A Relationship Gauge

Do you want to have a relationship with God? More than that, do you want to have a close, meaningful relationship with God? If you do, there are some things you need to do. You see, like any relationship, a good one doesn't just happen. A lot of people say 'relationships take work', but that isn't true. A crummy, no good relationship doesn't take a lot of a work. A relationship that is one-sided doesn't take a lot of work on one person's side of the coin. But a good relationship, ah yes. Good relationships take work. And so, to have a good relationship with God (and not just a One-sided one), you must work at it. Fortunately for all of us, Scripture tells us exactly what we need to do in order to dwell with God on His holy hill.

"LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart; he who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the LORD; he who swears to his own hurt and does not change, he who does not put out his money at usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved." Psalm 15

First, we should note that this psalm is describing someone who is already in the relationship with God, and so in New Testament speak we mean that this person has been baptized and is enjoying a covenant relationship with God. But like all relationships, things can fall apart. This list provides a checklist of sorts, things to make sure we do (or don't do) to keep ourselves close to God.

Now, what do all of these things mean? Let's quickly look at just a few.

"He who walks uprightly" - Hold on, it's about to get technical in here. The word literally means "complete, perfect, full" or "without blemish". This is a person who doesn't walk in sin, but instead walks in a way that is perfect, blameless. In 1 John 1:7, we see that Jesus' blood will cleanse us if we walk in the light, thus making us perfect and blameless before God. If we will confess the sins we do commit (v. 9), we will be forgiven. Thus, to walk uprightly means to stay away from sin, but when we do sin, we confess that sin to our heavenly Father, who craves that intimacy with us and is faithful to forgive us to ensure that our relationship stays close.

"He speaks the truth in his heart" - Basically, this means you are who you say you are. You don't live a hypocritical life, or put on some sort of front. We know that God sees our hearts (since He formed our innermost parts!), and He can see if we mean the things that we say and do. He knows if our faith is genuine. He knows if we went to worship Him because we love Him, or if we simply went because people would look down on us if we didn't. If your heart doesn't reveal that truth that you proclaim, your relationship with God isn't real.

"He does not backbite with his tongue" - Ephesians 4:29 says, "Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers." If the words that we speak aren't kind, our heart isn't loving. If our heart isn't loving, how much contact have we had with the God of love? You see, God is love, and when we approach His throne in prayer, we ought the leave the throne room changed. Our hearts ought to be more loving, more forgiving, gentler and kinder. Because of the love and mercy God above has extended to our lowly existence, we should graciously love and forgive those around us. But if we backbite and tear down and destroy, we aren't behaving like God, nor are we behaving like we are in a relationship with Him.

"In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the LORD" - Question: what do your friends say about you? Are your best friends Christians? Are your role models Christians?  Are the people you talk about the most Christians? You see, if we live our lives praising and admiring those who are evil and wicked, are we living a life that is in a close relationship with the perfect and sinless God of heaven? 2 John 10-11 tell us that we are not to greet those who abide in false teachings and trespasses, because if we support them, we are sharing in their evil deeds. What do the people in our lives say about us? That we honor and uphold truth, or that we condone wickedness? If you want to be close to God, you must resist anything and everything and everyone that has the Devil's fingerprints all over it.

While we could talk about every single phrase within this psalm, we won't for time's sake. Instead, let's focus one final thought on the last line of the psalm:

"he who does these things shall never be moved". You see, when my relationship with God starts to slip, starts to suffer, guess whose fault it is? Well it isn't God's. God never moves. He is always watching for and anticipating our return, just like the father in the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15). He is always there, ready to receive us when we draw near to Him (James 4:8). That means that when our relationship starts to drift, it is my fault. I am the one who moves. And yet, if I will do all of the things that Psalm 15 mentions--if I will keep myself from sin, and walk uprightly in the light of Christ--I will not be moved. I will not wander away from God. Because as long as I am trying my best, God will keep me there, in the hollow of His hand.

How blessed we are to have a Father who is so merciful and forgiving and welcoming. How blessed we are to have a Father who is always ready to keep our relationship alive, even when we abandon Him for days, weeks, and years.

If your relationship with God is suffering, move back to Him. Draw near to Him again. Do your best to implement Psalm 15 in your life. Keep yourself from backbiting, from hypocrisy, and from hurting others. Keep yourself on the righteous path, confessing your shortcomings to the forgiving Father. Whatever sin stands in your way (and it is always sin that separates us), remove it. Cling to God again; He will not resist. He never resists.

Thanks be to God that He loves us enough to welcome us back into the fold every single time.

How Can God...

If you type in the phrase 'How can God' into Google, the drop down gives you a glimpse into what our society's heart looks like. The top three answers that Google provides are (in this order): how can God help me, how can God use me, and how can God forgive me.

Truly these are some great questions, and ones that we have probably all considered at some point. No doubt we have all been in a situation where we needed help, and we wondered how that help could be administered to us. When we are grieving over the loss of a loved one, burdened by the financial stresses in our lives, or struggling with an illness of our own, we often wonder how God can help us.

