Christian Counseling _ I want to meet the living God
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 12915 |
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March 24, 2013 |
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Q. I want to meet my good Father God as His child all the time and experience Him. What should I do to meet the living God?
A. The most fundamental and important thing for meeting God is that you should earnestly want to meet God as written in Proverbs 8:17. God loves us above all else and He seeks us first. However, God will not coerce us to open our hearts so He can come in and meet us. He works according to His justice. He can come into our hearts and meet us only when we willingly open our hearts (Revelation 3:20). Our longing to meet God will become earnest when we are poor in spirit. After you have the earnest heart to meet God you must go to the place where God is. Now I will tell you about the four ways to meet God who dwells in the Light, the truth, goodness, and love.
1. You can meet God by obeying His Word
The 66 books of the Bible tell us who God is and what His will is for mankind. It especially tells us about how much God loves us. Through the Bible, we come to understand these things, and to that same extent our faith in God grows up. The reason why you come to the church and learn the Word of God is to meet God through the Word.
As said in 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is inspired by God," the Bible was written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So, we should understand the true meaning with the help of the Holy Spirit. Then, the Word will be living and active being able to pierce into the division of our soul, spirit, and even the joints and marrow as written in Hebrews 4:12.
As we obey the Word of God telling us to do, not do, keep, or cast away certain things, various life problems will be resolved, and blessings come upon us.
2. You can meet God by crying out in prayer with earnest
If we earnestly pray to God in the name of Jesus Christ, we will be inspired by the Holy Spirit, and we will understand the heart and will of God contained in the Word. Also, we will be given the power to follow the Word of God.
Prayer is not a monologue. It is a conversation with God. When His children pray, God hears them and touches their hearts or gives them realization and understanding. This way we can communicate with God the Father. Namely, we can have personal fellowship with God. Moreover, if we pray according to the will of God, He will answer us in accordance with the law of justice. Through these occasions, we can certainly meet and experience God.
We know what the blind man Bartimaeus did to meet Jesus by reading Mark 10:46-52. He received answer from Jesus by earnestly seeking Jesus with a loud voice. When other people rebuked him to be quiet, he raised his voice even more. It was because his desperation was so great. In the end, he met Jesus and his eyes opened as he wanted.
Many prophets such as Elijah and Peter also cried out in their prayers. Jesus also prayed with all His strength and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground. If you cry out with such an earnest heart when you pray, you cannot have any idle thoughts or drowsiness. Thus, when you pray, I hope you will pray with all your heart and cry out with the determination that you will certainly meet God (Jeremiah 33:3).
3. You can meet God by praising with your heart
The living God is very pleased with praises. It is just as Psalm 69:30-31 says, "I will praise the name of God with song and magnify Him with thanksgiving. And it will please the LORD better than an ox or a young bull with horns and hoofs."
When His children lift Him up with beautiful praises, God's heart, eyes, and ears are set towards His children. This is the reason why we are filled with joy and emotions when we sing praises.
In the Bible, we can see that the fathers of faith also offered God praises from time to time. One of the most significant of these figures is David. David enjoyed singing praises when he was tending the flock alone or when he was offering sacrifices to God as the king. God loved David and was with him all the time in the praises.
The praise sung by David also contained the power of light. When David played the harp, the evil spirits that were afflicting Saul went away as described in 1 Samuel 16:23. In 2 Kings 3, Elisha was moved by God and received God's Word when the minstrel played. When we praise God's goodness, love, and power this way, He accepts our praise with joy and shows His abounding love back to us.
4. You can meet God by worshiping in spirit and truth
The forefathers of faith beginning with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Old Testament times communicated with God through sacrifices. King Solomon met and experienced God of wisdom from whom all blessings flow, by giving one thousand sacrifices. Those sacrifices are equivalent to the worship services in the New Testament era.
In John 4:24, Jesus says, "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." Simply stated, worshipping in spirit refers to a worship making the Word of God 'bread of life' in our hearts in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And, that in truth refers to a worship offered with a right understanding on God, with all our body, hearts, will, and dedication, and with love for God, and with joy, thanks, prayer, praise, deeds, and offerings.
Grace will come upon us from above when we worship with all our heart in spirit and truth. We will be overflowing with hope for Heaven, peace, and joy. This is the evidence that you have met God who is the source of life and peace. If we keep this kind of grace well in our lives, we can always feel God who is with us all the time. We can meet God every day.
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