Seeing Past Fear To Grace

…do not fear anything that is frightening.

 

1 Peter 3:6

 

 

 

Tell me you can't relate to this scenario…

 

You talk to someone who is in the middle of a storm and they testify to God's overwhelming sustaining grace. You marvel at their peace and joy that belies their suffering. But instead of praising God for His evident faithfulness, you begin to imagine yourself enduring their ordeal.

 

How would I cope?

I don't think I could handle it.

I hope it doesn't happen to me.

 

With high-definition clarity and color you see yourself in the midst of their ordeal... grace is nowhere to be found, and you are gripped by fear and dread.

So often we ignore the awesome displays of God's faithfulness to people in storms and instead imagine ourselves in their situation, minus the grace of God.

 

We would do well to heed Elisabeth Elliot's wise reminder that: There is no grace for our imaginations.

 

God is not waiting in the wings to help us through whatever horrible imaginary trouble we can conjure up today. But His goodness is stored up and will be abundantly poured out whenever we walk through a real storm.

 

Let's resolve that the next time we observe someone going through a storm, let's turn our imaginations to gaze on the marvelous, abundant, overwhelming and timely grace of God—the same grace that is be available to us daily.

Fears That Keep Us From His Presence

Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So He got into the boat and left.

 

Luke 8:37

Jesus did many miracles when He lived on earth and one of those miracles involved the deliverance of a demon-possessed man. The people of the community witnessed this awesome demonstration of God's power when Jesus commanded the demon spirit to come out of the man and go into the herd of nearby pigs—the man was healed and sat at Jesus' feet.

You would expect the people who witnessed this to embrace Jesus as one performing good deeds and to honor Him—the opposite was true. Instead, they were overcome with fear.

 

Why?

 

Many of us respond the same way to Jesus when He does an out-of-the-ordinary act among His people. We are fearful because we have never personally experienced this before. So, we draw wrong judgments.

God is able to do far exceeding above what we think.

 

It is often subconscious fears that prevent us from going to a deeper level with Him, just as the people in Gerasenes could not benefit from Jesus' presence because of their fears.

Have you feared God because of what He might require of you?

 

Have you feared that He might ask of you something you are not prepared to give?

 

Do not let your fears drive Him from your presence—You can trust Him.

A Tool For God's Work

With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.

 

Judges 6:21

How does God call people into His work?

 

There is a clear pattern in the way God calls men and women into service for Him. Almost every major leader has been called while he or she was in the midst of performing his or her everyday duties. For example:

 

• Moses was a shepherd
• Peter was a fisherman
• Matthew was a tax collector
• Luke was a physician
• Paul was a tentmaker
• Moses was a shepherd 

When God called Gideon to free the people of Israel from the oppression of the Amalekites, He did so while Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress.

 

Like Moses, Gideon argued with God, saying he was nothing special, so how could he be used of God to save Israel?

 

Gideon acknowledged God by preparing an offering to Him and then the angel of the Lord did an interesting thing with Gideon's offering. He took the tip of his staff and touched the meat and the unleavened bread and as he did that fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread.

 

As with Moses, God chose to do a miracle with a staff, the instrument that symbolized Gideon's work life.

 

Why would God do this?

 

It is because God wants us to know that the tools He has given each of us are the tools He wants to use to demonstrate His power. However, in order for that to happen, we must yield our tools to Him for miracles to be manifested through them.

Have you yielded your tools to the God?

 

God wants to work through you—allow Him to do that starting today.

The Shepherds Voice

He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.

 

John 8:47

One of the great mysteries of the universe to our logical mind is how God can communicate with six billion people on the earth at the same time. It is one of those mysteries we must let go of because our "hard drive" would crash if we had to explain and understand this before we believed and trusted in Him.

 

It is as though God places a computer chip in each human being, and when we place our faith and trust in Him, it becomes activated and we begin to communicate with Him. Jesus says that if we are children of God, then we can hear God's voice. He further explains this relationship in the following parable:

I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice (John 10:1-5).

The Shepherd is always representative of Jesus and sheep are representative of God's children. This passage tells us that the Shepherd communicates with His children—we are called by name and we can listen to our Shepherd's voice.

 

There is another comforting aspect to this relationship, and that is that the Shepherd goes before the sheep to prepare the way—Jesus has already gone before us today to prepare our way.