The Psalms are replete with cries of help to the God of the universe. Should you ever find yourself in a situation where you need God's help, please remember these verses:

"Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, 'The LORD be magnified!' But I am poor and needy; Yet the LORD things upon me. You are my Help and my Deliverer; do not delay, O my God." Psalm 40:16-17

While we may hurt in this present life and find ourselves in troublesome situations, our God and Father has salvation. If we will trust in Him, He will deliver. He is faithful to save!

There may be times, though, when we feel strong and confident in God's promises, and yet we feel aimless and without purpose, so we ask ourselves how God can use us.

Jesus said in Matthew 28:19-20, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you." Should you ever question your purpose in life, or where exactly your focus should be, look only to these words of Jesus. He has given us a specific purpose: to teach others the way of salvation and bring them to Him. Each and every child of God should be out teaching other people how they can become a child of God. And if you aren't a child of God? Please read this post on how to get into the body of Christ!

Finally, the question of how can God forgive me. This is a question that I have personally asked time and time again. How is it that God can forgive all of my sins? How is it that God will remember none of my sins anymore? How is it that God won't get tired of me coming and asking for forgiveness for the same old sins? And yet, the Bible tells us that we can be confident that when we ask, He is faithful and just to forgive us (1 John 1:9).

I love the book of 1 Corinthians, and this passage may be one of the reasons why:

"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but your were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." (6:9-11; emp mine)

Regardless of how many sins within this list you are guilty of, there is a way to overcome, and that way is by being washed in the blood of Jesus. These Corinthians had been homosexuals and thieves and drunkards and adulterers, and yet they weren't anymore. What changed? First, they quit practicing those things (repentance). Next, they were washed (baptized) clean of all of those past sins.

God can and will forgive you. How? Because He loves you so much. So much that He gave His only Son to die a cruel and painful death for you (John 3:16). How blessed we are to have such a God that will hear our cries when we need help, who will give us purpose and direction in life, and will forgive us of all of our sins so long as we confess them, turn away from them, and are washed in His Son's precious, cleansing blood.

A Month of Thanks

It is common this time of year to see statuses and posts about all of the things that people are thankful for. I love the sentiment: it is always appropriate to thank our God for the blessings and compassion He has given, which truly are new every morning (Lam. 3:22-24). Along the same lines, I would like for every Friday of this month to be dedicated to thanking God for a spiritual blessing He has given us. Today, I would like to focus on forgiveness.

I am a sinful person. While I try to walk in the steps of my Savior every single day, I'm not perfect. I struggle with complaining, being negative, being critical, judging others, and not doing the things that I should as much as I should (reading, praying, visiting the sick). I try with all of my might to serve my Lord the best that I can, but I fall short day after day.  That is why I'm thankful for forgiveness.  Along those same lines, I'm thankful that I live in the year 2012.

Hebrews 10:4 tells us that the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins. Under the old covenant, people were reminded, year after year, of their sins. They were made to offer tedious sacrifices to God so that their sins could, in a sense, be rolled forward for another year. Then Jesus came. And now we don't need to offer animal sacrifices. We don't have to live in a state where our sins are constantly before us. Instead, since Jesus died once and for all (Heb. 10:10), we can have forgiveness of our sins in an instant. When we are baptized, all of our past sins (and we all have them--Rom. 3:23) are wiped away, and we start anew--clean and pure in His sight. After we have been baptized, we won't remain perfect. We'll sin--maybe even that very day that we are washed. But that is the beauty of Jesus' sacrifice for our sins. So long as we are trying to walk in the light, His blood will continually cleanse us from unrighteousness if we'll confess it to Him (1 John 1:9).  Forgiveness is not available to me, however, if I continually, habitually walk in my sins and don't repent. Forgiveness is not available if I defy God's laws for my life and do things on my own terms. But if I am truly penitent, I will want to tell God that I'm sorry. I will feel guilt and shame for my sin, because I know that I am trampling underfoot the sacrifice Jesus offered on the cross (Heb. 10:28-30).

I know that I am unworthy of this forgiveness. I feel so terrible every single day when I have to ask God to forgive me for my thoughts and actions of that day. I feel so undeserving of the extreme sacrifice Jesus made in coming to earth and dying a cruel, painful, torturous death on the cross...for me. That's why I am so thankful for God's grace in extending forgiveness to me.

The beautiful thing about God's forgiveness is that it covers everything. In our limited, human perspective, we tend to categorize sins. We may think lusting is a small sin, where adultery is a big sin. To God, all sin separates us from Him, and therefore He hates all sin. Whatever sins you have in your live, past or present, can and will be forgiven by a loving and understanding God. If you are willing to repent (to own up to your sins and turn away from them as I recently heard it put by some high schoolers) and submit to God's terms, forgiveness is yours. And not just forgiveness as we sometimes call it--where we 'forgive' it but keep it right near the surface so that every little mistake someone makes we can throw back in their face. No, God forgives and wipes clean. He keeps no remembrance of our wrongs (Jer. 31:34).

I am thankful, every single day, for the forgiveness my God and Father grants me. Though I can empathize with Paul when he calls himself the chief of all sinners--still, Christ has washed me. Thanks be to God for His grace!

Forgiveness is a beautiful gift that we have been given through Jesus Christ. Come back tomorrow for a post on how we can access this wonderful blessing and so many more.