How You Can Know God Personally
God already knows you personally and intimately. He created you, and he knows everything about you.
But he is not content merely to know you from a distance. He wants you to know him too. In fact, he has gone to great lengths to draw you to himself.
God created you as a person of dignity and worth.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14
Not only did God create you, but he also loves you.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
And God wants you to know him.
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John 17:3
At this point you might ask, “If God loves me so much, why am I so far from him? Why don’t I have a relationship with God right now?” The answer is in the word sin. Sin separates you from God and keeps you from having a personal relationship with him.
What is sin? It is a self-centered attitude; it is doing what you shouldn’t; and it is not doing what you should.
The fact is that we have all sinned.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
And our sins have cut us off from God.
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
For the wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23
So what’s the solution? How can you have a relationship with God and be saved from eternal death? God has provided the solution—Jesus Christ, his Son.
Only through Jesus can we have a personal relationship with God.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
Jesus came to earth to take the penalty for our sins on himself.
He died on the cross so that we might be forgiven. For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. 1 Peter 3:18
Then Jesus rose from the dead to prove that he could give us eternal life.
If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Romans 8:11
So God has proven his love for you. He has provided the solution to the problem of your sin and separation from him. Now you must respond to his love by believing that Jesus saves you, and by allowing Jesus to be your leader.
You respond by faith in Christ.
This means believing that Jesus is God and that he died for you and rose from the dead.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12
You can take these steps and begin a personal relationship with God by simply telling him what you believe. You can use your own words, or these:
Dear God, I know that my sin has separated me from you, and I admit my sin. I’m sorry. I know that you love me and that you sent Jesus to die on the cross, in my place, taking the penalty for my sin. Thank you. I want to turn from my sin and begin to follow and serve you. I give myself to you. Please begin to direct my life. Thank you for giving me new life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
If you prayed this or a similar prayer, you are now a follower of Jesus—congratulations! You are now God’s child, a member of God’s family, and you have a fresh start on life.
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
This new relationship as God’s child continues for a lifetime…and beyond.
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Colossians 2:6-7
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