Knowing the Shepherd and His voice allows us to have the assurance that we will not be fooled by another shepherd's voice—the sheep know His voice. It is only when we are dull of hearing that we mistakenly hear another's voice and follow it.

 

Sin can create a poor frequency in our communication with the Shepherd. And it is important to make sure our frequency is free of static (sin) so that the Shepherd can lead us and go before us in all things. Because if sin is present and active in our lives, we are breaking our fellowship with our Shepherd which in turn will keep us from being fully tuned to all that He is speaking and leading us in. 

Finally, distractions can also keep us from hearing our Shepherd's voice. When the sheep get entangled in the fence or wander off, they get too far away to hear the Shepherd's voice. We must stay in close proximity to the Shepherd to hear His voice—listen and follow—He wants to lead you.

Unnecessary Anger

Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.

 

Ecclesiastes 7:9

Every day of our lives we are placed in situations that engage us with other people, whether it is in our homes, the office, or in public places and in those situations anger can arise when we least expect it.

Think of anger in this way, it is like warning lights on the front of your car dashboard. They signal that there is something going on under the hood, and we should take a look to examine the source of the problem.

 

Anger can be traced to a few sources.

 

When we lose control of a circumstance that we have placed certain expectations on and those expectations do not result in our desired outcome, we are tempted to get angry. The source of this type of anger is both fear and protection of personal rights. You see, when we believe we have a right to something, we have not given God permission to allow an outcome different from what we want. If an outcome is different from our expectations, this may stimulate fear which may lead to unnecessary anger.

Know that the source of your anger is the fear of what might happen to you, what others might say about you, or the fact that you no longer are in control of the circumstance and this creates fear in you.

The next time you get angry ask God what is the source of that anger?

 

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). Give up your rights to expectations that God never gave you and you will find a new freedom in God you never knew you could have.

Changes

And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.

 

Daniel 2:21

 

 

In the words of the great philosopher, Forrest Gump, "Change happens." Change occurs to anyone, anywhere, anytime, expected or dreaded, wanted or unwanted, inflicted or by design, sooner or later. Although change is a one-syllable word, it has a variety of meanings, comes in a diversity of forms, and causes different results.

 

What is change?

 

Some dictionary definitions of change are:

 

• To make different in form
• To transform
• To give and take reciprocally
• To transfer from one to another
• To become different
• To pass from one phase to another

These are just a few of countless definitions and we could further the search in a thesaurus and discover an infinite amount of synonyms such as revolutionize, adjust, amend, swap, trade, switch, conversion, movement away, digression, and restore. The list seems endless…

 

We can choose to react or be proactive toward change.

 

God can use changes to strengthen us, build character in us, test or prove us, humble us, and get our attention. How we accept, deny, or otherwise react to the change or changes before us is entirely up to each individual. Through this process, God reveals His strength, His character, His love for us, and the fact that He is God.

 

Resisting or accepting change is a personal matter. In the poem known as the "Serenity Prayer" by Reinhold Niebuhr, the first part of it says:

 

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

 

The key word in this poem is God and it is only through prayer and studying the Word that we will be able to "know the difference."  We need to find a time in our day to set aside to be with our Heavenly Father, spending time in prayer and in the Word. Remember that good communication requires a sender and a receiver—God may be trying to send you a message of a change.

Test That Prove God Is Enough

He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

 

Psalm 37:6

As a believer grows in trusting obedience and love, God often brings a test that seems uncharacteristically unkind.

 

The test: being wrongfully judged by those close to you.

 

It is not for the reactionary and it cannot be passed over by simply gutting it out. Supernatural grace is the only means of passing this one.

 

It is one of those tests that Jesus had to experience Himself when being tried by the court of public opinion, the religious community, and the government of His day. His response to the government was silence. His response to the religious establishment was silence at the final judgment. To the rest of His accusers He remained quiet and left vindication to the Father.

 

He lived the commandment He gave to the disciples:

"But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked" (Luke 6:35).

How do you react when you are accused or mistreated for no reason?

 

Do you listen quietly, or do you justify each and every action?

 

Most of us take pride in doing what is right and expect the same from others, especially from other believers. God knew that if we are to be a true follower of His, we would enter these tests from time to time eventually.

 

Many times throughout our walk as believers there are ample of opportunities to be wronged, misunderstood, and maligned. When God brings a measured assault against one of His children, it is to find out if he truly believes in the cross. The cross is where each of us is given the opportunity to die to our pride, our reputations, and our ego. When He allows a measured assault upon us, it is to find out if the cross is sufficient.

