GETTING TO KNOW GOD

There are some spiritual phrases that I have never cared for, because they do not truly represent the truth about God and in many ways, dishonors Him by the casual way that they are used. Three of them that I strongly dislike, since my own personal conversion or coming to Christ are; “I got religion!” or “They got religion!” and “Me and the man upstairs got our own thing going!”. When a person becomes a Christian, they do not come to religion, a church, a minister, or a set of beliefs and they sure don’t come to some man upstairs. They have come to the living and Holy God that created them as well as the universe in which they live. They are able to do so according to John 1 by only one means and that is through the blood atonement of God’s personal sacrifice, His only Son, Jesus Christ! The only way that a person can understand how serious God is about any matter is to know Him personally, not, “about Him”, but to personally ”know Him” and His ways. I Corinthians 3:10 says …”I have laid the foundation….But let each one take heed how he builds on it.”  

Like any relationship, in order to know someone you must spend time with them, talking to them, getting to know what they think and how they feel about things. You must dig deep into the person of God….Who He is, what He thinks, what He is like, what His ways are, what His personality is like, and what He thinks and feels about you.  The purpose of building on that foundation which He has laid for us, is so that our pursuing Him will cause us to understand Him in the light that He gives us. Knowing God is the greatest and most privileged pursuit that human beings can attain to. In fact, we were created and placed on this earth in order to know God and have fellowship with Him. It is only when man does things his way, that chaos and disorder will run rapid in their lives and the world in which they live.  The more time we spend building our foundation correctly, the more likely the things we build on it will not crumble or fall. But will endure and produce in us the right stuff that we will need to live and reflect our faith and Whom we belong.  

Sadly, I have found, that for the most part, Christians that regularly attends church are never taught how on a personal level, to develop depth in their foundation with God, thus staying in an infant-like stage of their spiritual growth. Most foundational teachings involve lessons on how to be a good Christian, how to witness, how to observe the ordinances of the faith, how to be a faithful church member, and understanding the doctrines that their church or denomination believe to be relevant and needed. All of these are actually very important subjects to learn about and follow. However, each of these are pursuits of knowledge and must be built on top of the foundation that God has laid for them. You might look at that foundation as a personal encounter with God, where He has taught you personal things about Himself that enable you to understand why He ask of you all the things that He does. If first you can understand why God thinks and acts the way He does, then naturally, you will understand why His expectations of you are what they are.  Jesus said it best in Luke 6:46-49  But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.” Notice that Jesus states, whoever comes to Him. In John 5:40 He says, “but you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”

People approach God for many different reasons with many different motives. The promise of God only applies to the ones who will come after Him. To understand God more clearly, we must first let Him lay the foundation in us; that only He can do, providing the tools in His Word, which will help us to discover Him and develop a strong relationship and bond with him as we continue to pursue Him.  While coming to God through Christ does not preclude us from experiencing pain, trouble and life storms. It does allow us a stronger foundation to dig in to when those times of trouble do come. God never intended for us to replace or think of Him as a Religion. He never intended for us to follow a preacher, teacher or person as did some Christians in Corinth were doing, only to find that it is Christ that we should follow. We are never to be caught up in the traditions of church sacraments, if those are the things that we do for the sake of religion and keeps us from having a personal relationship with God. Those things are only a shadow of Who He is. We are all given the same right and freedom to know and pursue Him as a child would get to know their parent.  It is however up to us to make the effort. 2 Timothy 2:19 says, “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: "The Lord knows those who are His," ….the only spiritual thing we should seek after or pursue, is to receive and maintain a personal relationship with God by means of the doorway that He Himself has provided. As we get to know Him on a personal level, everything else just falls into place. We then will begin to build on that foundation; and all the other things about God will be revealed to us as our spiritual appetite hungers for. Get to know Him today sweet friend, He is waiting for you to meet Him!

Loving on you today,

Bren