Getting To Know God Better 26

A complicated relationship with God is a religious relationship. That's right. It is not God the Father, The Holy Spirit and Jesus the Christ that has muffed up the clear and discerning message of the gospel. Since the beginning of creation God has spoken clearly to those who would listen and the messages kept simple.

As important as denominational religion is, it is also the reason for the knowledge base of believers being so low. Pastors, preachers and priests carefully package their message around their denomination's needs: Regular revenue, building fund, guarding their denominations hidden truths, (Truths that set them apart from another denomination), perpetuation of programs, payments to General Assembly, etc. It's not that any of these things are bad in themselves, but the message of the gospel, in many cases, is steered around these issues, not through them. All of these issues should be considered, but not at the expense of making sure that everyone in your congregation has at least as much truth as the pastor. That's right. Everyone deserves to know the intricate truths that allow the Christian to be a conqueror. Instead many pastors, teachers, priests are much satisfied with lemmings, not eagles, duty bound parishioners, not co-pastors.

Not sharing the deep truths that a pastor, preacher or priests has come to know might be a sin, but at bare minimum it is an impropriety. Not sharing the deep truths that transform lives means that the person that is holding truth but not disseminating it will not grow in that truth and eventually if held too long that truth will become ineffectual. Anyone holding truth and not using it or dispersing it will soon find that truth a burden and not a blessing. Truths from God were meant to be fluid, moving, transferring from one to another, transforming lives along the way. Once the link is stopped, so too is the power of it, the effectual nature becomes inactive and the truth that was meant to be shared becomes a stumbling block for the person holding it in silence.

You might be thinking I am making a big deal out of nothing. I don't think so. I personally believe that most of the ails of modern Christianity are from those in leadership holding truths hostage to their congregation and parishioners biting the apple of complacency. After all ignorance gives one the power of deniability.

Jas_4:17  Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Getting To Know God Better 25

Has your hope and expectation of how God is working on your behalf started to wane?

Our relationships with mankind and our relationship with God are not meant to be on the same plane/understanding. Our relationships with mankind are based on personal, physical and emotional contact. Our relationship with God is based solely on spiritual connections. They are not the same nor do they work on the same basis, nor is one interchangeable with the other. There is very little contact with mankind that you can use in your relationship with God. I'm mentioning this because as I grow in faith I hear from so many people that many people of faith that they are having to work harder to hear God than they used to, or that they feel like God expects them to do it all on their own initiative, or that God has abandoned them or that God really isn't there.

All of these responses are from emotions driving the mind and creating feelings. There is nothing wrong with that, but it is not all there is to it. God is working on your behalf all the time, whether you emotionally feel it, understand it or even acknowledge it. If you feel anything at all it is because your inner man has distributed answers, understanding, wisdom to you via inspiration from the Holy spirit. But feeling is not the indicator that God is communicating with you, working on your behalf, answering prayer, moving mountains, changing situations, healing you, etc.

Any and all true recognition that God is doing anything at all is through faith only. Faith is the only spiritual receptor. Faith is the only way to God and the only way to know that God is working on your behalf. Faith is when your inner man and your mind have come to agreement to accept what God has done and what God is doing. Faith is the substance that interchanges personal, physical or emotional proof/recognition/understanding with spiritual insight/intuition/inspiration. Faith is tangible currency in the economy of God. 

If you really want to know if God is working on your behalf and what there is to hope for, then you will have to apply your faith. In this case I will call faith your raw expectation that despite the outcome, God has weaved His will in your situation and at some point your mind will be able to comprehend what your inner man has come to trust and know for certainty. Faith believes God and doesn't judge circumstances as having any power or authority over God's permissible will. True faith doesn't deny the outcome if it is not what you thought it should be or if it measurably negative. Faith is supernatural and measures outcomes spiritually. 

Note: I know that in many denominations there is never to be a negative thought or that somehow if you do this or do that the outcome of whatever is always good even if the reality of it is that it was not good. That is false teaching by well-meaning pastors, teachers, leaders. Of course bad things happen to good people, everyone gets sick and all die. These things have nothing to do with faith. Faith can move mountains, but it can't turn time backwards nor does it deny reality.  Faith is only about trusting God and has nothing to do with you getting a warm and fuzzy feeling that everything is going to be OK. 

Just one  more note: Anytime you pay someone, an organization, a church, ministry or any other entity in hopes that a prayer will be answered, (seed faith, seed money) you have wasted your money, not benefited the work of the Holy Spirit and proven that your faith is still in its infancy. There is no pay to play with God. 

