I just cannot refer to my parents without saying, “my daddy” or “my mummy”. Many times while pursuing my undergraduate degree, my roommates would make comments like nobody is going to take your daddy away, “we know she is your mummy”.
During some conversation I was having with a woman last year, she pointed out that the way I said, “my daddy” was just strong and depicted a good and strong relationship with my father.
LOOL! What I and my parents have is a love, hate relationship, but I love them and I own them, ain’t nobody taking them away from me in Jesus name. I understand when they are quiet in some kind of way when my mother gives me a certain look, I just know what she might want me to do.
Now I am beginning to hear myself refer to God as my God, Yaaay!
It was not this way three years ago. My relationship with God is definitely not the best or perfect. I could do better by spending more time to Him, being completely obedient and so on and maybe just maybe I would even have a more personalized name for Him. A name I call Him when It’s just me and Him.
I have seen Him show up for me in ways completely beyond my analysis; now I understand this His way of showing up for me. So I am trying to stop helping Him analyze things.
I am beginning to understand certain ways in which He cautions me or speaks to me.
The list goes on and on, it’s not an endless list yet but it does go on, the way in which my knowledge and understanding of God have grown.
The moral of my “cool story” this week is we all as Christians should endeavor to Know God for ourselves. I say we, myself included. We should pray and thirst for divine encounters with Him. Because an encounter with God changes us completely, talk more of multiple encounters.
Abraham- The different times God encountered him, He gave him directions, gave him insight. I am sure Abraham knew God better from every encounter. For example when God asked him to offer Isaac to him in sacrifice. Abraham probably doubted his words when he answered Isaac, saying God will provide the lamb for the sacrifice. But when God showed up, God became his Jehovah Jireh! Abraham personalized God and I am almost sure that after that day Abraham’s faith in God went up a notch. Genesis 22:1-13
Abraham knew God in that capacity and I bet He could write pages about how God was his Jehovah Jireh
Jacob – Although he had his flaws, he was a man that took directions from God. When he prayed to God he also referenced the God his father and grandfather knew Genesis 32:9 because Abraham, Isaac had walked with God, had experienced him, had known God intimately and they passed their knowledge and experience to their children and people around them.
These days when people give testimonies they make statements like the God of Dr. D.K Olukoya, the God of Pastor Enoch Adegboye. These men of God with no doubts have seen God, they have experienced God and they keep sharing with the world.
How can we achieve this?
- Constant thirst and hunger to know God, to be filled; God is in the business of filling our thirst and hunger for Him. Psalm 81:10
- Presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.- Romans 12:1
- Personal retreats(Just you and God). Moses had this and so did Jesus Himself. Mark 1:35
In the end, I pray that (we all )the body of Jesus experience Christ and the power of His resurrection, share in His sufferings and become like Him in death. In the hope that we will be raised from death to life.Philippians 3:10-11
And as we experience Him, may we have the boldness to share with the world just like Apostle Paul.