I would like you to think about your best friend for a moment. We all have friends, a couple close friends, some good friends and a lot you’d simply consider friends. The point is that some friends are closer than others.

I admit that I haven’t always put a high value on friendships. I guess because although I knew that a “good friend is very valuable”, I failed to apply it to my life and put the effort into them that’s necessary.

The bottom line is that for any good friend, you have to take the time to get to know them, there are no shortcuts. Good friends require these key ingredients: love, time, consistency, sacrifice, openness and patience.

Let’s take those ingredients, love, time, consistency, sacrifice, openness, and patience and discuss how these apply to our relationship with God.

This is God’s side, what He contributes:

Love

1 John 3:  ¹⁶ We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.

Time

Matthew 28: 20b “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Consistency

James 1: 17 “Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all heaven’s lights. Unlike them, He never changes or casts shifting shadows”

Sacrifice

John 3: ¹⁶ “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Openness

^{John 15: 15} I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.

Patience 

1 Timothy 1: 16 But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life.

In light of these attributes, it seems like God would make a pretty good friend, doesn’t it? He has all the qualities of a great friend. But there’s the catch to sustaining a good relationship, and we all know what that is, it needs to be reciprocated. A few verses come to mind:

James 4: ⁸ Come close to God, and God will come close to you.

2 Chronicles 15: 2 Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you.

What does this tell us? It tells us that the ball is in our court! He called us, so it’s our turn to call Him back. Some friendships dissolve over a friend not calling the other one back, but God is not like a fickle “friend”.

Matthew 7: 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

Don’t you love God’s “open door” policy?

This tells me that if God is not a good friend of mine, then it’s not His fault, but mine. It’s up to me to be proactive and deliberate about getting to know Him more:

Hosea 6:

⁶ I want you to show love,
not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me
more than I want burnt offerings.

When this sunk into my pea-sized brain, it was so liberating. I can simply focus on getting to know Him and not worry so much about messing up. When I sin, I know that I can come back to Him and that He will welcome me. Our relationship is not based on my performance or abilities.

What will you do to improve your friendship with Him? Maybe you’re “good buddies” and reaping the rewards of His company. Maybe you are just getting to know Him and taking things slow.

Regardless of where you’re at, I encourage you to make Him your best friend. I can assure you, He wants to be your best friend and He should be. Get to know Him by reading His Word, talk to Him in prayer consistently, and hang out with others that have made Him their best friend.

I’ll leave you with just one more verse:

Proverbs 3:

³¹ Don’t envy violent people
or copy their ways.
³² Such wicked people are detestable to the Lord,
but he offers his friendship to the godly.

Will you befriend God?

“Dear Lord, I have good friends and I have not so good friends. None of my friends are as loving and as available as you are. Help me to get to know you more so that I know what it truly means to call you my friend. Thank you for your patience and calling me in the first place. In Jesus name, amen.”

photo by Mohamed Nohassi

In my last post, “Do You Trust Him, part 1”, we discussed the relationship between love and trust: “God is teaching me that the greater my love is for Him, the more I will trust Him.”

Psalm 40: 4 Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord, who have no confidence in the proud or in those who worship idols.

This makes me think about who I am trusting. Am I trusting my clients to pay me or call me for work? Or trusting friends to fulfill my needs?  Or maybe I’m trusting the economy or the government? God forbid I trust in myself to finish the work He’s given me.

Do you have a lot of work that needs to be done? Check this out:

1 Chronicles 28: ²⁰ Then David continued, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will see to it that all the work related to the Temple of the Lord is finished correctly.

Our God is faithful

Call me crazy, but I think we can apply this verse to our own lives, nearly 3,000 years later. Think of it this way, God gave King Solomon the job of building the temple. That was the work God gave him to do. If God is with us today and we serve Him in whatever capacity He gave us, from cleaning toilets to mending broken limbs, you better believe that it is important to Him. “He will see to it that all the work … is finished correctly.” After all, if He’s given you the work to do, won’t He be faithful in helping you complete it? Knowing this helps me to trust Him more, how about you?

This also reminds me of the work He’s doing in me:

^{Philippians 1: 6} And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

Trust takes time

Trust is learned over time; it’s something that is developed. I used to pray a lot for more faith as if I would wake up the next day and be able to part a lake. I am learning that it doesn’t work that way. God has been answering those prayers all along by teaching me more and more how I can trust Him.

Reading the Bible on a daily basis has been a tremendous help in this area of growth. Every time I turn the page it seems as though God is rescuing someone or delivering on a promise He made. Don’t take my word for it, this is my personal experience from my own journey. Find out for yourself how He works, join me by seeking Him.

