The amazing thing about God is that he wants to be personally involved in our lives. He's not a distant "god" who just got things started with this workd and then let things go. Rather, he hears our prayers and seeks to answer them. Now, sometime he answers them as YES, sometimes NO and other times WAIT. But no matter what the answer is, he desires the best for us.
The starting place for anyone who wants to connect with God about personal stuff going on in their lives is to first make sure that they are spiritually connected with God.
Here’s a summary of what it means to be spiritually connected with God and in a relationship with him.
• God loves everyone and he sent his only, unique Son, Jesus Christ, here to show us that. God wants everyone to experience life the way he intended.
This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be [lost]; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. John 3:16
• But we need to realize that we are all spiritually disconnected from God because of something called sin.
Sin could be described as simply living life our own way and not God’s way. Since we’re actually born into this world disconnected from God, life doesn’t seem to make sense sometimes – especially when it comes to spiritual things. But, God wants our lives to make sense. He wants us to live life to its fullest with him.
We all have sinned and fall short of God’s ideal. Romans 3:23
• For life to mke more sense spiritually, the problem of being disconnected from God has to be resolved.
But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful. Romans 5:8
• Because of what God did for us through Jesus Christ, we can now experience life the way God intended by inviting Jesus Christ alone to be the Savior and Leader of our lives.
Only Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death for us some 2,000 years ago can bridge that gap between us and God. Accepting God’s love for us by trusting his Son gives new purpose to our lives. That kind of trust means turning from whatever we are hoping in to bring us peace, happiness and spiritual contentment to trusting in Jesus Christ alone to be the Savior and Leader of our lives.
… But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. John 1:12-13
In summary, God wants us to fully grasp how our own sin has disconnected us from him. He wants us to understand that only Jesus Christ and what he did for us through his sacrificial death can reconnect us to God. As we transfer our trust to Jesus Christ alone as our Savior and Lord, and follow him, the result is spiritual transformation.
Spiritual transformation means that we have an eternal relationship with God that starts now - not just in heaven one day. That's life to the fullest - right now. It doesn't mean that things will be perfect. It doesn't mean that you won't experience suffering. It means that, through God's Son, Jesus Christ, we can now experience life the way God intended us to experience it in the first place (i.e., having joy, inner peace and an intimate connection with God - regardless of our circumstances).
Once you choose to follow Jesus Christ, you can begin to experience the promise that Jesus gave in The Gospel of John, 10:10, when He said, I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.
And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again. Philippians 1:6
To grow spiritually, here are some suggestions:
1. Get a Bible that you can understand and start reading the Gospel of John in the New Testament. (This gospel tells the story of Jesus and what it means to have life with God).
2. Engage in prayer everyday. Prayer is just sharing your heart with God and asking him things that are on your heart. Then, part of prayer is also being still and silent so that you can respond to the leadings, promptings and nudges of God for you to do things.
3. Share your new spiritual experience with others.
4. Get connected here at Upcounty Church in a small group that fits you and begin to develop friendships with other people.