We may think we have a relationship with God, but do we really have one? Learn how to have a relationship with God.
We are not in a real relationship with God if we set our own rules and define who God is. Being in a relationship with God will require us to know Him and submit to Him. God is a Person, meaning He has a personality, values, and character. It is our job to know who God is and submit to His commands because He is God.
God has given us the Bible, which displays who He is and His heart. To say we have a relationship with God but do not know or abide in His Word means we think we have a relationship with God but we don’t have a real relationship with God.
A true relationship with God means we know Him and choose daily to seek and submit to Him. God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to redeem our relationship with Him. It is through Jesus that we can know Him.
We can know God through Jesus
We can’t separate Jesus from our relationship with God. To know God is to know Jesus, and it is through Jesus that we can have a relationship with God.
John 14:6-7 says, “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Jesus is the only way to know God and have eternal life. If knowing Jesus is the way to know God, how do we know Jesus?
The answer is the Bible. The Bible is the Word of God and Jesus is the Word.
John 1:1,14 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Because Jesus is the Word of God, we also cannot separate the Bible from God. The Bible is our access to know the heart of God and be transformed.
From the very beginning, we see that God desired for His people to be set apart and holy. Now we get to consecrate ourselves by living in Jesus, whose blood has also cleansed us and made us holy in God’s sight.
May we not lose reverence for God’s holiness and willfully live in sin and darkness. God has shown us great mercy by giving His only begotten Son, Jesus, to die for us so that we may be saved and right with God if we accept Jesus as our Savior by faith.
God is holy so we too are called to be holy and live set apart from the world’s ways.
How can you set yourself apart from the darkness of this world?
Jesus is the light of the world and He promises that those who follow Him will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (John 8:12).
How we live does matter to Jesus. I used to think I could still be saved and be a Christian even though I was living a sexually immoral life with my boyfriend at the time. What I failed to realize was that my lifestyle was rejecting Jesus.
Jesus died for us so that we would be free of sin and receive His Spirit to live in Him. He came so that we would be one with Him, but if we choose to live in sin, we are rejecting the One who is life.
God says in 1 Cor. 6:15-20, “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
Our Relationship with God is a marriage
God designed marriage to be holy, and He designed our relationship with Him to be a marriage. This means our relationship with God must be holy. Jesus calls the church His bride and tells husbands and wives to submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21), so we too ought to submit to God.
Jesus says in Matthew 16:24, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Having a relationship with God will require us to deny ourselves and daily say yes to Him. Our commitment to God was made to be a commitment like marriage.
Our Relationship with God brings us freedom
If you find yourself bound in sin, the good news is you can always come to Jesus for forgiveness and freedom.
Jesus came to set us free from sin, but if we choose to stay in sin, what He did on the cross for us can no longer cover our sins (Hebrews 10:26-27). To be accepted by God does not mean we stay in our sin. To be accepted by God is an invitation to accept Jesus, His only begotten son, to live in us that we may be set free from sin and darkness.
We were all born into sin. Not all of our natural desires are pure and godly, but Jesus came to set us free from sin and live in freedom by dying for us and resurrecting from the dead so that we may have His Holy Spirit live in us and empower us to live a holy life.
Romans 8:11-13 says, “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.”
Once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are to walk by the Spirit and deny our sinful desires so that we may be saved. God accepts you as you are, but expects you to change and walk into His light by accepting His son Jesus.
Is there anything in your life that you need to change to follow Jesus and receive Him who is eternal life?
There is nothing in this world that is worth separating our relationship with God.
So remember, have a real relationship with God.
Prayer: Jesus, thank you for sending us your only begotten Son, Jesus, and making way for us to have a relationship with Him through You. Thank You for the Word so that we can get to know You and grow deeper in our relationship with You.
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