Before we go any further into this book, there’s a truth that I want to cement into our hearts, and that is that everything there is to be known about God is known through relationship. All of it. This is the means in which God has chosen to reveal Himself to humanity. And this is why it is of utmost importance that if we are going to know anything about Him, we start right here… in meeting Him.

In the next few chapters, we will dig deeper into the truth that what we know about Jesus comes through the Bible. And the only reason that we have the Bible is because God (once again) was in relationship with people who wrote things down as they were inspired by Him to do so.

Therefore, this book is not a book written to simply gain more head knowledge about Jesus or to gain academic prowess… but to help you gain real revelation, knowledge, and understanding of Jesus by means of meeting Him and knowing Him personally.

In its essence, this book is an invitation to relationship. Not just to learn about Jesus, but to know Him.

Who is He? What did He do? What is the point of His life? What is this gospel thing? How can I walk in this new life that Jesus talks about?

I want you to know from the outset of this book that God has more for you. Whether you are picking up this book as a non, new, or seasoned believer in Jesus, the fact stands. God has more for you.

Therefore, if the contents of this book are going to be of any benefit to us at all, we must approach it with the same humility, childlike wonder, and openness that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 18:3 when He said, “Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Simply put, if we are to truly learn who Jesus is, we must put back on the mind of that curious kid, filled with awe and wonder at life itself. Some of us are familiar with that kid who lives inside us. But for some of us, it’s been a while since we’ve interacted with our inner child.

Either way, let’s try to become like kids again for a second. Before the first time someone ever let us down. Before we ever knew pain. Before doubt became a regular guest in the chambers of our minds. Back when it was possible to freely believe… with no shame.

If you had a childhood that was full of hurt, pain, rejection, and more of the like, my prayer is that as you meet Jesus, you will allow Him to heal that hurt little kid inside you. He wants to.

Maybe, just maybe, then we’ll really and truly meet Jesus. All of Him.

I want to share an admission with you. As I am writing this book, I am thoroughly convinced that I have not experienced all that God has available for me. I hold to the same truth that I shared with you just a few moments ago. I personally believe that God has more for me, too.

I do not know all that God has to reveal to me, and I know that there is more to know of Him. This is what drives me to get up every day and walk with Him. This is what pulls me to learn more about Him and seek Him every single day. It is also what has driven me to write this book. A journey for the hunger-filled soul to meet Jesus and discover more of Him than you ever thought was possible.

I will reference this passage later in the book, but I will make mention of it now as it seems fitting to do so: In the Book of Ezekiel (a book written by a prophet in the Old Testament named Ezekiel), the prophet details an encounter that he has with God. In this encounter with God, the Lord shows him a vision. In this vision, an angel from Heaven comes to him and takes him to a river that is flowing out of the Temple of God.

The angel then begins to lead him out into the river, taking him a distance of what the Bible details as 1,000 cubits (if you are curious, a cubit was an ancient unit of measurement, roughly equivalent to the distance from a person’s elbow to the tip of their middle finger, say eighteen inches or so).

After this first 1,000-cubits journey into the river, Ezekiel details that the river’s depth had risen up to his ankles. Then, they went another 1,000 cubits, with the water rising this time to their knees. Once again, they ventured further into the river, and now the water was waist deep.

Then, and finally, as they took one more trek further into the river, they found that now they were in water over their heads, what Ezekiel describes as waters so deep that their feet could no longer touch the ground.

What is the significance of this story, and why am I telling it to you right now?

Because when the Bible talks about God’s Spirit, it often equates it to a river… likened to the one that Ezekiel saw. And just as it was with Ezekiel’s journey into the river, so it is with us in our journey to deeper knowledge of God. The further that Ezekiel followed the angel forward into the river, the deeper that the water became… and in like manner, as we set out to venture forward into deeper knowledge and experience with God, the deeper in Him that we will go.

I am here to tell you today that whatever you have experienced in and of God, there is more… something deeper... and all you have to do to experience it is just keep walking forward in faith.

No matter your starting point. Whether you are on the bank looking at the river, curiously considering if you’re going to take your first step in, out in ankle-deep water wondering if you are going to continue forward out to your waist, or you are all the way out in a deep place with God where your feet no longer touch ground… I want to ask you one question:

Will you journey a little further with me?

Will you embark with me on a journey where together we meet Jesus in a fresh, new way?

If so, let’s step in and step forward.