Three steps to enjoy a consistent relationship with God in Christ

Slip sliding away, slip sliding away….
You know the nearer your destination, the more you
slip sliding away…..

Paul Simon – Slip Sliding Away 

Although I was a rising star in “my” “church”, thinking that I was experiencing all that God had to offer, I didn’t have a clue.

I was young and popular in the church yet no one encouraged me in my daily walk with the Messiah.  No one ever showed me how to have that relationship.  I may have forgotten something but I don’t even remember hearing about a REAL and personal relationship with Jesus / Yeshua.  It was more about “the Bible says this” and “the Bible says that”; almost as one might view a novel or a how-to manual.

God can seem to slip away regardless of your desire
Because of these things, and more, my view of my relationship with God was just like the lyric of the song up above. “The nearer I seemed to get to God (the destination) the more He seemed to slip away”; sort of like a “dangling carrot”.

While I now know that there were various reasons for that, (none of which were the fault of God) at the time it was frustrating.

Praise God that you are not in that situation
Fortunately, you are not in that situation. You have people in your life who want you to have a genuine relationship with God; people who are willing and interested to encourage you along the way.

Three steps you can take to enjoy a consistent relationship with God in Christ 

Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.

Hebrews2:1

Hebrews 2:1  says to pay close attention to what you have heard so that you don’t “drift away” from it.

In this verse the writer of Hebrews gives us some tips on how we can stay connected with God: 1)purpose to stay close / connected, 2)pay attention to Him, and 3)purpose to not allow yourself to “slip or slide” away.

All three of these points could be broken down into major studies within themselves but even at face value, it is clear that Yeshua desires a close relationship with you and that He wants you to pay close attention to Him moment to moment, day by day.

You and only you can facilitate your relationship with God and it is going to take persistent consistency.

It can be fun and consistent too!
I don’t want to make it sound as if a relationship with God is some sort of gut-wrenching triathlon or something like that; it’s not. Still, you need to be aware that it is unusual for a person to not encounter interference when they make a whole-hearted commitment to Yeshua.

I couldn’t tell you how many people I have met that said things weren’t really all that bad until they entered into relationship with Yeshua and their life tanked.

Why am I saying these things? To encourage you to just forget the whole thing? God forbid! May it never be! The many blessings of a life with Yeshua far, far, outweigh any attempt the adversary could make to derail you.

He has a special destiny waiting for you to fulfill.

No, the reason I am saying these things to you is because noone ever told them to me. Because of that, when the ride became bumpy I became confused like a lot of other people do and jumped out.

Paying attention to what He said and to what He says
The Bible speaks of two sort of “categories” of Gods communication with us: what He said and what He says.

What God has said in the written Word is referred to as “logos”. This can generally be defined as direction God has already provided you by way of His written Word.

The other “category” is “Rhema”. This refers to a specific instruction that God would give you regarding a specific situation.

In John 3:34 the English word, “word” is translated from the Greek word “Rhema”

For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

John 3:34

A “Rhema” word speaks of a “now” word that you receive from God. God does speak to individuals in words as we understand them to be but He also “speaks” in many other ways as well. They all would be considered Rhema.

But no matter how He speaks to you, through His written, logos word or a Rhema word, it is important to be consistent in how we respond to Him both in thought, word and action.

It’s up to you
As I explained above, from my own experiences and observations over the years, I have learned that if you really want the things of God then you are going to have to be relentless in your commitment to Him.

As much as I want for you to have a thriving relationship with the Most High, I can’t sustain it for you; a family member, megachurch Pastor, relative or friend can’t do it for you either.

You don’t have to be confused
In today’s American culture, finding others who genuinely want a relationship with Yeshua can be challenging and going it alone can be pretty rough.

Praise God, you don’t have to be confused. You can know that you have not been left defenseless. There are many things Yeshua has made available to you to overcome the schemes of the enemy of your soul.

We provide many ways to encourage you in your walk. You are not alone. Feel free to contact us if we can be of assistance.

Conclusion: If you want a better, closer relationship with Yeshua one very key thing you can do is to simply tell Him so and then ask Him to reveal Himself to you. Ask Him to reveal to you what He would like from you. Ask Him to help you with the three points above (Heb. 2:1). Be persistent and consistent and He will answer your call — He told me so.

Confession: Yeshua sacrificed Himself for me so that we could have a loving relationship.

Prayer:  Yeshua thank you that you have called me to Yourself and for wanting a loving relationship with me.  Help me to know what that looks like and help me to do my part.

Dr. Rayphe
God’s Kingdom Realm

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