Known and Loved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVVlMQved8k

You Know Me ~ Steffany Gretzinger

 

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.

~ Psalm 139:1 NIVUK

 

What do athletic socks, a fake plant, and a watermelon have in common? They were all birthday gifts given by women who know me. They know what I need, can handle, and enjoy. Gifts are fun to receive. Some gifts will make you laugh, some will bring you delight, and some will touch a tender spot in your heart, as you realize how well you are known and loved.

 

David, the youngest and smallest son of Jesse, expressed his awe of God in the Psalms. Though David may have been overlooked by his earthly family, his heavenly Father knew and loved him completely:

You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
 You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
 Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely, (Psalm 139:2-4)

You are familiar—intimately acquainted—with all my ways… David felt safe in the hands of his God who knew him: his praise and doubts, his rejoicing and rejections, his good deeds and mistakes, his wins and his faults. The Lord knew all these things, and still loved him.

 

We all long to be known, and loved, like that. The same Lord who knew and loved David, knows and loves you. Our Father knows, loves, honors, cares for, created, designed, corrects, disciplines, and teaches us in a personal way. He knows your past and is fully aware of the things you’ve endured and had to overcome; He’s seen your future and knows the preparation you still require to be victorious; He was with you yesterday, He’s journeying with you now, and still, He loves you. You, dear child, are fully known and fully loved.

©Heather Potts 2022

For Victory!

When you go out to fight your enemies and you face horses and chariots and an army greater than your own, do not be afraid. The Lord your God…is with you! … Do not be afraid as you go out to fight your enemies today! Do not lose heart or panic or tremble before them.  For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory! ~ Deuteronomy 20:1-4 NLT

There is certainly a battle raging against us and we are DEFINITELY in the thick of it. Praise God for His Spirit and His faithful servants He sends to remind us that He is faithful—He was faithful with us and others in the past and He will be faithful now and in the future.

32. Brad has had 32 interviews since God changed our “plans.” And 14 of them have been since we came, in obedience, to Wisconsin. Unfortunately, as of this devotional, all but 2 have been “no.” But our hope doesn’t lie in the numbers—not the number of days since we’ve arrived in Wisconsin, or the number of dollars we have left in our bank account, or even the number of applications filled out. Our hope lies in the Lord and in His promises.

The details and days have weighed upon us. And the enemy has tried to keep us under his thumb. But in my prayer time, when I felt “heavy,” God reminded me that I am the Victor and not the victim. And in His presence, I cried out, “I will remember!”

It’s not just our family. The enemy is hard at work to destroy all who are called forth in and for God’s great purpose. If, like us, you are in the thick of it, just remember, you are the Victor (not the victim). He calls us forth—not for vacation, but for battle, for war, for victory!

“…Train even your weaklings to be warriors…And now, O Lord, call out your warriors!” ~ Joel 3:10-11 NIV

©Heather Potts 2017