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It has been said that christianity can be summed up in one word – relationships. Today we look at the relationships that make up the church.
Welcome to Run With Horses! My name is Norman and my goal is to help you Thrive as a disciple of Jesus. You have a lot of choices to make every day. Thanks for including me in your journey of following Jesus.
Recently I have been thinking about the church and particularly the relationships that make it up. Regularly I have seen news and info about church relationships that are broken on an almost weekly basis. From pastors and leaders in the church to ,members who are behaving badly, we seem to be struggling to get along and to act like Jesus with each other.
It is really a matter of spiritual growth and maturity at it’s core. Our sin nature aggressively drives us from God and unfortunately wins many of the daily battles. The result is that the church, instead of being the beautiful bride of Christ, is a soiled mess that looks almost identical to the world. The world expects the church to be different and is either surprised and disappointed or overjoyed when it is not.
Our relationships don’t look like God intends for them to look. And the problem begins with the primary relationship that we have, our relationship with God Himself.
Our relationship with God is possible because of the blood of Jesus, applied to our lives, removing our sin, providing us with the righteousness of Jesus Himself. The result of receiving such an underserved gift should be a heart overflowing with Thanksgiving. That thankful heart lifts up the name of Jesus and praises the God from whom all blessings flow. Worship is a natural outflow of the Thankful heart. A heart turned to God glorifies Him through heartfelt obedience and pursuit of holiness. We long to be like Him when we see Him as He is!
This heart, in tune with God, pursuing His righteousness and holiness, is filled with a peace and joy that cannot be explained outside of the work of Jesus. It is incredibly calming to know that God is in control. To know Him is to know His love, His grace, as well as His patience and long-suffering. A true relationship with God requires for us to KNOW Him, not just know ABOUT Him.
Paul challenges Timothy to pursue godliness and righteousness. We are invited to pursue God in all His glory. He invites us into His presence.
A genuine relationship with God changes us in many ways but one of the most important is the way in which it changes our relationship with other people. Our relationship with the church, like our relationship with God Himself, is only healthy or even possible in Christ.
The church is a special group of people who are united by a special bond through the power of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately this bond doesn’t prevent us from sinning against each other time and time again!
A relationship that should be marked by a deep and abiding love, is severely tested by our selfishness and focus on our own desires. The world looks at the church expecting to see a kindness and grace that is missing in their own lives but instead see a mess that looks a lot like the one they are in. Why is it this way? In part, many in the church struggle to really know God personally. While weekly sermons give information in abundance, a genuine relationship with the True and Living God is more difficult to find. So we struggle.
And we take that struggle to the world. Our relationship with the world, rather than being marked by grace and loving truth, is always tainted by our own sin and make more difficult because we struggle to see God as He is and see His hand at work in the world. And we really struggle to BE His hands at work in the world. Rather than bringing grace and truth to the world and seeing Him change people into His image, we go into the world and take on the characteristics of the world rather than our Savior.
How do we change that?
1. Release control of your life to God. He bought you with a price! What does it mean to live His life? If you aren’t wrestling with that question, you might not be living the life God intends. It’s not easy though. God isn’t making cookies so there is no cookie cutter approach to following Jesus. My guess is Peter and Matthew were vastly different in their personalities, gifts and ministry. You and I will be different too.
2. Pursue Jesus. Really seek to get to know Him. This is the path to righteousness, godliness and holiness. To really KNOW Jesus. Not just about Him. Are you wrestling with how to know Him better? You should be, it is one of life’s greatest joys and journeys!
3. The humility of Jesus asks us to consider others better than ourselves. We are asked to submit to one another. Are you wrestling with how to do that in your home, in your church, and in your community? You should be. It does not come naturally for sinful hearts.
I will stop at these three for today. They are all huge if you take them seriously and really attempt to live them out. Jesus didn’t call us to an easy life. He called us to a meaningful one. You choose every day how you will live. Choose real value that lasts. Choose to follow Jesus and learn from Him. Choose to help His family be what it can be.
Thanks for joining me today. Write me at norman@runwithhorses.net with your questions or comments or just to say hi. I would love to hear from you. My prayer is that you reflect the glory of God into the world around you every day. The journey is worth the effort, keep running!