Up close and personal

The other day I heard a person asked who they thought Jesus was? They replied, "He's my personal Lord and Savior." Have you ever described your relationship with Jesus like that; I know I have.

There's something wrong with that answere isn't there? If you're like me it might take sometime to figure it out; so let me help.  When I hear the word "personal" being used I think of things like ownership, it's mine, or it belongs to me.  Do you see the problem now?

To the best of my knowledge the word "personal" doesn't appear in any of the Bibles I use.  John 3:16 says that God so loved the world; no one can really say they own a "piece" of God can they? God so loves the world, which includes you and me, and I hope and pray that our love is reciprocal. 

So next time you're asked to describe your relationship with the Jesus how would it sound if we just said, "He's my Lord and Savior and I hope He's your's as well?"

Time well spent

Three days a week I go and work out.  The other day our instructor had us do exercises for our abdominals, 5 minutes worth.  Needless to say it was a "killer" workout and the next day I'm sure I looked like a caveman walking around with my knuckles dragging not quite able to stand erect.  The lesson learned,  other then physical was this we did alot of work in only 5 minutes.

Think about for just a moment;  5 minutes is the time of most commercials on TV, 5 minutes is the time you wait for the microwave to cook your dinner, 5 minutes is the minimum most of us spend on one phone call.  What I'm trying to say is that most of us have 5 "free minutes," or 5 "spare minutes" just lying around during the day.

Now you don't have to "get down" and give me twenty but how about opening your Bible and reading a chapter or two; or maybe you could read from your daily meditation book on a more regular basis; or maybe you could sit quietly and pray.  Don't let the excuse "I just don't have time" keep you from being in the presence of God.  5 minutes; God's worth it!

Relationships - pt. 2

In my latest blog I asked you to identify 5 relationships in which you're currently involved. If God was not #1 on that list ask yourself why not?  As a pastor when I've asked that question the two answers most frequently given are:

1. Why would God want to have a relationship with me after all the things I've done in my life?
2. I'd like to have a relationship with God I just don't know how.

All of us have been made in the image of God.  1 John 3:1 tells us "See how very much our Heavenly Father loves us, for He allows us to be called His children and we really are!  Know that He brings us to Himself through His Son Jesus Christ. Through Christ all our sins, past, present and future are forgiven.

Because of God's love He wants to have a relationship with you.  How can we make that happen; you can't by yourself, but together with the power of the Holy Spirit we can attend worship, study the word and pray often.  Thru God's grace and our faith He will reveal Himself to you.

Relationships

Recently I went to Webster's Dictionary to try and find a definition for the word "relationship." Try as I may I really couldn't make heads or tails of what they were trying to describe so I turned to Wikipedia which gave me the following:

1. A relationship is normally viewed as a connection between two people that may range from brief to enduring.
2. People in a relationship tend to influence each other, share their thoughts and feelings and engage in activities together.

Now I would like you to gather something to write with and something to write on and based upon the criteria listed above identify 5 relationships you're presently in.  When you've finished look at your list; Is your relationship with God #1? #2...

God wants to have a relationship with you. Scripture tells us to "Draw close to God and God will draw close to you (James 4:8), do you want to have a relationship with God?

To be continued...