Known, to be known, means that someone understands who you are, they recognize the person you are inside, and they see deeper into your nature and desires beyond your physical appearance and personality to the way you are and how you are wired; revealed, unveiled, understood, appreciated, accepted.
Abba Father, we love you, and we praise you. You are worthy of our worship, and we celebrate who you are, for you are good, and your love endures forever. You are the Builder Of All Things: you have designed each one of us, you have mapped out your plans for our lives, and you guide us every day through every decision and dream.
Abba Father, you are our Dwelling Place: you have made your home within us. It was not always this way, you did not used to live within your people. Before now, there were tabernacles and temples, clans of priests who communicated with you on our behalf, and we could not speak to you directly. Now Christ has come, now the Holy Spirit has arrived and made your home in our hearts: temples without stone, a prayer house made of spirit and soul. We glorify your name in all the earth for this wondrous miracle alive in us!
God Of Our Salvation, thank you for knowing us. To be known is the greatest gift in the universe: to be loved and embraced, to be pursued and adopted, to be accepted and given a new identity. We praise you, God Who Knows Us! Life Giving Spirit, thank you for breathing life into our death and raising us up into the eternal light of Jesus. Thank you for the generous gifts of our new hearts and spirits. The old is gone, behold: the new is here and beautiful. You fashioned each one of us according to your will that we may shine brightly for your glory and amplify your majesty in this generation to all peoples.
Now, Abba Father, we entrust all nations and peoples, all tribes and languages into your care. You are Head of the Church as well as Lord of the Harvest Fields. We rest in your promises, your guarantee that the Great Commission will be fulfilled as your people listen to your voice and follow your direction. Here we are, Father. Lead us and guide us, direct our every step, and shape our every desire as we stand upon Jesus our Secure Rock.
Glory, glory, hallelujah! Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is Jesus who comes in the name of Yahweh. With all angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, we praise the Lamb of God, we praise the Lion of Judah who was slain for the sins of the world. And we sing together, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD God Almighty who was, and who is, and who is to come, world and age without end.” And we say, “Maranatha!” Jesus has come, Christ will return, come quickly, Shalom Messiah!
Amen. So be it. Grace & peace.
Known Song Map (Psalm 139) >
Sovereign Seer
Immanuel Companion
Master Craftsman
Hatred Confession
Unknowable Wonders
Sovereign Seer > You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. 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. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. (Psalm 139:1-5 NIV)
Immanuel Companion > Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I run away from where you are? If I go up to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in the place of the dead, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning or live in the farthest part of the sea, even there your hand will lead me and your right hand will hold me.If I say, “For sure the darkness will cover me and the light around me will be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you. And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to you. (Psalm 139:7-12 NLV)
Master Craftsman > You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. (Psalm 139:13-16 NLT)
Hatred Confession > God, if only you would kill the wicked— you bloodthirsty men, stay away from me—who invoke you deceitfully. Your enemies swear by you falsely. Lord, don’t I hate those who hate you, and detest those who rebel against you? I hate them with extreme hatred; I consider them my enemies. (Psalm 139:19-22 CSB)
Unknowable Wonders > Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding… O God, how difficult I find your thoughts; how many of them there are! If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you… Examine me, O God, and know my mind; test me, and discover my thoughts. Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in your everlasting way. (Psalm 139: 6, 17-18, 23-24 GNT)
Known Story > Hagar Runs Away (Genesis 16)
Hagar was an Egyptian slave in Abraham’s household. His wife Sarai became frustrated with God waiting for his promised child prophecy to be fulfilled, so she came up with her own plan. She told Abraham to sleep with her slave to bear an heir. When Hagar became pregnant, Sarai despised her in her heart and treated her so badly that Hagar ran away.
Hagar rested by a spring in the wilderness alone and outcast, isolated and afraid. God sent his angel to find her and explain her future. He told her that he knew her, he cared about her even though she was an abused slave from another nation, and her destiny was to share in Abraham’s family blessing: to have a great multitude of descendants.
Hagar had felt outcast and forsaken, but in the desert by the water she met the God Who Sees Me and discovered she was loved and favored despite her awful environment. She wiped the tears from her eyes, believed the Lord, and returned home to remain with Abraham and Sarai. She gave birth to a son and named him Ishmael, meaning “God listens.”
Hagar’s heart changed when she realized she was known by God. Everything changes for us in times of suffering and pain, challenges and failures: to discover that we are not alone and to understand that we are known and loved. The greatest gift we could ever give to another person is to truly know them: to give significant time to invest in a few relationships where you go beyond pretense and profile to heart and soul, to be a safe place for someone else to be honest and not control, condemn, or change them.
As God’s sons & daughters, we are known by him beyond our imagination, and we are called into this ministry of knowing one another. We will invest deeply in fewer people so that we can truly become one in heart, soul, and spirit in unity with the Holy Spirit. In heaven, we will experience companionship perfected: eternal fellowship with all saints in the everlasting presence of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now, through the power of the gospel and the presence of the Holy Spirit, we have the capacity and calling to practice the culture and values of heaven in our midst. We are Jesus’ Ekklesia: a relationship network of Jesus’ disciples who worship him and take care of one another as we take this good news to every nation and tribe until our Messiah King returns in glory!
Purpose > We are all about freedom in the Holy Spirit.
Motto > Freedom is never free, freedom is always fragile, and freedom is worth the fight. So, handle freedom with care.
Vision > Fixing our eyes on Jesus Christ, overflowing with his kingdom life.
Maranatha Vision Project > teaching disciples how to journey in Jesus’ freedom.
+> James Harvey, Blazing Trees CEO/Founder
Book James for an online team training or virtual prayer gathering > info@blazingtrees.or
We are about freedom in the Holy Spirit. Freedom is never free, freedom is always fragile, and freedom is worth the fight. So, handle freedom with care.
