Courtney Gilmore Yada – the Hebrew word for knowing by seeing, observation, experience, perceiving
There are various responses we could give when asked if we know someone. We might say, “I know of them, but I don’t really know them.” Or maybe they are an acquaintance, but that’s about all. Then you have people that you know from work or school. You are around them every day, but you don’t hang out with them outside of your designated place to see each other. Or this person could be your friend. But, even with friends, there are different degrees of closeness.
So, if someone were to ask you if you know God, what would you say? Is He someone you just know about? Or maybe He is just an acquaintance, someone you’ve been around often but you still don’t really know? Hopefully He is your friend? But if so, then how close are you? Do you see each other only when you’re out with a group, or do just the two of you hang out together? How often do you talk? Are your conversations purely surface-level, or do you tell Him personal things? Do you feel comfortable enough to ask Him questions or to do things for you? Do you trust Him?
Choosing Him
The first generation of Israelites to leave Egypt never really learned to trust God. They had lived most of their lives under another master and never completely submitted to the Lord. The Pharaoh forced them into obedience, yet God gave them a choice. Faced with a new way of making decisions, they never seemed to make the right ones. Ultimately, they turned down their inheritance out of fear and distrust. Because of their lack of faith, they were sentenced to a lifetime of wandering in the wilderness without any real place to call their own.
Their children were very different. They had known God most, if not all, of their lives. They watched while their fathers’ distrust cost them everything. But through that, they learned to rely on God for everything, even their daily bread. Since they lived in a desert, God provided sweet bread for them every morning when the dew lifted, and He led them to water. The Lord preserved their lives and met their every need.
After their fathers died, they were determined to follow God and not let fear rob them of their inheritance. So, God led them into the land and fought for them, giving them each their own piece. This generation followed God faithfully their whole lives. But their children turned from Him. Why?
Experiences With God
The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel. When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. Then, the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baal. They forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods.
Judges 2:7, 10-12
Joshua’s generation served God faithfully because they’d seen everything God had done for them. These men knew His power because they’d experienced it. They had personal knowledge of the Lord because He’d been leading, teaching, protecting, and working for them their whole lives. They saw it all firsthand.
Their children logically knew the work God had done for Israel. Their fathers had told them. But they had no firsthand knowledge of Him. Their food hadn’t come from God, but from the ground. They didn’t have to fight for their inheritance. Everything had been handed to them. God had done all these things for their fathers, not for them. They hadn’t seen His power with their own eyes. They didn’t have any real experiences with the Lord. Their knowledge was superficial and intellectual, and it didn’t compel them to follow Him wholeheartedly.
They were easily led astray, because they weren’t fully devoted to Him. They hadn’t committed their lives to Him, so they weren’t faithful. Therefore, God let them eat the fruit of their ways, knowing it would produce hard times for them. If life got difficult for them, maybe they’d follow Him then.
Tough Times, Easy Times
Tough times create strong men, and strong men create easy times. Easy times create weak men, and weak men create tough times.
The Joshua generation lived during tough times, and it made them strong in spirit and faith. But they created an easy life for their kids, never teaching them to rely on God. So, the next generation was weak, and they fell into temptation. Their superficial, intellectual knowledge of God was not enough to keep them faithful, and it won’t be for us either. The only way to be strong in the Lord is to know Him. So, God taught their generation war, like their fathers, so they would come to know Him, too.
To truly know God, we need to have personal experiences with Him. We cannot only know what our parents or our church tell us. We have to get to know Him for ourselves. When we examine what we have been taught, our beliefs become our own. When we look for His power in our lives, we often find that He has been working on our behalf all along the way. Soon, we will see coincidences as God’s handiwork and we will start looking for Him in everything.
Getting to Know God
So, how do you know God better? The only way to get to know anyone is to spend time with them, talk to them, and talk to other people who know them. So, talk to him in prayer. Don’t just ask Him for things. Tell Him your thoughts, your fears, your joy, and your pain. Then, let Him talk back to you. Listen to what His Spirit is saying to you, and read the Bible. This is God’s Word to us. Go to church. This is where you hang out with Him in a group. Let other believers tell you what they know about Him. As you all hang out together, you will experience His presence.
Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.
Matthew 18:20
Once you begin having experiences with Him yourself, your knowledge of Him will grow and become more personal. This will make you want to follow Him. Instead of just obeying an arbitrary set of rules given to you by the church or your parents, you’ll begin to understand His heart behind them, and you’ll want to follow them.
Then, just like anyone you spend time with, you will start to adopt His ways as your own. You will begin to think like Him, talk like Him, and act like Him. You have been created in His image. So, you have all His characteristics. His genes flow through your veins, and spending time with Him will bring them out. Then, you will just naturally begin to produce His fruit instead of what you can produce yourself.
Know, Love, Serve
The vision and prayer of AWANA is that all children and youth throughout the world will come to know, love, and serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
You will not be faithful to Him until you truly love Him, and you can’t love someone you don’t really know. The AWANA organization teaches children the Scriptures because that is how they will get to know who God is, what He does, and what He says. They believe that once these children truly know the Lord, they will love Him. Then, if they love Him, they will want to serve Him.
That is my desire for you as well. Superficial knowledge will not make you strong enough to resist temptation. You will fall away if you don’t develop a deep and personal relationship with Him. So, seek experiential knowledge, and not just intellect. There is no room for passivity in Christianity. If you want to know God, then you must seek Him.
You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13
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This is an excerpt from “Knowing God Personally” as taught on YouTube or Podcast or as written on Substack. Read the beginning of the lesson for free, or in its entirety, along with over 35 previous lessons for $6/month or $60/year. Once subscribed, you’ll receive one lesson each week thereafter. Cancel anytime.
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