need to hear them. What great freedom in these friendships.

Jesus invites us to have the same kind of relationship with Him. He designed us to have a REAL relationship with Him, not just a “religious” relationship with Him. He knows us more intimately than anyone on earth. He loves us more than we can imagine; He loves the REAL us. He doesn’t care about the number on the scale, the “real” color of our hair or what secrets we think we may be hiding. He knows it all already and loves us the same. He wants us to come to Him in total honesty, bringing all our desires, our hopes, as well as our sorrows and disappointments to share with Him. He wants us to lay down our pretenses so we can enjoy the freedom we can find in true fellowship with Him, better than even our closest friends. I don’t have to pretend to find acceptance with Jesus, all I have to do is be who He made me. He already knows who I really am, so why waste all that energy pretending anyway!

Jesus knows me…the real me…and this I love!!

GOING DEEPER:
1. What part of your life do you try to hide from Jesus? Ask Him to help you surrender everything to Him.
2. Do you find yourself being more “religious” than “relational” with Jesus and/or others? Who will you ask today to pray with you about changing that?

FURTHER READING:
Proverbs 8:17; Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 4:18; 1 Corinthians 1:9

Jeannine is a wife and active mother of four boys. She works in property management and is a part of the Special Events team for Oakwood’s We Women ministries.