Religion is not a Relationship

We all long to hear Jesus say “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
When we hear those words, it’s because of our intimate relationship and time spent with Him….more so than what we DID for Him!

  “And I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.”. Jeremiah 24:7

One of the great tragedies of the Christian life is that if we fail to enter into a relationship with God that is born of the Holy Spirit, we are left with a religion, not a relationship.

John 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Many a person today lives with an intellectual belief in God, but without a relationship that is based on two-way communication.

It is easy to fall prey to a relationship to God that never experiences His real presence; rather, it is based on knowledge only.
*This is a tragic place to be.  I was there for a season-it is not joyful.

If this is where you have been in your Christian experience, ask God today to make Himself real to you.
Ask Him to show you His personal nature and love. He desires to do this.
Read Matthew 5: 3-12  the Character of Jesus which He wants us to be like. Jesus draws to himself people who realize how weak they are and how powerless they are.

Those whom He has called know His voice. He will show Himself to those who are His.
“He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show Myself to him” (Jn. 14:21b)
Jesus didn’t call people to a new religion. He was calling people to a relationship with himself, and a new lifestyle with Him.
John 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Lord: I wish to follow.  Help me to follow You; learn from You; practice Your teachings. This transformation isn’t easy, so I plead for Your power at work in me to change me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.