Wise words from King David

I’ll leave you with these encouraging verses. These are David’s last recorded words to his son Solomon, passing the torch, so to speak:

1 Chronicles 28: ⁹ “And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. ¹⁰ So take this seriously. The Lord has chosen you to build a Temple as his sanctuary. Be strong, and do the work.”

Will you trust Him?

“Dear Lord, You are the author of my life and my future is in your hands. Please help me know you more. I believe that if I can get to know you better, you will teach me how I can trust you more and more. Thank you in advance for what you will do in my life. I am excited about my future with you.  In Jesus Name, Amen”

I hope you enjoyed the last post, “Do You Know What To Say When You Pray?”. I just love reading the examples of prayers throughout the Old Testament, there’s a certain vulnerability about them. They allow us to see these “Biblical Giants” as ordinary people and that gives me comfort. Now let’s talk trust!

I also love the simplicity of the greatest commandments. Jesus makes it clear that they are foundational to everything else.

Matthew 22: ³⁵ One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”³⁷ Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Greatest = Most Important

I don’t think there is a more important topic. I truly believe that if we can learn how to love God and develop an intimate relationship with Him, we’ll only want more. Only His love in us can enable us to love others.

The problem I have is trusting Him. He has met my needs at every turn and has provided for me in ways that I can’t even begin to describe. Still, I find myself waking Jesus up at the back of the boat, crying for him to save me.

God is teaching me that the greater my love is for Him, the more I will trust Him. This makes complete sense. The greatest reason I have for not trusting Him is fear. In light of that, I think it is important to understand this:

1 John 4: ¹⁶ We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. ¹⁷ And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

¹⁸ Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. ¹⁹ We love each other because he loved us first.

The key to trusting God is to experience His love.

Think back to when you were young. Were you afraid of the dark? I’ll admit that I was. When I called on Mom or Dad, they came to my room and delivered soothing words. I was no longer afraid. As a child, I did not understand the love I had for my parents, but it was their love for me that gave me comfort.

It’s the same with God. It’s hard for us to know how much we love God, but we know that He loves us infinitely more.

I think it is safe to say that the more I understand just how much He loves me, the less I will be afraid. What’s great about God is that He doesn’t go back down the hall to His room, He stays right there in the bedroom with me. I can call on His name when I get scared, anxious or experience disbelief.

So keep on seeking and loving God and I am convinced that you will trust Him more and more!

I’ll wrap this message up on my next post. Until then, may God richly bless you!

I confess that this is my weakest discipline. “Lord, help me pray”

The Bible is great for giving us examples of prayer. I’d like to review some prayers where the petitioners actually complain to the Lord.

Abram:

Genesis 15: ² But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. ³ You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.”

Remember this, when Abram was still waiting on a son that God promised him? He struggled with disbelief and spoke openly and honest to God.

A weak moment for Moses

Did you ever get frustrated and ask God “why” questions? Check this out:

Moses:

Exodus 5:  ²² Then Moses went back to the Lord and protested, “Why have you brought all this trouble on your own people, Lord? Why did you send me? ²³ Ever since I came to Pharaoh as your spokesman, he has been even more brutal to your people. And you have done nothing to rescue them!”

He sounds pretty frustrated at this point, doesn’t he! Have you ever protested to God?

Have you ever asked these questions? I know I have.

Gideon:

Judges 6: ¹³ “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”

I just wanted to share these moments of doubt and frustration from a few of the greatest figures in the Bible. Their faith was tested and they endured challenging moments. They didn’t know what was going on, but what mattered most is that they took their issues to God, the One that delivered each of them from their pain.

Let’s be honest with God and open up to Him

Here’s an honest prayer from a man after God’s heart, King David…

Psalm 142: ¹ I cry out to the Lord;
    I plead for the Lord’s mercy.
² I pour out my complaints before him
    and tell him all my troubles.
³ When I am overwhelmed,
    you alone know the way I should turn.

Despite all these examples, sometimes I come before God and I have no idea what to say. Sometimes I’m not even sure what I’m feeling. But I know that it is OK to just sit quietly before God. You really don’t have to say anything, just sit in silence. If you sit long enough words will start to come out and the conversation will start, just give it a chance.

