Knowing God

Good Morning,

1 John 1:1-4 (NIV)
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.

I read these verses and my mind wished that I had been able to have actually seen, heard, and touched Jesus Christ as John did and wrote about.

You know what?...I do! Although you and I have not been able to physically do these things as John and the other Apostles did when Jesus was with them, we...yes, you and I...have had the experience of meeting Jesus Christ and in knowing the Lord each in our own time and place.

Our spirits and our hearts know God. We who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior have a personal relationship with Him and we are, truly, able to see Him, in our minds eye, and to hear Him, as He speaks to us in so many ways, and to touch Him when we accept His body and blood in the Eucherist, the Lord's supper. Yes, each of us has had the honor and priviledge of knowing Jesus even as those who walked with Him knew Him. Differently? Yes. The same? In many ways. As importantly? Oh, that is a certainty.

Now, as we read the other words that John wrote down, we see that he "proclaims to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ." Just as John proclaims these things, it is also our responsibility to do the same and to proclaim to the world our knowledge and relationship with the living Lord God of the universe. And, just as it did John, this proclaiming of Jesus Christ to the lost should "make our joy complete."

Sometimes we sort of miss things when we read the Bible. We do that because we don't spend the time and effort to contemplate and meditate upon what God has set down for us through the prophets and those He chose to write the words we have been given. I missed, on first reading, what God was speaking to me...and to you?...today. We've got to stop doing that, you know? Just reading and not letting God speak to us through what we've read.

Yes, each of us has experienced God in our own, personal way. We know Him as He would have us to know Him. We hear Him when we take the time to listen to Him. We see Him in many ways. We touch Him as He wants us to do.

Glory to God!

Love, peace, and blessings,

David