# Be Ready - Friday, 2026.01.02 ## Know God ### Background I want to "know Him who is from the beginning!" {1 John 2.13-14} There are 1327 occurrences in one form or another of the Greek word "theos", Strong's G2316 in the New Testament. Over the next few months, I plan to look at most of them to deepen my relationship with God. Based on my past studies, I am convinced that most if not all of the occurrences of "theos" that are translated into the English word "God" refer to the Father. There are a handful of occurrences, mostly in John that some people believe refer to Jesus. ### Methodology #### Prayer Prayer is the key to understanding scripture and ultimately to "know" God the creator. So, throughout the whole process, I need to start with prayer, then pray over each step and end with prayer. In other words, be in constant communication with God. #### Caveat Although I am writing down a methodology in this post, I know from past experience that there is a good chance the methods will change along the way. #### Context For the most part, discerning to whom the word "God" refers will require evaluating the context in which it occurs. My method to do so involves at a minimum looking at a whole paragraph if the reference is obvious. However, in most cases, I will look at a whole section of scripture. #### Process As mentioned in the Background above, there are a handful occurrences that could refer to Jesus, but the majority refer to Father. In order to resolve the "apparent contradiction", I apply my personal hermeneutics. The main premise is that scripture interprets scripture. So, when faced with a difficult passage or word meaning, the best way to resolve the issue is to look at the other occurrences throughout scripture and when possible, place emphasis on the occurrences by the same author. ## Distractors ### Overview of the Lie In the past, I have heard from various sources that it is ineffective to try to know God via His Word. I personally think that view point is straight from Satan!! Their "logic" is that if my method was valid then the Main Stream Religion (MSR) of Jesus' day embodied by the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes would have recognized Him and would have known Him the best. Again, I think the people promoting this idea are blinded by Satan! ### My Response First, the scriptures are the Word of God! The scriptures are the ONLY source of truth! Any other "truth" is not from God and probably the work of Satan. Second, the MSR leadership in Jesus' day was focused on keeping their power position; kinda sounds like the MSR today as well. Most of the MSR leaders had no desire to know Jesus the Son of God much less surrender to Him as their Lord and Savior. Because of their hard-heartedness, Jesus went so far as to accuse them of "blaspheme of the Holy Spirit" for which He said there was no forgiveness. Hopefully, none of us are approaching God in that manner. Bottom-line, anytime anyone wants to have a relationship with God, to truly know Him, that person must surrender their pride and approach Him with absolute humility. ## Correction As always, I am open to scripture-based correction.