August 18, 2011

  • Spending Time with God

    As I reflect on the #scriptures, I see a loving Father who sent His one and only Son to die for us.  Christ's #atonement for the sins of humanity definitely is a testament of God's #love for us, specifically when we are still sinners He died for us.  What struck me about Jesus is that He did not just come to the earth, lived a sinless life, and then died a gruesome death for our sins.  He actually spent #time with the disciples, taught them all that the Father has told Him, and called them His #friends.  Divine revelation reveals that He loves to spend time with us.  It is written that we are the #clay and He is the #potter.  I imagine Him spending time with the disciples, teaching them and molding them into the creations that He intended them to be.

    During the past few months, I had been spending a lot of time with wife.  Through times, we dealt with many different issues.  One thing is clear to us both - that God is #leading our lives, speaking to us, and telling us which direction to move.  Before I met my wife, I prayed for a #marriage where God was in the center of our lives, where He speaks to us and guides us every step of the way, and where both of us can understand and see eye to eye because God leads.  There is really no second-guessing about the big moves that we need to make as God speaks clearly to us.

    Through out my life, God has been speaking to me clearly, but I did not believe it was Him until later.  I thought I may had have a mental illness and even took #medications, but when the prophecies started to come true for me, I could not deny that God spoke to me.  Listening to the Father eventually led me to the Son.  With my faith in Christ, I knew that I should follow Him with all my heart and it was difficult sometimes.  It was not easy leaving an entire church behind because He told me to.  I had made many friends there and I remember them, sometimes wondering how they are doing, but Jesus comes first and if He tells me to not association with them, then that's what He gets.  He is the #Master of my relationships, not other people who think that relationships should continue quoting scripture out of context.

    I left and knew that He will be with me.  And, as I was not looking for my wife, we met.  We met in a church plant.  I have always said that God wanted me to be a part of that church plant and others have interpreted this to be a long time, but God had other ideas.  He used the church plant to bring my wife and I together.  Now, I am no longer a part of that church plant because His purposes for it, His purposes in telling me to be a part of it, had been served.  This is not to say that He may send me back there again in the way that He chooses.

    And, as I spend time with my wife and God, walking with her and praying.  As I spend time with God in the mornings, reflect on Him and on His word, and write journal entries, I realized that God enjoys spending time with us.  He spent time with the disciples.  He meets us where we are.  I remember the times that He spent with me, especially (1) the times in childhood where He comforted me and talked to me when things around me were not going well; (2) the times when His prophecies for me life came true; (3) the time when He finally showed me who His Son is and what His Son means to me; and (4) many many many more times that He made His presence real.

    As I reflect on God, I realize that He first talked to me when I was a child; He likes to spend time with us.  He wants a relationship with us.  It is not merely about repenting and accepting Him as our Savior, but also about spending time with Him, getting to know Him, and growing through His revelations to us. (A)  And, one of His important and greatest revelation of His grace and love to me is how I met my wife, how we married quickly because we know that He spoke to us, and how despite all the discouragements, we kept steadfast to God's word.  Now, I am enjoying God's presence not the usual way by myself, but also with my wife.  Our experience of God is together not only because we read and learn scripture together, but also because we know Him personally and interaction with Him as one would a friend.

    I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15)

    We should not only bring people to Christ, but we should also reflect Him by being their friend and spending time with them telling them the details of our lives just as Jesus did with the disciples.  It is not only about bringing people into a church and getting members, increasing numbers.  It is about relationships because that is the reason why Christ died for us, so that we can come to know the Father and have a relationship with Him.  As I look back on the lack of relationships I had at the old church, I came to realize that God was guiding and showing me His way, the way of love, and the way of relationships because that's what He is about through Christ and His death and resurrection.

    (A) When I say that it is not merely about repenting and accepting Him as Savior, I am not belittling the resurrection and death of Jesus, but rather saying that salvation is much more than a transaction.  It is a relationship, one that starts when we acknowledge His death and resurrection through faith, becoming like-minded with Him and His friend.  While I understand some of you may read this as Christ-plus, I would like to point out that having a relationship with Christ is about Christ.  It is all about Christ and not Christ-plus.

    Copyright 2011 by Christenstein