How To Have A Relationship With The God of the Bible

A Relationship With God

Starting and sustaining a relationship with God involves behaviors that are similar to starting an sustaining relationships with our friends and family. It requires two things: communication and quality time. Our relationship with God, however, comes with some benefits we can get from nobody else!

Step One – Ask

God is waiting for you to reach out. We do this by talking to Him. Our communication with God is called “prayer.” It is when we speak to Him, and He speaks to us.

Your initial prayer can be honest and open. God is love, and He knows exactly who you are. You cannot surprise Him. You cannot say anything that will make Him angry or make Him love you less. So open your heart and speak.

God answers us in various ways. He will not always respond in an audible manner. Most of the time, you will hear Him in your mind. It takes time to recognize God’s voice, so do not be discouraged if you cannot hear Him at first. Keep talking, then keep listening.

He also answers us through the counsel of other Godly friends and family, as well as through the Bible. As you are impressed to read from the Bible, you might find the answer to your prayer there.

Step Two – Watch Jesus

The God of the Bible is a trinity of three persons, all united in love. There is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We use these terms simply because they are easy for human beings to relate to.

God the Son came down to planet earth and became a human being. He came to show us what God is like. This is why it is important for you to watch Jesus, because in watching Him, you will see God. Getting an accurate understanding of God is crucial to your peace and joy.

This step simply involves reading the first four books of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In these books, the life of Jesus is recorded. You can watch Him interact with human beings who are just as weak and selfish as you. When you see Jesus love sinners, you see Jesus loving you.

There is a design law in God’s universe called the “Law of Worship.” It states that “by beholding, we become changed.” Applied to our relationship with God, if we worship a God of love, we will be transformed into the same character! It is amazing how powerful this Law of Worship is!

Step Three – Acts of Love

God wants to heal you of your fear and selfishness. Praying and Bible reading are two parts of a three-part plan. The third part is “acts of love.”

Love is an act. You are not loving until you treat others with love.

At the beginning of your journey, you will not be perfect. You might not be perfect even after years of walking with God!

Keep walking!

With practice, love becomes easier. With enough practice, love becomes character. God promises to heal you fully and completely until you are just like Jesus.

Until then, do not be discouraged.

There are those who have known the pardoning love of Christ and who really desire to be children of God, yet they realize that their character is imperfect, their life faulty, and they are ready to doubt whether their hearts have been renewed by the Holy Spirit. To such I would say, Do not draw back in despair. We shall often have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus because of our shortcomings and mistakes, but we are not to be discouraged. Even if we are overcome by the enemy, we are not cast off, not forsaken and rejected of God. No; Christ is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Said the beloved John, “These things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2:1. And do not forget the words of Christ, “The Father Himself loveth you.” John 16:27. He desires to restore you to Himself, to see His own purity and holiness reflected in you. And if you will but yield yourself to Him, He that hath begun a good work in you will carry it forward to the day of Jesus Christ. Pray more fervently; believe more fully. As we come to distrust our own power, let us trust the power of our Redeemer, and we shall praise Him who is the health of our countenance.

Sanctification

The common term for healing, for becoming more and more like Jesus in character, is sanctification. It simply means “that process whereby our characters, marked by fear and selfishness, are transformed into the likeness of the character of Jesus, marked by truth, love, and liberty.”

Sanctification is not the work of a moment, an hour, a day, but of a lifetime. It is not gained by a happy flight of feeling, but is the result of constantly dying to selfishness (sin), and constantly living for Christ. Wrongs cannot be righted nor reformations wrought in the character by feeble, intermittent efforts. It is only by long, persevering effort, sore discipline, and stern conflict, that we shall overcome. We know not one day how strong will be our conflict the next. So long as Satan reigns, we shall have self to subdue, besetting sins to overcome; so long as life shall last, there will be no stopping place, no point which we can reach and say, I have fully attained. Sanctification is the result of lifelong adherence to God’s law of love.