Tag Archives: Love

God Wants a Relationship With You Instead of Organized Religion

08 Friday May 2015

Posted by in Christianity, Church, God, Inspiration, Jesus Christ, Life, Love

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

The term “Christianity” has been dubbed as one of the world’s most dominant religions or religious affiliations.  By societal standards, it is classified as a religion just as Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism.  For centuries, many have seen Christianity through the eyes of religious works and a set of church rules and regulations.  However, religion or religious activity is not something that should be named among Christians.

If we look back at the very beginning of human creation, God had a relationship with Adam & Eve because He was with them in the Garden of Eden. God desires to have a relationship with every human being.  It is the essence of communing with God through prayer, worship, and reading of His Holy word.  There are examples of those in the Bible who had an authentic relationship with God.  One example being that of Moses:

In Exodus 33, Moses is tasked with telling the Israelites of God’s displeasure with them.  While God spoke of His promise which was to give the Israelites the land which had been promised to Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, He also showed displeasure with their sin.  In verse 5, God calls the Israelites a “Stiff necked people” meaning that they were living in sin and disobedience. God gives Moses a command to tell the Israelites to go to the land flowing of Milk and Honey (verse 3) but God also warns that if they go, He may not protect them from the enemies on the path to the Promised Land because of their sinfulness. Going further into Exodus 33, we can see that Moses and God have a conversation, and Moses ultimately asks to see God’s physical presence:

The first part of verse 11 says: “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.”

In verses 12-17 it says:

“Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

The key part of those verses involved God’s statement “I know you by name”.  This suggests that because Moses and God already had a relationship, that Moses was known by God.  Another examination of this text involves Moses asking the question about being distinguished (different) from everyone else on the face of the Earth.  Essentially, it is God’s presence that creates a difference in the life of every believer.  Having a relationship with God and abiding in His presence creates a separation from the world.

One final point to make about Moses and God’s relationship is that in verses 18-24, Moses asks to see the Glory of God.  However, because God is so powerful He cannot show humanity His face, so instead Moses sees the backside of God.

What can be noted based on the account of Moses and God, is that Moses had an authentic relationship and encounter with God.  That is what many Christians should be experiencing. The world views Christianity as a religion in part, because many have lived their lives as such.  Religion suggests that there is a specific pattern or way of operating. However, relationship involves an actual encounter with someone which means that there is openness in communication and daily living.

Religion only appeases those who are living based on rules or rituals.  While God gives every believer a set of expectations and commands to live by, God does not want us to live by a legalistic approach.  Organized religions live based on legalism which means that there is a strict adherence to law based on behaviors.  In Colossians 2: 20-23, the Apostle Paul actually discourages legalism in the body of Christ:

“Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.” 

The key difference between legalism and relationship is that having a relationship with God, automatically alters your behaviors because your heart becomes more like God’s. If you are operating out of a human based system of living, then your behaviors will be changed without having a change within your heart.  That is something God does through relationship.

The lesson that we can learn from Moses is that we must actively pursue God for His presence.  The way to escape the entrapment of religiosity or religious practices, is to understand that God wants to know you and be known by you.  How does that happen? Through daily prayer and an earnest worship unto God. Talking to God is like talking to another human being.  If you don’t have active communication with your friends or family, then the relationship dies.  Or if you don’t communicate with someone you don’t know, you don’t have access to who they are.

God wants to reveal Himself to every human being.  However, He won’t badger or force you into a relationship with Him.  God desires that we love Him for who He is – not through the motions of religion or rituals.  However, through actual daily encounters with God.  The world has some of their accusations correct in that, Christianity has become a religion.  Unfortunately many churches have bought into that claim.

However, true Christianity isn’t a religion, but it is a collective and individual body of believers who have chosen to seek after the things of God. The purpose for gathering in a corporate setting weekly, is to add strength between fellow believers, and to increase accountability in your walk with the Lord.  If you want to be distinguished from the world as Moses desired, then seek after God.  He gives you an opportunity to have a better life, and a relationship that surpasses anything you can even imagine.

