"Does something deep inside your heart long to break free from the status quo?  Are you hungry for an authentic faith that addresses the problems of our world with tangible, even radical, solutions?  God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with Himself.  Because the answer to religious complacency isn't working harder at a list of do's and don'ts- it's falling in love with God.  And once you encounter his love, as Francis describes it, you will never be the same . . . because when you are wildly in love with someone, it changes everything."

-from the back cover of Crazy Love

Greeting Friends,

Welcome to those who are just joining us . . . it is a pleasure to have you with us.

 

I send you peace, and love in all words that I write to you.  May the Holy Spirit speak to us in all truth and love, through the spirit of Christ that is in us all who believe.

 

I have written many times before on this blog about why we need a personal relationship with the father.  I have spoken about the importance of knowing the Son, Jesus Christ, who connects us to the truth of the father.  But why?  Why is it so important?

 

Friends, the world is in a state that does not follow the truth.  The things that are wrong are being called right.  The things that are right are being called wrong.  It will only get worse.  It is very easy to fall into traps of popular belief and cultural propaganda.

 

This is why it is important to know the Lord for yourself.  You must not get in a situation where the world wants to lead you one way, then the Holy Spirit has to compete for your attention or for your affection.  Friends, we do not want to grieve the Holy Spirit.  We instead want to be so close to the Lord that we can hear his directions over everything else in this world.

 

We are supposed to be living peaceful and quiet lives.  We are supposed to be walking in truth and bringing light to others.  This does not mean that we won't experience opposition from the enemy, but we instead pray about all of our trials.  We ask the father to protect us and we ask the Holy Spirit to teach us.  We can live this Christian life!  We live it successfully by having a strong relationship with the Lord.

 

How do we do this you ask?

You first accept the gift of salvation.

 

Christians believe that Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins.  It is our sin that separates us from our father.  So Jesus's death allows us to have a personal relationship with the father again.

 

After you have confessed with your mouth and believed in your heart that Jesus paid your sin debt; you are saved.  Now we have peace and freedom in the Lord.  It is at this point that our love and our desire to know more about the Lord should grow every day.

 

There is a book that I read a long time ago that talks a lot about personal relationship with the Lord.  At the time Francis Chan wrote his book, "Crazy Love,"  he was a young pastor full of energy and excitement about spreading the word of faith.  He was excited to tell everyone how passionate he was about his relationship with the Lord.  He was so outrageously optimistic that he referred to it as a "Crazy Love."  He was so moved by Christ living, moving, breathing and growing in his life that he wrote this awesome memoir about his relationship with the Lord.

 

His honest words and perspective really inspired me to live totally for Jesus.  It did change my perspective about how close one can really walk to Jesus.  Friends, I am here to tell you that this relationship with your father in heaven is not about religious practice, but instead about a love relationship.  It is about having a sincere desire to be with the Lord for eternity.

 

God knows that we are sinners and that we can't live a so-called "perfect life."  Living a perfect life is not a requirement to go to heaven.  Instead, we live to fulfill God's purpose.  We live to tell others how easy it is to accept the gift of salvation.  He will help us with the rest:

 

"Jesus I need to give myself up to you.  I am not strong enough to love you and walk with you on my own.  I can't do it and I need you.  I need you deeply and desperately. I believe you are worth it and that you are better than anything else I could have in this life or in the next.  I want you.  And when I don't, I want to want you.  Be all in me. Take all of me.  Have your way with me."

p111 Crazy Love by Francis Chan

Friends, this is an example of living a surrendered life.  This is an example of how humble we should be before our Lord.  Oh Lord, forgive us for our wrong thinking and come into our lives.

We want a relationship with the father forever!

Let your perfect will be done in our lives.

Amen.

May the peace of the Lord be with you.

I will add this book to the books4purpose list

https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/Us7FTF

If you desire a closer walk with the Lord and you need an example of what that looks like, then I suggest this book:

 

 Until next time

-Tamorra