How do I know God deeply
It is not difficult to know God if you are determined. When we talk of knowing God we are not talking of knowing about God. To know God is to have the same nature like Him. To know God is to have a life relationship with Him. To know God is to share the same Life with Him. God created man with His Life (eternal Life) when He breath His Life into him and man became a living soul, in the Image and Likeness of God. So man's nature and actions becomes like God.
God created man for His Glory. And to fulfill that purpose, He created man in His image and likeness. But how did He create man in His image and likeness? He breathed into him His own very Life, eternal Life. God created man primarily for His Glory, and we glorify God when we live for Him by doing His Will.
Eternal Life is all that man needs to be what God created him to be (image) and to do what he was created to do (likeness). Eternal Life is the source of all the Grace, Love, Faith, and all the Fruit of the Spirit; communicated to man by the Holy Spirit. So God is able to work in the man both to will and to do according to His Will. When Adam sinned man lost eternal Life. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to give back to man what Adam lost so that God be glorified.
When Adam sinned, he lost lost the Holy Spirit and disconnected from source of eternal Life. He became spiritually dead. He became a natural man. And a natural can not know God nor does His Will. The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so" (Romans 8:7)
John 10:10
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
To know God is to continue in this Life relationship with God whereby we have His mind and know His Will that we are to do from time to time on earth as it is in Heaven.
Our Lord Jesus tells us in John 17:3, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
No man is capable to know God by himself after the fall. It is God Who now reveals Himself to man. He reveals Himself to those who seek Him. And no man seeks God unless he knows that God exits and that he needs God. It is therefore begins by knowing that God exists.
No work of salvation can be done for any man who does not know that God exists, and that he needs God. Therefore God must first reveal Himself to man, and second make the man knows that he needs Him. This is what true salvation accomplish.
* You must ensure that you are truly saved before you even try to know God. Only true believers can know God.
It is only those who have been made to know that they need God that seeks God. To know God, you must seek Him. And no one seeks God who has not been made to know that he needs God. It’s only when God chooses to reveal Himself to us that the pieces begin to fall together as our eyes are opened to truth.
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Romans 3:11
There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
Firstly, He uses the knowledge about Him to draw man to true salvation. After true salvation, then, truly seeking God becomes possible.
A very important question is what do you need God for. This is the first mistake many people who claim to seek God make. Many are seeking God for wrong reasons. This is so because a natural man can not know why he needs God. This is the major difference between a true believer and a false Christian.
A true believer is the one to whom God has revealed Himself and reasons why he needs Him.
Many today seek God for what they want to get from God and not to know Him. They seek fulfillment. They seek pleasure. They seek escape from pain. But the pure motivation of seeking after God for Himself is absent.
It is not that God is elusive, but because people's minds are saturated with misconceptions and deceits planted by Satan and false preachers, and reinforced by the culture. But the good news is that these mistaken beliefs are done away with through the experiences of seeking God and coming to know Him.
* To be able to know God, make sure you are seeking Him for the right reasons.
And the reason is to receive eternal Life and be restored back to what God created you to be: for His Glory.
To know God, you have to diligently seek Him. You have to seek Him with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13 is a verse from the Bible in which God promises that those who seek Him with all their heart will find Him.
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
This verse teaches us that God is always available and willing to reveal Himself to those who seek Him with sincerity and dedication. It also reminds us that the pursuit of God requires a wholehearted commitment, and that a casual or half-hearted approach will not lead to a deep and meaningful relationship with Him. God assures us that if we seek Him with all out heart, we will find Him.
Furthermore, this verse also highlights the importance of seeking God's will and guidance in all aspects of our lives. By seeking Him with all our heart, we are acknowledging His sovereignty and authority over our lives and recognizing that we need His direction to navigate through the challenges and uncertainties of life.
In addition, this verse also implies that the pursuit of God is a continual process that requires effort and perseverance. It is not a one-time event or a fleeting emotion, but rather a daily commitment to seek God and to grow in our relationship with Him.
An important stage of knowing God deeply is to live for Him, doing His Will and bearing His Fruit. We increase in the knowledge of God and in eternal Life as we bear God's Fruit.
We are saved to bear God's Fruit. God is glorified when we bear His Fruit. He created us in Christ Jesus for good works (Eph 2:10). We bear fruit when Christ lives His life in and through us (Jn 15:5; Gal 2:20). The apostle Paul said, “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). The Lord wants us to live a godly and spiritually productive happy life.
Our Lord Jesus said, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” (Jn 15:8). That is the essence of God’s plan. But the only hindrance to bearing God's Fruit is the Flesh or Self. Self is our natural life. It is also called the "old man". Unless we die to Self we can not manifest God's Glory.
The individual who “dies to self” understands that God created him for a reason; that he's a part of God’s plan. To be used of God one must understand the essence of who he now really is, and the way it's that God can use him.
When we die to Self, we'll be able to obey God and do His will. Obedience isn’t easy. Sometimes our carnal mind doesn’t just like the idea of God having His way and us obeying it, it's the character of man to “want things to go his way.” When things don’t go as we planned, “it bothers us!” “it rubs us wrong!” “it makes us angry!”
The “dying to self” process (“denying self”) is a requirement of following Christ. “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” (Mt 16:24); He then went on to mention that “dying to self” is really a positive, not a negative: “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it!” (Mt 16:25). In dying to the self-life, we discover an “abundant life” by depending on God, who provides far more than we will imagine. Jesus put it this way: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the world and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn 12:24; Gal 5:22-23). part of the life we discover when we give our lives to Christ, is freedom from a life of self-obsession; intrinsically , we experience the enjoyment of Christ, and that we become more accepting, generous and loving of others. So once we die to self we put aside “our wants and desires” and instead concentrate on loving God and valuing others as highly as we value ourselves (Mt 22:37-39). This moves us faraway from “self-centeredness” and more open to being a follower of Christ who cares deeply for others. it's much easier to listen to the concerns, interests and desires of others (Phil 2:3-4) once we are not any longer addicted to our own interests.
* Finally if really want to know God deeply, must allow the Holy Spirit to guide you into all the truth.
Eternal Life does not occur automatically, there is process. First you must know the truth. Second you must obey the truth. It is then that the truth becomes eternal Life in you. But there is a rule to this process. You must allow the Holy Spirit to lead you into all the truth.
Holy Spirit takes one truth at a time to reveal to you and empowers you obey. However the choice to obey each truth is yours. Holy Spirit leads you into situations and circumstances where you obey the truth.
Every truth that you have to obey will cost you your natural life in the particular area of your life. You will have to show that you love God by choosing to crucify your Flesh, your own will for God.
For every truth you crucify your old man, the Flesh to obey, you gain eternal Life and know God more.
* Another mistake many people make here is that they do not allow the Holy Spirit to successfully lead them. They listen to all kinds of preachers who succeed in cancelling the ongoing conviction of the Holy Spirit concerning the truth. It takes some time for the Holy Spirit to guide you into each truth.
Choose carefully who you listen to. Always remember that Holy Spirit will not reveals any truth to you if your knowledge about the truth is incomplete. Another point is that the Holy Spirit leads each individual separately based on the purpose of God for their lives.
This space is too small to contain all that I want to say but give comments for further details of any area that you want and I will respond.
If really want to know all the truth about knowing God, get my book on "Knowing God".
God bless you.