5 ways to experience God in person

Knowing about God and knowing God are two very different things.  To know about God is to be able to gather information relative to a "non relationship" with God.  Knowing God comes from the place of a personal and experiential relationship with the Creator of all.  It is not based solely on experience as that can be prone to subjective interpretation.  It is however based on someone who has "been with" God and who's life can give testimony to God's transforming power as expressed through scripture and the life of Jesus Christ.

So how can you KNOW God and not just know about Him?  I'll give you 5 places to start...
  
1)  In the scriptures -  There is no better place to discover who God is then in His Word, the Bible.  Regular time of reading and reflection in God's Word will bring a deeper understanding and knowing of the God who made you.  One place to find some great Bible reading plans is www.youversion.com 

2)  In helping someone else - Jesus Christ came to this earth to give his life away. Why should we expect anything less?  To know God is to meet needs in God's humanity.  If you are focusing on yourself then you are not focusing on God.  Find someone in need and help them.  You will know God is a deeper way.


3)  In the quiet - Make a regular part of your day to find a quiet uninterrupted time to sit quietly and listen.  It can be as little as 5 minutes. No reading, no talking.  Just a time of quiet and listening to the God who made you.  So what does He sound like?  Keeping listening and you'll know. 

4)  In a church - Now I don't mean a building.  That is not the church.  I mean be a part of a group of devoted followers of Jesus Christ committed to each other.  It is only in the context of community can you know God and grow in your relationship to Him.  Ask God to lead you to the group he wants you.  Also, don't let past hurts keep you from being a part of the body of Christ.

5)  In time's of suffering - It is these times that God seems the farthest but during these times He is truly the closest.  Joni Erickson Tadi, who has been in a wheel chair as a quadriplegic for over 40 years, shares each day as she wakes, "Oh, God.  Not another day of quadriplegia, of chronic pain, of someone else bathing me, of getting strapped into a corset.  Oh, God, please help me."  Joni then relates how grateful she is that her suffering has taught her to be dependent on the God who loves her.  In this she experiences His great grace and can give it greatly to others.


Though these 5 are not exhaustive or in order of priority, perhaps they can be a start for you to begin or grow in a relationship with God.  Cross Your Rubicon and know the God who made you!