KOINONIA

Dedicated to helping people know and experience God.

August 28, 2002

Maiden Voyage...

We must get this one crucial truth deep down in our hearts: God wants to be with us. There must be no more discussion of God until we realize and experience discussion with God. It is not only possible but God intends it to be a regular experience for all who believe.

From the beginning, God expressed this intention to be with us. Adam and Eve are placed in the garden of Eden. God walked among them. The most painful consequence of the fall was the loss of this kind of personal experience with God.

God would not settle for this. Throughout the Old Testament God desire was for His people to know Him. Not simply information about God, but to know Him - in person. Whether it was the pillar of cloud by day or fire by night; whether it was in the burning bush or in a valley of dry bones; whether through Gideon or Debra, God seeks to be personal.

In Jesus Christ, God's ultimate expression of being with us -- Immanuel-- is experienced in human history. After Jesus' ascension, He sends the promised Holy Spirit to live -- not by us or to hang out with us - but in us.

The entire Bible is a crescendo of God's desire to be near us. It is to be the common experience of God's people to see and hear God. Such sight and sound experience with God is what it is to be a witness. While it is fine and necessary for Christians to read and study the scriptures to learn about God, it should never become a substitute for person to person contact. While it is good and necessary for Christians to fellowship and be mutually encouraged, again, this cannot be a substitute for personal fellowship with God Himself.

Since God's Spirit lives in us, we are able to hear and see God. Now any experience of seeing and hearing God should be confirmed and discerned by the holy scriptures -- God will not act contrary to His word. 

"You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life."
                                                                                                                    John 5:39-40

The scriptures are the place that testify about God, yet even Jesus says that our relationship with Him is to be more than just knowledge about. Jesus says it is to be personal.  We are to come, not only to the Word, but to Him. The scripture is a precious record and a living Word... all of which is to point us to the person -- the person of God with whom we can communicate and relate as we do with any other person.

It is my hope over the next few months, that we can together learn not only how our relationship ought to be -- but how it can be this way. While a personal relationship with God is not about a method or formula, there are disciplines - the actions of disciples --  which seem to make us more aware of God's presence and more receptive to seeing and hearing God. Like any relationship, it is a process that develops and deepens over time. The one great hope for anyone who chooses to pursue this relationship is that God is all ready with us and God will not dodge our drawing nearer to Him. God, after all is the One who not only initiates but makes such a relationship possible.

ACTION: Over the next week, pray for God to renew your mind and open your heart to His voice and to His activity around you. 

SCRIPTURE TO STUDY: (again, scripture is not simply good data, it points us to Jesus)

    Genesis 2;  Isaiah 7:14;  Mark 3:14; John 1; John 14

Notice how these scriptures tell of God's desire to be with us.

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Contact information:

Jon Anderson   water@iowaconnect.com