Whenever a person gets a revelation of Jesus Christ, with it comes the revelation of who they are in Him. This is accomplished only by the Holy Spirit and not religious practices, for the latter only heightens our awareness of who we are without Him.
Religion accultures us with viewing God as a set of standards rather than a person; marrying us to doctrines of God without knowing Him. God’s chief command is not to obey a set of rules, but to love Him and know Him, for that is what drives and empowers us to obey Him.
John Piper once asseverated that, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” This is a direct result of intimacy with Christ.
In Acts 9 we are given the story of Saul’s conversion, as he was previously known before becoming the apostle Paul. He receives permission from the high priest to arrest any Christian in Damascus and bring them to Jerusalem. It’s imperative to note that Paul did not do this because he hated God, but rather, because he was zealous for God and thought he was pleasing Him.
On his way there, the very God whom he was seeking to please appears to him in the sky and Paul’s first words to Him are astounding. He asks, “who are you, Lord?” (Acts 9:5).
In John 16:2-3, Jesus warned his disciples that, “the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.” Jesus was literally describing Paul’s situation.
We will never be able to serve God effectively without knowing Him intimately.
As we can clearly see in Paul’s case, it is possible to be zealous for God without having the knowledge of God (Romans 10:2), and it is futile to serve God without knowing Him.
Brothers and sisters, God’s biggest cry to His children is to draw close to Him, and after having done so, we must draw closer still. There are so many voices in our culture today trying to take our attention, but there is only one voice we must follow.
There were many times when Jesus dismissed the multitudes to be alone with God, yet we often dismiss God to be with the multitudes. It is so easy as believers to seek to live our lives for Him without drawing life from Him, but God is calling us back to daily fellowship with Him.
This is done in private stillness before Him and God will keep us in perfect peace when our minds are stayed on Him (Isaiah 26:3), yet this experience is so rare because scattered minds are so common.
If we do not withdraw with Him, then we will soon withdraw from Him. Dismiss the voice that says you are not good enough to spend time with God, because if we could meet the standards of God apart from God then we wouldn’t need God.
Therefore, be encouraged knowing that God happily waits for you in the secret place to reveal Himself as your strength, your peace, and everything you need Him to be.
My name is Samuel Zelleke and I was born and raised in Dallas, Texas in a pastor’s home. It taught me that I can’t have a relationship with God through another person, hence the desire to see others experience Him directly.
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