A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP
FOCAL VERSE
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, love your neighbor as yourself.
Luke 10:27 ESV
DEEP REFLECTION
It has become a mere normality when we hear “Relationship with Jesus”. However, the sincere question is, do we really understand what a relationship entails? And what does it mean to have a relationship with Christ Jesus? It is amazing embarking on a journey of having a relationship with Jesus with you.
Prayer: Dear Lord, please open the sight of my understanding as I gain more knowledge on starting a lifelong relationship with you. Amen.
@growcode
Relationship means the way two or more people are CONNECTED. Every relationship has a foundation on which it is built. God demonstrates this foundation through His love by paying a debt he did not owe just so you and I could have a genuine relationship with Him.
Having a relationship with God means coming to a point in your walk with God where you are comfortable enough to be honest with God and talk openly about your emotions to God.
Understanding the operations of God can many a times be difficult. Nevertheless, yours involves being genuine and investing time on a consistent basis. In as much as God requires as to live acceptable lifestyles, He does not support the act of us hiding or staying away from Him when we err. He wants us to come to Him, be open and push to make our life’s better. God gives the strength but the discipline to employ, is ours. We need to have a relationship with him to the point where we don’t allow what we’ve have done to define who we are in Christ Jesus.
Our relationship with God is the basis of all other relationship with others. This means your relationship with our parents, friends, colleagues, and even our romantic relationship tells how our relationship with God looks like. It is sad that we frequently view our relationship with God as being based on performance. “God loves us because we read our Bible, God loves us because we pray every day, God loves us because we give my tithes, God loves us because of this and that, but there are no be cause’s with the love of God,” rather, we see in the book of Romans 5:8, But God demonstrates His love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Having a relationship with God can simply be defined as coming to a point where you allow God have unrestricted access to all aspects of your life.
A simple illustration would be to have a visitor over for the first time and let him/her into the living room. He or she has will have access to your kitchen as the relationship develops, but we (household folks) have access to areas of our rooms that guests cannot enter as time goes on. Therefore, you can never have a loving, long-lasting connection with God as long as you regard him as a visitor.
So, we need to allow God have access to all parts of our life if we want to have a long-loving relationship with Him. In order to have this relationship, we need to be honest in our communication with God, trust and obey His words.
God loves us so much that He wants a relationship with us.
Lastly, we need the Holy Spirit to empower us, give us the strength and aid our discipline in our quest to having a genuine relationship with God.
INTENTIONAL EXERCISE
Identify aspects in your life you do not allow God in and begin to welcome God in there.
SOUL PRAYER
Dear Lord, I thank you for the love You have shown to me. I thank you for calling me Your own. Please help me to have a long loving relationship with You. Help me to abide by Your words so I can trust You and be honest in my communication with You. I open every door of my life to You, please come in and dine with me in Jesus name, Amen.
READING PLAN
Monday
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one come to the Father except through me” John 14: 6
Tuesday
Jesus replied, ’Anyone who loves me will obey my teachings. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home in them. John 14:23
Wednesday
‘I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20
Thursday
‘And without faith it is impossible to please Him, foe whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him’ Hebrews 11:6
Friday
‘For God so loved the world, that he gave His only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
This is a GROWcode_initiative in partnership with Jesus Christ.
Stay connected to grow.
Much love.
Written by: Victoria
Edited by: Beth_Hamm & Nana
