How To Know God More And Deepen Your Relationship With Him

Hello and welcome to Social Media Ministries. My name is Spencer Coffman. Thank you so much for tuning in this week.

We have a great sermon for you about how you can know God more or how you can know God on a deeper level. And you say, “I already know God.” Well, that’s your first problem. You can’t really know God until you stop telling yourself that you already know God.

What does that mean? Well, you need to renew your mind, reshape your mind so that you can know God in a different light. What am I talking about already? You say you’re lost. Guess what?

You are told to renew your mind. That doesn’t mean you pray to God to renew your mind for you. No, you have to take responsibility and transform your mind. When you became a Christian, you became a new creation. God already recreated you.

Now it’s your job to kill yourself. And you say, “Wait a minute, what are you doing?” No, listen. God wants you dead, as in He wants your flesh dead. He wants you to crucify your fleshly, sinful desires and live for Him.

Obviously, He wants you alive, as in being alive physically, but He wants you to crucify those mental, sinful desires, the lusts of the flesh, so that you can fully live for Him. During that process, He made you a new creation. Now you need to do that work to become a new creation and renew your mind by renewing your mind yourself.

How do you do that? You learn the Bible. You study the Bible. You do what the Bible says. You know God. All right, so that’s what we’re talking about today: how you can know God more and in a different light. The more you start to know God and understand Him, I’m telling you, it’s a deeper relationship that you can’t describe.

There’s a book that I won’t even mention the title or anything because it’s definitely not a book everyone should read. But there’s a line in the book, and it says that ten seconds in the presence of God, and you would never sin again because you would be so motivated to be pure and to be holy, so that you can be reunited with Him again.

Now, that’s obviously — whether it’s accurate or not, take it at that. If you want to know what the book is, you can reach out. I might or might not share it with you, depending on where you are in your faith. It’s a tough book.

But the point is, ten seconds — I think the book might even say one second — in the presence of God, and you would never want to sin again, or you would never sin again, because that’s how amazing God is.

And so, if you can know God more, just think of what that would do for your life: motivating you to do His will, motivating you to avoid sin, to avoid evil, motivating you to learn His words. The Bible says the Word became flesh and made its dwelling among us. So you know Jesus by knowing the Bible more, because this book became flesh, and that was a person.

So you have two people in your life that can help you — Jesus is your brother, God is your father. And then you also have a helper, the Holy Spirit.

So you have three that you can talk to, and you can know them more on a deeper level. They will speak to you. And you say, “What are you talking about?” Yes, you can have God talk to you, sometimes literally.

I’ll have a conversation. I’ll just be sitting on my floor. You’re like, “On your floor?” Yeah, in an inner room. If you don’t have a space — the movie “War Room,” where people went into closets — if you don’t have a corner in a room or a closet you can sit in or something like that, I’m saying get one. Figure it out. Because it is so important.

You sit in there, you put your stuff on the wall. Seriously, the movie “War Room” depicted it well. In a room, and you got sticky notes taped all over your wall, and you sit there on the floor with your Bible, and you’re praying, and you’re talking to God. Those times will be the best times of your day, of your life. Why? Because you will know God more during those times.

And back to my story, I literally sometimes sit on the floor, and I will talk through my life or say things like, “Man, this is what’s going on. How can I solve this?”

And I can hear it — it’s almost like I can hear, but then I speak it, like the answers or whatever is going on. And you know different sides of God. Like, you will have the loving and encouraging. Sometimes you get the firm hand.

Kind of like Moses did when Moses had the Red Sea on one side and the Egyptians behind him, and they’re out there, and the people don’t know where to go. And Moses is like, “What are we doing, God?

You bring us out here to die?” And God says, “Why are you crying to me? Quit complaining, quit whining. What is in your hand?” Like, hello. And Moses has a staff. “Yes, stretch it out, part the sea, get moving.”

Kind of like a firm side of God right there. “Quit complaining to me and start doing what I told you to do.” You’ll get that as you know Him more. He starts to reveal those sides of Himself to you that maybe you couldn’t handle before.

