Work on Your Relationship with Jesus

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Bill Keller wrote a devotional today that I
recommend to you.  He has given me permission to
copy his e-mails, and I'm sure he would be happy if
you would share this with people you know as well.

You've accepted Jesus as your Savior.  What's next?

Please read on.

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL   WEDNESDAY MARCH 22, 2006
( Deuteronomy 14:3, John 1:12, Romans 9:26,
Galatians 3:29 )

Making your relationship with Jesus your own.  Each person
comes to know Christ in their own and unique way.  One of
the biggest problems I deal with each day is people who
have accepted Christ as their Savior, but don't really
have a close, intimate, personal relationship with Him. 
I submit to you today that a large percentage of
Christians, people who are saved and going to Heaven,
look at being a Christian the same way they look at
being part of the Tuesday-night bowling league.  It is
part of their life, it is not their life.

Today, I am going to share with you one of the most
critical Devotionals God has led me to write in nearly
7 years.  For many, it will give you an entirely new
look on what being a Christian really means.  Most of
all, I pray today that for those who read these words,
today will be the day that the "lightbulb goes off," and
you understand that being a Christian is about having a
real and vibrant and personal relationship with Jesus. 
Today, I want to help you learn how to make your
relationship with Jesus, your own.

I am sure many people right now are very puzzled about
what I am talking about, while others are thinking this
is an elementary message.  Yes it is foundational, but it
is also the very essence of what being a follower of
Christ is really all about.  You see, most people get
saved and it is often years later, sadly in many cases
never, that they learn what having a personal
relationship with Jesus is really all about.  Just like
God created each of us in a unique and special way, each
person has their own unique and special relationship
with Jesus.

My friend, you can't have your mother's relationship with
the Lord, you can't have your father's relationship with
the Lord, you can't have your friend's relationship with
the Lord,  you can't have your spouse's relationship with
the Lord,  you can't have your pastor's relationship with
the Lord, YOU HAVE TO HAVE YOUR OWN RELATIONSHIP WITH THE
LORD!  Each person has got to find their own personal
relationship with Christ!!!

This is why discipleship is so critical.  After a person
makes the commitment of their heart and life to the Lord
by faith, it is imperative that they find someone to
mentor them, to guide them in their new-found faith.  A
person who gets saved and is not discipled is no different
than a baby that is born and than left on the floor of the
birthing room.  A person who gets saved has come to that
place in their life where they acknowledge they are a
sinner, that they need a Savior, and that Jesus Christ is
the One who died for their sins.  By putting their faith
and trust in Him, their sins will be forgiven and they
have the promise and assurance that when this brief life
is over they will be with Him forever.

THIS IS AS FAR AS THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS EVER
GET!!!

It is not their fault.  They don't know any better.  All
they know is that once they were lost and now they are
found, that once they were once blind and now they see. 
However, beyond that, unless someone tells them what to
do next, they simply go back to living their life as
before.  Let me add that so many churches are to blame. 
They do a great job of raising millions to build new
buildings, but do virtually NOTHING in bringing the lost
to Christ or discipling new Believers.  Millions of
people sit in the pews of churches all across our nation
every Sunday who have made the commitment to accept
Christ into their heart and life by faith, but have been
frozen at that point in their spiritual growth for 1, 5,
10, even 50 years!!!

Again, it is not their fault.  Their needs to be a
shepherd to lead them.  Someone to teach them how to walk
with Christ.  Someone to teach them how to grow in their
faith.  Someone to guide them how to make their faith
real in their daily life.  Someone to encourage and
challenge them to rise up and be the man or woman of God
they have been called to be.  Jesus said that the people
are like sheep.  Without a shepherd to lead them, the
sheep will simply wander aimlessly and end up lost,
confused, with no direction or purpose.  We have too many
weak and ineffective pastors, so it is no wonder why we
have so many weak and ineffective Christians!

