Henriet's Blog

Does Jesus Know You? Do You Know Him?

"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep." - Jesus (John 10:14, 15)

Jesus knows what each of us are going through. I believe that he knows his sheep - the people that belong to him - even at a deeper level. Does he know you? Do you know him? 

Jesus says that his sheep know his voice. Shepherds in the Middle East in those days led their sheep and the sheep followed their shepherd's voice. How did they recognize it? Well, it takes time to get to know the shepherd's voice - time spent together. Do you know Jesus' voice? What has he been saying to you? Are you trusting him with your troubles and receiving his comfort?

"Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you" 1 Peter 5:7.

When we follow Jesus and he leads us to places that we might not have chosen for ourselves, our natural inclination may be to worry or be afraid. Jesus tells us not to be afraid but to follow him anyway. Trust the shepherd. Listen to his voice. He knows you, what you are going through and what you need. Is he inviting you on a new adventure? Are there uncertainties? Give him your worries - after all he knows you and loves you. And, he is powerful to help and protect you. Awesome, don't you think?

My Message This Sunday: "Jesus Knows What You Are Going Through"

Can you believe it? I have the privilege of teaching the folks at Life At The Ridge in Redmond again this Sunday. It's fun and strangely normal to be delivering the Sunday message after a nearly three year hiatus from preaching/teaching on a Sunday morning. "Thanks Josh, for giving me the opportunity!"

Jesus knows...

This Sunday will be the third in the series about "Jesus Knows." My topic is "Jesus Knows What You Are Going Through." How do I know? Well, I've experienced it first hand these last few years. My husband, Fred, and I have been going through a lot of challenges related to finances, remodeling and parenting teenagers. We've also had awesome and good experience. The bottom line is that Jesus knows what we are going through - the good, the bad and everything in between.

Now you might say, "but he never experienced what I'm going through." And you could fill in the blank with a lot of things that are part of our lives these days. The reality is that the Bible clearly tells us that "Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin!" (Hebrews 4:15) So, his details was different but he understands each of us exactly. Jesus experienced every emotion: joy, sadness, fear, anger, happiness, etc. He knows, he really knows.

Who do people see?

So, if Jesus knows all that we are going through, why does he allow all these things in our lives? Well, I believe that one reason that God allows the good and the bad is to know Him better, to grow in character and to experience God's love and power for us. You see, Jesus doesn't abandon us to the various situations he takes us through it. After all, he's experienced the same things we have so he knows how to help us through!

The question for us really is "When we go through good times or bad times, do we point to ourselves or to him?" Can people see Jesus in and through you as you experience the range of opportunities and challenges? How do you respond to the situations God allows in your life?

I believe that God wants to deploy you and your story for your best and to his glory.

God Sends, His People Go (or Should Go)

On Tuesday, I asked "Is God a missionary God? And, are we sent people? If so, how are we living that out?" So what are the answers? Here are some of my thoughts based on reading Missional Church by Darrell Guder and The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch.

God is a God on mission. What is that mission? It is to reconcile all people to himself. Can you imagine that? The God of the universe wants to connect with each person on earth to restore the relationship. He does not need to be reconciled to us because he is perfect and has not broken the bond. We need to be reconciled to him. And, that's his mission: to reconcile people to himself.

Mission means 'sending'

So the answer to the first question is "yes, God is a missionary God." How does he go about accomplishing that mission? He sent Jesus into the world. He became God with us, identifying with those he was trying to reach. In Jesus, God came to be with us. He moved into our lives and communities. Why? He became one of us to redeem us.

Yes, we are a sent people

As God sent Jesus into the world, so he sends his people into the world. Jesus told his followers that they were to be his witnesses to the people around them. That's still true today. God's people are sent people - we are missionary people. What are we sent to do? We are sent to bring the love of God to people who do not yet know him. We are to be instruments of reconciliation - reconciling people to God.

Living it out

The only way to truly be a missionary, or sent, people is to live it out in the world around us. We can't be missionary people and only attend church on Sunday. It means getting into the community. Living as sent ones will require us to interact with the people around us in such a way that they experience the love of God. What does that look like? Maybe it means holding a door open for someone, or bringing a meal over, or having lunch with a co-worker who is going through a hard time or any number of acts of kindness. Sent people do not perform random acts of kindness; they perform intentional acts of love to demonstrate the truth and life of Jesus.

Do you recognize the missionary moments in your life? Are you living as a sent person? Is God using you to change lives?

A Missionary God and a Sent People

"We have learned to speak of God as a 'missionary God'. Thus we have learned to understand the church as a 'sent people'." (Darrell L. Guder, Missional Church, page 4)

Is God a missionary God? What does that mean? And, are we sent people? If so, how are we living that out?

Would love to hear your thoughts!

"Jesus Knows You" - My Topic at Life At The Ridge this Sunday

"He even counts every hair on your head." Matthew 10:30, NIRV

It's been a few years since I've had the opportunity to speak at a church. Pastor Josh Hebert of Life at the Ridge, one of our Semper Vita partners, asked me to teach this Sunday and start the series. Wow. That's an honor. "Thanks for trusting me, Josh!" Both the series and my sermon are entitled, "Jesus Knows You." He does! And, that's good.

Jesus knows you - really knows you

He knew you before the world was made (Ephesians 1:4) and he knows every hair on your head. That's easier for Jesus with some people than for others but regardless - he knows! He knows your name. He knows my name. Wow. The God of the universe knows us personally. We're not only in his address book we're written on the palm of God's hand. (And we're not talking about a handheld computer!) Besides your name, Jesus knows your heart, your dreams and your wiring.