Getting To Know God Better 24

Just for a minute I want to discuss others Getting To Know God Better. Sometimes the only view of God that those around you get are what you reveal to them. I know it's not your fault and that's not the point. The point is that you realize/internalize that the way that God created the economy of life is that His creation would co-create with God and represent God to the best of their abilities and understanding.

Whatever you know about God, however close you are, whatever relationship that you have with God, might be much more than someone around you that you love or care for or just know personally. If that is the case God has designed you to be able to reveal what you know to others. There's all kinds of way to do this. One way would be to tell them, another way to show them, another way might be to steer them or point them in the right direction. It is not your place to be God in any one's life, but it is your place to co-create with God and to be responsible for whatever role you think would be appropriate to you.

God isn't going to judge you for doing it wrong, saying the wrong thing, not knowing everything or even bungling it. But not sharing what you know seems to me to be an impropriety. If God designed us to know Him and to communicate, it seems appropriate that at least some portion of that communicating would be to attempt to communicate what you already know to others less fortunate. What's the beef anyway. You are not responsible for what others do or don't do, whether they listen or not, whether they adhere to anything you tell them or not, but you are responsible for what you do or don't do.

Getting to know God better is a wonderful and very personal thing. But I have come to the conclusion that part of getting to know God better is practicing what God taught us and sharing what we have learned.

Think of it this way if you have children. Don't you want more for them than what you have yourself? Don't you share with them truths that you have learned and even some truths that you know they need to know that you didn't even practice? God created us as stewards of this life, not owners. As a steward, what God has given to you is supposed to be past on, and not at the last minute.

Getting To Know God Better 23

I think it is interesting that we want God to come running when things aren't going right and we want God to keep His distance when we think we have it going on. Look, this type of thinking is proof of our lack of faith. It is proof that we have not entered into a co-creating relationship with God.

We are all guilty so don't think you are alone. There are however some ways to bridge the gap between wanting God to be a part of our life when things go awry and wanting to keep God at a distance when things are going smoothly. Part of the problem is that we have been taught to go to God when in need and pray for all the things that are going wrong. We are taught this at an early age, and no problem with praying for things that are going wrong. The problem is in the ideology or philosophy with this kind of thinking.

The idea to only reach out to God when things are going rough is not Biblical. Your relationship with God should be one of a friend as well as a servant. Jesus calls us His friend. Friends share everything, the good times, the bad times and everything in-between. A relationship built on praying, asking, begging God when things go wrong is not much. It is better than none at all, but you have been slighted if you hold to this philosophy. You can blame your pastors, SS teachers, ministry leaders, priest or rabbi, but if you are missing out on more of what God has to offer, at some point you become responsible.

You can be taught untruths, half-truths or even falsities and still rise above it all and find the inner truths that pass all understanding. The key to making this change is to change the way you think. Do you really believe that God only wants to meet with you at Church and funerals and when you call out for help?

Please don't get me wrong, God is God in all those times and you need to call out to Him no matter what, but there is a better way. Bring God into the little decision that you make, talk to God about this and that, like you were talking to a friend. Listen carefully from your heart to determine what God is saying to you that could help you to make things better. Go to God when you are happy and in need of nothing and thank God and tell God how much you love where you are at and what you are doing.

I'll bet you don't know this verse.
Zec_9:17  For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids. 

Getting To Know God Better 22

What is it that you let influence you?

More than likely you are reading somebody's writing, whether it is religious or non-religious, the newspaper or other types of writing; blogs, letters from family, etc. Each word you read influences you in one way or another. I hope to influence you as well.

If you are like most people you read what can or might benefit you, educate you or inform you about things of interest. Most people today read much less than the last generation, but even so whether through texts or E-mail there is still much input. I have only one goal ans that is to steer you to a better relationship with God than you currently have. I am not judging you or saying in any way that your relationship with God isn't as good as mine or that there is anything wrong with your relationship with God at all. But I am saying that if I offer even a crumb of valuable information concerning the economy of God that you will address it and move on it, whether to dismiss it or to activate the power in it.

I am unafraid to deal with serious matters and sometimes the words are cutting or heavy or helpful or nondescript. As with anything you read, you will ultimately decide what to extract and use and what to let go of or discard. But know for a certainty that for most of us, it is in the unveiling of our true self that we find God in the first place and it is in the unraveling of our intentionally woven walls and barriers against the ways of God that make us better and more fruitful.