So I’d encourage you to get to know God more, and you will have that loving and compassionate side of God, the tenderhearted side, but you’ll also get the meat, the firm side. The kind that, like when you read the Bible, you have some of these Gospels, which are nice and encouraging, and then you get like James, which is convicting.

And you get Paul, which is telling you, and in certain letters of Paul, he kind of gets some frustratedness out. And you’ll know all those sides of God. But you can’t know God more if you already believe you know Him.

Yes, you know Him, but you need to get that out of your mind so that you will be willing to start to know Him more. Because if you already believe you know something, then your mind, unconsciously or consciously, you believe you can’t learn anything more about it. So you’re close-minded, and that’s not what you want to be. You can’t be close-minded.

Let’s go to Proverbs 18:2. “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.” That’s closed-mindedness. They already know everything about whatever the topic is. There’s no room for them to learn.

There’s a saying that says the mind is like a parachute: it only works when it is open. Don’t let your mind be close-minded. Always be willing and ready to hear other sides, but you have to test those opinions and those beliefs with Scripture. So you gotta know this Bible. You gotta know God.

And then I can listen to any opinion, but guess what? Within ten seconds, I might shut it down and say, “Nope.” Someone comes to me and says, “You know what? I’ve really been getting some good insight. I meditate, I clear my mind, I do some yoga poses.” All right, I’m done. We’re not talking anymore.

Because all of that, in the Bible, it says, “No. God doesn’t want your mind clear. He wants it filled with the Scripture. He doesn’t want you meditating on nothing. He wants you meditating on the Word. He doesn’t want you doing poses to invite things into your life. No, He wants you doing the Word.”

If you know your Bible, instantly, sometimes you might shut it down. But you could be willing to hear it. But instead of shutting it down, you talk to him. Look, I just gave you why I shut it down. Be willing to explain, teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, the Bible says.

So those types of people, those fools, they’re so convinced they are right, they won’t hear of anything else. Don’t be like them, like the Pharisees. They were so convinced they’re pious and pompous that even when their Messiah was in their midst, that they’ve been talking about forever, they didn’t want to believe.

We have a sermon, “Be Not A Pharisee.” Check it out on our website or a card in our YouTube channel. Allow God to speak to you and reveal to you who He truly is. Get to know the other sides of God. Know Him more intimately. Moses knew God that way. Abraham — Abraham had a great relationship with God.

Think of the relationship he had with God. He had such a relationship with God that he could challenge God. What am I talking about? Let’s go to Genesis 18:16-33. What I’m going to do is read them all. We’re going to go real quickly, verses 16-33.

So Genesis 18:16-33, “When the men got up to leave, they looked down towards Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. Then the Lord said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth will be blessed through him.

For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what He has promised him.’

Then the Lord said, ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.’ Then the men turned away and went towards Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.

Then Abraham approached Him and said, ‘Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of fifty righteous people in it?

Far be it from you to do such a thing — to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?’

Then the Lord said, ‘If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.’ Then Abraham spoke up again: ‘Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes,

What if the number of the righteous people is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for a lack of five people?’ ‘If I find forty-five there,’ He said, ‘I will not destroy it.’

Once again, he spoke to Him, ‘What if there are only forty found there?’ ‘For the sake of forty people, I will not do it.’ Then he said, ‘May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?’ He answered, ‘I will not do it if I find only thirty there.’

Abraham said, ‘Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?’ He said, ‘For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.’

Then he said, ‘May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?’ He answered, ‘For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.’ When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, He left, and Abraham returned home.”

Think of that relationship Abraham had with God. God said to the angels, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” First of all, God doesn’t need a reason or doesn’t need to justify anything He’s doing.

But He felt it necessary because Abraham had been chosen and because Abraham knew God so well that God — not really felt guilty, but God felt like, “I need to tell Abraham what I am about to do because our relationship is so great, so strong, that I cannot do this thing without Abraham knowing about it.” How powerful is that?

