Good Morning Friends,
We live in a world where spiritual activity is everywhere. It is in sermons, ministries, platforms, and programs. But Jesus asks a deeper question and few questions matter more. Friends, to be known by God is the only safe ground. So, Do You Truly Know Him And Does He Know You?
Scripture Summaries
Matthew 7:21–23
Jesus warns that not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” belongs to Him. Some will point to impressive works, yet He will say, “I never knew you.” The issue is not failed performance but the absence of a true relationship.
2 Timothy 1:8–11
Paul reminds Timothy that salvation is “not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace… given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” Our security rests in God’s eternal purpose, not human achievement.
Psalm 139:1
“O LORD, You have searched me and known me.” True faith begins with being known by God—searched, loved, and claimed.
Revelation 2–3
Jesus says to each church, “I know your works.” His knowing is relational and covenantal. Some churches are faithful, others compromised, some deceived by false teachers, and some spiritually dead though outwardly impressive.
Message: Jesus’ warning in Matthew 7 comes at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. And it is a portrait of Kingdom life that flows from a transformed heart, not human effort. The Sermon on the Mount is an example of Christian counter-culture, a life only God can produce with plenty of opportunities to be led astray. You see, the gospel creates a new self in us before it ever produces new behavior in us. The point is that Jesus is forming a renewed humanity, for a divine purpose not demanding moral performance. So Jesus’ words, “I never knew you,” are not aimed at struggling believers. They expose those who were busy for Jesus but never belonged to Jesus. This is where Paul’s words in 2 Timothy anchor us: salvation is rooted in God’s eternal purpose and grace, not our works. We are known because we are in Christ, chosen, adopted, made new creatures. As C. S. Lewis wrote, the question is not what we intended to be, but what God intended when He made us.
The Seven Churches in Revelation reflect the same tension as in Matthew 7 and show how easily communities drift into activity without intimacy. Some tolerate false teachers; some lose love; some look alive but are dead. The danger is the same today: spiritual busyness without spiritual life.
False teachers thrive wherever people mistake outward success for inward reality. They may preach, perform, and gather crowds, but Jesus says, “I never knew you.”
Yet for the true believer, here is comfort: if you are in Christ, you are known by God with the same certainty that the Father knows the Son. Your failures cannot un-adopt you. Your weakness cannot un-grace you. Because He knows you, He will grow you, correct you, keep you, and shape you into Christ’s likeness.
Matthew 7 is not meant to terrify the sheep, it is meant to expose the wolves. The sheep may limp, but they follow the Shepherd. And the Shepherd knows His own.
And So, to be known by God is the foundation of salvation, the source of assurance, and the safeguard against deception. Works cannot secure us, but grace has already claimed us. The churches in Revelation remind us that Jesus knows His people, both their faithfulness and their drift. The call is simple: remain rooted in Christ, discern truth from error, and live from the life He gives.
Pray Lord Jesus, that You search us and know us. Pray You reveal every false confidence and every place where we say “Lord, Lord” without surrender. Pray You root us deeply in Your grace and in the purpose given before time began. Pray You keep us faithful, discerning, humble, and alive to Your Spirit. Pray You make us a people who are truly known by You and who truly know You. Pray You strengthen Your church to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Amen.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 