Knowing God

It has never ceased to amaze me that people in the church think it normal to not converse with God, not read their bibles, or pray and still they think that they know God. I suppose you compare it to a normal friendship. I don't listen to them, I don't read their letters, or written communication, and I don't talk to them either... Great relationship? OF COURSE NOT!!!

How then do we expect to know God oh so well, if we haven't had any contact lately? He knows you because He knew you before He formed the heavens. He watches over you every moment of the day. He sees your deepest thoughts, and knows the intents of your heart. If you do not cultivate a relationship with God, you will not know Him.

Does God want it to be this way? Of course not!!! He made us to have fellowship with Him, and that is the reason He sent Jesus; to reconcile us to Himself that we might be one with Him! God wants to draw you to Himself; the problem is that we are too lazy to make time to be with Him!!!

I know; I've been close to Him, and drifted a long way away, and suddenly woken up to find that I wasn't anywhere near where I needed to be! The wonderful thing was that I could come to Him, and He would forgive me, and draw near to me as soon as I drew near to Him. However it was much harder to come back, and I had to learn to trust Him again. I felt that I was not worthy, and that God was so far away from me, when He was watching, waiting, drawing nearer and drawing me nearer.

So when you come to God remember, He has been waiting for you, and it's not like He doesn't want to be with you, or that He won't forgive you. You need to forgive yourself, and sometimes the only way we become strong enough to forgive is in His presence.

How do we come near? What if your Bible reading is boring, and nothing happens when you pray? The thing with drawing nearer is to talk to God. Then when you talk to Him expect Him to talk back. Now it might not be what you are expecting (usually God likes to disturb our ideas of Him when they aren't accurate...), however He will speak to you and He will teach you.

Quickly on how to read your bible so you don't get bored:
1. Try something a little lighter than Leviticus to start with. (John, Hebrews, Acts, etc.)
2. Read more than one verse. (yes you heard me correctly!!!)
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to come and teach you. (The bible says that He will if we ask.)
4. Relax for goodness sake!!! No-one is going to eat you.
5. Get rid of distractions. (Now I can hear some people saying, but it's always noisy here!!! How can I do that?! That is not true for most of you I am sure. Think about it! If it really and truly is never quiet, and you can not get somewhere there is not a lot of noise and distractions then you will have to learn to tune out in a crowd.)
Remember GOD LOVES YOU, and He wants to talk with you sometime... soon!