If you are hardened to change and set like a brick wall on what you hold as truth, you will likely not read anything that moves you or changes your parameters or expands your territory.

Getting To Know God Better 21

Just relax and listen for a minute.

If you are like most people you don't take instruction well. You don't mind suggestions, but you hate to be told what to do. More than likely you've earned that place in your life, family, career.

• You've earned the right to autonomy from the pejorative actions of others. 
• You've earned the right to be so stubborn that your spouse or best friend don't even try to tell you anything anymore.
• You've earned the right to stand firm in your ways and live in your own bubble.
• You've earned a place with the dinosaurs of your time.
• You've managed to nitch out a place where you are embedded inside and surrounded by a thick barrier of obstructions, diversion s and aversions to change.
• You've done well developing a shell of protection that is as hard to crack and an oyster shell.
• You are set and have it your way and your interest level in learning something new about yourself is below 0 on a one to ten scale

Here's the issue with this kind of thinking. If you are in any way anti-instruction you are locking yourself out of the inner place where God speaks to you to instruct you and console you and educate you and make you wiser. God does these things not only through the indwelling Holy Spirit and through Bible reading, but through the ideas and actions of others. That's right, even though you think so and so is ignorant and so and so is this or that, God uses so and so to reach you.

For a few days try to listen carefully to what people are saying to you.
Make a pledge to yourself not to respond until you have fully evaluated their message and prayed about it and asked God for guidance and instruction through it. Maybe God will instruct you to not heed what was said and to move forward as you have already proposed, but maybe there is a message there that can advance your cause.

The idea is to be more open to instruction, criticism, the din of family and friends. Immerse the words of others in the pool of Bethesda and see what comes out healed and fresh. If it is at all possible that you are stifling your own growth this simple method of discernment might really pay off.

Getting To Know God Better 20

Today marks the beginning of getting it right. Not one day passes that you are not given the opportunity to believe and do the right things. It's hard after years of conditioning to make measurable, positive changes in your life, but not impossible. I want to mention a few things to consider today that might work for you. After all, no matter what you learn or know, if you can't make it work for you, it is the same as not having learned it or knowing it.

If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, you have been forgiven for your sins. I don't think anyone who believes in Jesus as the Christ and has accepted Jesus as their propitiation for their sins will have a problem with this statement. Over the years because of conditioning, the understanding of the efficacy of this truth and many other profound spiritual truths has been reduced to mere knowledge. In other words people know a great many things that they do not practice. They have much deeper understanding than they allow to be used in their daily life, their walk, their talk, their relationships.

So much beautiful thought has dissipated into obscurity, vapor, the netherworld, or however  you want to describe having lost fervor or luster or unction or inner excitement.

Today you are just as forgiven as you were when you were saved. But if you have any doubts, you can pray and ask for forgiveness right now and the slate will be washed clean; completely clean as in, having not ever existed.

Just a foot note to the notion that God forgives this way. Many people haven't experienced the depth of the cleansing that comes with salvation because of, again, conditioning. Many denominations are unwilling to tell the whole story because they need their congregation to operate under some suspicion and guilt in order to maintain the duty that comes with owing someone something (to the pastor or to the church or to God.)

The idea behind God forgiving you was to set you free as a bird to move forward without any encumbrances.  Conditioning has watered down the truth concerning freedom in Christ and the totality of the salvation experience.

• You are forgiven
• You are in charge of the rest of your life
• You do not need to be relearning the principles of truth over and over again, you need only abide in those you fully understand. 
• You have been freed from the propensity to act against God and freed from the consequence of those actions.

What else could you possibly want to get started making your way today?

Getting To Know God Better 19

"Each time I invest myself, my inner man, into meeting with God I come away perplexed. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful and worshipful and delighted that God allows me to commune/pray/express myself, but each and every time I venture deeper I notice that there is deeper still. I am perplexed because as time goes by and my understanding deepens, I become aware that the width and breadth of God gets bigger. In other words as I am attempting to get to know God better I find that I do get to know God better, but since I also become aware that God is more than what I had previously assumed, in essence As I get closer God gets bigger. Getting to know God better isn't about gathering more understanding so that you can have the edge  on someone else or know more than someone else. It is always personal and only applies to your own personal experience.

The bottom line. Most everyone gets to know God about as much as they want to. Never will there be an instance where someone wants to get to know God better but cannot.

