Knowing God Personally
What does it mean to have a personal relationship with God? Who or what is God anyway? How can a person have a relationship with someone or something that is invisible, intangible, inaccessible, and possibly unreal? Is God the “Force” that Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars says is: “an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.”? According to the Bible, God does bind the galaxy together through His Son Jesus Christ, see: Colossians 1:17 “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
It is true that the doctrine of Hell has been preached about in the past by "fire and brimstone" preachers to scare people into "getting saved". This has caused many to believe that accepting Jesus is some sort of fire insurance, but that's not the point. The point of salvation is to restore people's broken relationship with God. If people will admit it, they sometimes feel real guilt over things they have done or are doing that violate God's rules (the 10 commandments).
Terrible, tragic things happen to good people all the time. Innocent people are killed in car accidents, wars, weather disasters, and hate crimes. When I hear of these things happening, it does seem as if God is far away and doesn't care about people at all. It seems most unfair when these things happen to people who are dedicated to Him and try to live according to His Word.
I heard a sermon once that stressed the fact that if we truly love people we will be compelled by our conscience to tell them about the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I do feel this way, but I wonder what it looks like to actually do it. I would like to start sharing my faith more, so I started looking around for tips on how to do it.
