Only Through Experience - Henry and Richard Blackaby

Henry Blackaby and Richard Blackaby in,  "experiencing God"

John 17:25  O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.

Scripture is filled with descriptions of God's character. You can read these accounts and believe them to be true about God. Yet God does not merely want you to read about Him, He wants you to know Him.

For the Greek, to know something meant you understood a concept in your mind. It was an academic process. In contrast, for a Hebrew person-like Jesus-knowing something entailed experiencing it. In fact, you could not truly say you knew something unless you had dealt with it personally. So, it is significant that, when Jesus spoke about knowing God, He was speaking as a Hebrew.

When Jesus said eternal life is knowing God-including God the Son, Jesus Christ-He did not mean that eternal life is knowing about God. He was not referring to someone who has read many books and attended numerous seminars about God. He was talking about a firsthand, experiential knowledge. We come to truly know God as we experience Him in and around our lives.

Many people have grown up attending church and hearing about God all their lives, but they do not have a personal, dynamic, growing relationship with God.  They never hear His voice. They have no idea what God's will is. They do not encounter His love firsthand. They have no sense of divine purpose for their lives. They may know a lot about God, but they don't really know Him.

Merely knowing about God will leave you unsatisfied. Truly knowing God comes only through experiencing as He reveals Himself to you through His word and as you relate to Him. Throughout the Bible we can see that God took the initiative to disclose Himself to people through their life events.

Taken from the book  "How Great Is Our God" by NavPress (Discipleship inside out)
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