Healthy Relationships: God
Pastor Scott Applegate
“…Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:28-31 NIV
To keep a healthy relationship with God I need to:
1. Relate to Him through the finished work of Jesus
“We love Him because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19 NKJV
“This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” 1 John 4:9 NLT
2. Make knowing God the priority in my life
“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3 NIV
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33 NIV
“What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” Philippians 3:8 NIV
• Who and what are the priorities in my life?
“You are my friends if you do what I command.” John 15:14 NIV
“…don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” James 4:4 NIV
3. Spend time with Him
“Come near to God and he will come near to you…” James 4:8a NIV
• Get alone with Him: “Be still, and know that I am God…” Psalm 46:10 NIV
• Talk to Him: “pray at all times,” 1 Thessalonians 5:17 GNT
• Let Him talk to you: “Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.” John 17:17 NLT
http://hillsidemoncton.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Quiet-Time.pdf
4. Trust Him in your trials and tests
“The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him,” Nahum 1:7 NIV