In addition, when God told Abraham what He was doing, Abraham had the relationship to say, “Hey, if I may be so bold, God, what about this? You made these promises. You will not destroy the righteous with the wicked. I know you. I know you.

You won’t do that.” God says, “I won’t.” Well, now this, now this, now this. And he challenged God, saying, “I know you. I know you. This is your promise. You can’t go back on your word.”

Are you bold like that? Do you have the right to ask God those questions? Because if you’re living in sin and you say, “But God, I know you promised in the Bible. You said that by His stripes I’m healed, but yet I’m sick.

Why am I sick if by His stripes I’m healed?” Well, are you doing what the Bible says? Are you constantly saying you’re sick? Well, then that’s why you’re sick. Life and death is in the power of the tongue.

You have to know what you’re doing. And if you are living by the Bible, then you have the right to call those promises into account and to claim them. You say, “Hey, God, the Bible says I will be prosperous and successful, but yet I’m living in poverty.” Why are you living in poverty? Are you frivolously spending your money?

Guess what? The Bible also says, “Be careful to do everything written, and then you will be prosperous and successful.” If you’re not doing it, then you won’t receive the promise.

“Hey, God, the Bible says that my barns will be filled to overflowing, that you will unleash the floodgates of heaven.” Yes, “Test me in this.” If you tithe and bring your tithe to the storehouse, then you will get this. If you’re not tithing and donating your money, then why would God give you more?

You gotta do what the Bible says. Do you have that relationship with God so that you can rightfully call His promises into account and claim them on your life like Abraham did? Later, God revealed another side of Himself to Abraham. Let’s go there. Genesis 22:14.

Genesis 22:14. So Abraham — alright, let me give you a little backstory. This is when God told Abraham, “Sacrifice your son.” Now, Isaac was probably about 30 or 33 years old when this happened. Now, why did this happen? Couple reasons.

Number one, Isaac and Ishmael, they were still — they were adults, probably talking. This comes from some non-canonized texts. You can read some historical works. You can read Testaments of the Patriarchs. You can read about the Testament of Isaac. You could read about Abraham, Jacob. You could read all about this in the apocryphal texts.

Now, it’s not in the Bible, but there are some things in the Bible about this. So I encourage you, take those, read them, and then take the Bible and test it with Scripture.

And so, really, what’s going on is, you say, “Well, why would God tell Abraham to sacrifice his son?” Well, according to that, Isaac might have challenged it and said, “If my father told me that I had to die for a reason, I would do it.” Saying that to Ishmael, like as a competition.

And so then this goes on, this happens, and Abraham is going to sacrifice his son. This is in the Bible now. And Isaac is willingly going there, and Isaac, of course, is figuring out what’s going on.

The servant that was with them is not just some measly servant but an adult servant, an adviser, probably the steward of Abraham’s estate. So he knew what was going on. They knew all of this. They were with God.

And they went there, and what is going on? Isaac is getting on the altar. Abraham is about to sacrifice him, but a ram is provided. The angel of the Lord says, “Stop. Do not slay your son. Here’s a ram.” Boom. And God provided.

So Genesis 22:14, “So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.’” What is that verse, or that word, those words in the Hebrew? The Lord Will Provide is Jehovah Jireh.

Something is going on there. Abraham knows God so much, he’s listening to Him. Isaac knows God so much that he’s doing what he had promised God he would do if needed, if necessary.

They are all doing this. The servant knows God so much that he trusts to stay behind, and he knew they would come back, just like Abraham said, “We will come back to you.”

They had the faith. They knew God so much. And so, when they’re about to do it, boom, the ram is there. Abraham looks up. Jehovah Jireh. God just revealed to Himself another side. Abraham didn’t know what was going to happen, whether he would raise Isaac back from the dead. He didn’t know, but God provided. And so he called that place The Lord Will Provide.

