How do we get to know God and be known by Him?

David knew God would deliver him from Goliath 

because he knew God…

Jesus told a story of 10 virgins 

5 who were “foolish”

hear the saddest words in the Bible:

“Away from me, I never knew you”

How do we get to know God and be known by Him?

Pray

I didn’t want to use this word “pray”.

There were too many unsatisfying sermons on prayer...

The word has become one we have defined,

put in a box

and said, “I’m board with that”,

never to look into again,

except to retrieve routine, dutiful statements

with little or no heartfelt thought invested.

That’s not prayer...

That won’t help...

It’s not that prayer is not going to get us closer

to knowing God;

it’s just that,

we need a new word to fit the definition,

and then maybe a new definition…

Something that puts our eyes toward our Father

and meets His gaze

as we share the same breath

and enjoy the togetherness

of the moment.

Feeling like time is standing still

and wondering why you waited so long

to join Him.

Wishing to spend all time

in the moments that you share,

knowing, nothing has value

compared to being with Him

and knowing

His powerful, complete, love,

favor and affection...

All needs met,

all sorrows shared,

all sins forgiven,

all hopes fulfilled,

to bring you the deepest,

longest lasting joy.

Ahhhh, can you call this prayer?

Yes…

but then never sully the word

by putting this holy name

to any other event.

Read Bible

It’s not that it wont help to read the Bible…

but if we read the Bible

like so many things we do

(never engaging our heart, our spirit,

our imagination and our soul)

chapters will go by

without anything sinking in,

without Him

literally inhabiting the words

and healing our soul,

bringing a candle of truth

into the dark corners,

where we have been deceived

and held captive,

to be reminded of those

needing forgiveness

(releasing them to the Lord)

to feel His hand on your shoulder

reminding you of an unconfused sin

(and repenting),

to long for strength in your weaknesses

(uncovered by His Spirit

and the holiness of His Word),

to walk

and talk with the Lord,

to sit at His feet

and listen,

to watch,

as our Master models a life

surrendered to the Father

and weep for want of righteousness…

It’s not that “reading your Bible”

will not help you know God

and be known by Him,

we just need to re-define

our time with the Lord

as we read.

Spiritual Disciplines

“Now”, you say…

”now, there’s something I can DO!”…

but not with that attitude,

will you draw closer to God.

When we fast

or deny ourselves of food

or fleshly pleasures

it’s not with an attitude of earning

our righteousness

or ability to stand before God,

but rather,

with a desire to weaken the flesh

that the spirit within us

may be strengthened.

When we long

with our heart, soul, mind and strength

to be closer to God

when we nourish the spirit

and weaken the flesh

we will find one

stronger than the other.

As the two battle within,

it is the stronger one that wins,

the stronger is the one you feed.

Then,

to spend ourselves

on behalf of others,

to unchain those

who are oppressed

and to feed the hungry,

loving and honoring others

above ourselves,

this

is how Jesus behaved,

this

is a fast the Father will regard

and reward.

This

will bring us closer to God.

Quite Time

There is no substitute for having

a quiet-time.

To get to know someone,

you must spend time with them,

best without distractions…

the problem is,

in every human,

earthly relationship we know of,

we walk into a room

and if the person is present,

we may choose to spend time with that person,

or walk out.

But God…God is everywhere,

all the time...

So the possibilities are limitless (literally).

When we think of “quiet time”

it’s limited to a sort of “date night”

that (as all married couples know),

are often pushed to the not-as-important,

non-existent happenings,

or worse, a task, checked of the list,

instead of a passionate exchange,

guarded, relished, and cherished,

a time to steel away together with your love.

As Jesus “stole away often”

to be with the Father.

But let’s let “quiet time”

be added to

“Loud time”

And let’s call it

“all time”!

Yes…

Let’s spend “all time” with Him.

He want’s to give us

Stillness and peace

in the midst of noise.

Not just escape from it.

He wants to walk with us

in the midst of trial

as well as ride the roller coasters

of life with us.

So let’s let the time we steel away

to be alone with God

be born

out of our desire to focus on

Him alone

and raise our awareness

to many times each day

He is standing by to help,

bless and just be near us

(His bride).

Go to Church

Surely going to church

will secure our ticket to Heaven…

Right?

Um, not like that,

sadly no.

If you go out of duty…

Well, someone once said:

“If you play beside the pool,

You might get wet”

But with this God thing,

If you want to get to know God,

You need to dive in!

Like when you feel yourself

judging others,

Or feeling scrutinized by them,

You have the wrong focus,

To put your eyes on God

and ask Him to help you

focus on Him

not others…

then you will see the others

in the light of His love.

Suddenly, the playing field is leveled

and you see in others

what God sees in them.

Then the music…

Oh the music…

Can I just say,

it’s like magic

the way it effects your heart.

God uses it to wash you,

to melt you,

to lift you

and teach you.

Once you take your eyes off your self

and off others,

and put them on God…

That’s when the magic happens…

Don’t like the word?

Get over it!

I’d say miracle,

but people are tired of that word too!

They save that word for things like

winning the lottery

or having cancer healed,

but use the word

if you realize it means

every moment of every day

God is working to bring about good for you.

To cause you to see His loving hand

in your life

and in the life of others,

Then you’ll go to church

because you get to,

not have to,

and to celebrate the grace

and mercy

and salvation

together with the others lost souls

who have gone through the desert

and found an oasis

with water

and food

and shelter

enough to share.

When you go

because you can’t wait to celebrate

with those other broken and thankful souls…

then you get it,

then you will come to know God better

for having gone…