We are continually nurtured by our heavenly Father’s presence. Yes guys, nurtured! His fellowship shares with us greater truth and brings fuller understanding.
Are you hungering for more of God in your life? Jesus instructed us to allow the Spirit of truth to lead and guide us into more than what we currently know. So, how do we receive His greater insights? I believe God has called me to encourage others to seek Him more intently by sharing the insights He has shown me.
Many years before Relational Gospel evolved into my ministry, I found myself hungering for more of God. During the early years our family traveled the country visiting ministries to better understand the ways of God and observe what He was doing in people’s lives. This pursuit was a way of life. In that environment I was stirred to know more about my Creator.
Not Yet Seen
Since my mother often used the Bible to help me learn to read, I fell in love with Scripture at an early age. By my teenage years I was quite familiar with much of its message. Then I had an experience during our travels that took my approach to studying Scripture to a new level:
As I listened intently to a guest minister’s message, he apparently perceived that many were not following well; so he said, “You don’t have to understand, just believe it.” This did not make sense to me. I pondered why God would give us a mind that can reason and understand if He intended us to “just believe.”
From then on, I devoted myself to seeking to understand all God desired to reveal. When I sat to read Scripture, I would pray, “Lord, show me what I have not yet seen.” My time in Scripture became an insightful road of discovery.
How Do We Approach Scripture’s Insights?
More than we realize, we tend to read into Scripture the perceptions we already know. Sincerely seeking is a conscious choice we make; insights typically don’t just “happen naturally.”
We tend to read into Scripture the perceptions we already know.
Rather than approach with a fresh eye to understand more, what we’ve already accepted as truth often complicates our ability to consider a new perception. And yet, God offers to enlighten us with greater truth, and bring fuller understanding.
While no one has the capacity to comprehend everything, Jesus said we can understand in greater depths if we seriously seek. We should not accept and “just believe” what we have been taught. The sincerity of our search has a great effect on what we come to understand to be true and real.
“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth.” (John 16:12-13)
God is faithful to reveal to seekers both natural and spiritual perceptions. The spirit of life that resides in each person gives us an inherent ability to hear and receive His insightful guidance.
God Speaks and Enlightens
Perhaps you want to make more sense of your faith and are yearning for more insight. Our loving Father desires us to be in a thriving personal relationship with Him. He is most always trying to communicate and further enlighten us. Often, we are busy and fail to stop and consider the new thoughts He shares.
God alone is perfect. As His offspring, we are quite limited. Yet, He speaks to us in our partialities and imperfections. Are we willing to see beyond our current perceptions? He promised you can hear and see more clearly.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find…For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)
As immature expressions of God, we need to be in active fellowship with our Father so we can absorb more of His perceptions. Our level of response to His insightful presence enables us to be more intimate with Him. The sincerity of our search greatly affects what we come to understand and believe is true and real.
The sincerity of our search affects what we understand and believe.
You can approach God and His written word asking, “Lord, show me what I have not yet seen.” Let’s allow His Spirit of truth to lead and guide us into more than what we currently know.
Keith Carroll, Relational Gospel Founder
(Updated from October 2016 original post)
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My second book, CREATED TO RELATE, Insights Into Our Design and Purpose is an encouragement to all who are hungering for more of God. After many years of study, prayer, and interaction with other believers, I’ve gathered insightful thoughts on our purpose and the importance of our daily walk with our heavenly Father. What I discovered has taken me beyond general Christian teachings; to see, understand, and appreciate some of the overlooked aspects of God and His intention for our lives.
Both of my books, Created to Relate, Insights Into Our Design and Purpose, and The Christ Culture, A Way of Life Like No Other are available for purchase on this site, by request in bookstores, and on Amazon.com. Please check them out!
Many folks are finding my books to be insightful and stimulating. They are excellent for personal understanding, for new believers, and to share in small groups. We provide a Leader’s Guide to facilitate discussions and a “free” study guide that can be downloaded as a pdf.
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Relational Gospel – Make sense of your faith. Truth is a living and relational reality.