HAVING A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
When you strike out to strengthen your relationship with God, He will bring you into new thinking, new decision-making, new blessings, and new mercies. I will also add that He will bring you into new choices, new places, new encounters, new prayers, new spiritual maturity, new victories and triumphs, new vision, new attitude, new changes, a deeper spirit of discernment and a refreshing new outlook on life. These "new" attributes can be scary. God will speak to you through your circumstances. You will find that the closer you get to God, the more He will reveal to you about people. That's the scary part. God has revealed some truths to me about people that I would never have imagined. Therefore, I trust God to navigate my moral compass and discernment. It's protection too. Those things and matters that were intended to hurt me or condemn me don't touch me.
The enemy will always attempt to bring harm to you through people and their idiosyncrasies, but it won't work. "No weapon formed against you shall prosper." (Isaiah 54;12)
Sometimes, God will bring a thought about a situation into your spirit before it even happens. He will guard your heart, prepare and protect you for what you are about to encounter. He will put certain people or situations in your bank of experiences to build character, identify temptation, discern a wicked spirit, or just a simple word of confirmation.
The best thing about having a relationship with God is that you KNOW that He is the best friend that you can ever have. He doesn't fail. He's too wise for foolishness. He knows all of your shortfalls; but instead of exposing you, He builds you up and makes you a better person. He uses those shortfalls to bless you and enable you to bless others.
This week, I attended an evening with Bishop Vashti McKenzie. Her new book, The Big Deal of Taking Small Steps to Move Closer to God, is inspiring. During her discussion she shared some "wisdom nuggets" that really touched my spirit. Those wisdom nuggets were burning in my spirit for months. That's what I mean by having a relationship with God. He made it possible for me to be in attendance during that event to not only get the book, but to confirm what He had already given me in my spirit for months.
I want to share a few of those wisdom nuggets: "Beware of sideline people." "When you have the courage to ask God what needs to change in your life, trust Him to show you and make the changes." "Churchianity vs Christianity." "We have allowed gossip about the church to over-power and out-weigh the Gospel; that's why some people don't go to church and/or have negative opinions about church." l can go on and on, but the main thing is that we take heed when God speaks. Listen and follow His way and will.
"Our way is not His way unless
His way was our way in the first place."
Jeremiah 29:11-12NIV
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listento you.