“Oh Heavenly Father, you are the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. You are the Creator of heaven and earth, things seen and unseen. I long for a closer relationship with you. Sometimes it’s difficult for me to approach you, I don’t always have the words to say, but I know you hear my prayers and you do listen to me. Thank you for loving me in such a way that I can run to you in my times of need, for you are my Rock and my place of refuge. I know that you are there for me. Please help me rely on you more so that I will pray more often. As your Son said, ‘For apart from Me you can do nothing’.  In Jesus Name, Amen”

My last post, “Are You Eating His Word?”, ended with the question “How hungry are you?“. Have you thought about that? How much do you desire to read God’s Word? You could be someone that really wants to read it but just not setting aside the time. Or, you could be indifferent towards it, just not excited about picking it up.

I promise you this…

As long as you are seeking the Lord in the Spirit…

The more you read the Word, the more you’ll love the Word, the more you love the Word, the more you’ll need the Word. The more you need the Word, the more you’ll value the Word and the more you’ll appreciate and adore its Author.

This is why the Devil does not want you to read the Bible!

When you do read the Bible, do not to read it just to read it, the goal or objective when reading the Bible should always be to know the Lord more, attempt to understand the passage and apply it to your life. What is He saying to you? If you struggle to understand, find someone that can shed light on it. This is where discipleship comes in which I wrote about recently in “Are You Being Discipled?”.

What more can I say? How about this promise for daily scripture reading:

Joshua 1:⁸ Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.

Are you excited now?

Are you ready to get into the Word? “Where do I start?” you ask. That’s a great question! Because it can be difficult in knowing what to read daily, I’ve developed a reading plan creator on TheBibleTeam.com which allows one to pick whatever book or books, determine the date range and it will create a plan for you. You can find that here: Reading Plan Creator

I don’t think it matters where you start, Matthew, John, Genesis or Jonah. What matters is that you start and get the Bible into you so that the Lord can do a mighty work through you!

I’ll close with this:

1 Chronicles 16: ¹¹ Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him.

My friends, if you are continually seeking and are committed to being a disciple of Christ, then what better way is there than to develop the habit of daily Bible reading? Do you spend a day without eating food? I believe that if believers got as excited about reading the book of Job as they do about eating a BLT, the Church would be a force to be reckoned with.

Will you eat His Word?

If you are serious about developing a daily reading habit, here is some practical advice from my friend and motivational speaker Chris Widener. This may or may not work for you… “So this is how we can achieve all that we want to: develop those actions into habits! Action Point: Pick the area of your life that you want to change for good. Now put the action into your schedule every day for the next 21 days. Make it at the same time every day. In fact, if you can, connect it with another habit that you have each day. This will force it to become a habit right alongside the other. After doing this for three weeks, every day, you will find yourself naturally doing it from then on. Then you won’t need motivation – you’ll have a habit that will carry you through!”

“Dear Lord, help me to develop a habit of meeting with you and reading your Word daily. I thank you for nudging me in this direction as I continue seeking you.”

My last post, “Are You Being Discipled?”, discussed the importance of allowing God to transform us through His Spirit and other Christ filled men (or women). This message, “Are You Eating His Word?“, is just as essential for spiritual growth. Just as our bodies do not grow without nutrition, neither will our souls…

Do you read much? What I mean is, throughout your average day, is there anything you typically read? Is it e-mail, websites, blogs, Facebook posts, the sports page, financial section, novels, magazines, technical journals, devotionals, Christian books, etc.?

Do you see where I’m going with this? There is a lot to read on a daily basis for many of us in this age of information overload. It’s crazy what the Bible has to compete with these days. It’s no wonder that much of our Church suffers from Biblical illiteracy.

What are we to do?

We have a culture that was at one time rooted in Biblical beliefs and understanding. Our schools (before the government took over) used to teach our children how to read using the Scriptures. Now, many decades later, the Bible is widely regarded as mostly irrelevant.

Maybe I didn’t have to tell you that, but I’ll get off my soap box now. 🙂

What I really want to get across is that there is no shortcut to spiritual maturity.

If our desire is to love God then we must get to know Him.

It’s kind of like buying my wife a green purse when her favorite color is blue. This simply means I don’t know her well enough to please her. Either she’s told me her favorite color is blue and I wasn’t listening, or she’s never told me before. It doesn’t matter, I’ve missed the mark. Do I still have that receipt?

Here’s a sobering thought:

John 3: ³⁶ “And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”

The question I have is:

How would we know how to obey Him if we’re not continually trying to know Him?

Read what Moses and Jeremiah had to say about God’s Word:

Deuteronomy 8: ³ “…man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.”

Jeremiah 15: ¹⁶ “Thy words were found and I ate them, and Thy words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Thy name, O Lord God of hosts.” (KJV)

Yes, Jesus is the bread of life!

