KNOWLEDGE OF GOD - PART 1

Do you know God? How do you know Him?

I’m not asking about what He does, or what you’ve read or what you’ve heard.

I’m asking, do you KNOW God?

There are many who say they Know God. But how do they know him?

There is a difference between knowing about God and knowing God.

How do I know God? This is a great rhetorical question for self-examination.

Our Knowledge of God depends on whether our insights about Him are based on public information or personal revelation.

It is possible to know what God does, without knowing who God is.

The difference between knowing about someone and knowing someone is like the difference between reading about them and living with them.

When you live with someone, you come to understand not only what they say, but also what they mean with regards to what they say.

You learn more than just their words; you learn/understand their heart.

If we made a list of what we know about God, would his heart be on that list? For your own purposes make a list of what you know about God.

When you live with someone you get to know their habits, desires, and character—the deeper qualities that show who they truly are.

On the other hand, when you don’t live with someone, what you believe about them is based purely on theory, assumptions, and guesswork.

So, do you really know God? How? Is it Ritualistically or Relationally?

When you only know about someone, outward appearance may seem most important. But when you truly know someone, you understand that your appearance matters far less to them than honesty and transparency.

In a true relationship, transparency is more meaningful than fashion.

“I no longer want you to relate to Me only as servants; I want us to be friends” — paraphrased from John 15:15.

Can you say that I’m Friends with God?

Friendship is a covenant term, which means a loved one, like a family member. God desires for us to be family, not acquaintances.

The question that’s being posed is not about if you know that God exists, the question is about what sort of Knowledge do you have about God? How did you obtain that knowledge?

While in our current state we can never arrive at a complete and total understanding of God.

Knowing God is a lifelong pursuit. A believer’s life will be filled with continually getting to know God in deeper and richer ways.

There are two main options to get to know God; Faith or Reasoning.

Reasoning of God falls up under the category of Natural Knowledge.

Natural Knowledge is powered by the human mind, and as a result human reasoning is a lesser knowledge of God.

If reasoning were the best way to get to know God, then there would be no need for faith, revelation, or the Holy Spirit.

Natural Knowledge attempts to understand and explain all of life’s experiences from an earthly / human perspective.

That’s exactly what Adam and Eve attempted to do in the garden of Eden with their Tree on Information of Knowledge. #Humanism.

Here is an example of what human reasoning of God looks like; when a child is born, they say it is a miracle, but when a child dies, they say how could a loving God do such a terrible thing. That’s an Ideological bias.

In good things they thank God; but in bad things they blame God!

Natural Knowledge of God is rooted in Moralism/ human conscious, one’s own belief that they know right from wrong, and they know best.

Human flaws hinder the ability to properly interpret information that is being presented, often creating false knowledge & false narratives.

Natural Knowledge of God is closely related to Philosophical Knowledge. They are essentially the same, just viewed through different lenses. Both are rooted in an independence from scripture and the Bible.

Reasonings seeks to classify and identify God through his actions.

It attempts to distinguish good in God, and not good from not God.

Many practice a religion based on reasoning; it’s called denominations.

True knowledge of God goes well beyond quoting scriptures, reciting facts, having rallies, rituals, big venues, big names, and big crowds.

How do YOU know God?

 This is a Thompson Truth