By LARRY STOVER | Praise Park Church of the Nazarene

One of my prayers for 2016 is that the residents of Dallas County would seriously seek to get to know God all over again this year.

I firmly believe that nearly all people have an understanding of a “greater being.” Yet, I also realize that so many of our youth are being raised as skeptics.

In other words, “I believe in God but….”

The tenets of Humanism continue to tout the idea that we are all gods in our own way and need no one else to help us reach our potential. The Pluralistic philosophies of today espouse the idea that there are many concepts of God and all are equal.

The book of Job in the Old Testament gives a perfect illustration of a search for a fresh encounter with God. If you are not familiar with the story, Job went through difficult times. He lost his family, possessions and wealth but always continued to believe in God. Even when he could not find God in the midst of his troubles, he never lost faith in the God of heaven. At the end of the story, God restored everything to Job.

For many Americans, the frustrations of day to day life issues, exhibit a spirit of disillusionment that has them questioning many things including the existence of God. The solution requires every one of us to slow down and seek a fresh encounter with God all again.

Rather than running away from God, we need to be running toward Him. Let’s stop pretending that we don’t need Him and realize that His presence in our daily life would change so many things for the positive. Could we possible say a simple prayer such as, “Okay God, I know you are real; Deep down I’ve known it for a long time; Please forgive me.”

Almighty God would love to help us discover who He really is and what He can do in our lives. Psalm 139 reminds us that, before we were ever born, God wrote in the “Book of Life” everything about our life. He still has this awesome vision for each of us. His plan and purpose for your life and mine is all about His holy presence working and living through us to make our life the best it can possibly be.

This God that you need is not the god of your nightmares. He does not find joy dangling you over the pits of hell demanding that you repent or else. God does not sit around heaven waiting to “zap” you for every wrong move that you make.

On the contrary, He really wants to have an intimate relationship with you. Since He has orchestrated this potential plan for your life, why not accept the fact that His plan is beyond anything that you can imagine or think. The longer you wait for that plan to be put to work in your life, the more you miss out on the best He has for you.

The very best part of believing in God is discovering how wonderful He really is. A renewed relationship with Him could make 2016 your best year ever.

Most of all it would make life “Simply Beautiful.”