Living Water to Satisfy Your Thirsty Soul

08 Friday May 2015

Posted by in Christianity, Church, God, Inspiration, Jesus Christ, Life, Love

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

ID-10054397H20 or most commonly known as water, is an essential source of nourishment and refreshment to quench one’s thirst. Have you ever felt so thirsty, that you were immediately refreshed and rejuvenated after drinking a glass or bottle of water?  Since our body is more than 60% water, it is imperative that we all drink daily to avoid dehydration.  Even as it relates to plant life, water is a necessary source in order to live.  It is the element of nature that represents life and wellness.

However, even spiritually the concept of water can be examined through the term, “Living Water”. In the book of John 4: 1-15, Jesus and a Samaritan woman are having a conversation at a well. He asks her in verse 7 to give Him a drink.  However in verses 9-10, she says that she is a Samaritan and points out that Jesus is a Jew.  At that time period, Samaritans were seen as less than or inferior because of their heritage, being that they were “biracial” (Samaritans were of Jewish and Pagan ancestry). So, because of this, it was uncommon and discouraged for Samaritans to associate with Jews. Of course, to Jesus this did not matter – so they have a dialogue in the following verses of John 4: 10-13:

“Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

What Jesus is offering to the Samaritan woman, is much greater than what she was searching for.  The Samaritan woman was thirsty in the physical, but there was an obvious need, spiritually.  Jesus understood that the Samaritan woman was not whole but rather she was spiritually dehydrated.  Thus he uses the term, “Living Water” which meant that Jesus himself provides the nourishment that satisfies eternally.  Jesus says in verse 14 “whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Jesus provides the living water that you and I need, in order to be whole and satisfied. 

Often times in our society, there are so many distractions and temptations that we are bombarded with.  Daily, the media pushes the “latest and greatest” devices that are “must haves”.  As a result, many buy into what is promoted, because they are searching to be satisfied and fulfilled in what the world has to offer.  However, as the scripture says in Luke 6:21, “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.” God desires that we seek Him to be filled, because in and of ourselves, we are empty.

Jesus has made Living Water available to each individual that is thirsty for it. What is the Living Water?  The Living Water is the the presence of God which not only gives us peace, but satisfaction.  Just as there is refreshment when we drink natural water, there is a refreshment that surpasses all understanding when we are in God’s presence.  Once we have tasted of God’s presence and the Holy Spirit, then the temporary things of this world will no longer matter.

Money, sex, drugs, and other trappings which are promoted in our sin filled world, lead to a life of ruin and malnourishment.  Our soul is meant to be satisfied by God, because we were made in His image. We were made and created to worship God.  However, it is the sin that cuts the tie between God and humanity. Satan will never tell you the damage that can be and will be done if you are constantly seeking after the things of this world.  1 John 2:15 admonishes us not to love the things of this world.  The reason is because Galatians 6:8 says that if we sow to our flesh, we will reap corruption or death.  This is both a spiritual and physical death.

Christ provides the life that we are all in need of.  As Jesus said in John 14:6,  “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  Jesus Christ offers each individual the opportunity to have life and to have it in abundance. Seeking after the riches of this world, and temporary satisfaction will always leave you dry.  A life in Christ, is what will institute a healthy and nourished way of living.  Are you thirsty?  Do you find yourself unfulfilled and wandering from place to place to seek peace?

If so, then you are in need of the Living Water.  The Living Water is what God provides through the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus Christ is the one who bled and died for you so that you would never thirst again.  The reason that the world groans and writhes in discontentment is because those in the world, do not have the Living Water.  They are partaking of a well that runs dry.  The well of life, the spring of life, is the one place that will bring healing and everlasting joy.  That place, can only be found in Jesus Christ.  So, if you find yourself thirsting, take a drink of the Living Water and you will find that you shall never thirst again.