To know God better is of great benefit to your own personhood and it puts you in a position to offer more assistance to the world at large. With greater knowledge comes greater responsibility. In our world today where people are looking for less and less responsibility it makes sense that the same people are very reluctant to want to expand their horizons when it comes to personal spiritual matters.

The whole idea that God provided for us was to be in communion with God all the time. We were designed to have full autonomy with the free will to relinquish some of the autonomy in exchange for God's natural and supernatural intervention."

Getting To Know God Better 18

"I think this is a good time to to discuss God economy protocol. An important message to remember is that God designed you to be with you, apart from anyone else, as well as with others. God weaves the intricate balance of a personal relationship with you and the innumerable relationships globally without denying you or anyone else any less than God's perfect attention.

One of the drawbacks that we have in society is that in order to have organized religion there needs to be parameters that distinguish one religious philosophy from another. The parameters are all good for the respective religious orders, denominations. Generally within each religious order these parameters or protocols are designed for the perpetuation of the religious philosophy as well as for the betterment of the individual and society as a whole. For the sake of argument they are all good. Within the constraints of the religion represented, the parameters or protocols, church resolutions, articles of faith or tenets of faith offer the parishioner/believer sensible rules and/or understanding of that faith by comparing their direction/devotion against the backdrop of those who have gone before them and established the parameters/protocols. Each new generation inadvertently strains the established denominational parameters/protocols, adding new cultural advances and removing archaic reasonings that interfere with modernity's ever-forward motion/evolution.

Not the same with God. I would say that with God our best hope of Getting To Know God Better is simply that we will not be detoured, deterred, dissuaded, thwarted, impeded, obstructed, disillusioned, hindered, hampered, blocked or even stopped from seeking and finding truth from God. Parameters are good for controlling behavior or providing oversight for our own benefit. Parameters are not very good for providing the insight or inspiration to have a measurable experience with God. I would say that in most cases religion has done a great job at making people aware of God and a poor job of assisting those same people to understand God, i. e., God's economy.

I hope you are not discerning that somehow I am saying that; only the studied, those in the ministry, those with a seminary education, those who are trained in the art of religious observance are better suited for getting to know God better. It is not in the education of the individual, or the mental ability, or formal training that determines a person's measurable experience with God,  but in the pursuit of wisdom and the exercise of free will to adhere to the will of God as it is revealed.

The only way to overcome the lemming-like nature of a relationship with God built on a denominational platform is to read your Bible on your own and pray to God for your spiritual eyes to be opened. The Holy Spirit will enhance your understanding.

John 14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 

In no way am I suggesting that you should not go to Church or listen to your pastor/priest/rabbi and to adhere to whatever parameters that you have agreed to in your denomination, but God wants a personal relationship with you and that cannot be done by proxy.

John 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 

John 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

1Ti_2:5  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 

Getting To Know God Better 17

"You might be wondering, Do I really need to know God better?  Isn't it enough to have been saved and to be a part of a Church?

Don't be discouraged if you do not have an immediate inclination to getting to know God better. No you don't need to get to know God better. Yes it is enough to be saved and to be a part of a Church. The amount of time that you give to developing your relationship with God will always be yours to decide. The depth of that relationship is you decision and never will be anyone else's decision. The concept of "Getting To Know God Better" is for those who hunger for a deeper and more satisfying relationship with God than they currently have.

That being said, another way to address the questions above might be, What is my part in getting to know God better? and "I am saved and go to church, but I don't seem to be growing very fast in my relationship with God. What can I do to nurture my relationship with God?

When communicating with God it makes sense to set aside a certain amount of time, whether it is 30 seconds or 1/2 hour. The setting aside of time will become an integral component in building your relationship with God and obtaining understanding during that time. Just flying off at the handle or releasing a plethora of requests all in the hopes that God hears you and responds to your liking is not the same as communicating with God. Most people prefer the one sided communication because it is easy and requires nothing on your part. But it is hardly a way to grow or resolve anything. If anything people who have this kind of relationship with God generally live with false hope and false fears.

Most false hope comes with a religious only view of God. A religious only view of God is a denominational understanding of God without personal inner-man scrutiny and without depth of understanding based on personal relationship. In other words many Christians believe what they are taught to believe and they learn to have little or no expectations of the miraculous because their experience does not include first-hand knowledge or experience of God's supernatural intervention in their life. If your church or pastor brought you to the Lord and you have accepted the free gift of salvation, that is a wonderful experience and it is perfect in every way. Getting to know God better is about taking that experience and seeking God for more information to receive more understanding so that you can better operate under the economy of God. This reaching out or reaching up to God comes with a promise and that s why you can rest assured that there is more and that you want it.

