Meet The Truth

Know & Find God – II

Author’s Note

Author’s Note: This post is the conclusion of last week’s by the same name.

Photo by Marta Nogueira on Pexels.com

Prayer Is Talking To God

Pray: Prayer is talking to God – a conversation with God. If you want to pray Psalms or Proverbs or prayers from a book, that is fine. But make sure to develop the habit of spontaneously opening your heart to God in Prayer. God is especially touched by your heartfelt outpouring. As you get used to praying and start realizing what an active part God is playing in your life, you will want to expand your prayer life to include the whole day. From that “Good Morning, God, I dedicate this day to You” to “Good Night, God, thank you for taking care of me today” and throughout the day, get in the habit of praying to God. God loves it when you talk to Him.

ACTS

A popular memory tool for people just starting out is the acronym ‘ACTS’: Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. So, you will start your Prayer time by Adoring God; repenting of your sins – being Contrite; giving Thanks to God and finally, asking for God’s help in a particular area making Supplication to Him.

Prayer Is Vital

It is vital that you Pray. Having a relationship with God or hoping to get close to God is impossible to imagine without Prayer. Once again, your heart and attitude are everything.

Meditation & Prayer Work Together

You will understand that spending time with God in meditation and prayer work together to help you know God more fully. The key to aligning your requests with God’s will is getting to know our heavenly Father’s character and priorities.

1 John 5:14-15

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”

Born With Soul, Conscience & Yearning for God

Human beings are born with a soul, a conscience and a yearning to worship God. The conscience enables us to know right from wrong, at a relatively early age and the yearning to worship God (Often referred to as a ‘God-hole’) helps to explain the false gods we tend to embrace – if we take our eye off the One True God.

Romans 1:20-21

 “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

Bible: The Inerrant Word Of God

The Holy Bible is God’s inerrant Word. The Bible is Absolute Truth. Almost everything we know about God comes from the Bible (remember the “God-Hole” we spoke of earlier?)

The Cross of Christ

God’s Plan To Redeem Us

From beginning to end, the Bible is about God’s plan to redeem us, to save us from our sins through the crucifixion, death and Resurrection of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Before God said “Let there be light,” He knew He would send His Son to rescue us.

Bible Reads Like A Political Thriller

Much of the Bible reads like a political thriller or a crime novel. The Bible has it all: Intrigue, sex, betrayal, treachery, good and bad guys, heroes and villains. What you learn pretty quickly is that the Biblical heroes were not perfect; most had moral issues. But each of them loved the Lord, repented of their sins and moved His plan along to the next generation.

Biblical Facts

Some facts about the Bible:

  1. The Bible was written over a period of about 1,500 years by over 40 authors.
  2. The Protestant Bible contains 66 books; 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament and has a total of 1,189 chapters.
  3. The Roman Catholic Bible contains 73 books; 46 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament and has a total of 1,334 chapters.
  4. For both Protestants and Roman Catholics, the New Testaments are the same (taking into account differences in versions: For example: The New King James Version vs. the New American Standard Bible.
  5. As this is being written, the entire Bible has been translated into over 700 languages and usually sells more than 100 million copies annually.
  6. In both the Protestant and the Roman Catholic Bibles, the Old Testaments contain over three and a half Chapters for each New Testament Chapter. I have heard many people say, “I do not read the Old Testament. It is not relevant.” I would dispute that.  The Old Testament is very important. It contains the story from Creation to Noah and the Great Flood; to Abraham and The Covenant God made with Abraham and His people. Old Testament Prophesies prove that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. From the very first book, Genesis, the Bible is pointing towards Jesus Christ and His death and Resurrection. If you do not read the Old Testament, you will miss much of what God has to say to you.

Read The Bible

I would encourage you to just get started reading the Bible. Say a little prayer before reading asking the Holy Spirit to help you understand what you are reading. Even if you only have a few minutes, you can get started and after a little practice you will begin to feel comfortable. There are many different Bibles available to you. I would recommend using the Bible you currently have at home. I personally like study bibles because they will sometimes help me to understand the material better. But remember, the comments or explanations are not inerrant–only God’s Words can be absolutely trusted.The References and Resources chapter of the book, The Truth About God: How To Find Joy and Peace will list some Bibles that I have used; there are many others. When you decide to buy a Bible, please make sure Jesus’ words are in red. You’ll find it very helpful. One more recommendation: Try to get in the habit of reading the Bible out loud (out loud, not necessarily loudly). I have found that vocalizing the reading helps my understanding and slows me down a bit.

Just Get Started

Where to start in the Bible? John’s Gospel is a good place to start. It is really up to you. Many people like to begin on page one and read all the way thorough; others like to jump around. Don’t forget the books of Psalms and Proverbs. The general theme of the former is Praise the Lord, while the latter is how to live a Godly, holy and satisfying life. All are important.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Seek God With A Pure Heart – You Will Find Him!

Do not get frustrated if your progress seems slow; it takes a lifetime to seek and know God.

God Loves You

In summarizing, you can know and find God, with almost immediate results, if in your heart, you are sincere.  Spend some quality time with the Lord, in Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving or Supplication. Read the Bible; use it as a self-help manual, learning how to tap into the inexhaustible supply of love from our heavenly Father.

1 John 4:7-11

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:7-11)

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Thanks for reading, T. C. Maloney

The End of Part II

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