Knowing Jesus personally in daily living is required to get into the Kingdom of God. That’s easy to prove Biblically. It’s hard to find in the church today.

It’s not that pastors and teachers are against the idea. It’s simply not taught because it’s so basic. OR, it’s so personal that they’re embarrassed to share in public. But it’s so pervasive that you really can’t go to any church today and ask, “What’s the Lord done in your life this week?” Even if this is too personal the person can simply say, “Just some personal stuff.” But the reality is, if that question is asked, the person being questioned [often rudely] simply turns around and leaves. Imagine the reaction if you asked, “What’s the Lord told you this week?”

Knowing Jesus personally in daily living

The importance of this is seen in many places of the Gospels, and throughout all of scripture. For example, in John 17:3 Jesus said, “This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.” The word know, which I made bold, is the one used through the Bible, Old Testament and New. It is to be intimate with, to know as a husband loves his wife. OK, it’s slang for sex. But if you have a Christian marriage, you have discovered what knowing your spouse means. It goes far beyond abilities in bed. You learn what each other likes, needs, wants, and hopes for. You know what they can do and what they cannot. You know what they are good at. You know where they don’t have a clue. Above all, you deeply care about all of these things.

An aside: If your marriage is not like this, you have a lot of work to do. This is how marriage was designed. More than that, the Lord of Lords is committed even more than you are to make the marriage work.

You cannot know anyone if you do not talk with them

Knowing about Jesus will not get you in. Satan knows about Jesus. He knows a lot about Jesus. But He doesn’t know Him.

This is what is not understood. If you do not know Jesus personally— that is talk with Him, listen to him, carry on conversations with Him— when you start banging on the door to get in, all He’ll say is what He said in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonderful works in Your name?’ But then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice evil.’”

I wrote a whole book on this: The Wife of Jesus. Don’t blow it off. I mean, you do want to go to Heaven, right?