Jas_1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 

Psa_53:2  God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. 

Heb_11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 

Getting To Know God Better 16

"Religion as good as it is is also the hothouse for seeds of confusion. I would say that most confusion in the adult believer is brought on by their religious upbringing. Please don't start off feeling like I am bashing your church or the fact that many wonderful people taught you and raised you in a faith. Most of that time in life was uplifting and the rewards are a better life and a sense of devotion to religious ideals.

What I am saying is that in your denomination, along with the order and the programs and the fellowship there are usually the core beliefs of the denomination which make up the dogma/polity of the church. This dogma or polity is shared with those that are like minded and those chosen to represent the denomination in each congregation are trained in that dogma/polity.  That being said, you and I both know that most of the time these leaders are tireless in faithfully administering their duties to the congregation. In most cases the pastor subjects his/her entire family to more scrutiny than most people could handle. They faithfully observe their religious tenets of faith and faithfully serve the congregation.

Now that I have laid the foundation of the importance and the validity of these denominations and your congregation, I want to move on to the point of the issue. Most denominational preaching is designed to steer the believer into first accepting the doctrine of their faith, becoming and remaining a member of the church, abiding by its precepts and expecting you to offer yourself as a volunteer for any or all activities. This might not be you, but most people learn the basic tenets of faith of their denomination, learn important stories of the Bible, learn the importance of fellowship and learn the importance of devotion and personal commitment. Again all of this is good, very good.

Here is the distinction I want to make. There are some things that are taught that are not biblical or extra-biblical. They are taught for the reasons outlined above. I am going to mention a few of the things that are taught that are not true. You might feel that these things should never be said and you might feel insulted or disturbed that someone is questioning a belief that you have held for years or decades. Try to remember "to question the teachings of the church is not heresy."

Simply not true:
Your pastor or priest is the mediator between you and God.
Mary prays to God on your behalf.
The saints are those men and women chosen by the Catholic church after much deliberation.
Praying to the saints has some efficacy.
Not getting baptized is cause to not be saved.
You are saved at baptism.
You must receive a second blessing, speak in tongues or have some other visible
spiritual gift.
All paths lead to God.
There are sister religions to Christianity.
There is only one holy Catholic Church.
You can be saved by joining a church.
You can be saved and then lose that salvation.
You can be kept in a right relationship with God through taking the Eucharist.
You can never be fit for service to God if you have been divorced.
If you don't speak in tongues or have some other external sign to show others you might not be saved.
If you tithe or give to the church you will never have any financial problems.
God is mad at you.
You can never be forgiven for what you have done.
If you give money to a TV evangelist what he/she says will come to pass; that is ledgerdomain not prophesy.
Your denomination is correct in all its teachings.

Getting To Know God Better 15

"I already know that you are not going to like this post. Have you ever considered the value of getting to know God better through trouble, toils, pain, sickness and tragedy? I am not making light of these things and I do not want to paint a false picture of your reality somehow diminish your suffering in any way. Trouble, toils, pain, sickness and tragedy are real and in many cases there is nothing good that can be said about them. I am not trying to get you to make the best of it or divert your attention form your reality as if "if you had more faith you wouldn't be in this situation." I simply don't believe that. God did not bring on your sufferings. Jas_1:17 " Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

I will say that if you have been under the impression that God is responsible directly or indirectly for your trouble, toils, pain, sickness and tragedy, you are mistaken. That notion is a man-made religious misunderstanding of a perfect and wonderful God. If it is not true that God brings these troubles on, then it must be true that in God's economy, God allows these things to happen. Yes, God does allow these things to happen. We don't necessarily like that about God nor do we agree with the premise. But in the wonder of creation God instilled/embedded/ordained/designed free will for all mankind. It is in the free will of all mankind that we find  trouble, toils, pain, sickness and tragedy.

I have had the talk with God about this, probably much like the talk you had with God about this. Why can't things just be perfect? Why all the mystery? Why must bad things happen to good people? Before I go on let me reiterate my understanding of this and other like questions. The question we should be asking is not "Why does God allow bad things happen to good people?" The question for us in this free will world should be "What am I going to do with what God allowed to happen?"

