Category Archives: Intimacy with God

WOW Devotion 3/7/2024 Faith- Connection to God

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“Have faith in God…” Mark 11:22
“And without faith it is impossible to please God.” Hebrews 11:6

There is nothing like holding a newborn baby. I can vividly remember holding each of my kids just moments after they were born. The first time I held each one was beautiful. This little one, who had occupied my body for nine months, was now with me face to face. The voice they had been hearing the entire time they were in the womb was more than just a voice now. The voice they had been listening to had a warm body to lie against, strong arms to hold them close, and a face that looked down at them with loving eyes. This time of intimacy made the connection that has forever changed our lives. It was in those moments our relationship took on a new meaning.

We begin a new word this month. Our new word is faith. Every believer in Jesus Christ is called to have faith in God. True or divine faith is full confidence in, complete trust in, and total dependence on God, His character, and His Word. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Faith is unwavering, immovable, and settled being fully assured that God is who He says He is and will accomplish all He says He will do.

Faith is absolutely required in the life of a believer. It is essential in our relationship with God because it connects us to Him. Our heavenly Father is faithful or full of faith. We, His children, are created in His image and likeness. We are to be like Him, full of faith.

Faith in God is much like the first moments that I held my newborn baby. He was born with the need to be connected to me. He needed my constant care, my close relationship, and my nourishment. Without these things he would not survive. We must come to God realizing our total dependence upon Him in all things and for all things. We must come to Him realizing that “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life…” (2 Peter 1:3 NIV). We must understand that faith is the channel through which God provides for a life of relationship, love, and holiness.  

As my baby had heard my voice for months before he was born, we come to God after hearing Him speak to us. His tender words describe His desire for us to be united to Him in this relationship of oneness. As we are held close by Him, His voice becomes very recognizable. The connection that was established in the hours of holding my newborn close and him gazing in my eyes is much like the faith by which we gaze intently at our Heavenly Father. We look to Him every moment of every day in faith assured that He is holding us close to Him. We snuggle up close to His heartbeat, communicated by His Word, and are assured that we belong to Him. We respond by totally obeying what He says. Our connection of faith grows stronger and stronger. Yes, our relationship to God, connected by faith is much like those moments I experienced years ago holding, my baby boy. It is beautiful!

As you read these words, do you find yourself longing for a close and intimate connection to God, your Heavenly Father? He longs for you to be connected to Him. This is why Jesus said, “Have faith in God…” His desire is for us to have complete confidence and trust in Him. We also know that “…without faith it is impossible to please God.” God’s greatest desire is for us to be with Him in a relationship of oneness. He knew that we could not experience this unless we believe in Him and are fully assured that He will accomplish His will, His desires, and His plans in us. Through this relationship, we will be God’s visible representation, demonstrating His life, His characteristics, and His image to the World around us. Through faith we will know Him and make Him known. May we look to God in faith and experience His life-giving relationship!

Our song this week is “Stand in Faith” by Danny Gokey. As we listen to its words, may we be encouraged to live our lives connected and in an intimate relationship with God by faith.

Love,

Janet

Devoted and Determined

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https://www.wowjcmo.com/

“Jesus Have It All”

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Today is a very special day for me. After many years of being held captive by anxiety and trying many things to get free, God heard my cry for freedom and set me free. After 6 years on anxiety meds, I no longer needed them. Two years ago on this date was my first day of freedom from taking both Prozac and Buspar.

God has worked a change in my life, and for those of you who know me, it may be a bit of a surprise for me to tell you this. Because I have always been active in church and made it no secret that I believed in Jesus. In fact, I have thought throughout my adult years that I was living my life surrendered to God. The truth is In some ways I was, but in many ways I was not.
‘Make no mistake, God wants all of us.

About 5 months prior to taking my last anxiety pill I was at a revival service at my church with Pastor Denbow speaking (October 2021). He was speaking about “syncretism”- trying to mix the gospel with the worlds ways. In that service I realized that I had been trying to mix secular humanist thought and practices, as well as the widely accepted practice of eastern meditation, with the Bible. That does not work! In my love for God, He does not want to compete with me having other “spiritual” lovers — my ways or the worlds. He wants all of me, all of my heart— entirely, totally, and completely given up to Him. This is Teachings that the Bible Study group WOW has helped me to come to understand better and better through the past few years. (God has used WOW tremendously in my life to help me walk in freedom)

At that revival 2 1/2 years ago, I went to the front and repented for the sin I had held in my heart, and told God He could have all of me. On a morning, shortly after that I went to my pill box and heard the Holy Spirit tell me “that is not your inheritance.” I quit one medicine instantly. The other one I weaned off and took my last pill almost 5 months later.

