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Question #7 - Can I Know God Personally?

From time-to-time, God can seem very distant or even uninvolved in the world or your life.  So, is it possible to have a personal relationship with God?  This is a 10-minute collection of subject matter experts discussing the question “Can I Know God Personally?” It displays the various questions, struggles, and perspectives of these individuals regarding this week’s topic. See what they have to say ...
Very often, we resort to religious deeds to try to get into God’s graces, to try to please him. For example, have you ever:
  • tried to do really good things to get right or even make up with God? If you have, you're not alone.
  • tried to stop doing some things in order to make God happy? We all have! But think about this: Did it work? Did you feel closer to God by jumping through those hoops?

The bad news is that none of these things helps us measure up to God’s standards. But the good news is that God’s love is given to each of us freely.
  • Titus 3:5: “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.”
  • John 1:12: “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
  • James 4:8a: “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
  • Revelation 3:20: “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 that person, and they with me.”
Here’s the truth about knowing God personally:
  • God loves. God gave. We believe. We receive.
  • God loved us so much that he sent his son Jesus to save us; if we believe in him, we will spend eternity in deep, personal relationship with him.
The entire reason Jesus came to earth was so that everyone who trusts in him can know God personally—the relationship we were born to enjoy. If we all trusted that simple, profound truth, it would change everything. Our friendships, our dating relationships, our work relationships, our work ethic, our contentment, our finances—everything.

In what ways are you craving a relationship with your creator? Maybe for the first time, embrace and accept God's gracious offer to forgive your sin and open yourself up to pursuing your own personal relationship with Him. Spend some time quiet with God in prayer, talking to Him just as you would a close friend.