How to Have God in Your Life
At man’s beginning, God created him to be a companion. The Bible says that we were created in God’s image; that we share attributes with God Himself. We have self-awareness, we can think, and we can reason. We can communicate; we can be happy or sad. We are capable of love and compassion; and, we are capable of loathing. Doubtlessly, God shared these, and other attributes with us, so that we could have a meaningful relationship with Him. At creation, there was another very important similarity between God and man (and by man, I refer to both men and women); Man was created sinless and holy; that’s right, at creation men shared God’s perfect holiness. And just to make sure we understand that, holiness means the complete absence of sin. Because he was holy, man could have a personal and truly intimate relationship with God. The Bible tells us that God came down in the evenings and visited with his creation. There existed then … a time of oneness, of peace, and total fellowship with our creator.
But God also gave man another very important feature, He gave us “free will.” Free will is an essential element in our relationship with God; it allows us to choose God or reject Him. And … It would have been unreasonable for God to have given us free will, without at the same time, giving us some options to choose from.
So, along with his creation, man, God also placed a fallen Angel on the earth; we know him well … his name is Satan. Satan hates God and he hates God’s creation, that’s you and me. Satan’s, presence, however, allowed man to have options. He could choose the God who made him, or another life altogether. It wasn’t long before Satan tricked man into abandoning his holiness, and man’s sin separated him from a holy God. The bad news is that both that sin and separation have been carried down through every generation, all the way to you and me. You and I were born with a sinful nature. We were born separated from God.
The Bible reflects on this condition in the book of Romans, chapter 3, and verse 23, it says, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” To grasp the magnitude of the sin problem, just check the news on your cellphone. You will find war, murder, and every conceivable misuse of sexuality; you will see theft, torture and cruelty; and that is naming just a few. The news highlights man’s lack of holiness.
It is easy to think that sin is confined to the atrocities that we see in the news, but Satan is not naive; he knows that atrocity and mayhem don’t sell very well. So … he disguises our spiritual destruction to make it appear incredibly attractive. Satan is an expert at deception. He knows exactly how to leverage our sinful nature. He can create in us a burning desire for illicit sexual encounters, for an escape from our reality …perhaps through drugs, or alcohol. He is behind our lust for dominance and power and our quest for material possessions. He is behind the idea that there is something better than what we already have. Satan fans our lust for personal satisfaction. But, in truth, he offers nothing but emptiness that captures our soul and defeats our spirit. Satan is the master of total defeat.
But you say, I don’t do drugs, I’m just a social drinker, and I’m not involved in an inappropriate relationship! I’m a good person! Well folks, sin is defined not only by what you do, but by what you allow to come into our mind. Most of us allow ourselves to be entertained by the very things that we would “never do.” We watch them in movies or perhaps read them in a romance novel; how often do we fully identify with a fictional character who is about to do something that he or she shouldn’t be doing?
We believe ourselves to be “good people,” while we allow ourselves to be completely desensitized by consuming (and approving of) a long menu of sinful activity.
In Matthew, Chapter 5, verses 27 and 28, Jesus uses adultery as an example, “… Thou shall not commit adultery; But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart,” and that certainly applies to women as well.
Now, why does any of this matter? In Romans, chapter 6 and verse 23 the Bible tells us that “the wages of sin is death…” This means spiritual death… and the result of spiritual death is eternal separation from God. Should we die while sin is separating us from God (and remember, that is the condition that we are born in), we will remain separated from God. Once we’re dead, our options are gone … we will not spend eternity in heaven with Him.
But there is a life changing remedy for this. Let’s look at the second half of Romans Chapter 6 verse 23, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of god is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
How exactly does that work? Let’s review: We were created sinless and holy. And, because we were sinless, we could communicate directly with God? That’s the place we all want to be … but folks, we blew it! We exercised our free will; we chose sin, and we separated ourselves from God! Now … that certainly sounds bad, but there is, hope. God loved us; He loves me, and He loves you. And, as a loving God, he has made a way for those who truly long for a relationship with Him.
