July 17, 2024 / Connected To God

Hey, Calvary Fremont –

This question came in: “I don’t know how to feel connected with God. I struggle with the fear that my relationship with God and Jesus is more intellectual than relational. I just don’t want to know about God – I want to know God.”

First of all, this question masks a spiritual maturity of which you are not even aware. For someone to cry out, “I want to know God,” reveals that they have a spiritual consciousness that the most seasoned saints down through the ages have had. To cry out, “I want to know God,” shows that you know that there is wheat and chaff in spiritual life. It points to the fact that you’ve come to some dead ends in your spiritual life that have proven less than fruitful. The question you ask reveals that you are well on your way to knowing God and not just knowing about God.

This question resonates with a lot of people. It’s a great question that addresses a real desire and a real dilemma. Some pulpits are like seminaries that churn out theological content with the purpose of bringing you into agreement with their doctrinal vision. This informs your mind but doesn’t nurture your faith. Some pulpits churn out ‘chicken-soup-for-the-soul’ kind of stuff. This comforts your emotions but doesn’t nurture your faith. Some pulpits focus on storytelling meant to encourage and exhort you. This can enthuse you for a while but doesn’t nurture your faith. Then of course there are those pulpits that churn out the ‘God wants you to be rich and successful’ nonsense. This can feed your greed but can’t feed your faith. The seminary pulpit, the soup pulpit, the story-telling pulpit, and the success pulpit cannot bring you to deeply know God.

“How can I know God?” I’ll draw your attention to a trio of verses in the Gospel of John –

IF YOU LOVE ME, YOU WILL KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS. JOHN 14:15

HE WHO HAS MY COMMANDMENTS AND KEEPS THEM IS THE ONE WHO LOVES ME; AND HE WHO LOVES ME WILL BE LOVED BY MY FATHER, AND I WILL LOVE HIM AND WILL DISCLOSE MYSELF TO HIM. JOHN 14:21

IF YOU KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS, YOU WILL ABIDE IN MY LOVE; JUST AS I HAVE KEPT MY FATHER’S COMMANDMENTS AND ABIDE IN HIS LOVE. JOHN 15:21

Obedience to the authority of Christ is the pathway to knowing God. Right before He ascended, Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations – baptizing them and teaching them to observe everything He had taught them. The Church is to go into all the world and instruct everyone to submit to God’s authority. The Church is to teach obedience to the commands of Christ. Baptism is initiation into the Faith and obedience to Christ is continuation into the Faith.

You cannot know God if you don’t obey Jesus Christ. If you love Jesus, you will obey Him. Your obedience to Christ demonstrates that you love Him. The greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. To love God is to know Him. To know God is to love Him. “How can I know God?” Keep the commands of Jesus. “How do I love God?” Keep the commandments of Jesus.

“How can I know God?” Spiritual maturity and reality of faith are measured by depth of obedience and not strength of feeling or extent of knowledge or measure of enthusiasm or amount of prosperity. To obey the commands of Christ demonstrates that you love Jesus and know God.

Be blessed and stay healthy and obey Jesus – Pastor Tim