The “Personalness” of God

“Meanwhile his disciples urged him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you know nothing about.’ Then his disciples said to each other, ‘Could someone have brought him food?’”

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-John 4:31-33

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Our experience of God is very personal. He relates with us intimately. We can all say with very real authority, about some things in our lives, that God gives us special and divine revelation through his Spirit, in ways that no one else knows -- no-one else can possibly know, not even a close family member. How special is this relationship we have with God that he does this? And no-one who lives is spared -- each person is gifted.

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The basis of this theory is: it isn’t apparent to anyone else what is apparent to us (and vice versa). There is an endless stream in the God-realm. Each one of us is only able to see what God intends for us to see -- i.e. part of the stream (ours) -- and even then we may choose not to see it. We, as individuals, can see our part of the God-stream; that is The Truth. Nobody else can see through our eyes, but they can get a glimpse -- this is where human communication becomes important.

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All of us assume that we know what’s going on within other people’s minds and hearts. Truth be known, it’s only ever an attempt. It’s all it can be. Our secrets are known only to ourselves and God unless we tell others -- again, others can only have a glimpse of the reality of the secret, as their skewed perception and ours becomes the barrier to proper and accurate alignment in understanding. Transference of individual realities is hindered by the slant we put on the other reality.

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Sounds complicated doesn’t it. It’s really rather simple. Jesus was thought to be hungry. He had to be. He hadn’t eaten in a long time. But the body is more than food, and Jesus knew how to live on God alone. There is another spiritual meaning to this passage I think, and that is what I’ve been discussing, and will attempt to summarise below.

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God gives us our own special, unique understanding of him and the world around us -- he gives us spiritual ‘food to eat that [others can] know nothing about.’ It’s like this. Imagine going into a shopping mall, and you can see, hear, and touch everything. You observe things and so do others; you hear and so do others; you talk, as do others. Everyone perceiving things -- different things -- simultaneously. Everyone ‘gifted’ with senses to engage with the world around them.

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Now, imagine seeing what everyone sees, and hearing everything that everyone hears simultaneously, and perfectly – as if having perfect perception of the person seeing and the person hearing... only God can do that. It’s his God-stream.

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The point? If God is this wondrous; that he sees, hears, and understands everything, how is it that he stoops low enough to grace me and you with his presence; to give us our own exceptional perspective of life? What a privilege it is to know that God will give you and I not only what we can understand, but what we understand collectively, so we can also share the experience of relationship with him.

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No one will see God quite like how I see him. And you will see God in a way that only you can.

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Copyright © 2008, Steven John Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.