Do you really know GOD? Not just know about HIM, but really know HIM. Have you been introduced? Do you know HIS Son? You know, Jesus. Has He introduced you to His Father? How about the Holy Spirit. Do you know Him? He can introduce you to Jesus. You need a relationship. This is real, not some story in a book. You can't just read and read until you get it all down. You could read books from now on about marriage, but until you are married, you'll never know what it is like.
Alot of people say "I believe in Jesus". Well, the devil believes and fears. Satan probably knows more about GOD and can quote Scripture better than any mortal man. So is he saved? There is alot more to it than that. Just by reading someones biography doesn't mean you know them. i have read books and seen movies on General George Patton, but i never knew him. He died before i was born. i see President Clinton on TV, read about him in the paper, see him on the news; i know alot about him, but i don't know him, and he definitely doesn't know me. Get the point?
So is He real to you? Do you know the Holy Spirit as your closest friend and companion? Is He with you all the time, walking with you, talking with you? Or do you just say prayers in empty room, hoping someone hears. Is Jesus the love of your life, the object of your devotion? Are you constantly turning to the Holy Spirit and asking "tell me more about Him, i want to know everything". Is GOD truly your Father? Do you turn to HIM with every care and every joy? These are questions you need to ask yourself. Only you can answer them.
The Holy Spirit reveals Christ Jesus to us. He guides us through the Scriptures, bringing them alive for us. He opens the window to heaven, where our Lord and Savior sits on the Throne of His Father. When we pray to our Father, He is there with us, revealing to us our Father, focusing our prayers. He brings us into the Loving embrace of our beloved Jesus, who then leads us into the Throne Room of our GOD. This is the first relationship you must build. Your "Comforter" is right there, all you have to do is open up and stop ignoring Him.
You might say "Well, I go to a good church". So, i have gone to some good baseball games, but i'm not friends with the players. Being a fan of the Holy Spirit is not the same as His being your best friend. "Well I'm active, I teach Sunday school". Well, i worked as a counselor at a Billy Graham Crusade, even live in the city he was born in, but i can't claim him as a friend. i've never personally met him. You can't get by on other peoples faith and relationship. Watching other people may teach you how to do something, but you still have to do it for yourself. You can attend revivals, see healings, listen to prophets, stand on the sidelines until Jesus comes, and that will never build a relationship.
There is far too much religion these days. People want to perform the right fast, say the right prayer, speak in a tongue, get slain in the spirit, everyone is looking for a formula. Everyone wants "revival". Forget revival and focus on the relationship. Know HIM, even as you are known. Embrace the reality of the Spirit. That is more real than what you are doing right now. You don't know me from Adam, yet you read what i write. The Holy Spirit is ready to lead you into ALL TRUTH, personally, one to one. Get to know Him. i'm nobody, all i can do is point the way. He will lead you to the one who loves you more than life itself, your true beloved, the very Son of GOD, who gave His life for you. We need to stop looking for revival and start looking for GOD. Revival is a result of a healthy relationship, not the beginning of one. Seek to know GOD, and your personal revival will come. You can sit in the stands, or get down on the field and play the game. i promise you, it's a whole new perspective from the field. You just can't know what it is like until you are there.
i can keep writing and you can keep reading forever. i already have over a hundred pages on this site. Yet it all comes down to one simple truth. You must be led by the Holy Spirit (and to be led, you must know who you are following). There is no way to the Father except through the Son, and Jesus sent to us the Holy Spirit as our constant companion, to lead us into the Truth. GOD is not a character in a book we can pick up and put down at our will. He is alive, and, through Jesus, we have a real one to one relationship with HIM. This relationship is more real, more substantial, than any other relationship we can have in this fallen world. If we seek to serve HIM, if we would worship HIM, we must do so "in Spirit and in Truth". There is no other way. Church can't do it, the Bible can't do it, the preacher can't do it, no one and no thing can substitute for our Father/child relationship with our Creator. Jesus has shown us the Way, the Holy Spirit leads us step by step, and GOD patiently awaits HIS prodigal child.
WAKE UP !!! This "reality" we call life is nothing. True REALITY is GOD and can be found only through the Holy Spirit. Awake to the Spirit and abandon the dreams of the flesh. Walk in the Light of Day. Awake sleeper. Heed the voice of the Good Shepherd, calling you to our Fathers Throne.