Knowing God

Monday, July 15th, 2019

...spend time seeking God. Shut down the noise, stop going through the motions.  Be honest with yourself.
Jeremiah Johnson

TRANSCRIPTION

This is Jeremiah Johnson and we are here on God Today.  Today I want to talk to you about knowing God. As a pastor’s son growing up, I always struggled sitting in the front row, singing songs, quoting scriptures, wondering if I had actually really encountered God.

 

One day, it all really made sense to me when I read the passage of scripture: John 17:3, the words of Jesus where He says, “Now this is eternal life – that they may know me.”  That word “know me” in the Greek actually speaks of something experiential. In other words, more than knowing about God there is knowing God. More than singing songs about God – actually singing to God.  I began to realize, even as I read my Bible, maybe there are those of you watching today – you are going to church, you are reading the Bible and you are feeling dead inside. There is not a passion in your heart for God. 

 

As I began to read the Bible, as I read John 17:3, I even began to understand that there is a man who lives between the lines of scripture.  His name is Jesus. We serve a God that can be known, that loves to be experienced. He has chosen to send His son to die on the cross to make known who He really is to humanity.  I believe one of the greatest needs in the Church today is a vision of going deep in God. Dialoguing with the Holy Spirit, asking Him to reveal the Jesus to us. I sense right now that God is wanting to break down barriers. He is wanting to break down obstacles in many lives that are watching today.  

 

I want to pray with you in just one moment, but my word of encouragement to you today is to spend time seeking God. Shut down the noise, stop going through the motions.  Be honest with yourself. Maybe you are attending church, maybe you are a pastor’s son like I was. You just need to get to the end of your rope, so to speak and say “God, I don’t know you the way that I want to know you.  If you get honest with God, if you ask Him to reveal Himself to you in a way that you understand, I believe that He will do it.  

 

Let’s pray now, together.  Father, thank you for those that are watching today.  I ask that you would encounter them in a deep and profound way.  Lord, help us to go from knowing about you in our minds, to truly encountering you in our hearts.  As we read your Word, as we sing songs about you, I pray that there would be intimacy. I pray there would be a fresh touch of who you are in each and every life today.  God, we thank you in the name of your son Jesus. Amen.