Knowing about God and Knowing WHO God is - Section 1

This was inspired by notes I took from a sermon by Sadie Robertson and lots of bible studies.

There is a difference in knowing something and believing in something. Knowing something means to be familiar with it. Believing in something is a totally different aspect. You can know many things and be so familiar with it that it is just a fact to you. Believing in something means you accept that it is true. In the same way, lots of us do this with God. We think we know God because of the picture our society has created for what it looks like to live a Christian life. You can know stories in the bible, memorize verses, go to church often, and even be a great person, and still not know who God is. The reality is, the only way we can come to know who He is, is through relationship with Him. John 14:6 says, ''Jesus told them, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'' I think the reason so many people don't really come to know Christ is because they think they already know Him. Their lives may look similar to a person who actually knows Jesus, that they think they are saved too. The truth is, doing good things and following rules doesn't make us right with God. I once heard in a sermon ''your good deeds won't get you into heaven, and your bad deeds won't keep you out.'' If doing good things, being an overall good person, and knowing things about Jesus doesn't necessarily mean we know Him, then how do we come to know Him? We have to start a relationship with Him, and not only start one, but have a continuing relationship with Him. This starts by believing in our hearts that Jesus is Lord, accepting Him to come into our lives, and make us totally brand new. Romans 10:9 says, ''If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.'' It begins with giving our lives to Him. Now that we know it, now that we believe it, we have to realize who God is. Realizing something means to fulfill it. Sometimes we are so content with knowing it, but we don't care to fulfill it. You can know something, but it may have know affect on your life. It's just like another fact to you. When you realize something it can change your life. When you realize who God is, He will change your life. So why have we not come to the realization yet? You just have to realize who you already are. You're already loved. You're already seen. You already have a purpose. You are already all of these things not because of anything you've done or will do, but because of who you are and who you belong to. You belong to Jesus. He has already chosen you. You just have to realize it now. If realizing something means to fulfill it, then what does fulfill mean? The word fulfill means to step into reality. Jeremiah 29:11 says, ''If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.'' God has already chosen us. We have to be the ones who choose to follow him, and no one else can decide that for us. When you seek God, I promise you will find Him. You have to turn towards Him. You also have to cut things out. You have to cut out sin, and cut out anything that pulls you away from relationship with Jesus. "Why exactly do I have to cut things out for Jesus?'' "I thought Jesus died for me already, so why do I have to walk out of sin now?'' ... We walk away from our nature to be transformed to look more like Christ. God has no part with sin, and sin is what separates us from God.
You're only going to see it when you see Him. You're only going to hear it when you choose to listen to what God has to say. Your hearts only going to change when you allow Him to change it. It's when you come to know Him, believe it, and fulfill it.I recently saw this anonymous quote that said ''If your experiences with Christianity has left you with more guilt and less joy, then you found religion, not Jesus.'' Man made religion is about what you can do for God. Jesus is about what He can do for you. That is the beautiful concept of it all. It's not about what we've done, but what He has done. The only way of coming to know Jesus is to start and continue a relationship with Him, and living a life for Him, not for ourselves.
"He must become greater and greater; I must become less and less.'' - John 3:30

A Cry For My Generation

Hey blog. This is Gracie and I just wanted to explain what the next few posts on my blog will be. Last summer I attended a church camp called Passage. Passage is not like any regular summer camp. In fact, it was different than any camp I have gone to. Passage is a youth and theology camp I had the chance to get accepted into. It is different because it's not just a camp you go to for a week, but it is a year long commitment. One of the requirements is to put together a little service project to benefit your community using your talents or passions. One thing I am very passionate about is writing, and I know I want to use that passion to reach others. For the past year I have been writing and working on a little book/devotional that I was planning to make into an actual booklet and pass out to my school and youth group. Due to the world's circumstances, it is unsafe for me to do so. Luckily, I have a blog I share my writings on, so the next coming posts will be what I would have put in the booklet. I wanted to hand out this booklet to teens in my community to reach others to give an understanding of who God is. Passage has really opened my eyes and given me a better understanding of who God is, so I would love for not only my community, but my generation specifically to have that understanding as well. Sadly, I cannot create and pass out the booklet for my community, but on the positive note I can post it to this blog for not only my community, but anyone online. Anyways, stay tuned for the next coming posts.  I'm very excited to share my message, "A Cry For My Generation.''

Forever Thank you to Passage for giving me this small opportunity to do big things.
- Grace