There is also another thought, notion, misunderstanding about the way God designed us. 'God allowed this to happen so He could show Himself mighty through the trouble, toils, pain, sickness and tragedy.' God does not need trouble, toils, pain, sickness and tragedy to show Himself mighty. "Psa 19:1, The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Psa 19:2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge."

God does not need an event to show Himself helpful in time of need. God has always been there, always there and always will be there, through what we call the good times and the bad times, always providing the indwelling Holy Spirit in all situations. But God will not breach the right of free will of anyone. That brings me to the all-important issue of finding the truth, God's truth concerning your own personal situation. In order to fully understand the importance of the way God does things (God's economy), you must come to terms with a few things of weighty importance.

• God knew it would happen
• God allowed it to happen
• God has carried you through it
• God is carrying you now
• There is an end to it 

When we reach this point of understanding, we are faced with the unanswerable question, Why? I can tell you that if you are searching for why, you have not come to terms with God's economy. Why? precedes understanding the five truths outline above. This is a hard truth, but important in the quest for understanding.

If you are bent on knowing why, here are the major factors of every event in life.

• God created mankind with free will
• 1/3 of the angels that were created fell from God thus creating (the downward or time oriented sliding away from its perfect state) and these angels with the devil as their leader are also free to roam and persuade man's free will within the bounds of creation (God's economy).
• Mankind used his/her free will to separate themselves from God thus creating (the downward or time oriented sliding away from its perfect state).
• Mankind uses his/her free will to continue to separate from God

The reason that we are trying to get to know God better is to repair/replace the separation from God with an internal inner man knowing of God, thus providing us with the knowledge that we need to work within the parameters of God's economy with understanding."





 

Getting To Know God Better 14

"'About the struggle' I hope that in your quest to find what you think you need from God that you do not have:

• False expectations
• Extra-biblical understanding of God's economy
• A skewed view of God
• A religious only understanding of your relationship with Jesus
• Or that you are relying on someone else to stand before God for you

These things are devils candy. I have found that most people tend to complicate their relationship with God by allowing one or more of these items above to interfere with the progress in getting to know God better. If you are interested that you are on the right path to a great relationship with God a quick review of the devil's candy would be in order.

False expectations - This is by far one of the most difficult fallacies to rectify. We all want to believe that God can do anything. The problem with that notion isn't that it is not true, it is that we have interpreted it without understanding God's full disclosure on the matter. In other words God can do anything, but is that statement congruent with God's economy; what God has put in order in all disciplines, from the beginning of time and up to and through today and tomorrow. One way you can tell if you have been eating the devil's candy is to ask yourself, "is it a struggle for me to get closer to God?" It is not supposed to be a struggle.

Here are a few reasons that people have false expectations:

• They have seen others receive something (spiritual or physical) so they think they should have it.
• They have spent the majority of their time convincing themselves that the way their church views God is correct that they have not spent any time investigating the truths in the bible on their own, thus adopting a religious view of God without personal Holy Spirit inspiration/unction/verification. 
• They adopted a view early on in life about God and have not grown in spirit and truth, thus perpetuating a juvenile view of God.
• They have bought into the idea that "All paths lead to God" and therefore they never become a child of God and now they allow just about any erroneous teaching to become part of their knowledge of truth. 

Getting To Know God Better 13

"Knowing and loving God was always meant to be a desirable and wonderful experience. Getting to know God better an even more pleasant and grand experience. Religion has made getting to know God cumbersome and difficult, full of complexities and ambiguity. What a shame.

The Apostles, the men and women of God, priests, pastors, rabbis were entrusted to tell the gospel; share with others God's wonders and love and forgiveness and power and blessings. In that sharing men, women and children would come to a saving knowledge of Jesus and find peace in their heart and solace in their soul. God would commune with them in the cool of the day and console them at night. God would listen attentively to their request, and pain and cries and troubles and then carry them through it all with the gentleness of a mother and her baby.

Your view of God would be built on a relationship that started with trust and love and interaction and continued as you presented yourself before God as a student, a father or mother, sister or brother, teen or child, a person interested in the ways of the creator, carefully desiring and moving forward with the intent to follow the footsteps of Jesus and the leadings of the Holy Spirit. Each person content with their portion and willing to walk another mile if necessary, not needing all the answers except that God was with them and they knew it.

