- Certainly we can look at the wonder of creation that is beyond comprehension and know
there is a God. (Rom1:20) But how can we know him personally?
How do you have a relationship with God?
While God in His Word clearly says that faith is a gift from God Himself (Eph 2:8-9).
He gives us a free will to seek him or not — to draw near to him or to go our own
way like the prodigal son. (James 4:8,Luke 15:11-32)
Years ago as I went through difficult times and found myself, like many people, spending more time than usual in God’s Word, the Bible, I noticed my faith growing in a very different
and real way.
Now I mean something different than I understood the Bible better with head knowledge like reading and understanding algebra. And I’m talking about something more than the heart knowledge of a warm and fuzzy feeling you find in a Dickens novel.
And though in the most cleverly written books of men, one rarely finds extra meaning upon a
second
reading, I have found that God’s Word the Bible, continually reveals new layers of depth and
meaning each time that go beyond a lifetime. Yet the difference I am talking about here is this:
The Holy Spirit works through God’s Word.
There is a reason they call it The Living Word, and I’ll say it again,
the Holy Spirit works through God’s Living Word of the Bible.
Don’t take my word for it — God in His Word says:
1 Peter 1:23(NIV) 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable
seed, but of imperishable, through the living and
enduring word of God.
Matthew 4:4(NIV) 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on
bread alone, but on every word that comes from the
mouth of God.
How do you have a relationship with God? – You do it the same way that you have a relationship with people in the world today. You have a relationship with your friends simply because you spend time together.
You talk, and you listen to each other. You spend time together.
Having a Relationship with God can work the same way.
How do we talk to God? — Through Prayer.
But how do we listen to God? — By spending time reading the Word He gave us.
In His Word, God tells us who He is, that He loves us, what He has done and wants for us, and the way we should go. And yet His Word can do more by His Spirit working through His living Word to give and build saving faith in us. (Rom 10:17)
Have you ever been in one of those bad relationships where one person does all of the talking and there is not a whole lot of listening going on? I’ve been like that with God sometimes.
Sometimes when I would think back about how my time with God was spent in the past week, I would
realize that I talked to God in prayer so much more than I ever listened to Him by reading His Word.
And I would think to myself, “How can I reap the benefit of His Spirit that works through the living
Word if I don’t spend any time with Him in it?”
Ask yourself the same question. How can you, with the gifts you’ve been given, pour out if you don’t
take the time to fill up?
Turn on the TV or your device, and you will be bombarded within seconds with the message of the
world — that we should be physically fit, financially fit and chase after material goals and things for a
body that lives just a few short decades, as opposed to being spiritually fit for our souls, which last
eternally.
If we stopped eating today it would only be a matter of time before our body would die. If we don’t spend any time with God in His Word that the Holy Spirit works through, can we be
physically alive but spiritually dead?
We all have someone from our past that once was a close friend. We once had a real relationship with them because we spent so much time together. But after our lives have drifted apart over the years, we realize when we accidentally meet and greet, that we really don’t know them anymore. We simply
know “of” them because we no longer spend time together. Our relationship with God can be just like
that as he gives us a free will to walk away from Him, or draw near to him for the
best relationship you will ever know from the source of where peace, hope and love come from. (Gal 5:22)
God clearly uses preachers, teachers and people to point to the Way, the Truth and the Life in Him (John 14:6), but nothing replaces the power of God’s own Word, which His Holy Spirit can work through in our lives,
if we simply take the time with Him to read it.
It says in James 4:8 “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. So I’d like to encourage you
today to do more than know there is a God, but know Him better by pulling out your Bible at home and spending time with Him daily in His living Word. A chapter a day only takes about 5 minutes or less.
Draw near to God in His Word and you will find more than a difference in your life, but the meaning of life. (Rom 10:17)(James 4:8)(Jer 29:13)
While we cannot earn or learn our way to heaven since faith is a gift from God Himself (Eph 2:8-9),
knowing His Word says we are saved by grace through faith, and that the Holy Spirit works through the
living Word to give and build faith (1 Pet 1:23), I can’t think of anything better to do than spend time with
God in His Word. Because literally it’s “Fuel For The Soul.” (1 Pet 1:23),(Rom 5:1-5;John 3:3-8,1 Cor 2:10)(Eph 2:8-9)