 

During these times we need to let the pride and arrogance that God wants to remove from our lives be crucified and then thank God for the opportunity to be crucified with Christ. Then our righteousness will shine like the noonday sun and the justice of our cause will be in His hands.

Laying The Foundation In All Endeavors

So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed."

 

Isaiah 28:16

God often compares the process of being fully consecrated to building a house. First, we must prepare to build by laying a foundation and that foundation is none other than Jesus Christ Himself—any foundation other than Christ will not stand.

Second, as we enter a walk of faith with God, He allows each of us to experience trials, testings, miracles, and challenges in life that are designed to provide "faith experiences" that demonstrate tangible evidences of His work in our life—these experiences cause us to build or faith and trust in God.

 

The depth and width of our calling is directly proportional to the faith experiences He allows in each of our lives. If God plans an international ministry with you, chances are you will experience a higher degree of faith experiences compared to another. The reason being, you will need to look on these to ensure your calling and provide testimony to His work in your life.

Third, we deal with building motives as we see in Proverbs 16:2, "All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord."

 

• What is the true motive behind our actions?
• Is it only financial accumulation?
• Is it to gain control?
• Is it to create independence?

The primary motive must be God's leading when we take such an action—it must be out of pure obedience and these other factors will be by-products of the decision.

Finally, we are prepared to take action. Here we must ask, "Do we have the skill, quality, and ability to enter into this endeavor?" So often we have not trained ourselves adequately to be successful in our endeavor. You would never want someone telling you how to become fit and get in shape that had not been trained and certified as a personal trainer.

Before you begin your next project, ask yourself these four questions:

 

1. What is the foundation this project is based on?
2. What experiences has God demonstrated in my life that indicate His involvement?
3. What is my motive for entering this endeavor?
4. Do I have the skill, quality, and ability to accomplish the task?

Answering these questions will allow you to gain better insight on whether God has called you to this particular endeavor.

Where Do You Place Your Confidence

Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.

 

1 Chronicles 21:1

 

 

God always requires total trust in Him alone for our victories in life and throughout Scripture we are cautioned not to place our trust in the strength of horses, other men or our own abilities. In 1 Chronicles, David's decision to take a census was a failure to keep his trust totally upon God.

 

David's purpose in counting his population was to assess his military strength, much like the second census taken under Moses (See Numbers 1:2–3). David found 800,000 men eligible for military service in Israel, and 500,000 men in Judah (See 2 Samuel 24:9), more than double the previous head count.

 

David's commander evidently recognized the grave error that his king was about to make. "But Joab replied, 'May the Lord multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord's subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?'" (1 Chronicles 21:3).

 

Joab was right the census displeased God and David was falling into the temptation of trusting in the size of his army rather than in God. In consequence, God punished David and reduced his forces by bringing a plague that killed 70,000 men.

 

How do we avoid placing our trust in God in our lives?

 

When we begin to place our faith in other things or people instead of God, we have lost all sight of what God is doing and has yet to do in our lives as we trust in Him. In a word we have failed to place our total trust in God for all of our needs or desires.

But Now Be Strong

But now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord, and work.

 

Haggai 2:4a

Zerubbabel was the governor of Judah 60 years after the great temple built by Solomon had been destroyed. The temple lay in ruins, and God spoke to the prophet Haggai, "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?" (Haggai 1:4) God was calling for a remnant of His people to come out of their comfort zones and restore the glory of God's house.

God is doing this same thing today among Christian who are sensitive to the Holy Spirits leading an directing in their lives. He is raising up those who are being hand picked to use their resources, skills, and experience to affect those near and far.

Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,' says the Lord; 'and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,' says the Lord, 'and work; for I am with you,' says the Lord of hosts. 'According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!' (Haggai 2:4-5).

The believers that God called then as listed in Haggai and is calling today understand that they have to come out of Egypt from their past life—Egypt signifies the way of the world. It represents sweat and toil—it is the flesh.

 

God has called you out of Egypt—the flesh—in order to do extraordinary things in your life for His glory. Ask God to show you how He wants to use you and then act and be strong lacking fear as the Holy Spirit works in and through you.

 

A Heart That Reflects God's Love-Part 5

We need God to help us love

Clearly we need to seek God in order to have the proper discernment when extending His love to others. For instances, when you sense God's love flowing through you to others, find out their need and begin ministering to that need. By following the leading of the Holy Spirit, you can help those whom the God has prepared for His transforming touch, and you will become part of His miraculous provision. When God leads you to help someone, He will enable you to do what He leads you to do. 

