One of the most important goals of a Christian is getting to know our Heavenly Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. When we learn about His Character and His Attributes and use them as a source and model for our own lives, we can live as successful Christians.

The Lord is reachable to all that call upon Him and have a desire to get to know Him. He is the one true Living God that has made provisions for His creation to fellowship with Him through Jesus Christ. Our Heavenly Father is the Creator of the universe and the Creator of mankind. Our Father wants to be so involved with His creation that He sent His Only Son Jesus Christ to make sure that He would not be separated from us. That is how much He loves us.

Everything we need is in Him. He does not look at our failures, weaknesses or our insecurities. He sees us through the eyes of Jesus, created in His image and likeness. Yes, He is interested in our lives while we are here on earth, but His ultimate intent is that we spend eternity with Him. Everyone is going to live forever, whether heaven or hell, but through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our eternity in heaven has been sealed.

Almighty God gives us the opportunity to become acquainted with Him through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. According to Isaiah 43:7 we were created for His glory. He desires a relationship with us.

The greatest times you will ever have are times spent fellowshipping with God. As we fellowship with Him, He will reveal Himself to us. It is a privilege to enter communion with the Almighty and All Powerful. We need to take advantage of that privilege. It is Our Father’s desire that we do so.

As we become acquainted with Him, we take on His Character. To become acquainted with someone we must spend time with them. We listen to them, talk to them and begin to understand them. God has made that available to us through Jesus Christ. As we spend time with Our Father our focus will shift from self-centered to Christ centered. As we grow spiritually, the love in our heart grows. Once you start getting to know the Father, you will be more concerned about others than about yourself.

The fruit of our relationship with God will become apparent in our thoughts, words and deeds. Everything about us will draw attention to us and cause others to say, “I want what that person has”, or “that person is different.” Our lives should be able to minister. Our lifestyle should be one of excellence, showing off the Christ that lives within us. Ephesians 5:1 literally tells us to be imitators of God. In order to imitate God, we must talk and act like God.

Our lives should be able to establish the truth of what we minister. We cannot minister what we don’t know or what we don’t have. We cannot share the love of Jesus effectively if our relationship with the Father is lacking. Ministering the life of God flowing from us, will change a person’s life.

We get to know God the Father by learning His Character. We get to know Him by spending time with Him. When a child spends time with his mother or father, he picks up some of the same characteristics of his parents. Soon the child will take on some of the same likes or dislikes of those parents. As we become intimate with our God and Father, we will experience His Character. That experience will challenge us to live a life reflecting His excellence.

We need to fellowship with God, receive His love and draw from His strength. The desire of God’s heart is to bless us. But how can He bless us if we don’t know Him? Make it a priority to fellowship with Him as soon as you wake up in the morning. Set your alarm a little earlier so you won’t be rushed. Then you can spend quality time with Him. Put away all distractions and focus on your time with your Creator. Be determined that nothing is going to stop you. Dedicate your day to Him and seek His wisdom for it. As you continue to include Him in all that you do, from morning to night, you will see your character refined. You will be propelled to a life of excellence.

Pressing in to Know the Lord Through Praise

One of the ways to please our Heavenly Father is through fellowship with Him. One of the ways to get into God’s presence is through praise.

1 Thessalonians 5:16 “Rejoice always.”

Psalm 32:11 “Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones, and shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.”

Psalm 33:1 “Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones; praise is becoming to the upright.”

Psalm 98:4 “Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.”

Start your day with rejoicing. Praise Him. Sing. Shout. Praise Him for His loving kindness, mercy and faithfulness. As we praise Him, we proclaim His worth to us.

“Praise” translated in Latin means “value”. How much we value God is how much we praise Him.

God ordained praise to stop Satan in His tracks.

Psalm 8:1-2 “O Lord our Lord how majestic is Thy name in all the earth. Who has set Thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes, Thou hast established strength because of Thine adversaries, to make the enemy and the revengeful cease.”

Praise stills the enemy from working against you. Your praise brings God on the spot. It will manifest His presence and bind the enemy. In the Old Testament, whenever there was trouble, the priests would offer sacrifices to God and He would deliver them from the enemy. Because we are now New Testament saints, Jesus already offered the ultimate blood sacrifice, so no sacrifice can be offered. According to Hebrews 13:15, as priests today, we offer up a sacrifice of praise.

God is always worthy of our praise. If this is something you are not familiar with, start reading the Psalms aloud. The Psalms declare God’s great and mighty works and praise Him for all that He is. As long as you desire to praise Him, and your heart is open, God will perfect your praise.

