Joy of Knowing God

 

    You can find joy in knowing God for infinite reasons, but one is that He challenges the way His children think.  He shows you our deficiencies, so you can see how much you need Him.  It is easy to be like everyone else.  It takes faith and work to be different.

    Human nature is strong.  It is something that you need to resist and fight everyday to live a joy filled life.  If you allow the negativity a foothold, then it will consume you.  It will eat away at your joy until it is gone.  

    Joy is a gift from God, so of course the closer you get to Him the more joy you can have.  Unlike the world, God doesn't have strings attached to His gifts.  You accept them or reject them.  It is all up to you.  It is great that you have the free will to choose every day how your day will be.

    When you choose to follow Jesus and live a Spirit filled life, then you choosing to change your human nature to a spiritual nature.  This transforms you in ways that only God can do.  It makes your more alive, passionate, and joyful.  Your past is your past.  It is what you do today that matters.  

    The joy of knowing God is learning to think like God.  He will always be a mystery in certain things, but He gave you the Bible so you can know Him, His clear boundaries, and His love for you.  The more you invest into Him, the more you will start thinking like Him.  You stop and think through things before reacting to life.  Your desire to live for Him become a priority.  

    God is the perfect creator.  He made you to be perfect, but you will never achieve that without Him.  The world has too much of a stronghold on you.  You live a joy filled life and then when you get to your eternal body, you can experience perfection for the first time.  You need God.  He doesn't need you.  He just wants you as His beloved creation.

    Your joy will become strong and true as you mature in your relationship with God.  You can trust that because God never lies to you.  He wants you to have a holy character that is strong and does not fear to really live.  When you do, then you reflect God to the world: true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and good.  

Psalm 16:9-11, Jeremiah 9:23-24, John 17:1-5, 2 Corinthians 2:14-16, Philippians 2:5-8, & 1 Peter 1:3-9