What have we done with the simplicity of loving God and finding His favor?
What has become of the inner understanding that God is in it all with you?
What has deteriorated the trust that comes with salvation?
What artist has painted God in your heart as an austere old man waiting for you to screw up so he could pounce on you and crush you and reduce you?
What got in the way between you and God so that you don't even try anymore to bridge the gap?

I think it is religion. If your religious experience has not steered you to a direct and personal relationship with God, what has it steered you to do? Are you missing out on a real and wonderful, beyond your wildest expectations experience with God in order to placate your denominations religious requirements?

I think you can have both, but in no way would I nurture any relationship that did not free me to be at peace with God, all the time. Please read the first three paragraphs a few times before making a decision."
 

Getting To Know God Better 12

"If you are at all like me you just want the truth. It doesn't even matter what the subject is, you you just want it straight. You deserve to have it straight. One thing about God, God did not leave a guessing game for all of us to play. God did not leave us unattended and unprepared to attend to managing the world's religious affairs. But God did give it to us straight.

The Bible is the answer to the corruption that we see today of all that is from God. Religious orders have stepped in and put doubt in the hearts of men and women and children as to God's system, God's order, God's economy. Look, I don't just want to say the Bible is the answer to it all, but I do want to say that the Bible contains the correct answer/s to it all.

In baseball if you can't get a hit, you can't get on base unless you get a walk. Today people expect a walk. They aren't even trying to get a hit. As a matter of fact too many want to be on the team, but they want to stay in the dugout. To get a hit, I mean step up to the plate with the intent to hit the ball as hard and as far as possible. That's the whole idea behind getting to know God better. You have to get up to bat and do the best you can with what you've got. Ask yourself these questions, and please don't ask it through the eyes of your religion, denomination.

• "Have I stepped up and asked God to be a part of my life in the everyday way?
• Do I have a clear understanding of what is in the Bible based on my own personal reading of the Bible?
• Have I made up my mind to believe what I read?
• Have I invited the Holy Spirit to abide in me?
• Have I made an attempt to enter into the presence of God, personally and not just in a religious setting?
• Do I hear the voice of God in my heart?
• Am I currently fulfilling my God ordained/breathed calling?

Before I go any further if you can't answer yes to these questions, you have a religious relationship with God. Don't even think it. Somehow I must be against organized religion. That is not true at all. Organized religion can be a stepping stone toward getting to know God, but it will never replace getting to know God.

It's really not complicated. God did not make it difficult. God made it easy and we have made it complicated. My thinking is that we need to unlearn a great many things."





  

Getting To Know God Better 11

"Religion and relationship.

Is your relationship with Jesus religious only? What I mean by that is, since you learned of Jesus, has your knowledge base of how Jesus operates in your life stayed about the same?

Let's get this straight; going to Church or being a part of a ministry in any way is wonderful and fulfilling. There are no real negatives concerning being a part of a congregation and any role that you have is helpful to others and beneficial to your own spiritual health. You can go to church and be religious and have a personal relationship with Jesus, but you can also go to church and be religious and not have a relationship with Jesus. Religion is learned and practiced primarily through conditioning. Most denominations teach/preach a philosophy that incorporates the teachings of the Bible and the teachings of the church denomination. Sometimes the church dogma, polity is the primary focus and that is religion.

That being said I really just want to focus on relationship. Here's why. There are many religions and to be religious you can be a part of any religious order, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhism, etc. You can be very religious and not have any relationship with Jesus, the Christ. Religion can produce good works and even good morals and it brings with it cultural significance, but religion cannot be born again and the Holy Spirit does not come and dwell within the religious, just because they are religious.

The Spirit of God is reserved for the believing Christian; one who has recognized that Jesus is the Savior of mankind and that they need a Savior to save them from their own demise. You can't be a Christian without believing that Jesus is Christ.

Everybody knows John 3:16, but have you understood John 3:18 "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." 

This isn't a very popular passage with the "All Paths lead To God" group. There are today millions of Christians that believe that they know better than God how to do the salvation thing. Many, many Christians want to include other religious philosophies in the one big eclectic "god in the sky" philosophy. None of the rhetoric is biblical, but no problem, they will have god on their terms and they believe that they know better than God how to put it all together. That's the trouble with scripture. You have a choice to believe it or deny it. But the real trouble is that people want to deny it but receive the benefits of saying they believe it. That's the group I was talking about, the group that "since they learned of Jesus, their knowledge base of how Jesus operates in their life stayed about the same? This same group doesn't believe John 3:18, their Bible stops at John 3:16.

Where does your Bible stop?