Two years later to this day, I am free! The change in me since that time has been huge. So much so that I have told my friends, “I feel like I have been born again…again.”

Friday night I was talking to my husband, his brother, and my sister in law about this change. I said it almost makes you think about getting baptized again. I didn’t think I needed to since I was baptized as a teenager.
Saturday morning I woke up with the desire to be baptized burning within my heart.

So tonight, I am going to be baptized. I want to publicly declare that I have been changed by Jesus and His power alone. I want to do whatever He tells me to do. Because He is life. And I do not want my way of doing things ever again. They have died. I am raised to new life.

Jesus have it all!

Everything We Need to Know Him Part 3 — The Scriptures

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”You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,“ 
John‬ ‭5‬:‭39‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God desires for us to know Him, not just know about Him. He longs for us to be in a close and intimate relationship with Him. Because of this great desire, He has given us everything we need to know Him.

One of those provisions is God’s Word, the Scriptures. God worked over 1,500 years and through more than 40 different authors to provide for us the Bible so that we could learn about who He is, what He does, and what He desires of us. God’s Word is a love letter to us, an instruction manual for a Godly life, and a map for us to find Him and His will. God’s Word is as Jesus described it, our spiritual food, “the Bread of Life.” (John 8:35) It is absolutely necessary for us if we want to experience God fully.

God’s Word is one of the ways we can have first hand experiences with Him. As we approach His Word knowing He is speaking: We can experience His truth entering our lives; We can experience His love filling the deepest nooks and crannies of our hearts and overflowing us; We can hear Him speaking to us deep within. We can have all of this but we must participate with Him. We must engage Him by opening our Bibles and our hearts to receive the Words He has provided for us. His Word is “living and active.” (Hebrews 4:12)

Now you and I know the truth about God’s provision for a relationship with Him through His Word. The question becomes, “What will I do with what I know?” When we know that it is good to come to God and to experience Him through His Word and yet we do not do it, that quite truthfully is a sin. (James 4:17) Sin always separates us from God. It always brings about death, darkness, and destruction in our lives.

If you are feeling distant and disconnected from God, could it be that you need to come to Him and seek Him in His Word? He has provided the Way for us to experience a blessed and happy life. That is a life that has a closely connected relationship with Him. He has given us His Word so that we can not only find Him but be His very own.

May we give of our time and engage with Him by participating in reading His Word. We will not regret the close relationship that will result in our coming close to God in this way. 

”Come near to God and he will come near to you…” James‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Everything We Need to Know Him Part 4 — The Holy Spirit

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”And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.“ Ephesians 1:13-14 NIV
”“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.“ John 14:25-26 NIV

The one who truly believes in God has embarked on a journey to know God. This should be the focus of our lives. God has given us everything we need to truly know Him because He desires to be known by us. One of the greatest evidences of His desire to be known is the presence Holy Spirit within a believer.

We are all aware that our blessed Savior Jesus came to us as a baby and lived among us. He is “God with us.” But after His resurrection we were not abandoned to be left as orphans here. The Holy Spirit came to be “God in us.”

He is the precious “seal” and “deposit” within our lives “guaranteeing our inheritance”. When we come to God in faith the Holy Spirit comes to reside within us. He is more than willing to fill us to overflowing as we are baptized with the Holy Spirit so that we can walk with His power and be a witness to all who are around us.

The Holy Spirit is our Teacher. As we read the Word, it is the Holy Spirit who makes it come alive within us. He gives us understanding and He brings change within us through the Word.

The Holy Spirit is our Advocate. He intercedes for us. He is our Comforter and our Helper. He is our dearest Friend.

The Apostle Paul prayed this prayer for the Corinthian believers:

”May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.“ 
2 Corinthians 13:14 NIV

Paul wanted them to know closeness and friendship with the Holy Spirit. Our desire can and should be the same. As we come to the Holy Spirit and asking Him to speak to us and to teach us, He will. The Holy Spirit has come so we can know God intimately.

Our loving God truly has provided all that we need to know Him.

