Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know him! Then he will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.” (Hosea 6:3 NLT)
When I first came to faith and for the first few years as a pastor I struggled with the concept of knowing God personally. I struggled until several spiritual heavyweights mentored me in this dimension of my faith journey. They helped me by shaking everything down to three simple propositions that were basic, yet absolute.
The three propositions are: God is there, God is real, and God is personal.
I have not struggled with the proposition that God is there. My mentors challenged me to think about all the ways God responds to our many prayers to Him. As proclaimed by Hosea I found that when I related myself to God He responded by relating Himself to me. That inspired me to believe that He is not only there but He is very real when I relate to Him and make contact with Him there.
Over time as I shared the intimate dimensions of my personal, private and even secret life with Him I affirmed the glorious reality that God is personal and I should believe Him when He tells me He knows the number of hairs on my head at any given moment. I should also believe Him when He tells me He has a plan for my life that when followed will make me an original person distinct from every other living person.
Are you pressing on to know the Lord? If you are, I offer you these three propositions that can help us all know the Lord when we believe them.
4SpiritualSecrets 
Dad, This really boils it down to the irreducible minimumum…and, even before we knew Him, we knew He was real and was there through your undeniable walk with Him!!! Luv you so much! BooBoo
Dick,
I was re-reading some Augustine quotes this morning, and tripped over this one:
“Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore, seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.”
I was thinking about what you shared with David and me about John 7:17 and your approach to the Mini Bible College.
I can personally attest that great joy comes from personal discipleship–the process of studying the claims and content of the Bible. The incredibly encouraging part is that discovering just how real our faith is leads to deep peace–the kind that really makes a difference.
Thanks for all you do to promote peace!