   

The love we have is not ours; it is God's. When we give our whole hearts and every area of our lives to the Source of love and are filled by Him, we are able to properly express His love to others. When we act on the prompting of the Holy Spirit instead of our feelings, we are making a decision to put forth the effort to love as God loves.

   

God's love is the basis for our love, real, heartfelt gratitude for God's love will flow out of us toward others. We are able to love as God loves because of the new nature God gives us in response to our faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit liberates us from sin and selfish desires, empowering us to "bear fruit to God" (see Romans 7:4).

   

True love for others is never a matter of mere externals. We are called to cultivate genuine care and compassion for others. Our love is to be real and heartfelt. Merely going through the motions will not suffice. Paul urges us, "Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality" (Romans 12:10-13).   

A Heart That Reflects God's Love-4

Love expects nothing in return

 

When we are loving toward someone, we tend to expect something in return. But that is not what God's Word teaches us.  "But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil" (Luke 6:35). When we love as God loves, being "kind to the unthankful and evil" (Luke 6:35), we can love without any thought of personal reward.

A Heart That Reflects God's Love-Part 3

Love reaches out to the unlovely

It is easy to love gracious individuals, mature Christians, and those who say, "Thank you" when we do something nice. It's harder to love the unlovely. However, we find in God's Word so as to we are to love the lovely and the unlovely equally. "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you." (Matthew 5:43-44)

   

God loves us all the same, no matter who we are or what we have done. God's love is undeserved; it simply is. So, who are those in our lives who fall into the category of the unlovely? Those we find bothersome, ungrateful, evil, difficult to live with, who bring misery and heartache, even the unrighteous.

   

With God's love flowing through us, we are enabled to extend His love to everyone we encounter, without conditions. Not to do so is telling God that we do not love Him enough to love others as He loves us and has called us to do.

A Heart That Reflects God's Love-Part 2

Love is an action, not just words

Love is something we do, not just an act of the will. Yet acting on our love is not always easy in some instances.For example, when we are exhausted, we serve others with the love that God displays through us regardless of how we feel or our state of mind. Love takes action, even when doing so requires more effort than we want to put forth.  

Our actions are to back up our words and are the proof of our love. That is why we are called to love not only "in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:18). We must challenge ourselves to do the work of love that God has graciously shown us.

We are to express God's love not only by words and attitudes but by our actions. When we do, God's Spirit, at work in us, will cause the fruit of love to blossom in our lives while we give God our whole heart and allow His love to flow through us as we partake in His work of love.

A Heart That Reflects God's Love-Part 1

How has God loved us and what does this kind of love, which we are to have flowing through us, look like?

 

The best way to answer these questions are to look to God and His Word—after all, God is love and the source of all love—so it makes sense to look to God's Word to learn what He says.

 

Love is an act of the will

Every fruit of the Spirit requires decisions, and love is no different. It is hard to love under certain circumstances, yet God loves us no matter what. The kind of love that God has modeled for us calls for a conscious effort on our part. God's love in us enables us to show His love to others no matter how we feel.

 

Love is as much a feeling of the mind as it is of the heart and it concerns the will as much as the emotions. When love is an act of the will, it comes only from God, which is why we need to understand God's love for us before we can fully show God's love to others.

 

For a better understanding of love, consider the acts of God and His Son, Jesus Christ, as revealed in the following verses.

 

• "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28)
• "Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him." (Luke 9:51-52)

Giving, serving, heading for Jerusalem, and dying on the cross—these acts of love are acts of the will, not gestures prompted and powered by mere emotion. God gives us the will to love and the ability to act accordingly. Look to God to fill you with the kind of love that gives, serves, and dies to self, the kind of love that was modeled by Jesus Christ Himself.

Thirsting For God

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.

 

Psalm 42:1

 

 

Picture a doe that is in search of a stream, a creek, a pond, or any free flowing water in order to quench its insatiable thirst. Better yet, think of a time when you have gone out on a hot summer day for a run and come back with such a parched mouth that you cannot wait to take that first sip of water to bring moisture back into your mouth and bring hydration to your body.

 

It is almost second nature to quench our physical thirst when we are thirsty or have been without water for some time, but we cannot always say the same for when our soul thirst for water. For us, this water is an ongoing relationship with God and He satisfies us deep within, even when everything else of this world ceases to satisfy.

