Sunday Sabbath January 17 2016 CONNECT WITH GOD

“CONNECT WITH GOD”

“GOD’S WORD (THE BIBLE) IS REAL AND RELEVANT TO OUR LIVES.  WE BELIEVE JESUS IS PRESENT WITH US AND THAT HE STILL MOVES FOR PEOPLE ON A PERSONAL BASIS EVERY DAY.  HE WANTS EACH OF US TO KNOW THE JOY OF FORGIVENESS THAT COMES WHEN WE HONESTLY AND COMPLETELY TURN TO CHRIST, AND WE DESIRE TO ACTIVELY SEEK HIM OUT TO BIND OUR HEARTS TO HIM AND FURTHER THAT CONNECTION.”

The above is paragraph two, written on the back of our Sunday brochure where I attend church.  Our pastor spoke on the first paragraph last week, “COME AS YOU ARE”, which is in the blog written on January 10, 2016.  It is part of a four week Sunday morning series he is preaching at present.  I thought today’s sermon was worth mentioning today as it was very pertinent in our relationship with God.  The sermon went into a lot of detail that I do not believe I could do justice to, in just printing the highlights.  I recommend to those who have the option to listen to it, google City Church Madison Wisconsin, click on media, and click on today’s (January 17, 2016) message.  Rather than write about the sermon I am going to re-create the notes by composing a poem instead.  I hope I do it justice.

 

CONNECT WITH GOD

By Kathleen Martens

January 17, 2016

 

Show not contempt

For the kindness God shows.

Love the tolerance and patience

He shares where He goes.

 

An unrepentant heart

Will cause wrath to be stored

For the day of judgement

When justice is poured.

 

God desires the lost

To call out His name,

That they seek forgiveness,

His everlasting aim.

 

He is waiting for all

To taste and see

The promises He’s given

For you and for me.

 

He’s the author of joy

The most generous of earth,

He gave His Son’s life

Because of your worth.

 

But His severity is firm

On those who draw away

From His loving protection

Day after day.

 

When we deliberately sin

And for God have no room,

And we know and refuse Him,

We are headed toward doom.

 

But all is made right

When you come and repent

Because God wants to forgive

And live in your tent.

 

For repentance is step one

In order to connect

With the Lord God almighty

You’ll have no defect.

 

GIVE TO GOD all your sin

And His will pursue

So that He can design

What He desires you to do.

 

It is repentance

That makes you whole

Which connects you with God

Uniting your soul.

 

It is you who much choose

In order to receive

And a transaction takes place

Because you believe!

 

Not only do you reap

But deeply move God’s heart

And God experiences joy

That will not depart.

 

Because He created us

We are His delight

And all of heaven rejoices

With all of its might.

 

We are forgiven

When we become His child

And all of His richness

On us is piled.

 

And from that day forth

We are never the same,

For as His child

We possess His name.

 

And the resources of heaven

Become our treasure.

To give to His children,

Is God’s great pleasure.

 

When we accept

God into our heart,

He clothes us in righteousness

That need never depart.

 

And our salvation

To others must share

So that they too will know

That for them God cares.

 

What I have written above is just the slightest scrapings from a message that is so worth hearing.  Pastor Flaherty’s oratory is so much more eloquent than my simple poem of explanation.

I may have mentioned very recently what I am about to tell you.  I came across an absolutely wonderful explanation of the steps to take in order to find God’s will for your life.  It is on a website entitled “EIGHT WAYS TO FINDING GOD’S WILL FOR YOUR LIFE”.  For the next eight days I will add one step a day from the website.  You may find it interesting to study each little segment with close attention to have a better understanding of what God is calling you to do.  God has a perfect plan for each of His children.  It will be exciting to seek out what our Holy Father has planned for you.   He gives us salvation as a gift, and all you must do is believe, ask, and receive.  That transaction is between you and God, and promises eternal life with our creator.

BELOW IS EXCERPT FROM THE WEBSITE:

http://www.biblestudytools.com/blogs/chris-russell/8-keys-to-knowing-god-s-will-for-your-life.html

“Chris Russell has spent the past 25 years actively involved in ministry through pastoring, church planting, writing, Christian radio, and special speaking around the country and in seven different countries. He is passionate about communicating the truths of God’s Word in a creative, highly-relevant way.

Chris has three kids and happens to be married to his best friend, Leigh. He currently pastors a church on the north side of Cincinnati. When he’s not pastoring or blogging (www.SensibleFaith.com), he runs a real estate company in his “spare” time (www.PlumTreeRealty.com). He believes that A.D.D. (Attention Deficit Disorder) is one of his ‘spiritual gifts.’

When I was a young man, I seemed to continually wrestle with knowing God’s will for my life. I wanted more than anything to follow His plan. Interestingly, now that I’m “old” (currently 47 years old), I still wrestle with doing His will in my life. I have come to learn that this is not just something that a young person does early in life; it is a lifelong pursuit in order to stay in the exact center of His plan.

So, then, how can we know God’s plan for our lives? Over the past twenty-five years that I have been in ministry, I have discovered eight vital keys to knowing God’s will. Here they are:

1) Walk with God.

For starters, if you are interested in knowing God’s plan for your life, then you must learn to walk with God. You need to develop a relationship with Him. Christianity is all about relationship rather than just religion.

And so you must cultivate your relationship with God. You must seek to know Him and not just seek to know about Him.

You will cultivate that relationship best by spending time in His Word, taking time for prayer, and taking every opportunity you can to be involved in church and small group Bible study opportunities. When you seek these disciplines in your life, God will begin the first steps to revealing His plan to you.

Proverbs 3:5-6

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

 

I will close with the following comment.

The time you spend cultivating a relationship with God will bless you immeasurably.  It may seem like a lot to do, but God will take joy in whatever steps you take to become closer to Him.

Good night and God bless you.

I just hope you made it through that long poem.