FIRST THINGS FIRST: Your Relationship with God

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Jesus wasn't impressed when people sought Him out only for the material blessings they could get from Him. When the multitudes went all over looking for Him after enjoying His miraculous provision of fish and bread, instead of commending them for diligently seeking Him, Jesus actually rebuked them saying:

²⁷ Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life…” – John 6:27 NKJV

Yes, God has promised to supply our needs. Yes, He even invites us to ask Him for provision, but – NEWSFLASH – God is much more interested in transforming us into the image of His Son than in meeting our temporary fleeting needs. He is a loving, responsible Father who’s got His priorities right. He is not our errand boy, nor is He some genie in a bottle waiting to grant our every whim and wish… Sometimes I feel like our modern version of Christianity has made God into a cosmic vending machine. You put in the right amount of money, punch the right buttons and voila…you have whatever it is you want. We’ve reduced our relationship with God to a business transaction of sorts… no fellowship, no intimacy whatsoever.     You see beloved, even in the natural, healthy relationships are reciprocal, to have a relationship with someone solely based on what you can get from them is pretty selfish and somewhat abusive too. The thing is, when you have a healthy relationship with someone, access to each other’s stuff is simply a byproduct of that relationship.

Through Christ’s death and resurrection, we are privileged to have an intimate relationship with God. We have an eternal Covenant with God and in that Covenant we have been made joint heirs with Christ. We can do ALL THINGS through Christ...How awesome is that!

Beloved, spend quality time with the Lover of your soul, throughout your day talk to Him, share stuff with Him, get His viewpoint on issues. He is very interested in what interests you, remember it is He who gave you those pure desires in the first place, so don’t compartmentalize your life – share it with Him – not just needs and wants but all of it...plus, He is with you 24/7! Don’t limit Him to only “church time”, Bible study or all the other Christian ministry stuff you do. Include Him in everything you do, ask for His input and direction. He so loves that and enjoys seeing you excel in what you do, no wonder the Word says:

⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths. – Proverbs 3:6 NKJV

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You see beloved, once we have a healthy vibrant relationship with the Lord, we will enjoy His provision, direction and everything else as byproducts of our intimacy with Him. No more fretting over our needs and wants for He shall supply them abundantly as we continue to delight ourselves in Him.

Amen!  

WHAT ARE YOUR WORDS IMPARTING? Grace or Corruption?

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²⁹ LET no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. – Ephesians 4:29 NKJV (Emphasis added)

  

Beloved, we have the power to both “LET” and “NOT TO LET” corrupt words out of our mouths and sadly many have gone right ahead and done the former with dire consequences. It is better not to speak at all than to spout off corruption filled words. The long and short of it is, if our words aren't imparting grace to those we converse with, then they are corrupt – regardless of how eloquently we express them. We may even lace them with Scripture but they are still corrupt, there's no two ways about it. The good news is, we are well able to change all that, and we will...or won't we? 

If our words are to reflect the Father’s heart concerning ourselves, other people and situations, if our words are to have a positive, edifying effect on others … we must first believe that we have been made righteous before God and we are perfectly and unreservedly accepted by the Father based solely on Jesus' perfect sacrifice of Himself. We must believe that we have been born from above, we have become New Creations in Christ, and we have been joined to the Lord and so we are now one with Him. We have become His Temple, His Dwelling place, His habitation. In Him we live and move and have our being. We have the mind of Christ. In and through Christ, we are conquerors and more than conquerors…All that to simply remind us of who we truly are – God’s own beloved children.  

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Now, since words proceed from thoughts, let’s start by refusing to spout off those unnecessary, non-edifying, good-for-nothing thoughts that pop up in our heads. We have the power to both “LET” and to “LET NOT” as far as our words are concerned.

We have the Spirit of Christ in us, as we follow His leading our words will unveil and reflect Christ – through whom Grace and Truth came – to those we cross paths with. Blessings beloved!