truthhurts,
When people talk about having personal relationship, and knowing Jesus, in most cases, they are not talking about merely knowing of Jesus, or knowing about Jesus.. they are talking about knowing him on a "personal" level.. thus the term "personal relationship".
I can say that I know the governor of my state because I know who he is, I've read about him, watched him speak etc. But I don't know him in the same way I know my mother, or my brother.
A lot of people who call themselves Christians know Jesus like I know the governor of my state. They don't know him like I know my brother or my friend etc. For a lot of people their faith never goes beyond a vague acceptance that God exists and that Jesus is God etc.
This is what those who talk about "personal relationships" and "knowing Jesus" are trying to work against.
Now, having said that, there is a negative side to this crowd as well (having grown up in it). First, the phrase "personal relationship" has become such a clieche that it has lost the real impact it should have. Its been so vastly over used and so often used without really understanding all that it should mean.
Secondly, there is a genuine problem with many of those who focus on the personal aspect in that their faith becomes defined by their own self. It becomes personal not in the sense of intimate, but rather in the sense of defined by my own preferences and tastes.
So, I fully agree that every Christian should have a personal relationship with Jesus. In fact, if you don't, I would have to say you probably are in need of having a real heart conversion.
However, at the same time, personal can not mean selfish, and it can not mean defined by me, or my tastes etc.
The whole point of Christianity, indeed of existence is for us to know God on an intimate level in relationship.
i totally agree
now i know (better) why it is i never liked that phrase Personal relationship w/ Jesus... For one thing, it can mean just about anything, as your post says
I began to have a personal "thing" (dont like Relationship... long story why...) with Jesus when i got serious about the Chruch he founded on EArth, the Roman Catholic Church. It was there that i began to hear the Word of God (yes, the Bible, in a CATHOLIC Church... go figure
) at daily Mass... If you go to daily Mass for 3 yrs you will hear most of the Bible... Old and New T
anyhow... It was when i began to spend time in His Real Presence, found only in HIs Church that i began to understand who he really is. If you dont spend time in that Real Presence of His you will not know certain things about Him. If all you have is the Bible, you will be very limited on what you know about Jesus... and this brings us back to that "Depart from me, i never knew you" thing...
the thing is... i really can't discuss this further with people who have not spent time There
and you can't just go there 4 a few minutes either..
i notice that the longer i stay... hmmm... How to say this??
it is very mysterious what happens there, espeicaly wehn He is not "exposed" - when the consecrated Hosts are still in the tabernacle. I personally belive the souls in Purg are there in the unexposed, but maybe not in the Exposed... although i have yet to get word on what the Church officially teaches on this particular thing... But i belive they are there, working out their salvation with fear & trembling (Phil 2:12) since they didn't do so sufficiently on Earth.
Anyway... i think i will post this much and... get back to all the other thoughts flying through my head later...
i came back after getting my main point back, although it is all important..
I used to believe thigns about God and His son that are not true.
the primary example is that i thought God didn't care about me anymore... that i had "gone 2 far" in my sinfulness.. God in heaven knows why i thought such a thing (felt it) becaus i have never commited what you would call BIG sins, although all mortal sin is big to God...
I was half right that i w asn't good enough 4 God.. meaning not holy enough. In fact, that is not a half truth but absolute truth. The thing that was off in my thinking was that God would never take me back
the rosary disabused me of that notion. It was this distinctly Catholic weapon against the devil that disabused me... imagine that... a w eapon of the Catholic Church helped ME, someone who 100% belived God did NOT want me back... I think ppl who bash the Catholic Church should keep this in mind..
in any case, i almost gave up on the rosary as well, when i 1st started praying it many yrs ago because this feeling of not being good enough.. this feeling that i couldn't return to God was SOO strong!!! But some small, quiet "voice" told me to keep praying and i listend to that voice, evne though much louder voices (thoughts) were telling me "you might as well 4get it... God doesn't want you, you are not good enough..." and etc, etc..
again... i probably should leave things at that 4 now... getting kind of emotional remembering all this.. I know it was God who got me to pray the rosary. i know because i did not - NOT - want to pray it... didn't belive it could do ONE thing 4 me.. Instead, it changed my whole life... a total 180