To Know and to Experience GodНамуна

TO KNOW AND TO EXPERIENCE GOD THROUGH HIS WORD

INTRODUCTION

Knowing God is a lifelong process. As long as we are in this world, we will continue to experience walking with God. God is a person Who wants to be known by His people. Although our knowledge of Him is to the extent that God reveals Himself to man, but because of His great love He gives His Word to man and that is what we know as the Bible. 

The Bible is not a collection of information about human history alone, but the Bible is God’s voice that will remain relevant to humans throughout the ages. Did you know that the Bible is the best-selling book in the history of human life? The Protestant Mission Agency records at least 100 million Bibles sold annually around the world. Although the Bible has been tried several times to be eliminated, it never works. That’s how the power of God is so real that all men may know Him through His Word; “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” (Matthew 24:35).

The essence of the Christian life is the Word of God. No one is strong enough to face the pressures, struggles, and challenges of faith without the power of God’s Word. Parents teach the Word of God so their children have fear of God. Only through the Word of God can the young people be able to pursue the purpose of life in accordance to the will of God. Professionals, servants of God, even anyone, need the word of God to remain in the truth. This is the proof that God’s Word not only enables us to keep going but also enables us to know and understand the heart of God himself. 

SHARING

How does God’s Word work in the lives of believers? Here are four things that we will discuss at this meeting.

1. The Word of God teaches us

We all know that the learning process is never-ending. There is never the word stop to learning as long as we are still breathing. The God whom we worship too, He will always teach His children through His Word as long as we live. No one is an expert in studying God’s character. Everyone has his/her own experience of how God taught him His character. Do you believe that the Word of God that we read and meditate upon each day is able to teach us to love more, to forgive, to lean on, and hope in the Lord? If the answer is “yes”, then there is no word “finish” to this. If God’s Word reminds us daily to “do more”, it means He has not finished teaching us to be more like Him.

2. The Word of God rebukes us of wrongdoings

Parents, best friends, or spiritual leaders may have limited ability to uncover our ugliness or sins that we hide. Not so with the Word of God, its power able to penetrate men-made pride as written in Hebrew 4:12 “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” However, there is a great difference, the Word of God does not come with condemnations, but it comes with the love of God to bring us back to Him.

3. The Word of God corrects us

The next step after a reproof, the Word of God “corrects” our thoughts, feeling, and desires that are against God’s characters. The Word of God is able to change the quality of our words from harsh to gentle and edifying. It is able to change us from greedy to generous and is even able to change men’s selfishness into readiness to sacrifice and to love others. There is nothing that God cannot change as long as our response to His Word is right. For that, our part is to respond to God’s Word with the willingness to be molded by Him. Never harden our hearts.

4. The Word of God instructs us in righteousness

The purpose of the Word of God is instructing us in righteousness is none other than to equip us to do what is right. After the Word of God corrects our “inner being”, the next step is to show us how to take a step forward to go out and bless others with the right way of living. How do we know the right way of living? The answer is by the Word of God. It shows us

how to love one another, to forgive, to live honestly with integrity and humility in the marketplace and wherever God places us. Only the Word of God can be the “encyclopedia” of our lives, where we will find the absolute truths for our lives.

CLOSING

One way we can get to know God right and deeper is through the Scripture. The Word of God is like a compass that will show us the direction to take. If our goal is eternity with the Lord Jesus, then start loving the Word of God all the time. The Scripture will teach, rebuke, correct and instruct us in righteousness. If we long to know God, let’s start by loving His Word in our Bible now.