“For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12 KJV)
There are several ways people seek to know God, but there’s only one route which He established to knowing Him – through Jesus Christ.
When you know whom you have believed, you will never be carried away or distracted by those things that seek to confuse you about your knowledge of Him.
For instance, a lady who knows God won’t subscribe to a man’s insistence of having sex with him as proof of love outside marriage. When you know Him, no one’s threatening will sweep you off your feet because knowledge is power – conviction.
How can I know God?
You can know Him theoretically or experientially. Those who know Him by reading books will be learned, but they will never come to the knowledge of the Truth. The Truth is a person, not a piece of literature.
Meanwhile, to know Him experientially answers to having an intimate revelation of Him. Your revelation about God would translate into your knowledge of Him. Just like Apostle Paul, it is when you know God that you can believe in Him.
Many of us have been taught to believe in God by having a mental assertion that He exists. But the truth is that no one can teach you to know God except you encounter Him personally as you’re guided by the Holy Spirit.
To know God, you must have a series of encounters with Him that consolidated your knowledge about Him. Encounters could come through the word, dreams, visions, or real-life situations where what He did could have only been Him – without the influence of man even if a man would be used.
Abraham knew Him as Jehovah Jireh. Moses had his first encounter with Him at the burning bush. Joshua didn’t limit His knowledge to that of his experience following Moses, he encountered Him at the Wall of Jericho.
When last did you have an encounter with God that deepens your knowledge about Him?
I do not talk about angelic visitations that most young preachers teach, but an encounter with Him you had which transformed your life in no little way.
Do you know the God that you believe in, or your knowledge about Him is limited to what others said about Him?
The protocols of having personal encounters with God are faith (Heb. 11:6), trust (Prov. 3:5), prayer, accurate knowledge and application of His word, sacrifice; all done consistently, and with the right motive.
It is when you know whom you have believed that nothing can separate you from loving Him – not even life, death, or human threatening.
