Creating and Maintaining a RELATIONSHIP with GOD

My husband and i are on a spiritual cleansing and prayer Journey together. As we occupy until 2009 we are taking more time out to be honest in our prayer life, to grow our prayer life and establish and maintain a relationship with GOD. Our Pastor, Dr.John C. Evans Jr., was led by God to begin our church family on cleansing and prayer journey. We are reading a book titled, Returning to Holiness: A personal and Church wide Journey to Revival by Dr. Gregory R. Frizzell.

The book is very enlightening and causes you to stop and think about your own christian walk and the type of relationship you have with Jesus Christ,If you have a relationship at all. Just coming to church and sitting in the pews is not a relationship with the Lord. Only praying when you say your Grace is not a relationship with the Lord. If this is all you are doing to acknowledge that you are aware of his existence this is not enough. There is so much more that needs to be done to develop your relationship with the Lord. It is no different than our relationships with our humans. If it is someone we are interested in we want to know more about them. We spend more time talking to them and listening to what they have to say. We plan time to do things with them.

We want to be in a private place with them to become intimate with them if only in the expression of a hug or a kiss. We groom our relationships we really care about, we cater to the needs of the individual and we will do almost anything to SHOW THEM that we love them and want them in our lives. When we think and feel that we most certainly have found the right one, we are ready to ask them to spend the rest of their lives with us. We just know we want to be with them forever and whatever comes along we will handle it together. We make a vow before God and Man to never leave them nor forsake them. We come into a covenanted relationship with them.

If it is so easy to do this with another creation,WHY IS IT SO HARD TO COMMIT TO GOD ? If love is an action then JESUS has shown us the ultimate. No greater Love than a man lay down his life for another man. For us he suffered, died and was buried and he ROSE AGAIN to fulfill the scriptures and give us a chance at salvation if we wanted to be free ! No man has ever loved me that much or done that for me and i know my own earthly daddy loved me ! If you want what is best for your life you must want a relationship with the Lord. You want someone who will always be faithful to you, never leave you, take care of you, provide for you , be honest to you and listen to you. That is JESUS !

If you want to get to know this wonderful person you have to spend time with him, you have to talk with him, not just 5 or 10 mins. a day or even with a 2 sec. devotional, you have to sit down and talk to him. Open up your heart and pour it out to him. Tell him everything. Ask him anything. Talk to him in prayer.Prayer is your time to converse with the Lord and then allow him to speak back to you. Get to know him, find out what he likes or dislikes. Even find out what he likes you to wear that pleases him and how he expects you to act, react and talk when you are representing him . If he is your LOVE you want to please him. You already know he is going to give you everything in his power that is his WILL . In order to find out what he likes, wants, desires and deserves in return for his SHOW OF LOVE, you MUST read his Word. You must steal away to a quite place with him and read about him. Learn about him and put these things in your heart.

I do not know about YOU but my husband and i are guilty of not spending enough time growing and strengthening our relationship with the Lord. Yes we pray together with our son in the mornings and yes we go to church and yes we say Grace at the table and i read my Word some days other than Sunday but that is not enough. We need to find some quality time in our every day lives that GOD has blessed us to have, to spend a quite moment with him. We need to come home and find a quite spot with each other or apart from each other and talk to the one who loves us. It is important that we be honest with him and that means repenting of the things we have done out of his will and his way in each day.

We must read his Word, Meditate upon his Word and put it in our hearts so that we can truly know it and use it in our every day lives. The Word must be applied in our lives in situations that we can find ourselves in that might cause us to react in a manner not pleasing to him. If we can stop a moment and speak the Word or call it forth from our hearts and minds then we can represent him in our reaction or response to the situation. When you really spend quality time with the Lord it shows in everything you do because it is so different from anything else in this World. A few months ago this year i finally decided to do what the Lord had been telling me to and clean out my closet again. Before i stopped keeping it organized it was used as a family prayer closet. As i began to allow things to fall on the floor and throw my shoes in the closet and my traveling bag, it started to get crowded in there and there was no longer any room for us as a family to come together. I was too busy to find time to take care of this and put it back in order,though it should have been a top priority with me.

The Lord was speaking to me on several occasions , telling me to clean the closet back out so my family and I could go back in it and pray the way we use to do. We were getting together in other areas in the house but this was a significant spot. It was set aside for GOD as a place for us to meet with him and talk with him and it should have been kept decent and in order. One day i found myself at home with plenty of time. He spoke to me again and this time i had to repent for my failure to do what i should have done at the time he told me to. I put my hand to the plow and did not look back.

Our spot to meet with the Lord is back in order in our home and i am going to keep it that way. In our relationship this is our special place that we meet the Lord as a family and individually. We have rededicated ourselves to spending more time in prayer and reading of the scriptures because it is important that Jesus knows we love him and we are going to be faithful to only him , as it is in any relationship where you have put your heart and trust. Instead of just the 5 mins. of family prayer in the morning, we are starting out with 20 mins. each night after reading our assigned book and studying the scriptures along with it. As we grow i know this time will increase. It has to for our relationship to grow with the one we say we love.