Get to know God more. You need to stop telling yourself that you already know God. Yes, you may have a good relationship with God. You can improve it. If you only consider your preconceived notions of who God is, then you will never truly know God. You’ll be stuck in that closed-minded mindset.

Let’s go to Job 17:14. “If I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother or my sister,’ where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?” Listen to that. Who can see any hope? Because if you are going after these things, these closed-minded things, stuck in this way, then you don’t know what’s going on.

Job 17:4 says, “You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore, you will not let them triumph.” Do not close your minds. Because if you do, if you close your minds to understanding and if you latch on to those other things, like corruption or the corrupted mindset of this world of saying you already know God, then you will not learn more about Him. Your relationship will not improve.

You need to be willing to know that you do not know everything about God. Because if you close your minds to understanding, then you will never triumph. Let’s go to Proverbs 14:6.

Proverbs 14:6 says, “The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.” If you have a discerning heart, you will gain more knowledge.

Don’t get locked into that self-righteous notion that you are right and nothing can convince you otherwise. Avoid that stubborn mindset, or guess what? You will face the wrath of God. Let’s go to Romans 2:5. Check that out.

Romans 2:5, “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed.”

Because of your stubborn heart, you are storing up God’s wrath against you to be unleashed. It’s like getting pent-up anger, and all of a sudden, it’ll blow. Do not be stubborn and close-minded.

You need to listen to God. We have a sermon about that: not listening to God, what happens when you are not listening to God. You have to let God speak to you because He’s starting, and He’s trying to speak to you. Do not let that wrath get stored up against you.

We have another sermon called “Hear God’s Voice.” Check that one out. These all go hand in hand with you because let God speak to you through prayer, through the Bible, and through fellowship with others. Because if you do that, if you read your Bible — and not just read it, but read it, meditate on it, dive into it.

Get some concordances and some commentaries. Listen to some sermons on the topics. Dive into some word studies and learn what these verses are saying. You can know God more. You have to listen to God. We have a sermon on that. And how can you listen to God if you’re not reading and doing the Word?

Strive to get to know God more. Tell yourself that you don’t know everything about God and start telling yourself that you want to know God more. And then take the steps to do it. And the best steps are reading your Bible, studying it, meditating on it, keeping the Scripture in your mind and on your heart, learning it.

Not just reading the verse, “Oh, for God so loved the world. Okay, alright, next one. Oh, let’s see, another one. Philippians 4. Okay, this one. Okay, good.” No, what does it mean?

Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Okay, wait a minute. All things? I can run a marathon. But you’re 300 pounds. “I can run the marathon.” Really? You can, but not right now. You gotta do some work and some training, and then you can do that.

Okay, “I can raise the dead.” You can, but you gotta get in the Spirit and train yourself and think like that, and then you can. Yes, you can raise the dead. I’m telling it to you. You are commanded to do these things. You say, “Well, that’s not for today.” That’s your problem.

Start believing what the Bible says. Start diving in and learning what the Bible says, and you will know. Yes, you can do all things through Christ, who gives you the strength. Believe me, you need to know God more, and there is lot to learn.

Let’s pray.

Father, thank You so much for this great day. Thank You for the time together, for the inspiration, and the realization that we all need to get to know You more.

Help each and every person have that motivation and that desire to know You more, to have that more intimate relationship with You.

That they would want to get into the Spirit more, that they would allow the Holy Spirit to take control, that they would allow the Holy Spirit to guide and direct them, that they would know the difference between the Holy Spirit and between the lying spirits and the demons and everything out here in this world that is out to get us and control us and to tell us what to do.

That they would be not of this world, but that they would be of You. That the only spirit that would be influencing them would be Your Holy Spirit. That they would do the Word of God, and the only way they can know what to do is if they read and understand their Bibles.

So God, please inspire them to spend more time with You and reveal Yourself to them so that they will see the fruits of their work.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I really hope you get to know God more. If you have any questions or comments, please put them below. If you want to engage in any discussion, you can do that on the YouTube channel, Facebook, or our Discord server.

Have a great week, and God bless.