Ruachology Part 3
So...How do I get to know the Holy Spirit of God.
We can do the thing that most people in our culture do when the want to get to know someone. Well..someone famous. God is after all the most famous being in all of creation. People try to seek God, and want to find out about Him but, interestingly in our non-supernatural culture, if you say that God speaks to you, people become suspect, even leery. Unless, of course, you are a psychologist or psychiatrist, then the person who hears God becomes interesting, and usually, a patient. Sorry off the subject.
So how do most people in our culture get to know someone famous. They read of course! Lets see... there is US, People, In-Touch, National Inquirer and a whole host of other magazines dedicated to bringing us an endless stream of a personal look into the lives of famous people. We see their lives on display down to the smallest detail and a lot of times TMI detail. Then there are the TV interviews, Facebook, Twitter, Insta-everything and on at nausea. We can know everything about someone and yet at the same time we really do not know them. You may know all the details, of every aspect, of your most favorite famous persons life, and be able, at a moments notice, to tell those details to anyone who cares to listen. But think about this, if your favorite celebrity was walking down the street and ran into you, would they know you? Would there be a big hug and a long conversation like that of a friend that we have not seen in months? Obviously no. Where am I going with this? I think that too often we do the same thing to God. He is, after all, the most famous celebrity in the world. So how do we get to know Him? Well, we read of course. We start with HIS book. But shortly after we start there we get discouraged, for a variety of reasons. Probably, most likely, because we don't understand HIS book. So we turn to those we think do understand and we read on. The apostle John was right when he said that 'all the books in the world'. There is and endless stream of books, magazines, articles, TV, movies, and so on, about the subject of God or His interaction with humans. If we could possibly read all that is out there would we really be any closer to knowing God? Would He know us? If He passed on the street would we recognize Him? And if we did recognize Him and approached him would He recognize us? Beyond the all knowing aspect of recognition. No wonder some day Jesus will hear people say 'Lord we did all these wonderful deeds in you name!' and He will say,'I never knew you'.
Or, we can get to know God, like we would a person that we meet, and become friends with, in our daily lives. Meeting with them, talking to them, interacting with them, doing things with them. Laughing with them, crying with them, mourning with them, rejoicing with them. Have a cup of coffee. We drink the coffee of course, not God. There is, after all, a warning about strong drink in the Bible. And YES of course we can read! We love to read the things that our friends write. It is another way to get to know them better. But who would substitute a book about a person for the time to spend with that person.
I want to be clear about this. I am not saying that we do not need the Scriptures. We really need them. They are eternal because they are the WORD of God. But they are not they only thing, and I don't believe that God intended them to be the only thing. I love the Scriptures because I have gotten to know this God I serve better by reading them. I love the writings of others as they expound and teach the Scripture and give a clear understanding of their meaning. I love the writings of still others as the tell of their personal experiences with this supernatural, awe inspiring God. But I really love my own personal one on one time with God. He is not just the creator of the universe, He is MY Father. He is my friend, lover, confident, counselor and mentor. And I get to spend time with Him at any time! Some of my most intimate moments with God are when I sing about Him and raise my voice in praise. I think there is something written about Him inhabiting the praises of His people. That's why I believe that music is such a powerful medium and voice for the Lord. And the last thing in this entry is, the Holy Spirit resides within those who trust Jesus and believe Him. So He is always with us, always listening, always whispering, always directing us into a more personal walk with God. What an amazing God we serve!
