Last week we talked about starting with a clean slate, forgetting about the shoulda, wouldas , and coudas and focusing on the I wills, I cans, and the I ams. Today I want us to look at one of the most important things that we can do in our lives and that is to have a closer relationship with God.
Read Text (Phil 3:8-9)
In the text today we see that after the Apostle Paul looked at his life and everything he accomplished, he decided that it was all worthless, everything was no more important than a pile of garbage compared to the greatness of knowing Christ. We should value our relationship with Christ as being more important than anything else in our life. Building a better relationship with Christ should be our ultimate goal. So today let’s look at some I will statements to get us there.
Now to build this closer walk with Christ may mean we have to make some major changes in our thinking and in our lifestyle. Are you willing to rearrange your schedule? Are you willing to change some plans and wants in your life in order to have just a closer walk with THEE? Whatever you give up is well worth the gain that comes from having a closer relationship with Christ.
So here’s the mantra I want to give you today, I will do whatever it takes!! Let’s say that together, I WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES.
So how do we begin to have this closer relationship with God?
Well the first thing we have to do is get our lives in order and get our heart in the right position, we must confess our sins and ask for forgiveness. I think confessing and receiving that forgiveness that God so freely gives us opens up avenues of communication that we couldn’t have with all that guilt hanging over us.
I used to spend a lot of time at my grandparents in the summer one time when I was about nine or ten I was out in the pea patch and heard a noise behind me. I turned around and there stood a big Rhode Island Red Rooster standing there just going gerrrrrrrrr then all of the sudden he started running toward me I turned around and took off. Ii could hear his footsteps gaining on me ..chok, chok, chok. I turned and he leaped up wings flappin, feet forward, his spurs looked like daggers. I thought I was about to be killed by a chicken. I swung the hoe I had been using like a Louisville Slugger baseball bat and connected. That old rooster hit the ground and didn’t move he just laid there going aggggg, gggggg. Well I went around the house to get a shovel, I just knew I was gonna get it for killin that rooster so I might as well hide the evidence. When I came back to see if he was dead lo and behold he was gone, I figured our dog Butch had got him since he was laying around some feathers and he would get the blame so I went back to hoeing peas. That night at supper we sat down to eat Mamaw had cooked a big pot of Crowder peas and a big ole pot of chicken and dumplins. Mamaw said Michael you’re awful quite is something wrong? I just said no ma’am and stared at my plate of chicken and dumplins, I felt so bad I couldn’t hardly bring myself to eat much less talk to my grandparents. I felt so bad about killing that rooster and not tellin no one what had happened. I couldn’t hold back any longer and told my ma maw that I was real sorry I killed her favorite rooster and was gonna let the dog take the blame. She said its ok Michael I saw what happened and went out and plucked that rooster and put him in the pot, as a matter of fact we needed something for supper tonight anyway.
Confession is good for the soul but it’s so hard to do. But when we do it makes everything so much easier. God already knows what we have done we just need to repent and clear the air so that we can get on with our relationship with Him. So the first thing to do is clear the air. The Bible tells us that when we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. I will confess my sins to God
The next thing we have to do is get into the Word of God and listen when God speaks. Now I know that most of us would like a big supernatural experience where the sky would open up and God would speak to us in a big booming voice, we all would like that. But the truth is God has already spoken. The Bible is the inspired word of God written down for us, so that we may understand what God would have us say & Do. 2nd Peter 1:19 tells us that until Jesus comes we have scripture and the Holy Spirit to guide us. Look at what we are told in 2nd Timothy 3:16 -17 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work. I will study the word of God.
As we move forward into developing a closer relationship with God we must realize that we need conversation with the Master, we must have a good prayer life. Not only must we listen to God we need to speak with Him also. When we look at the writings of Matthew we can clearly see that Jesus talked with God often. He was always going to the garden to pray or going to the mountain to pray. Now prayer is much more than just asking God for stuff we need to talk with God often and about many things. In Matthew 6:9-13 we are told how we should pray the first three things that we pray are about God. We acknowledge that Hallowed or Holy is your name, we ask that Gods kingdom would come, and we asked that Gods will be done. Then the last three things are request that acknowledge that we can’t do it alone, we ask God to give us our daily bread, and to forgive our sins, and to lead us. We must establish a time to converse with God. If you’re not sure about how to pray read the book of Psalms they are mostly prayers. Just crying out to God. I Will Pray
If you’re truly wanting to have a better relationship with God this step is vital, you need to attend worship regularly. You may say that you can get your worship on at home and you don’t need to come to church to be saved. You know something your right, but if you want to have a closer walk with the Almighty you need to attend worship on a regular basis.
Scripture tells us (Hebrews 10:25) And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. When we come to worship we need to prepare ourselves and not be concerned about “What can I get out of it” but be more interested in “What we can put into it” Psalm 95 puts it like this ; Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
God invites us, No He commands us to come into His presence for worship. Worship isn’t about us, it’s about Him.. Coming to church gives us an opportunity to come into the presence of the Lord and also gives us an opportunity to fellowship with the Lords people.
I will attend Church regularly.
Last but not least if we want a closer walk with God we need to live a life of obedience. John 14:23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Being obedient to God is really just our response to the Grace of God that we receive through Salvation. Now I want to be clear, we don’t earn salvation from being obedient... but obedience is a way that we can show our gratitude to God I will be obedient
So, through confession, Bible study, prayer, regular church attendance, and obedience, we can develop a closer relationship with God. For something that’s so simple we sure make it hard don’t we?
But consider this: how do we develop a closer relationship with other human beings? We spend time with them in conversation, opening our hearts to them and listening to them at the same time. We acknowledge when we’ve done wrong and seek forgiveness. We seek to treat them well and sacrifice our own needs to fulfill theirs.
It’s not really that different with our relationship to our Heavenly Father we need to put forth a little effort and common sense.
I will do whatever it takes to grow closer to God.