Getting To Know God Better 10

"Loosen up. It pleases God to see you enjoying life. Try not to be encumbered with too many rules and too much religion while traversing this life you have. Yes you should be aware of right and wrong and yes you should make every effort to do the right thing and to be all that you can be, but no you don't have to do these things to please God. God loves you and God likes you right now.

What I mean by loosen up is this: I want you to go through an entire day where you believe that God empowered you to be you and that all that you do this day will be blessed by God. I can tell you from much experience that not many people are comfortable with God. They are worried all the time that God is looking over His shoulder, watching them like a hawk, looking for mistakes or missteps so He can punish them. So many Christians believe that their lot in life is left up to the angels following out God's orders to make them pay for their faults and indiscretions. Nothing could be further from the truth.

You have already been made in the image of God with imprints of holiness, the Holy Spirit living in you, leading and guiding you. Whatever you do, do it unto the LORD. You are already good enough. You are already pure enough. You are already smart enough. You are already pure enough. If you are missing anything, it is that you don't believe enough.

• If God to you is dormant in your daily life
• Unreachable through prayer
• Is constantly demanding more from you
• Is never satisfied with your behavior
• Can't be reached in a moments notice

Then you need to take the blinders off and the earplugs out. If you are in the dark as to how much God loves you, likes you, approves of you and enjoys you, it is because you either want to be or that you have been conditioned to believe this way. God has said in the Bible and promoted in your everyday life the exact opposite of this kind of thinking.

• God is active in your life
• God is being reached by you 24/7
• God demands nothing from you
• God is satisfied with your behavior
• God can be reached in a moments notice

Getting To Know God Better 9

"I want to give you credit for staying with your faith, hanging in there when times were unfortunate and keeping the faith when the bottom dropped out. You might wonder, how does he know that the bottom dropped out? well if it has never dropped out it will, so whether you are on the before side or the after side, life delivers enough issues, positive and negative, to assure that you understand the meaning of having the bottom dropped out.

If you are currently going through this experience, Getting To Know God Better will be quite a comfort. Even a little more of God cannot be compared to anything else. Adding to your knowledge base will assist you in getting to the other side of this current negative/bad/unfortunate experience.

God like you. It's true. God does not only love you,which you hear a lot about, but God likes you also. Some of your family members might not like you, you might have enemies, users and leaches that hang onto you or those who ignore you completely. There are also those who might hate you. I have found that with some people they don't like you and they have never known you. Oh well. People can be so unforgiving and mean.

Back to God. God likes you.

• Did you know that God blesses your decisions? 
• Have you gone through life thinking that God has been watching you like a hawk and since you have strayed away from God's perfect design for you that God must be disappointed?
• Do you have any thoughts at all that God is disappointed with you?

What a shame on our religious system. Pastors and teachers spreading their guilt to the congregation at large, hoping to bring people into submission through guilt and duty. generations of this kind of preaching/teaching is hard to break away from, because what has happened is that you/all of us have been conditioned to think about God in a certain way. You could actually go through your entire life thinking that God has bad thoughts toward you and never break away from the cycle.

OR

You could believe God.
Jer_29:11  "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

Jas_1:17  "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

Even though the entire Bible was written as a letter about God's love for you and to what extent God would go on your behalf  (to take on your sin and die for you) somehow way too many people still think that God is like a cowboy with two six shooters on his side just waiting for you to get out of line so he could shoot at the ground and make you dance. In my mind and based on what the Bible teaches, today people believe many erroneous things and they trust in many books/teachings/philosophies and they are at war with themselves because of much false teaching/thoughts concerning God.

Can you read the two verses above for a few days in a row and try to let the truth of them sink deep into your inner man and let God, the Holy Spirit fill you with Himself and just trust God. Do you really believe that God died for your sins so that you could go through the rest of your entire life trying to pay God back? Salvation was a free gift and if there are any strings attached, you allowed your religious upbringing to attach them. They were not from God. There are no strings and God likes you just the way you are.

OK. I know that you might be having trouble with this and some of you might even think it is heresy, but if you were to unlearn all the extra-biblical teachings that you have learned along the way and get back to a simple and profound relationship with God, trusting God and not trying to be something that you are not, you might find the wisdom in it. God likes you.

While getting to know God better, why not try it from the vantage point of believing that God likes you. Maybe if you went to God believing that God likes you and wants to be your friend, you would be more open to talking about something other than what you want God to do for you."

Joh_15:15  "Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you."