To anyone who can think back to when they were a kid and were living with one or more parents or carers, ask yourself whether you ever wondered “how do I know what my parents want me to do? How do I know when they are pleased with me? How do I know when they’re not?” I don’t imagine that it was particularly difficult for you to know. It’s true that when you meet new people you can have trouble reading their signs but the problem doesn’t usually last very long. The key thing is to enter into a real relationship with someone - you soon understand their ways. It’s the same with God. So how do you enter into a real relationship with God? Well that’s the problem. It’s not quite as simple as entering into a relationship with a human being. It’s not difficult because God doesn’t know what it’s like to be a human being - Jesus IS God as a human being - He knows what it’s like to be human. God knows us far better than we know ourselves. The reason it’s difficult to enter into a relationship with God is because God is holy - He is absolutely pure - he cannot ignore wrongdoing - and every human being falls short of His absolutely pure standard. Without something being done (and something was done) we cannot walk into His presence - we must be separated from Him forever. The lady who gave the talk is right that God has a purpose for your life and that he loves you. But this information isn’t enough to enable you to commence a real relationship with God and hear His voice. The Bible says that the problem with entering into a relationship with God is our sin. The only way in which we could be able to walk into the presence of God would be if there was some way in which we could be made perfect like Jesus is. And that is exactly what God did for us. When Jesus died on the cross he took the punishment for our wrongdoing and opened up a pathway for us to enter into a relationship with God. However in order to have perfect status before God we have to die to our old life - we need to turn from belief in our own merit and from a life focused on our concerns to having Jesus’ status before God and living out His life. To live out God’s life rather than a life gripped by our own selfishness is the greatest most incredible adventure you could possibly imagine. There are a lot of people who profess a faith who won’t tell you this - they will tell you that the only thing that matters is the fact that God loves you. And he certainly does - but without something else (the something else I described above) the fact that God loves you will only allow you to know that even though you were never able to reconnect with Him that He always loved you. People who choose to trust only in God’s love rather than die to their own life in order to receive new status before God spend their lives describing complicated ways of hearing God and complicated reasons for why you don’t get to experience His presence. Don’t do that - don’t choose that life. End your old life and any belief in your own merit. Make God your only concern and have the real thing. It will cost you everything but you will soon realise that when you stand in his presence everything you gave to know Him was nothing compared to the wonder of knowing Him.
Wow - fantastic and inspiring!!
To anyone who can think back to when they were a kid and were living with one or more parents or carers, ask yourself whether you ever wondered “how do I know what my parents want me to do? How do I know when they are pleased with me? How do I know when they’re not?” I don’t imagine that it was particularly difficult for you to know. It’s true that when you meet new people you can have trouble reading their signs but the problem doesn’t usually last very long. The key thing is to enter into a real relationship with someone - you soon understand their ways. It’s the same with God.
So how do you enter into a real relationship with God? Well that’s the problem. It’s not quite as simple as entering into a relationship with a human being. It’s not difficult because God doesn’t know what it’s like to be a human being - Jesus IS God as a human being - He knows what it’s like to be human. God knows us far better than we know ourselves. The reason it’s difficult to enter into a relationship with God is because God is holy - He is absolutely pure - he cannot ignore wrongdoing - and every human being falls short of His absolutely pure standard. Without something being done (and something was done) we cannot walk into His presence - we must be separated from Him forever. The lady who gave the talk is right that God has a purpose for your life and that he loves you. But this information isn’t enough to enable you to commence a real relationship with God and hear His voice. The Bible says that the problem with entering into a relationship with God is our sin. The only way in which we could be able to walk into the presence of God would be if there was some way in which we could be made perfect like Jesus is. And that is exactly what God did for us. When Jesus died on the cross he took the punishment for our wrongdoing and opened up a pathway for us to enter into a relationship with God. However in order to have perfect status before God we have to die to our old life - we need to turn from belief in our own merit and from a life focused on our concerns to having Jesus’ status before God and living out His life. To live out God’s life rather than a life gripped by our own selfishness is the greatest most incredible adventure you could possibly imagine.
There are a lot of people who profess a faith who won’t tell you this - they will tell you that the only thing that matters is the fact that God loves you. And he certainly does - but without something else (the something else I described above) the fact that God loves you will only allow you to know that even though you were never able to reconnect with Him that He always loved you. People who choose to trust only in God’s love rather than die to their own life in order to receive new status before God spend their lives describing complicated ways of hearing God and complicated reasons for why you don’t get to experience His presence. Don’t do that - don’t choose that life. End your old life and any belief in your own merit. Make God your only concern and have the real thing. It will cost you everything but you will soon realise that when you stand in his presence everything you gave to know Him was nothing compared to the wonder of knowing Him.
WOW! So encouraging. Thanks for your words.
I’ve heard this exact same talk by at least four others from Alpha
Powerful word..
Wonderful 🙏
Left me speechless 🙏
Excellent
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