Slave to Sin… Caught in Anxieties Grip — WOW Devotion February 29, 2024

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“I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”  
Romans‬ ‭6‬:‭19‬-‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

For several years, I lived my life subjected to the cruel taskmaster of anxiety. It ruled over my life. Anxiety dictated my daily routine: Get out of bed. Take your first anxiety pill of the day: Do your daily exercise of Eastern Meditation on Headspace. Now start your day. Throughout the day anxiety would exercise its control over my feelings and emotions. Time to do breathing techniques, practice mindfulness, engage in the 5,4,3,2,1 method, then repeat. Often, I could not shake the feelings of a tight throat and a tight chest. Then it was time for my evening anxiety pill. I crawled into bed. I hoped for a night free of an anxious awakening at 2 am, lying awake for hours, and experiencing what I did in the day. This scenario was repeated day after day, night after night. I was a slave to my sin of anxiety. I was subject to its control, and it was producing death, darkness, and destruction inside of me.

Our verses this week are once again about holiness. This holiness is a benefit as we live our lives as “slaves to righteousness.” It is a life of freedom from sin as we live our lives set apart for His sacred use – a life of love, faith, holiness, and prayer. In this life, we are “slaves to God,” under His control and His rule. This submission to Him is always for our benefit, because He is a good Lord and Master. Being His slave results in more than holiness. Through it we experience “eternal life.”

Three years ago, I learned that we were created to serve someone. The words of this verse were proved true in my life. I came to understand that I had a choice. I could continue to “offer the parts of my body in slavery to impurity and ever-increasing wickedness” that the sin of anxiety was producing, or I could become a “slave to God.” I would either serve an evil master of sin or our loving and Holy God. I could not serve them both. I had to choose. This is the truth for each and every one of us. To not choose God is to choose the enemy.

God is holy. He is perfectly and impeccably pure, completely immaculate, and uncompromisingly righteous and just. He desires for us to be in relationship with Him, but in order for us to be close to Him, we must be holy as He is holy. To do so, we must “offer ourselves as slaves to righteousness.” The benefit we receive is a pure heart and freedom from sin and sinful affections, conformed to the image of God. We will be holy and the “result will be eternal life” with Him.

As you have read the words above, have you become aware that you are a “slave to impurity?”  Is there an addiction or a sin that keeps you from experiencing a close relationship with God and the freedom from sin that He alone gives? God desires for us to live our lives surrendered to Him as a “slave to righteousness” that will lead to holiness. He desires us to be close to Him in a relationship of intimacy filled with His goodness, joy, peace, and love. We can only experience this when we live our lives fully surrendered to Him!

Our song this week is once again by Charity Gayle, “Because of Jesus.” Because of what Jesus has done, we can know that we are finally free of the sin that destroys! He has redeemed us and made us holy as He is holy. May our hearts desire to serve Him in complete obedience to His Word. May we live as His “slaves to righteousness” which leads to holiness – holiness in heart and in everything we do!

Love,

Janet

https://www.wowjcmo.com/

https://mailchi.mp/wowjcmo/wow-devotion-john-6219253?e=6c56f70e45

His Beautiful Bride — Holy to the Lord (WOW Devotion February 15, 2024)

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“…be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart… to be my own.” 
Leviticus 20:26 NIV

On a cold and icy day thirty-one years ago, my husband and I were married. The ceremony for our wedding holds so many wonderful memories for me. Among them is our first kiss as husband and wife. Rich seemed to eagerly anticipate that moment. He was beaming from ear to ear when the pastor said, “Richard, you may now kiss your bride.” Moments later we stood facing our friends and family. We were introduced for the first time as, “Mr. and Mrs. Richard Nelson.” During those moments I gained a title and a position in our relationship, I was Rich’s bride. I did not fully understand at that moment what that would mean. I have grown in my appreciation of being his bride throughout the years of our exclusive relationship as husband and wife. Thirty-one years later my husband often calls me his “beautiful bride.” I alone hold this title because I belong to him.

A holy man is pure in heart and free from sin and sinful affections; he has a heart conformed to the image of God and is set apart for His sacred use or to the service or worship of God. Our verse this week speaks of this exclusive relationship. It is a relationship of belonging to God for His sacred use. To belong to God is to be strictly His, fully possessed by Him. In this relationship of belonging, God tells us that we must be holy to Him. Nothing else should compete for our affections. Our verse this week tells us it is God’s desire for us to “be holy to [him] because [He is] holy.”

As we come to Him, desiring to be His alone, set apart for His sacred and exclusive use, He will begin the process of purifying our hearts. If we totally submit our heart to Him, He will set us apart. He will declare and make us holy. He will separate us from sin, our flesh, the world, and the devil. We will be His alone. It is very much like the day that I became exclusively the bride of Rich Nelson. My affections, my desires, and my relationship were focused on him alone as my husband. I was no longer available to pursue others, only him.

