How to Build and Maintain a Relationship with God Part 1

How to Build and Maintain a Relationship with God Part 1

October 6^th, 2015

Teacher: Tory Spring

Tonight Tory delivers a heart seeking message about how your spiritual house: the house you building with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is a representation of your relationship with God. All believers new and old will find this message encouraging and find themselves wondering what is the condition of my house and how can I improve it by investing in my relationship with God? Tory begins by explaining the condition of our relationship with God represents who we are as people and how much we value our relationship with God. The first principle or point we must learn is…

1.     If you want to build a relationship with God, know the hard part has already been taken care of. Jesus Christ for those who have accepted Him as Lord and Savior has already laid out the foundation for you to have a relationship with God. There is no rite of passage, no hazing period, no secret code, when you accept Christ, your accepting Him as the foundation and cornerstone of your life “Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” (1 Peter 2:6 NKJV) You don’t have to pay for your sins, your sins are already paid for. Therefore, we as believers can stop trying to rectify our wrong doings or earn God’s love or favor. There is no way we can atone for our sins and even if we could there would be no reason for God not to love us. God’s love and favor is undeserved and it is expressed and demonstrated through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son Jesus.

2.     If you want to build a relationship with God, then examine if your heart is in the right place. A good relationship is established on principles of love, faithfulness, and transparency with oneself and the person of interest. Although we can fool others and even ourselves we cannot fool God. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” (Galatians 6:7 NKJV) You get what you put in, especially when it comes to a relationship with God. You put in a 110% with your relationship with God, your bound to get His everything and then double the effort and amount you put in. He is the reader of all hearts and minds, and we all have friends and family who developed a relationship with us but with ulterior motives. So when God turns to you, and asks, “Why do you want to build this house?” What do you say?

a.     It is essential we understand our motivations as to why we’re seeking a relationship with God. For you never get to the “How” before you can fully understand the “why.” Because the “why” is your motivation, your fire, your desire for seeking God, and we as humans proclalim, we love God one minute and then the next minute we’re acting unfaithfully. With the same mouth we pray to God and bless His name the next moment, we’re cursing with our friends, swearing up and down. Our “why” as to “why” we build and maintain a relationship with God should never come from a selfish, self centered place. The more we realize our why and how are not that apart the greater fellowship we will have with God in the building and maintaining our relationship with Him.

Reasons to consider: Why should I have a relationship with God?

1.     Your relationship with God is the source of your everything

§  4 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. (John 6:35 NKJV)

2.  Your purpose is revealed to you through your relationship with God 

§  And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28 NKJV) The more intimately you get to know God, the more faithful your actions and your decisions and your choices are to Him, the greater your revelations will be when you have conversations with God.

3.     Your blessings come from your relationship with God

§  For You meet him with the blessings of goodness; You set a crown of pure gold upon his head. (Psalm 21:3 NKJV) (1-4)

4.     Your help comes from your relationship with God

§  May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble; May the name of the God of Jacob defend you; May He send you help from the sanctuary, and strengthen you out of Zion; (Psalm 20:1-2 NKJV)

These are verses to give us motivation and not just motivation but context. These verses provide a lens as to how much we need God. It is by our relationship with God we live, we breathe, we move, we have our being that affirmation isn’t it only a saying. It is a testament, a privilege we can all say, because of our relationship with God.

3.     If you really want to know if your relationship with God is on the right track. Test it. An easy test is to see if God is comfortable in living within your heart. Is your heart a dwelling place for the King? Consider John 14:20-23 (NKJV), “At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” Do you recognize God when He reveals himself through His Son or through people? A simple indication is, do you keep the commandments of God. We keep looking for some divine light, some divine angel to come from the heavens and tell us and to let others know that we are or this person is a friend of God. When our actions, our demeanor, our private and public lives should be indicators of the King we claim to love and serve. Can someone boldly proclaim you as a friend of Jesus.?

a.     Remember you know two people are friends by the way they communicate with each other, their knowledge of one another, how much they spend time. We always want God to manifest Himself into our situations, our problems, or predicaments, but have we really been a faithful, good friend to Him?

4.     If you want to build a relationship with God, then approach Him as a friend. Yes, He is Alpha and Omega and He is your Abba, Father but He also is your closet friend. To approach God as a friend, of course you are being respectful but you are also abiding in Him. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” (John 15:5 NKV) Abide. Abide means to “dwell,” “endure,” “sojourn,” but one definition that sticks out is not necessarily a definition but a statement. In the Revised Bible Version, it reads, “abiding places,” which means “the soul of the true disciple and heaven are dwelling-places of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit”. Is your heart a place God, the Son, the Holy Spirit can call home? You can tell if your relationship with God is on track when He can freely enter into your life, uninvited, because that is what friends do. It is a friendship, Jesus has called us friends because servants don’t know their master’s business, and when you have a friend, you really care about and treasure you don’t mind if they come into your home, and eat some of your food, drink your water, and spend a night. Because that is what friends do. To build a relationship with God you have to be willing to be a friend. And to be honest it is a lot harder to be a friend to God than to be a servant. Because a servant obeys, there is little communication between master and servant, a servant is judged on his performance not on strength of their relationship.

5.     So if you want to build a relationship with God, stop treating it like a short term relationship, or a summer fling. Invest in your relationship with God. Set goals for your relationship with God, For example: okay so this semester I want to try at least 2-3 times out the week to have devotional time with God. Investing in your relationship with God

a.     Bible studyà Getting to know about God (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

·      Make a schedule. Schedule gives you structure but more so it gives you the opportunity to make God first in your life every time.