 

We should long to be in an atmosphere in which God can work and satisfy our deepest longing. Because where God is at work, whether it is in our personal lives or using us to touch others, our thirst is quenched, our dry spells are alleviated, and our soul is refreshed.

Understanding God's Love For Us

God's love for us extends far beyond the bounds of human comprehension; and awareness of how much we are loved by Him is forever slipping from our consciousness. God's love for us is infinitely superior to any love we could ever express to each other, but we often proclaim a or view love through the lenses of the world's standard for ourselves than what we believe God has for us.

 

God's love is unconditional and not an emotional response to something we have done or spoken. God loves us because He is love, not because we are loveable. And yet, we question whether or not God truly loves us.

 

Most of us think that we understand the love of God, but our experience proves otherwise.

 

And when we struggle to believe that God's promises to us will come to pass, that is unbelief. The root of that unbelief is a lack of love. "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love" (Galatians 5:6). Love is the driving force behind our faith. Remove or diminish love, and faith ceases to be what it should be. God loves us because "God is love" (1 John 4:8).

 

Love cannot be fulfilled without an object and God desired an object for His love outside of Himself.

 

Love has already been established within the Godhead, between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The love was innate to the divine nature; there was no other. It was a self-love, completely sufficient unto itself and in need of no other. Yet there is a difference between a need and a desire.

 

God did not need further love, but He desires to express the love He has to others. Therefore, God created humans—us—with the capacity to choose to love Him and others. Love of someone beyond oneself has no meaning without the ability for its object to respond in like manner. God is entirely self-sufficient, but He desires to love and to be loved.

Open Our Eyes

And Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so he may see." Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

 

2 Kings 6:17

Elisha was counsel to the nation of Israel against the impending attack of the king of Aram. And during this time God supernaturally gave Elisha the plans that the king was implementing, and in turn, Elisha warned Israel of each intended attack.

The king's forces arrived—just as God had revealed to Elisha—and surrounded Elisha and nation of Israel. At this point Elisha's servant became upset and fearful when Elisha was not distressed. Elisha immediately prayed that his servant's eyes might be opened to see that there was no need to be fearful, because the angels were protecting them.

"And Elisha prayed, 'O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.' Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (2 Kings 6:17).

Sometimes, it is often difficult for us to see what God is really doing in our lives, because we are so consumed by our circumstances. We need to at times step back and seek God to open our eyes that we might see Him and what He is doing in our circumstances.

 

Other times we need to confer with a close friend or a strong godly individual in our life who can see the activity of God in our life when we cannot see it, to encourage us or to help us gain clarity in our circumstances.

Spending Time With God

God wants us to spend time alone with Him and intimately communicate with Him, to enjoy fellowship with Him, to trust and follow Him. Many of us substitute other things in place of spending time with God. And we allow the things this world has to offer to distract us, instead of fully focusing on God.

 

In order to get to know God better, we need to give time to Him. If we want to develop a relationship, we set aside time to do so in order to spend quality time with no agenda or distractions. God wants to spend quality time with us, time when He has our undivided attention.

 

 

Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha, understood this:

 

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:38-42).

 

Mary chose to spend time with Jesus and refused to be distracted; Martha chose not to spend time with Him. Jesus said that Mary had chosen the better.

 

 

Given how incredibly wonderful God is, it is somewhat astonishing how little time many of us spend on deepening our relationship with Him. If we let God captivate our hearts with His love, we will desire to be with Him above anything else. Spending time with God is important and it is of crucial importance to the way we live.

 

But it never seems urgent, and as a result we find it easy to postpone, delaying indefinitely until it never happens. However the window of opportunity is now: "Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near" (Isaiah 55:6). 

 

The important thing is that we learn to rest in His presence, to slow down and turn off the noise inside, and to set aside our busyness and our own agendas. Spending time with God is not about us doing or achieving anything (even when praying) but about a relationship. So we need not strive but only relax and be silent, becoming aware of His loving presence.   

 

The big question remains:

 

Are we spending time with God or are we going on our merry way, only calling on Him like a genie in a bottle, all the while letting the opportunity of having a close intimate relationship with Him slip us by?

 

As we spend time with God, we will give up less important tasks, goals, and responsibilities that are not part of God's plan for us. At the same time we will begin to openly embrace God's love as we start to know Him more intimately.