One of the things that I just love is helping people discover their God-given wiring. It's just awesome. That's part of the "Grow" element of Semper Vita. (I wrote about discovering your wiring and doing your part recently - because I believe it allows us to maximize our potential.) When we understand how we're wired we can be so much more effective in our relationships, at work and in God's Kingdom. The key here though is that God hand-designed each of us - for our good and to his glory. Amazing stuff.

Knowing our wiring isn't enough if we go it alone...

If we're just plugging in our wiring based on our own best thinking we might still fall short of what could be. With understanding our wiring comes following Jesus. He knows each one of us and ask each one of us to follow. He told Peter, "Follow me." He tells all of us, "Follow me." And the way he asks us to follow and what he has for us to do varies based on who we are. Our relationship with Jesus is personal.

Do you know you? Do you know your wiring? Do you really grasp that Jesus knows you - the real you? Are you following?

What is Faith?

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen;
it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

Hebrews 11:1, New Living Translation

Holland is in the World Cup Finals...and Fans are Keeping the Faith!

It's been a 32-year drought for fans of the Netherlands. The last time Team Orange made it to the World Cup finals was in 1978! They came in second...we (all Dutch fans) are definitely looking for a different result.

Everyone with any Dutch blood has been glued to the television each time this team steps on the field. Many of us have also been watching all the other soccer games during this World Cup. Dutch fans are living the dream. A reported 2500 Dutch people are in South Africa, supporting their team. My mom and I call each other after each game just to relive the excitement.

During the last game, 60,000 fans were watching the game in the Museum Plein (Museum Square) in Amsterdam. That's not counting the fans in Rotterdam, the Hague and other Dutch cities. The team is on fire. The fans are on fire.

Soccer is popular all over the world. It truly is a world sport. Growing up in Holland, I have watched this game for as long as I can remember. It's exciting that it is catching on in the United States. At first I was rooting for both the United States and Holland - since I'm a citizen of both. But really I was for the Dutch mostly. (The U.S. team's time will come.)

Check out these crazy pictures of Dutch supporters following their team. The orange-vehicled convoy stretches 6 kilometers (3.6 miles). It's easy to spot the Dutch supporters - they're oozing orange!

Boldly orange

As a Dutch person, I've been just so excited to follow the team's success. Now it's down to Holland versus Spain. Some of my friends have been calling me crazy because I was up at 4 am for the first two games Holland played in the initial group round. Hey, it's my team. I needed to see it live!

During the first game, my husband, son and I were in our pj's wearing orange hats and scarfs. The Dutch are not shy about showing their orange. (Watch any Olympics and you'll see those boldly orange fans.)

So the Semper Vita-related question for me, thinking through being a great fan, is "As a Christian, do I get this excited about following Jesus? Do I ooze Jesus? Are we so excited about Team Jesus that others can easily spot us? Does our team spirit inspire others?

World Cup Final this Sunday!

This Sunday I'll be rushing home from gathering with the church at Life at the Ridge to watch the World Cup final. I'll be wearing orange and rooting for Holland! Hup Holland Hup! I can report great news next week.

Get Busy Doing Just Your Part

"Love should always make us tell the truth. Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the head of the body. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly,  as it grows and becomes strong because of love."   Ephesians 4:15-16, CEV

In the last post I discussed that all of us who claim faith in Jesus need to get busy. "Busy," you might say, "I'm already too busy. You've got to be kidding me." Well, hold on. I don't mean busy just doing any and everything but busy doing what God intends for us to do. You see, God has "Designer tasks" planned for each of us. How do I know? It's clearly spelled out in Ephesians, one of my favorite books in the Bible. It tells us about who God is and how he has created us, chosen us and uniquely designed each one of us. It also tells us that he has prepared good things for us to do. In fact, he has hand selected good tasks for us. God is the designer. He made us and he made the good things for us to do. Here's how Ephesians 2:10 puts it:

"God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing" (New Century Version).

Know yourself

So, how do we know what God has for us? Well, I believe that one important first step is to know our wiring. Who did God make us to be? In fact, at Semper Vita we believe in this so strongly that we advocate for everyone to discover their God-given wiring. To do that we use the Clifton StrengthsFinder, Myers-Briggs and Spiritual gifts assessments. I know that for me, discovering how God made me really helped me to focus on what God intends for me to do.

Know your part

The good news for all of us is that God only asks us to do our part. He's already at work in us and around us. He invites each one of us to join him in the work that he is already doing. And, he only asks each one of us to do the works that he prepared in advance for us to do. So, what is our part? How can we discover that? One key step is to ask God what he wants us to do. Part of that is looking around to see where he is already at work. Another key step is to understand who he made us to be so that we can better know what it is he asks us to do. It helps us to discover our purpose and to focus on the tasks designed for us.

Do your part

The next step is simple: Get busy and do your part. Once you know what God is asking you to do, just do it! If you're not sure, try out some different things and see where you sense God's pleasure. The results of getting busy in the right direction are obvious. It results in joy, peace, a sense of fulfillment, and lasting impact.  This impact is what the Bible calls fruit.

So, how are you doing? Do you know your wiring? (If not, contact us to get started.) Do you know your part? Are you producing fruit? Please share your story of how God has designed you and how he has invited you to join him.