4 Questions

Do you ever feel like you are alone in your relationship with God? It's like you have to conjure up his presence in your own mind? Well, the first 4 years of my Christian walk I felt this way more often than not. I remember journaling prayers and striking up revelations that made me feel more spiritual. I began to ask myself questions, have I ever felt the presence of God? Would I recognize him if he walked into a room? I know that it isn't religion, but a relationship. I knew that, but I was missing something. 

Here are 4 questions helped me better understand what I was missing:

1. Have I met God?
Draw near to him. James 4:8

I meet people all the time. Most of the time, I hear about them from someone else before meeting them. They tell me how they know this person, what their relationship is like with them, where that person spends their time, etc. It wasn't until I reached my (figurative) hand out to meet them that I can say I even made my acquaintance with them. So many times we mistake meeting God with hearing about him from others that know him. Have you ever reached your hand out and made your acquaintance with God? 

Hard: I got to a point in my life that I was rejecting every attempt God made to reach me that I had no discernment of his voice. One evening when I was 14, as an un-follower of Jesus I was wrestling with the Lord and I was convinced that the next song on the radio would apply to my walk with the Lord. Divinely, the song was, "If you don't know me by now, you will never ever know me." by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. If you are in a spiritual saturated environment like I was growing up, maybe you are not recognizing the Lord's attempts to your heart and you need to ask him to soften your heart and give you ears to hear his voice. This was definitely the case for me.
Soft: If this isn't you, then remember the words in Revelation 3:20 that says, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."

2. Do I really know God?
In all ways know him. Proverbs 3:6

Lean not on your own understanding but in all ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. Acknowledging him does not mean you just throw his name on your situation. It means you KNOW his heart for you! You know what his plans are for his children. In order to take captive all your thoughts and make it obedient to Christ, we must KNOW him. If you read in his word you'll see that he freely offers us love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. His perfect love is unconditional and freely given. In order to identify experiencing the Lord in our lives, we must know him and his character on a personal level.

3. Do I love God?
Love the Lord your God. Luke 10:27

"Jesus loves you" is one of the most used sayings, but what does it even mean? I was a surrendered follower of Jesus for almost 5 years before I felt comfortable saying that I love the Lord or Jesus. It never felt real because I saw how my affection was going to everything and everyone else other than Jesus. I am the kind of person that doesn't keep quiet about the latest fad. Whatever music I am listening to will be heard by nearly everyone that I come in contact with. We are all promoting something, I just never understood why it was so difficult for me to promote Jesus. Because I didn't know or love him. Through this conviction I asked the Lord to give me a heart to know his word. Within the next 6 months, I learned so much about him through scripture and I came to realize that the heart of the Father is to empower us to live a fuller life in him. Once I started to understand this, I began to entrust him with more of my heart, thoughts, and dreams. He then began to be the desire of my heart. Above everything else, I want him. This was when I knew that cupid's arrow had struck me and I was falling in love with my creator.

4. What sacrifices am I making for God? 
Cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7

Be careful with this one. Making sacrifices to/for someone in hopes that you will receive their love in return is not a genuine love offering. As long as we try to add to the finished work of Jesus' death, we will be toiling in vain! This is a good measure of where your heart is in your relationship with the Lord. Do not confuse it as a list of things to DO, see this as a measuring stick of where your heart is. If you do not feel like these things are being offered to the Lord go back to the first few series of questions and ask the Lord to reveal himself to you. If you have truly experienced the love of God, you will never be the same again. And though there will definitely be times where you discipline yourself to do these things, if you know the love of Christ ultimately it will feel like an honor to be able to sacrifice ourselves for his sake.

Measuring stick of the heart's desire:

• Treasures- Where do I put my finances? Am I giving him my first fruits?
• Time- How much time to I spend Up (with him), In (with other believers), Out (serving non-believers)
• Talents- Whose kingdom am I seeking to build with these God-given abilities?