Gloryteller

If I said to you. “God is a personal God,” what would you think? How would you picture God as being your “personal” God?
The common explanation is that God can be thought of, regarded, and responded to, as a personage (although, in this case, the highest Personage there is) with whom one can interact like a fellow human rather than an impersonal abstraction. This explanation certainly seems feasible since the second person in the holy Trinity, Jesus, was (and is) fully human (and fully God).
Exploring further, I was thinking about how we humans interact with one another. We talk together and discuss things. We do things together. We celebrate, grieve, rejoice, encourage, give gifts, serve, work, and simply be together. There is presence – we are present with one another, just as God is present with us as we do all the above things. He is not only present, but He desires to interact and participate with individuals as they navigate through life.

personal-of, relating to, or based on, the existence or presence of a person.
Why would the all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present Creator of everything want a close relationship with an ordinary human? Because He is our creator, and He loves us intensely. (I don’t fully understand why, but He has made that fact quite clear)  Before time began He drew our blueprint. He worked out all our details with loving intention and fine-tuned our design. He is the Cause, we are the effect!

Genesis 1:27 – God created mankind in His own image – male and female.
Psalm 139: 13-14 -For you created my inmost being*;  you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Jeremiah 1:5 – Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.
Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you not to harm you, for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Isaiah 41:10 -So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
Acts 17:27 – . . . that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him. Yet He is not far from each one of us.
Matthew 1:23  – Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel which means “God with us”.
Hebrews 13:5 – . . . and be content with what you have, for He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

personal–belonging to, or affecting a particular person.
We belong to the Father (not as possessions, per se, but as family members, and as His people)

Psalm 100:3 – Know that the Lord is God! It is He who made us, and we are His . . .
Ephesians 1:5 – In love, He predestined us for adoption to Himself as heirs through Jesus Christ . . .
Ephesians 1: 11 – In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things . . .
Matthew 18:14 – In the same way your Father in heaven does not want to lose any of these little ones.
1 John 4:19 –  We love Him because He first loved us.
John 4:15 – If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (Jesus)

personal-concerning one’s private life or relationships, rather than public life. (We also have a less personal, but no less important, public life with Him)
There is a private and confidential aspect. He desires an intimate (close) interaction, association, and affiliation that need not be confided to anyone else.
You know what God has saved you from – the life He took you out of – the things you have been forgiven – the things He has intentionally forgotten and removed as far as the East is from the West.
You may choose to tell others about those things, but it’s not at all mandatory. There are things that can remain between you and God, not that they are secrets, as such, but things you confess to Him when repentance occurs.

personal– done face-to-face in person with no others involved. (This is similar to the above ideas)
I’m not an expert on personal relationships, but I’ve observed that the good and meaningful ones have some things in common, like effective communication, trust, showing appreciation, expressing gratitude, showing empathy and compassion, forgiving, and most of all, employing love, which binds all those things together.
1 Thessalonians 5:16 – Rejoice always, pray continually (be in constant communication), give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 6:18 – And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
John 4:4 – Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
James 4:12 – There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy.
2 Corinthians 5:10 – For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Matthew 25:23 – “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

God is indeed our personal God, in His personal presence with us; in that, we personally belong to Him; in our personal private life with Him; in our face-to-face personal interactions with Him, and in other profound ways I haven’t thought of at the moment. Personally, I hope you think about it and find some other ways for yourself.

My personal best regards, dear reader. May you enjoy an increasingly wonderful personal relationship with our Mighty Personal God.

*All Scriptural italicizations and emphases are mine.