Galatians 5:24-25 (NRSV) 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.
This world is daily becoming a very scary place; a place of death, deception and out right treachery! Every time we turn around there has been another shooting or bombing…even our children's schools are under attack. It seems that no place is truly safe anymore. Knowing Christ should already be our first priority, but with all that is going on it makes it even more of urgency to truly KNOW Him. We truly never know what will happen from one moment to the next.
It's one thing to say we know God, but a completely different thing to say that we have a true personal relationship with Him; to be intimate with Him and to be sensitive to His leading for our life. Knowing God is much more than occasionally reading the bible or saying a fly by prayer. It requires more than saying thank you when something good happens or Jesus help me when something bad happens.
If we can strive to nourish our personal relationship here on earth then why not give God that same effort? I mean we take the time to get to know family, friends and significant others by spending time with them, listening to them and learning their likes and dislikes…so why not God? It’s important to us because we want that person to know that we love them, that we care about their wants and needs and it brings us closer to them. It's even more important to have that with God.
John 1:10-13 (NLT) 10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
Having our own personal relationship with God can't be achieved by expecting others to always be praying for or over us either. Sure it's a blessing to have someone always standing in the gap for you, but they can't give your testimony for you. They can't know God for you. When God speaks to you, He speaks to you…not always to someone else for you and if you're not close to Him, if you're not listening then it will pass you by.
I will admit that in the past, and even sometimes today, I've gone to church hoping that God will say something to the pastor and they'll just know what I need and say a prayer over me. I've talked to friends hoping they will have the magic word to get me through something or to make me feel closer to God…or even to help build my desire to study His word more. Over time I'm realizing that while it's wonderful to have people pray for me or to have an encouraging word to get me through…there is nothing that can compare to knowing my God for myself!
I've learned it takes time even when I THINK I don't have time, obedience even when I don't feel like it and sometimes even silence instead of talking my way through. Praying and meditating on God's word asking Him to remove anything from me that is not pleasing to Him and replacing it with a desire to want to know Him more. I've learned to praise Him in good times and bad and even while riding through the storm. This shows Him that I long to be faithful and because of this He abides in me. The more I read, study and pray to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit the closer I feel to God. I truly can't explain what it has meant to my life to have my own personal intimate relationship with my Savior; it's humbling, uplifting and truly is exciting! Even in the midst of my pain and trials…even when I can't see the end I can still rejoice because I know I have the victory through Christ.
Acts 17:27 (NIV) 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.
When we are close to God we are more inclined to make the right choices for our lives and that of our loved ones. Being close to God means His hedge of protection is all around us and He will guide our every step. Our desires begin to change and we not only want God for ourselves, but we want others to know Him and we do our best to speak to them on His behalf. You begin to feel an urgency for others to be saved and overjoyed when they are blessed and have turned their lives over to Him.
It's a terrifying thing to know how crazy this world is and to think that we may know someone dear, someone close to us that does not know God the way that they should. It is my prayer that instead of me people see Christ. That somehow through my life, my trials and pains that they will want to know Him for themselves.
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