I know Jesus. I asked Him to save me. I accepted Him when I was young. These are just a few of the answers I hear when I’ve asked people if they have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord & Savior. I get an opportunity to do that occasionally while volunteering with a national prayer line.
I have no desire nor permission to judge those who respond to the question. God knows the heart so He and the individual alone knows the purity within.
But for the sake of us all, including myself, should there not be some evidence that will validate the answers? Maybe a better way of putting it is this…..what happens next after we accept Him?
Many in this world seek God only when tragedy strikes. They might even claim to know Him….but what or who is it that they are claiming to know?
Perhaps in claiming to know Him means that He is a God who fixes things. That He will help us when we need Him. Maybe even give us what we want if we ask.
And there is truth in those replies but is there not still more to it than that? How do we know? What determines if how I live my life really matters when it comes to God?
When Yahweh delights in how you live your life, He establishes your every step. If they stumble badly they will still survive, for the Lord lifts them up with His hands.
Psalm 37:23-24
Our desire in knowing Him initiates us wanting to please Him. In order to please Him we need to build a relationship.
We can know about God but not know God.
It’s sort of like me knowing a professional baseball player vs knowing my wife. I might know a lot about this ball player….maybe his statistics, where he is from, and his lifestyle. I might have met him in person and possibly got his autograph. I can know information about him but still not really know Him.
Now if that same scenario happened with my wife, we would have a problem. I know everything about her truly because of spending quality time with her. God takes delight in us when we spend time getting to really know Him.
God takes delight in us when we
spend time getting to really know Him
His promises are being poured into our lives once this takes place.
He establishes and directs our steps.
Will we still fall? Of course. Knowing Him does not remove humanity. Life will still happen….the good… the bad…the ugly. Perhaps not as many negative circumstances though because of our learning how to view situations based on a closer relationship with Him. As I say very often….there’s positives in the negatives.
Even in the chaos when fragments of our lives feel frozen and numb…. when everything else good around us seems to be passing by….even when we do stumble and fall…
His hands are big enough to bring safety, raising us from our depths to His heights….because He claims us.
You see, I can’t just live my life any way I choose if I desire for my footsteps to be guided by God and for Him to fix me when I fail.
The professional ball player would not come to my rescue in this case when I stumble, but my wife would.
Truly knowing Him means we are His….His beloved….His sons & daughters.
So it does matter how I live my life.
I guess the question now is….does it matter how you live yours?
Lingering Thoughts:
Have you asked Jesus into your heart? The Word of God says…
If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9
What you do next is very important. It’s time for your knowledge and relationship in the Lord to grow. Getting connected with a church and other believers will make a huge impact in your life.
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2
Come close to God, and God will come close to you. James 4:8
If you have further questions and/or prayer requests then we want to help. Feel free to reach out in our comment section or contact us at lingeringintheoasis@outlook.com.
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