God is omnipresent so His presence is everywhere. Because of the blood of Jesus and our salvation, we can access and manifest God’s presence by praising Him. He inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3).

What you praise God as, He will manifest Himself as. If you praise Him as the Healer, He will manifest healing. If you praise Him as your Provider, He will manifest provision. Praise Him as your Savior, He will manifest salvation. When you are worried or discouraged, Praise Him!

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In all things rejoice for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.”

God desires to manifest His presence in our daily life and have intimate fellowship with us. He allows us the privilege of initiating it. God is not looking for praise to lord it over us. He does not need our praise, but praising Him allows Him to be our very present help in times of trouble.

Pressing In To Know the Lord Through His Word

We get to know our Father through His Word. His Word is our contact with Him. It is the integrity of God Himself. It proves to us that He loves us as much as He loves Jesus. The Word is God speaking to us. God and His Word are one. Jesus is the Word; He is the Living Word. Read it, meditate it. Live it. Let it dominate you.

We must let the Word find a place in us so it can correct, teach and admonish us. Let it abide in us, as we are instructed in John 15:7. When the Word abides in us, we can speak it and watch it manifest. Just as Jesus represents the Father, we can now represent Jesus who is the Living Word. The Word is God’s wisdom and as we act on it, trust it, and live it, it will encourage us, empower us, train us, and equip us.

Acts 20:32 “And now I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

Every time we read the Word of God, we find something new to increase us.

God told Joshua:

Joshua 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your ways prosperous, and then you will have success.”

The victories Joshua and the people of Israel had over the enemies came from God and the relationship Joshua had with Him and Israel’s obedience to God’s Word. He was instructed to meditate on the Word. As Joshua walked in obedience to that instruction, he was able to make the wise decisions he needed to be successful.

Keep God’s Word in the center of your heart. From your heart flows His Word that brings life to whoever hears it. It is life and healing to our flesh.

Psalm 107:20 “He sent His Word and healed them.”

Proverbs 4:20-23 “Son give attention to my words, incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight, keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their whole body. Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.”

Give God’s Word first place. Get it into your heart and set yourself in agreement with it regarding all circumstances or situations.

Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

When there is an absence of Word, there is an absence of faith. Satan’s words, or words of unbelief will produce fear in our heart. However, God’s Word produces faith in our heart and fellowship with Him will manifest it.

Change your words to God’s words. Many Christians are defeated in life because of the way they are believing and saying the wrong things. Fear filled words will defeat us while words of faith will deliver us. We must train ourselves to speak God’s words.

If we examine Jesus’ life we see He always spoke what God said. He also used the Word against Satan to defeat him. It is the Word of God that will renew our mind and only the renewed mind will have us speak God’s Word. The unrenewed mind will be in doubt and fear. Our minds are renewed not only by studying the Word, but acting upon it.

James 1:23 “But prove yourselves doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves, for if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror.”

Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Clothe yourself in the Word because it is taking in the very life of God. Whatever is in our heart will come out in words. Whatever is in our thought life, will come out in words. What comes from the mouth comes from the heart. And what comes from the heart comes from the mind. So, fill your mind with the right things, with God’s things.

You will know people and their position with God by what comes forth from their mouth. Matthew 12:36 tells us that God will call every person to account for every idle word they spoke.

How many times have you spoken failure into your life or defeat into your children’s lives? Regardless of the situation or circumstance and despite what you see or do not see, choose to speak God’s words. Words of faith.

I choose to speak and think God’s Word. God’s Word says I am healed and delivered. His Word tells me that I am more than a conqueror, able to do all things. The Word sets me free, liberates me. It tells me that I am delivered from the evils of this present world. It tells me that no evil will befall me and that I am far from oppression. It tells me that I am an overcomer. And it tells you that too.

Isaiah 55:11 “So shall My Word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

God never changes and neither does the Word.

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.”

He sent His Word to heal us, deliver us, save us. He sent us Jesus.

Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth shall pass away but My words shall not pass away.”

God sees us through the eyes of Jesus and what Jesus accomplished at the Cross. His love is unconditional. His Word is consistent. You will never find Him saying one thing and then something contrary to it. You can believe His Word because the Word is Who He is. Get to know Him through His Word; get to know yourself through His Word.

It is time we see ourselves as God sees us. We will never know what God thinks of us and how He sees us until we read and study the Word.

God sees the end result. If we allow His Word to penetrate our hearts and minds, we will see that same end result, which is victory in Jesus.