Reaching Those In Darkness Through Jesus Christ

07 Thursday May 2015

Posted by in Christianity, Church, God, Inspiration, Jesus Christ, Life, Love, Religion, Religious

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

ID-100106138If you have ever sailed through a large body of water, you may have noticed that a device called a “lifesaver” is usually needed in the event of an emergency.  Within every commercial ship, lifesavers are available so that anyone who falls overboard, can be rescued from the danger of drowning.  Even lifeguards utilize these devices to assist in bringing a drowning person back to safety.  This device is meant to ensure safety, but to also ensure that the possibility of perishing is nonexistent.

Salvation as a concept can be essentially the same as using a lifesaver.  The truth is, all of us are in need of a savior.  John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  In this scripture, “The thief” refers to satan.  Satan desires to destroy all that is good, which also includes destroying and stealing life from humanity.  However, in this same scripture, Jesus says that He has come so that we might have life and have it to the full.  This means, that Jesus came, died and rose again so that you and I might live a life of abundance.

The message of salvation is one of redemption.  It is the redemptive power of Jesus Christ which gives everyone an opportunity to know God, and to be rescued from our sin.  It is our sinful nature that separates us from having a relationship with God. According to Romans 6:23 it says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The Apostle Paul is saying that the penalty of sin is death, but not just a physical death but a spiritual death.  When we as humans are not in Christ, we are dead, spiritually.  However, the latter part of that verse says, the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ.  To be in Christ, is to have life which not only includes physical life but spiritual life.

When it comes to reaching those who are in darkness, it is the duty of every Christian to actively pursue the message of Jesus Christ.  In thinking about the example of a lifesaver, Christ is the lifesaver for humanity.  Sin and worldliness represent the thrashing waves of an ocean.  It also represents the depth of the water which if one does not have a lifesaver, they will likely drown unless they are able to swim.  However, if you are not in Christ and you have not experienced salvation, then you cannot swim in the depths of a decaying world.

All around us, there is a steady display of a world that is perishing in decadence. If you were to turn on your local or national news, you would see murder, threats of terrorism, weather-related tragedies, immoral and ungodly behavior.  Not only are the very things we see absolute signs of the coming of Jesus Christ (Read Matthew 24) but these are behaviors and occurrences which are based in sin. The very things that you and I see, is a result of a wicked and perverse generation.

However, the good news is that Jesus Christ is the remedy.  He is the lifesaver because he addresses our need for a savior. The purpose of the body of Christ is not merely to exist as a collection of believers.  However, it is to pursue those who are in their sin to provide them with the “lifesaver” which is Christ.  In Mark 16:15 it says, “And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” Jesus was speaking to the 12 Disciples when he gave them a charge to spread the good news unto all of the world.  That same call to the Disciples is the same call that every Christian has upon salvation, and that is to spread the good news. What is the “good news”?

The good news is that Jesus Christ came and has given humanity an alternative to Hell and destruction.  Even as it relates to daily living, a life in Christ is more productive than a life without Him.  God wishes that no man perish as it says in 2 Peter 3:9.  We who are in Christ, have the awesome responsibility of sharing God’s love with what we say, and how we live.

For those of you who are not in Christ, you can know what true love is by accepting Jesus as your savior.  It is your sin that separates you from truly knowing God.  Before you take your last breath, you can know where your destination will be after this life.  Will it be in the presence of a Holy God where there will be rest and safety?  Or will it be in Hell which is a place of darkness, anguish and separation from a loving God?  No one has to leave this Earth to perish.  The choice is up to each individual.  However, even we who are Christians must demonstrate and spread the message of Jesus.  God loves each person so much, that He gave his son Jesus Christ to take our sin and exonerate us from wrongdoing. The lifesaver is available to all.  Spread the message of God’s saving grace, or if you haven’t already, accept the gift of salvation that is readily available to you.

Just Who Is God Anyway?