·      Choose a devotional. I encourage devotional especially to people who don’t know the bible very well, consistency in a devotional increases your growth every time.

b.     Prayerà Conversation, listening skills  (Phil 4:6-7)

·       Make a prayer list or prayer journal

·       Pray with other believers

c.     Worshipà Adornment, admiring God for who He is (John 4:21-24)

·      Sing unto God, Read Psalms unto Him

·      Meditate on the Word of God

d.     Fastingà If you want to strengthen your relationship with God to the extreme, fast with the King seek His face above all (Matthew 6:16-18)

·      Fast about overcoming temptation or fears

·      Fast to increase your fear and love of God

6.     So if you want to build a relationship with God, understand your relationship with God is completely different than someone else’s. Everyone is different. All of you guys not only have a genetic makeup: hair, skin, eyes, but you also have a spiritual makeup, a spiritual fingerprint that only you can match. Because the end goal is God wants everyone to have a closer relationship with Him this is a general statement but what does your relationship specifically look like what He is asking for you to do. That is a question only you can answer.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD? How does your spiritual house look if you have any concerns or questions write them below. 

This is Only A Test

“This is Only a Test”

Sister Sharon

Today Sister Sharon gives us a powerful message titled “This is Only a Test,” about how and why God tests us for his purposes.

One reason for a test: HEART CONDITION AND HUMILITY

            What is your heart condition? Are you going to remain humble?

Deuteronomy 8:2 “2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.” This is talking about the children Israel of when they were supposed to go into the promise land. Earlier, Moses delivered Israel from Egypt but the children of Israel after delivered by God from slavery continuously complained and grumbling. Their complaining got so bad to the point where God killed out an entire generation of Israel whom was complaining about their situation even though God gave them manna (food), water, and protection. Once you get the blessings will you start to take credit for the work of the Lord. Will you stay humble?

PATIENCE (ENDURANCE):

James 1:2-4 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

There is a difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is about being happy about what’s happening, being glad about your external situations. Joy is about having peace in the midst of your circumstances it is believing and knowing God is always in control. As a Christian we must know we will encounter hardships, being in Christ does not guarantee safe passage from evil but even when the world is falling apart God is still there. Faith produces patience or endurance when a trial is going on it means life is beyond you, this is why people who do not know God find life is the hardest, because they do not know Him to lean on Him.

REFINEMENT (PURIFYING):

Job 23:10 “But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.”

Psalm 66:10 (NKJV), “For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined.” The idea is fire or testing purifies us, it takes out the impurities, for gold when it is at its purest is rarer and greater. God desires for us to be perfect and holy as He is holy. We represent the Lord God and our character must have the likeness and bearing of His Son Jesus. God is refining us, we should be translucent the best, most refined liquid gold people can see through, so God tests us to removes the sinfulness that keeps us from being transparent. So if we want to be used by God our human nature has to be removed, pulled out, and to be the right witness for God, we should surrender to the sanctification of our Lord. Be mindful of what the Lord God shines his light upon, He’ll put a light on what we need to work on ourselves. When you start to be aware of your sin it means God is gracing you to be able to handle it and overcome the sin and no longer be tempted by it.

OBEDIENCE:

Exodus 16: 4b “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.”

           

In this verse, Sister Sharon references this story because it tests the obedience of the Israelites who were delivered from the hand of Pharaoh. The Israelites as they were headed to the promise complained to Moses about not having any food. Moses spoke to God and God said you will have the manna for 6 days and on the 6^th day you will have a double amount, so on the 7^th day you will rest. The instructions though simple to understand and do, God was using this opportunity to test their obedience to Him. Above all else what makes a happy God is God who sees His children obeying Him. For the Israelites some did obey, while others took more than what they needed and it became moldy, and those who took little on the 6^th day were hungry on the 7^th. This is why it is better to pass the test the first time around, it is better to be obedient, because disobedience has unintended consequences that are not necessarily for us.

REAL OR A COUNTERFEIT:

1 Peter 1:6-7 “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,”

Do you really believe what you say you believe? Are you real? Do you stand for holiness or this world? It has often been said, “you are the only bible some people are going to read,” people are watching you and many decide if they are going to be Christians from how we are. This is why we have to be purified and obedient and as Christians we should be representing Christ. We have to continuously examine ourselves as to not come off as fake Christians or believers making God look bad.

TO HAVE A TESTIMONY:

Revelation 12:1

            “And a great sign [warning of an ominous and frightening future event] appeared in heaven: a [a]woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”

            Your testimony is your appeal or testimony in court. Satan will come up against you to testify against you, but your testimony will bring you out of it. Admit when your wrong, say Lord your sorry and to ask God for forgiveness and to let it go. The end result is a testimony.

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN I PASS THE TEST? You will know if you pass it—if you don’t have to take the test again. Satan doesn’t know everything you’re going through or dealing with. Satan will bother you a little bit longer with it—at the end God will get the glory. The true purpose of a saint is to bring glory to God and to broadcast who God is to the world. So as you’re going through your test and weathering the storm—don’t falter keep your eyes on God, and soon the shadow of your valley shall pass.

Are you going through a test? How do you know? What are some prayers or verses that help you when you are being tested? Let us know down below!