I think we’ll get it if we truly understand these passages:

John 6: ²⁷ But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”

Tie that with:

John 6: ⁴⁸ Yes, I am the bread of life! ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. ⁵⁰Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.”

And now with:

John 6: ⁶⁸ Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. ⁶⁹ We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”

In Summary:

Spend your energy seeking that which gives eternal life by eating the bread from heaven, the bread of life.

OR:

Spend time daily seeking eternal life by reading your Bible.

How hungry are you?

Being discipled plays a big role in God’s plans as you’ll learn today. In my last post, we discussed what God wanted us to do, consider this part 2 of that message. As a reminder:

John 6: 27 “But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. …”

But I thought, “Hey, I gave my life to Christ when I was 12, I know I haven’t been the “ideal” Christian, but I’m saved, right?, I don’t really “have to do”, anything right? Isn’t the gift of salvation free, not based on works, why bother?”

I always clung to John 3: ¹⁶ “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

But now I am convinced that I never really understood that verse. At face value, in modern day English, it’s very simple and I was led to believe that it doesn’t require any effort on my part, other than to have an intellectual belief that Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice for my sins. I guess I just didn’t get it.

I’m sure I’ve read this verse before but glossed over it:

Matt. ²¹ “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.

Your Bible is calling out to you, “Read me, read me!”

What’s interesting is that although I might’ve had that belief for many years, I knew that I knew that I knew, that I should be reading my Bible regularly.

And then there’s church.

Some years I regularly attended church, Some years I did not. Of course, when I regularly went to church I felt closer to God. I felt better about myself and overall it had a positive impact on me and my family.

Although I was attending church, something was missing. When participating in Bible studies, that helped, where we’d actually open the Bible and discuss what God would say, that gave me some Divine inspiration, but still, something was missing.

I get it now.

I understand what I was missing, and that is discipleship. What’s amazing to me is I’ve read about the twelve disciples and heard about them, but never thought that the concept applied to me, or I just never considered it I suppose.

Maybe I wasn’t attending the right church, a church that took discipleship seriously. Or maybe I just wasn’t open to it. It doesn’t matter now, I am on the path that God wants me on and it is an incredible journey. He’s using my past to teach me what doesn’t work and I can use that to teach others:

2 Timothy 2: ¹ Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. ² You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.

There are two ways to be discipled.

The way I see it, there are two major ways to be discipled, and I believe both are absolutely essential for spiritual growth. The first is to be discipled directly from God.  This occurs when reading the Word and praying. I believe King David knew this very well:

Psalm 25: ⁴ Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. ⁵ Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.

My friends, God is in the discipleship business, but that is not enough. We, humans, were meant for relationships, therefore the second way of being discipled, which is just as important, is meeting with someone else that has a common goal of seeking God:

Proverbs 27: ¹⁷ As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

I take this literally to mean that we’re quite dull (ineffective) if we are not learning from and serving our Christian brothers and sisters.

Let God transform you

Here is what I think it really boils down to, and if this makes you uncomfortable, good. A “Christian” that is not discipled in either of these ways will not be accused of being a follower of Christ. They might be a good person, have great morals, maybe even be a pillar of society. But if they are not allowing themselves to be influenced by God or by other Godly people (disciples) on a regular basis, then how effective will they be and how would they know God’s will for their lives? If you are uncomfortable, then read this carefully:

Rom. 12: ¹ And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. ² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

In contrast, I think this next verse applies to many churches today and the North American Church in general. This passage is directed toward the church of Laodicea:

Revelation 3: ¹⁵ “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! ¹⁶ But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

That being said, do not wait for your church to start a discipleship program if they don’t already have one. Pray that God will lead you to someone that you can learn from. I like Bible Studies, but it’s not nearly the same as one-on-one or very small groups.

I was lukewarm for far too many years.

Today I am determined to stay on His path.

At TheBibleTeam.com we offer a weekly opportunity to learn and grow, and that is our weekly Bible Team call. This is an informal time of discussing the Bible and what everyone’s been reading. It’s open to the new believer as well as the most seasoned, everyone learns something. For me, it is the fastest hour of the week.

Are you a disciple?

“Dear Lord, thank you for your patience. Teach me your ways. It is my true desire to learn more about you and I need help with that. Speak to me in your Word and teach me how to pray. Lead me to others that can encourage me and help me grow as well. Please don’t give up on me. Thanks in advance for where you are leading me.”