God sent his Son Jesus to live a sinless life and to die, paying the penalty for the sins of every human being who ever lived. In the Book of John, Chapter 3 and verse 16, the Bible says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever (believes) on Him, shall not parish, but have everlasting life.” The sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who died in your place and in mine, was for the forgiveness of our sins. Being forgiven of sin allows us to once again have a personal and intimate relationship with our creator. Now, you will notice that I have used the same words that we used to describe the relationship between God and the very first human beings … back before sin entered the world, “a personal and intimate relationship with our creator.” That’s because we can now be in that position again … and it is just this simple; We must simply believe that God’s son was sent to this earth to die in our place … Jesus Christ died to pay the death penalty for our sin. There folks, is the very crux of Christianity!
But you know what? The Bible tells us that the majority of all the people who will ever live will be deceived by Satan and they will pass on the opportunity for God’s complete forgiveness. They will turn away from a loving creator and fall into the hands of an evil .., deceiver. Satan provides a thrill ride, with a terrible and eternal end. And here, I think I’ll quote someone who I met recently, “Eternity is a long time to be wrong.”
God, on the other hand, patiently awaits your choice. He has made “the way”, the price for our sins is paid in full; so why doesn’t God’ simply cover everyone in that deal? Because God wants to hold, and love, and nourish those who truly desire a relationship with Him. In the Bible, He calls the desire to know Him, “seeking the kingdom.” There are many Christians’ today who do not grasp the significance of this. God set up the system to separate the true seekers from those who have little, and perhaps no interest at all.
I want to ask you, could God be urging you right now to end the isolating separation that exists between you and Him? I can promise you that a true experience with God Is far better than anything that you have ever known.
So, how can you seal this deal? In Romans, chapter 10, verse 13, the Bible says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” All you need to do is have an earnest one-on-one conversation with God. It needs to go something like this:
“Dear God, I acknowledge that I am a sinner (and you might pause right there to contemplate some of the really rotten and immoral things that you have done). I know that my sin separates me from you. I now ask to be forgiven of that sin. I want to intimately and personally know the God who created me … I want to know the God who loved me enough to sacrifice His Son, so that I could be his child. I believe that Jesus came to die in my place and that He paid the “death penalty” for my sins. I fully accept and embrace your life-saving gift of salvation. Save me now from spiritual death. Place in me your Holy Spirit … to guide me and to teach me. Nurture me Lord. Lead me to your followers. Send just one, who might embrace me and mentor me in your Word (the Bible) and in my Christian life. Empower me when I am tempted … Strengthen me when I am weak. Walk with me forever now … I am yours and you are mine … Thank you for your love and kindness. In Jesus name I ask this, Amen.”
Now, I want you to think about a newborn baby. Can we leave him on his own and expect him or her to grow into a fine young man or poised young lady? Of course we can’t! If you have “Called upon the name of the Lord,” then you have been born into His family, you are a brand-new baby. You will need food, care and nurturing. Christianity is not a “go it alone” proposition. The Bible tells us in the book of Hebrews, Chapter 10 and Verse 25 that we are not to “forsake the assembling of ourselves together.” This means you need to find a church and attend it regularly. You need the care and nurturing of mature Christians. You need to learn and understand God’s Word (the Bible). There is a concept called a “Biblical world view.” What that means is understanding God’s grand scheme of things, from creation, all the way to the eternal future. Developing a Biblical world view takes time, but it helps a Christian know where he came from, where he is, and where he or she is going.
In summary:
There are two paths. One leads to our spiritual death, and to total and eternal destruction. The other leads to eternal life … and the joy on spending eternity with our creator. Satan, in cooperation with your inborn sinful nature, makes the first path highly desirable … your human nature will find it seductive … but it leads to death! The second path rewards a desire to know a loving God. The second path leads to forgiveness of sin, no matter what you’ve done, and to a personal and intimate relationship with the God that created you. On this path, you will discover the enormous power of prayer and the potential for sweet fellowship with other believers. If you choose wisely, you will step away from Satan’s seduction and into the arms of a loving God…