06 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by in Christianity, Church, God, Inspiration, Jesus Christ, Life, Love, Religion, Religious

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , ,

ID-10067092Throughout human history, there has been an ongoing debate about who God is, and whether or not He exists.  For centuries, men and women have discussed God in the context of belief or disbelief.  Even in today’s world there are various arguments and discussions as to the proof of God and His role within this world.  Who is God? What does God want from you and I as we live in this life?  Let’s look at this through God’s word so that we can see just who God is:

1. God is the creator – 

One of the most notable scriptures is that of Genesis 1:1 which says, “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.”  First we see, that God was and is a creator.  God created both the Heavens and the Earth.  From the beginning of time and existence, God created.  In fact, God created the very essence of time and he even preexisted before time as we know it was formed. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  This means, that God existed before everything else, and even at the beginning He created.  God is a creator and the original inventor of life.  If you look further through the book of Genesis (Chapter 1) you will see that God created the animals, plant life, the sun, the moon, and the first two human beings which were male and female.  It is the genius of God that created order and life itself.

2. God is love – 

Just about every human being desires to know what true love is.  Some seek it in relationships, others seek love in the form of activity or even self-fulfilling pleasures.  Love from the stand-point of the world is usually rooted in fulfilling one’s need for closeness and affection.  However, God is the masterful example of what love is. Another notable verse and perhaps most quoted verse is John 3:16 which says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him, shall not perish but have everlasting life.”  God loved you and I so much, that he gave His son Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice in order to break the chain of our sinful nature. Believe it or not, we were all born into sin upon coming into this world.  It was because of the sin which was introduced into the world by Adam & Eve’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden, that we were all born sinful. However, God’s alternate plan for humanity was to provide a sacrifice on our behalf. Jesus Christ shed his blood, died and rose again so that you could have everlasting life.  It was God’s love for you, that prompted the need for a sacrifice in Jesus Christ.  God’s love goes beyond who you are or what you have done.  He loves you and will always love you even when your life on Earth is complete.

3. God is Holy – 

The word “holy” is defined by Dictionary.com as the following:

  • specially recognized as or declared sacred by religious use or authority; consecrated:
  • having a spiritually pure quality:
  • entitled to worship or veneration as or as if sacred:

God is holy because His very presence and power, demands credence, obedience, and exaltation.  There were many great leaders who have held esteemed positions.  Many have impacted history based on the role that they assumed and their individual greatness.  However, among all of the world leaders (living or dead) none of them can or could compare to the holiness that encompasses who God is.  In Exodus 15:11, Moses who was God’s chosen to lead the children of Israel out of captivity, uttered the following words: “Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?”  In chapter 15 of the book of Exodus, Moses and the children of Israel are recounting the many blessings and moments of victory that they experienced through God’s mighty works.  God is Holy which means, He deserves our reverence and our adoration.  No one can match or even rival His glory because He is alone is holy.

There are many more attributes and characteristics that describe who God is – however, to understand the above you must first come to know God through Jesus Christ for yourself.  God wants to have a personal relationship with you, but you must be willing to accept Jesus Christ as your savior.  All of us have sinned, which means none of us are immune to the penalty of sin.  However, by accepting Christ’s sacrifice and confessing your sins, that penalty is no longer punishable by death.  It was the death of Jesus Christ that paid for your punishment.  It is God’s love that drove Him to great lengths to redeem humanity.

Just who is God Anyway?  He is the one who loves you with an unending love. God desires to know you and for you to know Him.  All of the traits that were listed cannot be known if you or I don’t have a personal experience with Him. The invitation to know God for yourself is already available to you.  The world and those who choose to reject God will paint God as someone who isn’t love, or some sort of monster.  However, God is the complete opposite of what many have said.  Those who don’t know Him for themselves cannot truly say who God is or what He can do. It is a choice that everyone will have to make at some point and that is to find out who God is.  The best way to find out who God is, is to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and then God will reveal himself to you in prayer, worship, and in communion with Him.  Then and only then will the many attributes of God come alive in your life.