I sincerely hope you enjoyed last week’s 3 part series called “How Well Do You Know God”. Given all the messages that I’ve posted so far, do you know what to do? Do you know how to love God, how to be a true disciple, or what to do to have eternal life?

Other than going to church, what do we do that’s different?

Many people give us suggestions about what we should do, you know friends, relatives, neighbors, stock brokers, etc. We should invest in stocks, we should go to a baseball game, we should get on Facebook, we should watch a particular movie, we should go to the beach, we should… well, you get the idea. There are many things to spend our time doing and many people in our lives give us wonderful suggestions.

Have you ever thought about what God wants you to do? I am not saying not to do any of things I mentioned, but if I love God more than any person, then I shouldn’t I consider what He wants me to do?

There are a lot of commands of course such as “love one another” and “love your enemies”, but what does God want us doing with our time? Does God even care how we spend our time, as long as we are obeying His commandments? Does He overtly tell us to do something, other than the obvious Great Commission?

When reading the gospels I see that Jesus gives clear instruction on what we should be doing, so I thought I’d do a little study on it.

Luke 13: ²⁴ “Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail.

Work hard? What does that mean?

To me, working hard is doing all that we can to enter the “narrow door”. For me, it is developing a daily reading habit, consistent prayer or as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5: 17 “pray without ceasing”, and consistently fellowship.

You can also look at it as Paul does:

1 Timothy 4: 8 “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”

Peter says this:

2 Peter 1: ⁵ In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises.

Consider the greatest commandment…

I believe this “effort” is exactly what the Greatest commandment requires:

Matthew 22: ³⁷ Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

To be honest I still don’t know what it means to love God with all my heart, soul and mind. I’m still trying to figure that out.

In this passage of John, the disciples want to perform God’s works, I love how Jesus simplifies it.

John 6: ²⁷ But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”  ²⁸ They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”  ²⁹ Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

I’m not sure what other commentary is needed here. It’s clear that Jesus wants us to work hard, spending our energy to join Him for all eternity. That doesn’t sound like a bad deal, does it?

 Now, do you know what to do?

“Dear Lord, I wish to please you. I don’t always work very hard on seeking you or sometimes even care about what You want. Please help me to be wiser with the time You’ve given me. Thank you for being patient with me.”

In my last message, we discussed the importance of having a personal relationship (part 2) with God. Before that, we discussed the relationship God intended (part 1) for the people He created.

I said, “If we don’t grasp this concept of relationship and continually seek God we’ll miss the boat completely, so why bother?”.

What do I mean by missing the boat?

What I mean is missing out on eternal life and being separated from God for all eternity. Yes! that’s right, let me explain.

Matthew 7: 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

What does Jesus mean by difficult? John 3: 16 sounds easy, “whosoever believeth in him“, but it’s easier said than done.

Believe means trust. This is beyond a belief in your mind, it’s more of a trust from your heart and that’s what makes it difficult.

Then there’s this passage from the sermon on the mount:

Matthew 7: ²² On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ ²³ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

Did you catch that? “I never knew you“. These verses make it clear that the religious busybodies that do this and do that for God, without developing a relationship with Him lose out in the end.

Here is another example:

In the parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, Jesus ends with this:

Matthew 7: ¹² “But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’

There it is again, “I don’t know you“. This doesn’t mean Jesus doesn’t know they exist, it means that Jesus hasn’t heard from them enough to really know them. The bridesmaids were not prepared. A great part of being prepared is getting to know God, in fact, it’s the most important part.

Relationships go both ways

In any relationship, there is a give and take, and God wants to participate in a relationship with you. He wants you to trust in Him, ask Him for things and come to Him with all your cares and burdens. He wants to answer those prayers and give you hope and peace. If you only knew what He wants for you!

Think about a father that keeps inviting his children to visit him and all they do is stop by for an allowance. Maybe they run errands for him and prepare food for him, but then they leave. I can tell you now that dad’s not happy, he’s lonely and disappointed that his kids didn’t hang around and spend time with him. I’m a father, I know this.

Keeping it simple

Luke 10: ²⁵ One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶ Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”

²⁷ The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

²⁸ “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”

What does it mean to you to love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind?

For me, it means to love Him with every fiber of my being. To do all that I can to know about Him and listen to His voice.

If our primary focus is not on loving God then we’re being disobedient, regardless of what else we do.

I suggest that you spend more time on your relationship with the Lord than anything else you do. It’s your relationship with Him, not your rituals or Sunday morning attendance that will lead you to an eternity with Him.

If you have questions or concerns, feel free to leave a comment below, I’d love to hear from you!