The beauty of a relationship of holiness to God is a realization of closeness to God. As we allow the ways of the world and the sin in our hearts to be circumcised, we will be more and more conformed to His image. The more we are like Him, the closer we will come to God. We will know Him intimately. We will be one with Him.

As you read the words I have written, do you feel a longing in your heart to be close to God? Do you desire to leave behind the competing affections that you have held in your heart and to pursue God alone? Do you long to be holy to Him? This is God’s greatest desire for us. He longs for us much like my groom 31 years ago longed for me. He wanted me to belong to him as his beautiful bride for the rest of our lives. God longs for us to “be holy … because [He is] holy, and [He has] set us apart to be his own.”

The first steps in being holy is to be totally submitted to God and be purified through the circumcision of our hearts. Our song this week is “Purify My Heart” by Brian Doerksen. As you listen or even sing along, may you renew or start anew in submitting your heart to God’s circumcision so that you may be holy as He is holy.

Love,

Janet Nelson, Devoted and Determined

https://www.wowjcmo.com/

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My Father’s Girl– Reflecting His Holiness (WOW Devotion February 22, 2024)

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As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;” 
1 Peter 1:14-15 NIV

Back in my college days a group of my friends and I went to Olive Garden for dinner. As we were waiting to be seated, we stood in a small circle laughing, joking, and enjoying each other’s company. A woman that I did not know walked up to our group and asked me a question: “Are you Jim’s daughter?” At first, I thought, “uh oh… what have I done wrong? My dad lives two hours away from Columbia. How does she know whose daughter I am?” I must have looked shocked. She continued, “You have to be! You look just like him. Your mannerisms are just like his. It is obvious that you are his.” Then she continued, “I am your dad’s first cousin. You probably don’t even know me, but I know your dad.”

Our verses this week for WOW are once again about holiness. To be holy is to be Godlike; it is to have a will and disposition of the heart that is like His. When we are holy, our character will be like God’s. God has called us to “be holy in all you do.” He desires us to be holy as He is holy. God gives us His holiness as a gift. It is His sanctifying work in us.

A holy man is pure in heart and free from sin and sinful affections; he has a heart conformed to the image of God and is set apart for His sacred use or to the service or worship of God. We learned last week that this is an exclusive relationship. It is a relationship of belonging to God. When we belong to God, we are strictly His, fully possessed by Him. We display our belonging to God as His holy, set apart, people by our obedience. Obedience is evidence of a heart that is holy. When we have a holy heart, we will not live like we used to, conforming to evil desires, or our fleshly self-life. Instead, we will obey God. We will display to all of those we are around everything that God is: His love, His joy, His peace, His holiness and more.

As I am writing these words, they challenge me. Perhaps they challenge you too? I wonder, am I displaying not only God’s love, joy, and peace in my life, but His holiness? Is His holiness evidenced within my life by my obedience to Him, or am I still living my life conformed to the evil desires I had when I lived in ignorance of God and His ways?

Jesus came as our invitation to be holy. He lived, died, was buried, and rose again so that we could know and experience Him fully in a relationship of oneness. He provides all that we need to live connected to God, united with Him. When we accept Him as the Lord of our lives and totally submit our heart to Him, He works in us to produce a loving obedience to God’s Word. As we allow God to circumcise our hearts, the holy heart God has given us will be revealed more and more.  

May our hearts long for His holiness, and may we pursue His holiness by submitting our hearts to be transformed into His likeness. As we live our lives for God, we will maintain our holiness moment by moment through active love for, faith in, and obedience to Him. We will fully realize how wonderful it is to be His “obedient children.” We will be in a close and intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father, and we will display Him to everyone we encounter. They will find themselves asking us, “Are you God’s daughter? You have to be! Your mannerisms are just like His. It is obvious that you belong to Him.”

Our song this week is by Charity Gayle, “Because of Jesus.” Because He came, because we believe in Him as the Son of God, our Redeemer, we have been redeemed and made holy, as God is holy. Because of Jesus, and His work in us, we may be holy in all we do.

Love,

Janet Nelson, Devoted and Determined

https://www.wowjcmo.com

https://mailchi.mp/wowjcmo/wow-devotion-john-6218677?e=6c56f70e45

Everything We Need to Know Him Part 2 — Jesus

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Have you ever thought about how much easier it would be to trust God and to live for Him if you could just see Him, listen to Him talk, touch His hand, and experience His embrace?

God desires for us to experience Him this way. This is why Jesus came. He came to us 2000 years ago as a baby born in humble circumstances. This baby grew to a man, who walked where we walk, experienced what we experience, and yet He displayed God, the Father everywhere He went. Colossians puts it this way:

“The Son is the image of the invisible God…” Colossians 1:15

Jesus came to show us exactly what the Father is like.

