intimacy with god
Can You Personally Know God ?
Can You Personally Know God ? (Part 1)
Can You Be God’s Friend ?
There are many people these days that believe that God does not exist. There are many others that believe that God is some far away, impersonal spirit that takes pleasure in punishing people and making their life difficult. Sometimes if a person has had a bad experience with their own father, or had a father that abandoned them, they will have a hard time seeing God for who He really is. And it will then be difficult to personally know God.
God Is Love Relationship Oriented
The Bible tells us that God is not some far away impersonal spirit. God can seem that way to some people, and it is more challenging to many because God is not visible to us. Acts 17:27 says “that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” The Bible promises us in many verses that if we will seek to personally know God, then we will find Him and ultimately know Him.
God is a loving and caring personal love-relationship oriented father. He loves us and He very much desires to have a restored relationship with us. “God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” – I Timothy 2:4. God wants everyone to be saved… to first have a restored relationship with Him, then close fellowship with Him, and ultimately eternal life with Him in heaven when our life here is done.
A Restored Relationship With God
The first important thing in order to begin to know God for who He really is, and have close fellowship with Him and personally know God… You have to have a restored or reconciled relationship with God. God’s Word the Bible clearly shows that we all have a broken relationship with God because of our sins, and that we need to have this taken care of. Many people try to solve this problem of sin and separation from God and a broken relationship with Him themselves. People try many things to try to reach out to God and personally know Him… they try Religion, or Philosophy, or Church, or doing good things, or giving money to charity…
Also, we are all created with a built in need to personally know God and have a restored relationship and fellowship with Him. When this need is not met, then we will have a void in our life. Many people do not know what it is, but they will know that something is missing in their life or that something is not right. People will try all types of things to try to fill this void in their life… Relationships with people, Sex, Drugs, Alcohol, Pleasure, Recreation, Money, Career,…
Salvation & The Gospel of Jesus Christ (How to Have A Restored Relationship With God)
Step 1: God loves you and wants you to experience peace and life – abundant and eternal life
- “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” – Romans 5:1
- “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16
- God loves you so much that He sent His only Son Jesus to suffer and then die a very painful death on a cross, to make it possible for us to have a restored relationship with Him.
- “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” – John 10:10
Step 2: The Problem – Our Sin & Separation From God
- “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23
- “For the wages of sin is death (eternal separation from God), but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 6:23
- “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” – Isaiah 59:2
- Our sins are personally against God, and cause us to have a broken relationship with Him, and to be separated from Him.
- Sin is not just breaking some religious rule or law. Sin is personally against God… “Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge.” – Psalm 51:4
Our Attempts To Reach God
- people have tried in many ways to bridge this gap and separation between themselves and God … good works, religion, philosophy, morality,… and none work … except One
- “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” – Proverbs 14:12
- Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one may come to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6
Step 3: God’s Solution To Our Problem – Salvation & Gospel of Jesus Christ And The Cross
- “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ.” – I Timothy 2:5
- “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” – I Peter 3:18
- “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8
- Jesus is God’s answer and solution to our problem of sin, eternal separation from God, and eternal punishment for our sins.
- “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16
- Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one may come to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6
Step 4: Our Response: Repent, Put Your Faith in Jesus, and Receive Christ As Your Lord & Savior
- you must trust Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and receive Him by faith and personal invitation:
- “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” – Revelation 3:20
- “That if you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9
- “Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” – Mark 1:14-15
- “Yet to all who did receive him (Jesus), to those who believed in his name (Jesus), he gave the right to become children of God.” – John 1:12
Commit Your Life to Jesus
Receive Jesus means that you need to commit your life to Him and follow Him as your Lord & Savior. Nearly everyone wants Jesus to be their friend. Nearly everyone also wants Jesus to be their Savior and save them from their sins and the eternal punishment of hell. But many people do not really want Jesus to be their Lord.
The Lord of their life. Which means to give up control and the rights to their life to Jesus. It may mean you need to give up your dreams and goals and plans, and accept Jesus’ will and plans instead. It may cost you a lot. Their is a cost to follow Jesus as Lord & Savior and be His disciple (a disciple is a learner & follower of Jesus). You need to commit your life to Jesus, and commit to follow Him as your Lord and Savior.
You Can Receive Jesus As Your Lord & Savior
If you have never trusted and received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, but you are ready to do so, then you can do it right now. In order to have a restored relationship with God you need to do the 2 things that Jesus said in Mark 1:14-15, and also to receive Jesus as Lord & Savior as in John 1:12 and commit to follow Him:
- Admit your need (“I am a sinner and I need a savior”)
- Be willing to turn from your sins (repent – Mark 1:14-15).
- Believe with all of your heart that Jesus loves you and died for your sins and paid the price for them. Believe also that Jesus rose again from the grave after 3 days, and later ascended back to heaven. (Mark 1:14-15 and John 1:12)
- 4. Through prayer, talk to and invite Jesus Christ to come into your life and be your Lord and Savior, and commit to follow Him in your life:
Speak to God (Prayer)
“Dear Lord, Thank you for loving me very much, and for sending Jesus to die for my sins. Lord, I have sins in my life. Please forgive me for all of my sins. And dear Lord Jesus, please come into my life, and be my Lord and Savior. I commit my life to you, to follow You and Your ways. And I repent and turn away from my sins, and I turn back to you. Please give me peace with God and eternal life in heaven. Please teach me your ways, and help me grow closer to you. In Jesus name. Amen.”
Assurance of Salvation
If you have done these things – you truly repented of your sins, put all of your faith and hope in Jesus Christ, and received Him as your Lord & Savior and committed your life to follow Him, and you meant it sincerely with all your heart – then now you for sure have a reconciled relationship with God, peace with God and eternal life, and new life in Jesus.
- “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – Romans 10:13
- “Those who have the Son (Jesus) have life. Those who do not have the Son do not have life. These things have I written, that you may know you have eternal life.” – I John 5:12-13
Once you have a restored personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, you can begin to seek to have intimate fellowship with Him and you can get to know God more and more. In Part 2 of this series we will look at what it takes for you to have intimacy with God and how you can know God personally.
Pursuing Intimacy With God is committed to helping you with the most important thing in your life… your intimacy with God , your fellowship with Him, and your partnership with God in His Kingdom work & mission.
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Salvation: The Requirements for True Salvation
Other Links
Prayer: The Keys To Powerful Prayer
Praise God: To Place A High Value On Him
Hear God’s Voice: Vital To Have Intimacy With God
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The Kind Of Christian & Church God Wants
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Salvation & The Gospel of Jesus Christ
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