Love is just a Word. It means nothing without action. Just as Jesus showed us how much he loved us we must show him also. Love is sacrifice. We must sacrifice our time to be with him. If we want to truly know him and all that he has for us we have to read his Will for our lives and listen to his voice. None of us is perfect we all fall down but we have to get back up and dust ourselves off and keep going. My husband and i fall short every day and if you all are honest with yourselves you do too ! We must be honest and ask God for forgiveness everyday in every area of our lives, even our thoughts which can be so disturbing and evil. They can cause us to be out of the will of God just because an imagination has raised itself up in our minds that is against the very nature of God-2Corinthians 10:5
Pray for us while spending quality time with the Lord and we will pray for you also. It is important to be an intercessor while talking with the Lord. Some of our loved ones or acquaintances may be in a place where they do not feel they can pray their way out. We must go before the throne for them on their behalf. We must also remind them that it is not about the way you feel it is about the PROMISE in the WORD of GOD ! No matter what it feels like to the flesh or looks like to the natural eye , We must remember that GOD is a spirit and we must deal with things spiritually. We must use the Word in our situations and we must speak them over our family and friends and anyone in need !

Let us all work on improving our relationship with the one we KNOW loves us because he showed us. God's continued GRACE and MERCY in your lives for the upcoming new year.AMEN.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL -Based on the WORD

Tonight my son and i watched an old Christmas favorite, 'A Christmas Carol', and we watched it from a different point of view. I took this opportunity to use this tale to show Phillip just how God's Grace and Mercy works in our lives. Ebenezer Scrooge, though he was a mean and bitter old man, was given GRACE by God. He was given a second chance to change his life and to change his heart. I pointed this out to Phillip as he watched the ghost of Christmas Past, Present and Future come into this man's life and show him the different stages of his life.

The ghost of Christmas Past showed him a time in his life when he was young and care free. He had a different outlook on life and on the holiday his self. He had not had many experiences in his life to make his heart cold. His heart was open and therefore easily wounded or disappointed . The ghost of Christmas Present showed him that in life people go forth whether you want to be a part of their lives or not. You have to make a choice to live life to the fullest , sharing God's love by pouring into the lives of others to fulfill them and make them richer. They in turn will make your live fuller and richer. Christmas is a spirit. It is a spirit of Love, Sharing, Giving, Compassion, things we should be outpouring all year anyway. Despite the things that have come our way we choose how we will handle those things and how we will allow them to effect our lives and our perception of things.

As each scene of the movie played before us, i discussed the meaning of them from a spiritual aspect. I discussed with my son the way God watches over us in all situations. He wants us to show his love in our temples so that others may see him and be blessed by his presence. When we do not show his love to others we can be a 'stumbling block' or 'rock of offence' to them if they are not spiritually mature enough to walk around us or climb over us and our negative ways. Instead of asking God to heal our past wounds we take our hurt out on others. We lash out at others from our heart because our heart holds the truth of who we are and what we are.

The ghost of Christmas Future showed Ebenezer Scrooge the final chapter of all he had done while on this earth and the penalty for not being a blessing to others. He allowed him to see his eternal destiny and his legacy among men. It was not one that reflected generosity or concern for fellow man. He had not sowed seeds of love but of dislike and spitefulness. His memory was not one that warmed the heart, but it
stirred up hate and turned the heart cold as a stone because love could not come in and grow there in the soil where this seed of life once existed. I wanted Phillip to understand the importance of being a blessing in the lives of others . Because by being a blessing to others you create future blessings for yourself and your generation to come.

Who knows what may come your way because of a kind act in the past ? Your act of kindness can change a person's future. Their outlook on life can be brightened just because you cared enough to pour into their lives. I talked to Phillip about the gift of GRACE because it is a gift. God does not have to give it to us but because of his love for us he does. He gives us time to get it right with him but we must want the time and take the time. Every day he gives us is his GRACE. Each time a ghost came Ebenezer was able to follow him and see things by just walking thru walls. He had no limits...because he was in spirit form. I explained to my son that when you are quite and still you can hear God's voice speaking to you. We must be open to receiving him so that we can be shown things in the spirit. The Word of God says that 'GOD IS A SPIRIT' and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Just as God transported Paul into the heavens in the spirit and showed him things, he can do the same for you if you are open to it. Scrooge was in the spirit when God sent angels to show him his destiny,his past and his present choice. God showed him Grace by opening his ears so he could hear, opening his eyes so he could see and opening his heart so he could give and receive the LOVE. After all, God is LOVE . Phillip saw in this movie this year, a new message, one that says GOD'S GRACE is the reason we are not consumed. We are to be a blessing in the lives of others and to be people who pour into the lives of others. If God gives you another chance take it.

Finally, after the spiritual trips of Ebenezer Scrooge he realized that God had given him another chance. While in his future, he asked for another chance he told the Lord really, that he would change his life, change his heart and change his ways if the Lord would only give him another chance. He was so sorry for what he had done. Basically as i explained to my son, he REPENTED sincerely of his sins and made a decision from that point forward to change his ways and once he realized he h ad been given that second chance, just like us now, he REJOICED, he felt HAPPY, he was RELIEVED and EXCITED about the new life he was about to step forth and live. Christ had entered his heart and so he was a new creature, old things were passed away, behold all things were NEW !

At the end of the movie and the discussion my son had tears in his eyes. I knew he had been touched and i knew he understood. If i do one thing right in this world it is my rearing of a MAN of GOD. I believe that if i raise him up in the Ways of the Lord he will not depart when he is old. He may fall sometimes , he may waiver and h e might lean but he will remain on the course and if he has to crawl he will crawl in FAITH knowing that GOD'S GRACE IS SUFFICIENT.

CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR ! NOT JUST THIS MONTH OR CHRISTMAS DAY BUT ALL YEAR. GIVE THE GIFT OF LOVE AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY . POUR INTO SOME ONE'S LIFE AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE JUST AS GOD SENT CHRIST INTO OURS TO MAKE AN 'ETERNAL ' DIFFERENCE FOR OUR SOULS. MERRY CHRISTMAS.....AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS THANK YOU FOR BEING BORN !-CHRISTMAS 2008