Title: Let's Get to Know God
Contents
2009.9.13 To know God
Text: Ho 6:1 - 7
Let's just think about it. Who is my best friend?
How does your heart feel when you think of that friend?
I would like to give you a very easy quiz.
What of the following examples should we do to live a life of faith that is full of joy in our life of faith?
1) Do you pray a lot? 2) Do not miss worship 3) Do a lot of evangelism 4) Sing hymns
How many times will the answer be? Sorry. The answer I think is not in view. The answer I prepared was ‘a life where I know God rightly and share intimacy with God’.
Your answer is correct, but the answer I was hoping for was yes.
It doesn't make sense to say that we pray without knowing God rightly, and that we praise Him without knowing Him.
Then, how can we properly understand and know the invisible God?
How can a finite man know an infinite God?
If you learn theology at seminary, you can learn exactly about the attributes of God.
Rather than the God who reigns in the rigid theological position taught by that theology, we need to know directly a friendly God who is like a father, mother, and who understands us better than anyone else.
Because this is the foundation of our most basic belief in God, the object of our worship.
In today's Bible text, the prophet Hosea strongly exhorts us to know God.
Why?
The historical background of this prophet Hosea is as follows.
They attacked Syria, whose national power had been extremely weakened by the attack of the emerging power of Assyria, and expanded its territory including its capital, Damascus, from the mouth of Hamath, the northern border of the promised land of Canaan, to the southern sea of the Arabah.
In addition, through trade in Damascus, which was the center of East-West trade at that time, great economic prosperity was achieved. However, such political and economic prosperity led the people of Israel in the Northern Kingdom to plunge into extreme religious and moral depravity caused by materialism and worldly selfishness.
So, prophesying the destruction of Israel, they are appealing to return to God and to strive to know God.
I don't think our reality today is very different from that in Hosea's day.
It must be said that this Hosea's cry is a cry to us.
We must know God right now.
Why do you live your life of faith? Is it to be blessed?
Do you think God hates to bless you?
So, do we have to cling to and force ourselves to pray to God for a blessing?
That's not it. The desire to give the best is the heart of parents.
Heavenly Father has made us children.
You are our father. What would the father not want to do for his children?
How much he loved us, He showed us a painful love to the point of nailing His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to the cross.
And God called Abraham and said, “You will be a blessing.”
That God is calling us today and speaking to us. “You will be a blessing”
To whom other than a child of God could you say such a thing?
So, when I become a source of blessing, please believe that our families, neighbors, and workplaces will be blessed through me.
Do you want to draw closer to God? Do you want a close relationship with God?
To get to know someone, you need to make time for him.
There can be no intimacy without spending time together.
There is a saying that "love is giving time".
You need to plan your timetable well so that you have enough time to spend together.
Being with someone is fun and if you want to meet again, intimacy has already begun.
Do you want to be intimate with God?
Why don't you give God a little more time?
And who is God?
The God shown through Jesus Christ is well known as the God who is the healer.
healer? We all live with broken hearts.
That is why life is painful and difficult to endure without healing these wounds.
Anyone is good. You need to see a therapist. A good friend, a good spouse, a good psychiatrist. However, for treatment, I need to meet someone who appreciates my worth and have an experience of sharing intimacy.
When we meet the therapist, we will no longer be the 'hider' of life, but will become active 'seekers'.
To create such a close relationship, we must be careful with our language.
Let's never talk rudely.
Even if it is thought that words are uttered without thinking, words have great power.
It affects our thoughts and actions.
For that reason, negative words cause damage not only to human relationships, but also to the Church of God and the relationship with God.
Decide to choose the word of affirmation today. Positive words bring positive results.
The life of grace begins with controlling the tongue. do you believe
We should speak words of courage and strength rather than words that discourage us.
The pastor told this story. “I am not always good at preaching.
Sometimes you can't. Then, when the worship service is over and you greet the members of the church, you give it to your wife in advance and say this.
"Honey, I just finished my sermon today."
Do you know what my wife said then?" "Honey, porridge tastes better!"
Even though I know it's nonsense, it gives me strength.
There is always a special person behind the 'big person'.
Whether you are good or bad, you are an absolute supporter who cheers you up with a consistent mind.
A word of blessing, a word of encouragement filled with sincerity brings the fallen back to life.
The wife's saying, "porridge tastes better," made the husband a 'great pastor' of this age.
What will God say to me when I fail at something?
“Yeah, I thought you would. You can’t, why are you always like that!”
Would God say this?
Don't be fooled everyone. That is the heart that Satan gives.
God is not like that.
A boy has been making something at school for weeks to give his father a Christmas present. The day of the festival finally came and the boy went to school with great excitement.
Because on that day, he can give the gift he has made to his father.
Standing at the classroom door waiting for his parents to come, the boy became impatient.
Behind his back, although poorly made, he is full of sincerity, a “precious treasure” for a boy.
It was held in this hand.
But the boy could no longer stand and wait. Unable to contain his excitement, the boy ran out the door to meet his parents. Then he made a mistake and stumbled and fell. What would have happened?
He snorted on the hard tile floor, and the carefully crafted gift was shattered.
The boy, who experienced the pain of having his heart broken more than a broken gift, sat there and burst into tears. Did you cry so sadly because of a sore nose?
The father saw this and ran to the boy, hugged him and comforted him.
“Hey, it’s okay. Don't worry, it's nothing special."
But for the boy, those words were no consolation to calm his sad and broken heart. The boy began to cry more sadly.
It was his wise mother who understood the boy's sorrow.
She took the boy's hand and spoke softly.
“Son, something really big has happened. Maybe this is good?
The gift you worked so hard for was shattered... . “
There was something in the words of the worried mother that touched the boy's heart.
The boy nodded, stopped crying and began to calm his mind.
Because someone understood their sorrow.
The mother then went on to say:
“Son, I wish I could start something new from now on. Why don't we collect these broken pieces and take them home to try again? “
Of course, the boy who gained strength from his mother's delicate love and consideration
I was able to start over.
When your life is shattered by failure, and you are weeping tears of despair in the swamp of failure, God pats you on the back and says, "It's okay, don't worry." And he doesn't just say that, he comes into your life and is hurt and upset with you. Do not forget that you are a sensitive person who fully understands your heart and comforts you.
We are broken vessels.
Let's take the broken pieces and come to the Lord.
Let's lift up our broken hearts and come to the Lord.
God has called us through Jesus Christ so that we can embrace our lost dreams and make a fresh start in the new year.
Have you ever read a fairy tale called Several Naked Kings?
Did you guys think that the king was so stupid while reading that book?
Isn't our faith like a naked king like this?
It may or may not be... … ..
Do you want to go to heaven with the faith of a naked king?
I'm sorry, but I can assure you that I can't go to Nagoya, not heaven, by faith in the naked king.
We must strive to know God rightly. If you don't know anything else, you can skip it
However, living with a vague faith without knowing God properly is unbearable and unbearable.
If we learn more, seek God more earnestly, and meditate on the Word more earnestly,
He will surely meet God, and he will have a deep intimacy with God.
This year, focusing on Devotion Cutie, we will get to know God more and enjoy intimacy with Him.
I really want to live a happy life of faith.
So, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will have a church life and family life full of laughter, not always with a grimace.