Philip, one of Jesus’s disciples told Jesus that it would be enough for them if He would show them the Father. Philip wanted to know what His Heavenly Father was like. Jesus told Him:

”… “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.“
‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Simply put, when we see Jesus, we see exactly what our Heavenly Father is like. The accounts, in the Bible, of Jesus loving the unloveable, touching the untouchable, and healing the broken are an exact representation of our Heavenly Father. He loves us, touches us, and heals the brokenness of our past.

Every action of Jesus recorded in the Gospels, ever word He spoke, are an exact image of the God. When we look at Jesus, we are looking at God.

God deeply desires for us to know Him not just know about Him. Jesus, our Emmanuel — God with us, is evidence of this fact. Jesus is the same today as He was in Bible times. He is approachable. Even the little children were invited to come and sit on His lap. He is speaking. His words are alive and powerful. He is touchable. He still offers the skeptic and the doubting the opportunity to reach out their hand and touch and examine His nail pierced hands so they can believe.

He longs for us to experience Him! The reason for that longing is when we experience and come to know Him, we experience and come to know the Heavenly Father that He came to make known.

Do you desire to KNOW God in an intimate way? Come to Jesus! He will show you exactly what His Father is like.

Everything We Need to Know Him Part 1 — Creation is Speaking

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God wants us to know Him. He wants to be close to us. He wants to have an intimate relationship with us. These statements may seem incredible or maybe even impossible when we look around us. How can this God who is so infinitely big desire to know me, one of eight billion people who occupy the planet we live upon? The truth is this God who desires a one on one personal relationship with us has given us everything we could possibly need to know Him, His character, and His love.

Have you taken a few moments to consider creation? King David did thousands of years ago. 

”The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun,” Psalms‬ ‭19‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Creation is speaking.

Long ago, God desired to have the perfect home for the people He created. With the most intricate of handiwork He made it for them.

Have you stood in the country and looked high at the black night sky, staring at the stars, considering its vastness? Have you watched the sunrise and been amazed at the explosion of colors as the sky changes from darkness to the clear blue color of the light of day? That is what David did, and he concluded that “the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” God did not create all the wonders of our world on a whim. He created them to “proclaim”. He made them to “reveal knowledge”. But what knowledge do they reveal? Himself.

Go to a mirror and look deeply at the intricacy of your eye. The colors, the function, the different parts. If we could explore it more deeply the cells of your eyes are amazing and they function individually as well as together to make up you! The God of details created you and your eye. He also created the skies we look at using this very eye, and we should stand in wonder. All these tell a story to us.

They tell of a God who is so powerful. We could not stand before Him on our own. The words of His mouth create and have power to destroy as well. They tell of a God so personal that He created, with detail, the tiniest parts of us and knows them well.

God gave us creation so we could know Him. He wants us to stand in awe of how great and wonderful He is. Yet He longs for us to know He has thought of every minute detail of our lives and we are not just one in eight billion, we are His delight.

Creation is proof that He wants us to know Him. In a very small way, creation is like a billboard on a highway declaring a fact about an upcoming attraction. It speaks of what we can encounter if we decide to pursue that course. Creation tells us that God is there, and perhaps if we turn our thoughts toward Him and speak to Him, He will indeed speak back to us!

God wants us to know Him. He’s given us all we need to experience Him. Creation is just one thing that “pours forth speech.” Stop for a moment and listen. He is calling out to you!

Knowing God — Experiencing Him

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”Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.“ Psalms 34:8 NIV

God wants us to experience Him!

For some of us, the thought of hearing God speak, seeing Him move, feeling Him touch, and tasting His goodness is foreign. It seems to be impossible. But God stands with His arms wide open giving us the invitation to do just that. He wants us to taste — to feel, to enjoy, and He wants us to see — to know, to experience Him.

How do we know and experience God? We do this the same way we know and experience our dearest friend. We talk to Him, spend time with Him, participate in what He is doing, we have first hand experiences with Him.

Knowing God this way is very personal. It is not good enough that your mom or your dad knows God. It is not enough that your Grandma and Grandpa knew Him. It has to be your experience! God wants YOU to know Him. He wants YOU to “taste and see.”

Ask yourself, am I experiencing God in a personal, one on one way? Do I hear Him speak to me? Do I feel His touch on my life? Is He my closest friend?

He desires for you to be able to answer yes to each and every one of these questions.

He longs for us to experience Him!