My greatest desire is to know God better. It is my highest purpose in life. To know God closely and intimately is the ONE THING I seek more than any other thing. This is where the focus of my entire life has been.
The knowledge of God I have gained through the years is THE MOST treasured and valued thing in my life. Oh, how wonderful to know Him and to know He is always there and to know HOW TO let Him into my life to share my life and help me on every occasion. How wonderful to have an answer to whatever I encounter in having God with me, always willing to give me wisdom and help me – and even more to know how to access all that God is.
Colossians 2:2-3 – That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Philippians 3:8 (Amplified Bible) – Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One).
Psalms 27:4 (Amplified Bible) – One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek, inquire for, and [insistently] require: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, to behold and gaze upon the beauty [the sweet attractiveness and the delightful loveliness] of the Lord and to meditate, consider, and inquire in His temple.
How can I do this? What steps I can follow that will take me to this goal? How can I know what He is like, what to expect from Him and from my times with Him? How do I approach Him? What do I say when I get there?
People have many experiences and have opinions as to how to get closer to God, but it isn’t from listening to others that I get to know God intimately. I want to experience the realty of His presence, but I don’t want to get into things that aren’t of God. I want to know the Word, but I don’t want it to be merely the letter of the Word. In knowing God, there is a mixture between knowing Him in His word and knowing Him in Spirit. Many get over-balanced on one side or the other.
God has given us His Word to know what He is like, but He is after a true and real, intimate relationship with each person He has created. I will have to get to know God personally for myself, and all true knowledge is based on the Word of God. All things must be measured by His Word. I don’t want just an intellectual knowledge of God, and there is danger of this if I only have the word and stay away from the Spirit. But on the other hand, if I depend only on knowing God through what I experience spiritually, there is great danger of being deceived and getting off a bit.
STUDY THE WORD
God has given us His Word to reveal Himself to us, and He sent His Son as the Word in the flesh to show us what He is like. (John 1:1)
Christ is the revelation of God. God made Himself a man in Christ so we can see Him and understand Him.
Hebrews 1:1-3 – God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.
God spoke in the past in many portions and many ways. He has in these last days spoken to us completely and accurately in His Son. Jesus is the exact representation of His nature.
The Old Testament presents a partial picture of God, but the New Testament presents Him exactly and completely in Christ.
Colossians 1:15 (Amplified) — [Now] He is the exact likeness of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible]; He is the Firstborn of all creation.
Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. He is the EXACT likeness of the unseen God. We can’t see God, but we see Jesus, and seeing Jesus is seeing God.
If there is a conflict between the Old Testament God and Jesus, realize that the Old Testament is a partial picture, but Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God, the exact representation of His person. Eliminate from your thinking any picture of God contrary to what you see in Jesus.
Look at what Jesus did, how He went about doing good and healing all (Acts 10:38), and know this is how He is to you and those around you that you see in need.
Renew your mind from a wrong picture to a right picture of what God is like by studying Jesus. He is the same today (Hebrews 13:8), the same toward you as you see Him in the Word. Whatever you see Him doing, saying, healing, providing; you can expect Him also to do for you and through you. Be willing to change what you have thought and believed to what you see and learn from the Word. Put aside any beliefs and traditions or what people have told you that is in contrast to what you see in Jesus.
Accept and appropriate what you see. The promises and truths of the Word of God are activated towards you only when mixed with faith. Purposely expect Him to act the same way towards you as you see Him in the Word – every day of your life, on every occasion. This opens the way for Him to reveal Himself to you.
PRAYER AND FELLOWSHIP
Spend time developing a relationship with God. Spend time in prayer and praise just being with Him. Practice His presence every moment of every day. Treat Him always as though He is with you – as He says He is.
Matthew 28:20 -Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age. Amen (so let it be).
He said He is with me all of my days, perpetually, uniformly and on every occasion. I can stake my life on this truth. I can believe it on purpose and act like I believe it every day of my life. This is putting faith in what God says, that that pleases God above anything else.
Ephesians 3:17 (Amplified) – May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts!
He is with me and will never leave or forsake me but it is through my faith that He actually dwells in me and makes His permanent home in my heart. He is always with me, but He becomes real to me through faith.
It Takes Faith to KNOW God
Ephesians 3:17-19 (Amplified) – May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love, that you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it]; [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!
It is through faith that Christ dwells and settles down and abides in my heart. Knowing God starts with faith and continues by faith. Through faith in God and in His Word and applying these truths, especially what God says about Himself, and believing He is as close and present for me as He says, I can be filled through all of my being unto all of the fullness of God. I can live having the richest measure of the divine presence and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself – and it all starts by faith in the indwelling presence of Christ. Come to know and believe His love for you and for the world around you. Actively put faith in what He has said about Himself in His Word.
Meeting His love with faith, with expectation of His goodness towards me, opens the door to it flowing into my life. This is the door to the power flow. This is where you find all of the ability to live as you know you should. This is where you will find all of the answers you are seeking and the knowledge and wisdom you need to live effectively. This is where you meet with the power and reality of the living God.
Faith in his mercy releases it to me. Faith in His promises makes them effective in my life. Truly expecting from my heart God to be in my own daily personal experience as good as He says He is, as He has shown in Christ He is – this is the key to living and enjoying an abundant, fruitful life.
This is the essence of the Gospel: He has already given all I could possibly need; I merely receive; I merely take it and with full-hearted assurance expect it to be there when needed and act accordingly.
He hears me when I pray and gives me the things I have been seeking. It gets through to me though my faith, my trust and quiet, full-hearted expectation. So if there is a problem in the expectation, the answers to my prayers are hindered – and I go without my needs being met.
I believe He is there when I pray because He says He is. I believe He hears and answers me when I pray because He has promised to. I can do these things based on His Word alone; no feelings or experiences are needed. I go away in faith knowing I now have the things I desire when I pray. This is the way that the Lord works in meeting my needs. And this is how it will always be, because this is the essence of the Gospel. God has given all we can ever need in Jesus, and we take it for ourselves through our faith. The one who God has made righteous is designed to LIVE by faith.
If you take these ideas and thoughts and implement them into your life, before long you will know God more personally and intimately than you ever thought possible.