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Whatever else may be said about this state of affairs, it certainly makes it possible to learn a great deal secondhand about the practice of Christianity. Moreover, if one has been given a good bump of common sense one may frequently be able to use this learning to help floundering Christians of less stable temperament to regain their footing and develop a sense of proportion about their troubles, and in this way one may gain for oneself a reputation for being quite a pastor.

Yet one can have all this and hardly know God at all.
–J. I. Packer

Dr. Packer makes a great point that with all the information available to us from the Bible to the mass of Christian literature in the bookstores to the tons of websites about God and Christianity we can obtain much learning about God and His Word. But just gaining head knowledge about God does not mean you “know” God and have a personal, intimate, saving relationship with Him. And that is what you need.

I can know a lot about the President without knowing him personally.
I can know a lot about past historical people without ever knowing them personally.
And I can know a lot about Jesus without knowing Him personally – without ever making Him my Savior and my Lord.

Make sure that you aren’t one who knows about God but who doesn’t actually know God.
Ask someone who you know has a relationship with Him about how to start your own personal relationship with Him.

Self-expression is inherent in the Godhead…
God is forever seeking to speak Himself out to His creation.
The whole Bible supports this idea.
God is speaking.
Not God spoke, but God is speaking.
He is, by His nature, continuously articulate.
He fills the world with His speaking voice.
–A. W. Tozer

Am I listening?
Are you?

God, give us ears to hear your voice, through our reading of the Word and through our observing your marvelous creation. Help us to not tune you out with all of the competing voices that are trying to take our attention from You today.

Prayer changes me because I am in His presence, and then I either begin to change my requests, or I become able to cope with my circumstances which may or may not change.
–Rosalind Rinker

The more time we spend in His Word and in prayer, the more we will discover the type of prayers that please Him most. Our prayers become less self-focused and become more focused on others. Our prayers become less focused on material needs and become more focused on spiritual needs. Our prayers become less focused on physical health and become more focused on those who are far from Christ. We begin to see with His eyes and allow our hearts to be broken over the things that break His heart.

So Keep praying.
Keep coming into His presence.
Keep allowing Him to change you into a more complete likeness of Christ.

Satan’s mission: keep lost people lost.
If he fails in that task in your life, he uses strategies to keep you ineffective in joining God’s mission:

Satan has a simple mission: to keep lost people lost. Among his numerous strategies, one of his favorites is to keep Christians convinced that ministry must be left to professionals. But to reach the nearly seven billion people on the planet with the gospel, Christ intends to use all believers in the work. Satan attempts to convince believers that only exceptional people used in exceptional ways will accomplish God’s mission. He would love for us to think that only the elite of leadership can be used in God’s mission to save souls. But God’s mission is for all Christians.
–Ed Stetzer & Thom Rainer

I hope that you haven’t bought into Satan’s lie.
I pray that today you will join God’s mission and be part of reaching this world with the good news of Jesus.
Pray that you will encounter someone today that needs to know Jesus.
Pray that God will use you as His hands, feet, and voice.
Pray that you can change your conversations today and use them to speak about Jesus.
Jesus wants to use you today in fulfilling His mission!

“Courses” are offered in this or that field of human learning frankly appealing to our desire to shine at a party. Books are sold, clothes and cosmetics are peddled by playing continually upon this desire to appear what we are not. Artificiality is one curse that will drop away the moment we kneel at Jesus’ feet and surrender ourselves to His meekness. Then we will not care what people think of us so long as God is pleased. Then what we are will be everything; what we appear will take its place far down the scale of interest for us.
–A. W. Tozer