Have you ever heard someone say, “Get to know Jesus it’ll change your life”, and wonder how the heck you get to know someone you cannot feel, see, smell, or audibly hear? It’s a relevant question. After all, if I told you I had a friend in Ohio that I wanted you to get to know, but didn’t share anything else about her, it would be ridiculous for me to assume you’d get to know her. That is exactly how rediculous it sounds to many who have never been taught how to get to know Christ.
Getting to know Christ Jesus goes far beyond saying a prayer of belief and receiving the guarantee of heaven. In terms of a regular friendship, that would equate to the handshake, introduction, and possibly a casual commitment to get together in the future. Getting to know Christ can, and will, far surpass your deepest relationships you have now. After all, He is God, what actually is He limited by? Yeah, nothing… So our ability, and how we create relationships certainly does not equate to God’s ability to create or deepen our relationship with Him. In other words, we do not have to be able to see, touch, feel, or audibly hear Him in order to know Him. Our limitations are not His!
Even though He is not limited by what we are limited to, developing a relationship with Him isn’t all that different than how we would develop a relationship with a friend. What I have discovered in my own life, and come to understand with others, is that the hangup isn’t really in the not seeing, feeling, smelling, or audibly hearing but in the investment. Face it, any relationship worth it’s weight is one that we’ve invested a lot of time into.
THE DESIRE
Every friendship begins with a desire to want to know someone more. If we lack this then we cannot go any further. If you don’t feel that you have much of a desire, then pray for it. Pray and ask God to give you a deep desire to know him more.
ASK HIM QUESTIONS
Spend time asking questions. When we met a new friend in school, we asked the silliest questions just to get to know them; favorite color, animal, food etc. I’m not suggesting that you ask Christ those thing (you can if you’d like) but ask Him questions that you might want to know about HIM!
BE A GOOD LISTENER
While asking Him questions, make sure you take the time to listen. I often write my questions (AKA prayers) in a journal, and then make sure I pause to listen for answers or inspiration. You may think at first it is just you, but with practice and TIME you’ll come to know a distinct difference between your voice in your head, and His voice in your head.
CHECK YOUR MAIL
Lastly, read the letters He wrote to you. You may be thinking, I didn’t get any letters from Him, but you have. They are contained in the Bible. The letters tell His bio, His desires, sorrows, joys, and everything He’s ever longed for. It’s like the parent who knows that they will not be around to influence their children’s upbringing, so they make a video diary of everything they can think about. The Bible is the Lord’s diary to us. You may be thinking… I’ve tried to read that thing, I don’t understand any of it! I know! I was the same way once, too. Before you begin, I encourage you to pray and ask the Lord to reveal something you never knew before. Oh, and don’t start in Genesis, the Bible isn’t in the order it was written, so don’t feel like you are under any obligation to read it book-by-book. Try starting in one of the Gospels in the New Testament; Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. Each one has a different take from the perspective of the writer. If you like a lot of love, start in John. If you want just the facts, consider Luke.
These are just some basic suggestions. Getting to know Christ is personal and there are so many ways to go about it. From sitting in the sun and saying absolutely nothing or listening to music that speaks of Him. Remember He is not limited, and knows exactly how to reach your heart. So ask Him for creative ways that you can get to know Him personally, because Jesus Christ has never been about a religion, Jesus Christ is about a relationship – His relationship with you!
I prayed about this last Sunday at church. I do believe that God is speaking to me through your blog. This is just a confirmation that He is inviting me over to know Him more!
I believe you might be right!
This was SO good! It is a great reminder for me to continue to ask Jesus questions about HIS heart… so that I can be more and more like Him. To walk in His Love. YAY Thank you!
Awesome! What a great reminder on how to have a fresh experience with God rather than let each day pass without Him in our life. In Francis Chan’s book Crazy Love, he talks about each time we come encounter God to ask and seek a new experience and a new revelation of who He is and not to get hung up on the experience we’ve had before that we cannot reproduce. Your blog today gives great examples of how to have that new experience, encounter, revelation and fall in love with Him over and over again.