Presently and always, I see God as my loving Father, who created me in his image to live a life pleasing to him. I believe this is the perfect view of God because it puts me in position to receive every good thing from him and fulfill my purpose on the earth. In the past, I had a very distorted view of God. I perceived him as some cosmic distant force not to be reckoned with. I always felt condemned because of my dead church and dark environment. I was terrified of thunderstorms growing up in Orlando, FL because I thought that God was going to strike me down with lightning for sinning. I know this sounds crazy, but I didn’t have a relationship with God. I didn’t know two words from the bible, nor did I ever hear about his love for me. Today, I have a relationship with God through His Word. I know that Jesus loves me dearly and that he died to set me free from the law and the bondage of sin. Romans 8:1 informs me that there is no condemnation in Christ. I will not burn in hell. Therefore, I don’t have to fear death or feel stuck whenever I sin. I have the Holy Spirit to guide me as I walk with the Lord each day. Hallelujah!

It is possible for a person to know that they know God by looking back over their lives and seeing how far they’ve come. Everything good comes from above, so that’s a sure fact that we can do nothing apart from God. The devil loves to play games in our mind. But I have trained myself to hear the voice of God. Whenever I hear something good and act on it, I know it was God because he knows the end from the beginning. He knows what I will do next. So, when I feel the need to act and do so, I credit it as God’s guidance and blessing for obedience. 

Also, we can know that we really know God by prophecies, people and events that remind us of positive thoughts, conversations, or insight that we recently had or dreams and visions. God surely talks to me through dreams! There’s no denying his presence in my life whenever I have a spiritual dream full of symbolic meanings. All in all, we can know that we are in relationship with God when have peace about the future and joy in the midst of this world’s chaos. Knowing the bible is knowing God. The bible is authoritative. “There’s a quality in the Bible that automatically brings one into contact with God” (Erickson, 2015, p. 73). So, when we truly love God and believe his Word, then we truly know him no matter what we may sense or don’t sense. For we walk by faith and not sight!

Surely it is possible to know God apart from the bible because his followers are the living testimonies of Jesus (the bible). Our lives are open-bibles. We are all called to spread the gospel in word and action. People can come into relationship with God by hearing the message about Christ (Rom. 10:17), receiving salvation (Rom. 10:9), and being led by the Holy Spirit (John 14:26). “The Holy Spirit’s ministry involves elucidating the truth, bringing belief and persuasion and conviction” (Erickson, 2015, p. 73). But those with access to a bible, ought to read it to develop their relationship with God and apply its principles to everyday life. “Reading the Bible daily is thought to confer value in and of itself” (Erickson, 2015, p. 73). Salvation is more than going to heaven, it’s about knowing God intimately. The goal is to know God as deeply as possible. So even though it’s possible to know God without a bible, we can grow in the grace and knowledge about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and get to know him better with one! 

Reference

Erickson, M. J. (2015). Introducing Christian doctrine(3rd ed.). Hustad, L. A. (Ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.