Know Thy God
Once you see the strong evidence for God, the desire increases to know more about Him. Walking with God daily, hand-in-hand, is the most powerful way to live life. Wrapped in His Presence, you will live above your circumstances. If your understanding, attitude and action are all entwined in your relationship with the Ancient of Days, you will receive that abundant life that Christ promised us. [Isaiah 40:28-31, Malachi 4:2, John 10:10, etc.]
We see this process in seven loose stages: True Humility, Up-close Awe, Total Submission, Led Action, Led Influence, Blessings Received and Eternal Celebration.
True Humility
Before anything else can happen, you must recognize your place on the totem pole. You must sincerely and fully acknowledge that you are finite, imperfect and do not have what it takes to get through life on your own. Most of us never fully embrace this stage. Partially embracing it will only allow you to partially know God. The fear is, if I embrace true humility it would mean I have no value. But that is a bad fear and an incorrect thought. It is only after reaching true humility that you can fully understand your total value in God's Eyes.
[Luke 18:9-14, Romans 3:23-24, James 4:6, Daniel 10:12, 1 Peter 5:6-7, 2 Samuel 22:2-20, Psalm 139:14, etc.]
Up-Close Awe
When you get to the point where you admit you need help, you are ready to approach God. And boy are you in for a ride. We only understand a slice of who God is. He is the Self-Existent One. He is the source of all good. He has hundreds of names, thousands of characteristics and millions of details. So spend some serious, fun quality time with the Ancient of Days. Just as you like to hang out with your family, friends or significant other, it should be the same with God. Yes, it's harder initially because He is invisible and intangible. But God wants more than anything to show Himself to you. Sometimes it's in small ways and slowly. Other times it's in big ways and quickly. But it is always amazing. So draw near to Him and let Him draw near to you. Remember that He wants camaraderie before He wants obedience. Learn about Him and be in awe.
[John 7:37, James 4:8, Exodus 15:11, Job 32-42, the entire Book of Psalms, Luke 5:26, Ecclesiastes 5:1-3, Ephesians 3:14-21, Hebrews 12:28-29, Revelation 1:12-18, Revelation 21:3-7, etc.]
Total Submission
The more awe you have towards God, the more likely you are to submit to Him. As you learn that He loves you even more than you do yourself, and that He is wiser and more powerful, you will slowly begin to put yourself under His Authority and into His capable hands. It's more of a dimmer switch than a flip switch process (i.e. slowly improving rather than instantly turning from off to on). But over time, you begin to let Him make more and more decisions for you, and you will take matters into your own hands less and less.
[Exodus 24:7, Deuteronomy 4:28-31, Deuteronomy 6:24-25, 1 Chronicles 28:19, Job 22:21-22, Isaiah 16:3a, Malachi 1:6a, Hebrews 12:7-12, James 4:6-8]
Led Action
What we mean by 'led' is that we take action as the LORD directs. We let the Spirit lead us in the moment. We let the Spirit work His Power through us to accomplish great things. When we are fully submitted to God, we move through life at the side of the Great Guide. It's an amazing journey to take, as the LORD protects us through dark times, guides us through complicated times and leads us into some beautiful terrain. And He will give us the desire, wisdom and strength we need to love others in specific and cool ways.
[Psalm 23, Isaiah 11:2-3, John 14:12-17, Acts 16:7, Romans 8:5-15, Galatians 5:16-25]
Led Influence
As we let the Spirit lead us, God will use us to make an impact on others. A Spirit-led life is one of the greatest testimonies of the reality and greatness of God. Every religion has moral, good people. But it is humbled, awed, submitted and Spirit-led Christians who are the greatest reflections of Christ and the truth of the Bible. As hungry people are drawn to fruit-stocked trees and people lost in the darkness are drawn to pure, bright light, in the same way will others be drawn to Christ in us who are on this path to knowing God.
[Matthew 5:13-16, 2 Corinthians 3:12-18, 2 Corinthians 5:14-20, Philippians 2:12-16a, 1 Timothy 15:15-17, 1 Timothy 4:13-18, Titus 2:6-8]
Blessings Received
Sometimes Christians don't like talking about the blessings God will give us, because we are afraid that Godly rewards will become our idol, our focus. But if we have true humility, are in complete awe of God, are submitted fully to Him, and are letting Him lead us and impact others through us, than we can comfortably receive and enjoy the blessings He chooses to bestow upon us. And while younger Christians may sometimes ask for the wrong things or with the wrong motives (and thus not receive them), a mature Christian far along this path of knowing God will know what to desire and what to ask for (because God tells them what they should ask for), and the blessings will come in abundance.
[Deuteronomy 28:1-14, Psalm 128:1-4, Jeremiah 29:10-13, Matthew 5:3-12, Matthew 6:33, Matthew 7:7-12, Matthew 21:21-22, 1 Corinthians 9:19-27, James 4:2-3, 1 John 3:18-23]
Eternal Celebration
Humility is hard. Awe can only come via honestly, diligently seeking God. Submission, being led to act and being led to impact go against our pride. But if we move through those stages, blessings will come in this life and an ongoing, incredible celebration forever in the next life. Why is it that most of us Christians remain frustrated, stressed and mis-focused? It's because we are forgetting to jump fully into the first stage- true humility. So start that process and be excited knowing that for as tough as the start will be, the celebration at the end will be even more powerful!
[Psalm 145:1-7, John 16:19-24, Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Revelation 21:1-6]