So how do you have a real relationship with Jesus?  First,
you have to realize that your relationship with the Lord
is like any other relationship in your life.  You have to
work at it, you have to commit time, effort, and energy
into it.  You only get out of a relationship what you
put into it. That holds true for your relationship with
the Lord.  To have a meaningful relationship with the
Lord, you MUST spend time with the Lord each day.  You
do that in prayer, talking to Him and letting Him talk
to you.  You do that by reading the Word, another way
the Lord will speak to you.  Remember, the more time and
energy you put into your relationship with the Lord, the
better that relationship will be and the greater part of
your life it will become.

Second, our relationship with the Lord is literally
24/7/365.  What that means is that your relationship with
Christ is continual and part of every second of every day. 
This is a key area many people fail to comprehend. They
treat their relationship with the Lord like their
relationship with their favorite Aunt who you might see
once a week or so.  People go to church for an hour on
Sunday to "be with Jesus," but forget about Him until
the next time they go to church.  When you accept the
Lord as your Savior by faith, you are literally giving
Him your very life.  At the moment you are saved, the
Holy Sprit indwells you and God is literally living in
you.  The Lord has promised to never leave you nor
forsake you, He is with you always.

Lastly, very few people will admit it, so let me say it
for you.  It is weird having a personal, intimate, daily
relationship with someone you can't see!  You can see,
touch, communicate with your parents, your siblings,
your spouse, your friends, but Jesus is invisible. 
Those who mock the Lord and Christians laugh at our
"imaginary friend."  Let me tell you this day that Jesus
is alive and well!  He lives in you and you can feel His
presence in your heart and life just as much as anyone
else you are with.  You CAN talk to Him, and He will
talk to you.  Jesus is real and Jesus is alive!!!

The same Jesus who was born in Bethlehem's manger, the
same Jesus who preached and prophesied and worked
miracles, the same Jesus who gave His life on the cross
for the sins of all mankind, the same Jesus who God
raised from the dead on the third day...IS THE VERY SAME
JESUS THAT IS ALIVE TODAY AND SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND
OF GOD THE FATHER AND DESIRES TO HAVE A PERSONAL
RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU!!!

I love you and care about you so much.  I want to
encourage you today in your relationship with the Lord. 
It is not a questions of does Jesus want to have a
relationship with you, after all, God created us to have
fellowship with Him, it is a question of do you want to
have a relationship with Jesus.  If you have accepted
Him into your heart and life by faith that means you do
have a relationship with the Lord, an everlasting one. 
Now it is a matter of making that relationship with the
Lord real now during this life, making it your own.

That is why you have to invest the time, effort, and
energy into your relationship with the Lord each day. 
That relationship can be as special as you want to make
it and will grow and become more special to you over
time.  Pray, communicate with the Lord and let Him talk
to you   Read the Bible, and let the Lord speak to you
through His Word.  Never forget that the Lord is
literally with you 24/7/365 and take advantage of His
presence.  Jesus is real, His love for you is real, and
His desire to have a personal, intimate relationship with
you is real.

I will be praying for you today.  Praying that today you
will realize that Jesus loves you and loves you so much
that He died for your sins.  He gave His very life so
you could escape the eternal punishment you deserve. 
How mind boggling is it that this same Jesus wants to
have a personal relationship with YOU!  I pray that you
will take advantage of this incredible opportunity and
begin today to start building that relationship with the
Lord.  As I tell you often, the only thing we will take
from this life into eternity is our relationship with
the Lord.  He will be your friend now and for all
eternity!!!

In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

***If I can help you in any way you can contact me
through my personal email at bkeller@liveprayer.com

***ARE YOU 100% CERTAIN WHERE YOU WILL SPEND
ETERNITY?  The fact is you will die one day.  At
that moment, you will either spend eternity with
the Lord or be cast into everlasting darkness
forever separated from God your creator.  To know
for certain you will be forever with Jesus, go to:
http://www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html

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(C) Copyright 2006, Bill Keller Ministries.
All rights reserved


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May God bless you as you learn from this message!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2006 Donald W. Mitchell