I love God, I worship HIM – this is what those who claim to know about God say. If so, what is the relationship with God, that they claim to have found? Have you known God personally?
Most people approach God like walking into a store or supermarket with a shopping list. They submit their needs to God. There would be necessary and unnecessary things in it. That is their prayer. God knows us best. Even our thoughts are clear to God. But to know about God who is our good benefactor, we neither have desire nor time. Many people have the image of a God who gets mesmerized and is obsessed with flowers, garlands, bundles of notes and gold coins, and does anything for them.
God, who is the owner of all the wealth of this world, does not look at the things or the hands of the devotee who approaches Him. They are only a measure of what one gives back from what HE gives. God cares only whether the doors of the heart of the devotee, who approaches Him, are open for Him. He will see if a seat has been prepared for him, in a heart prepared for him. He needs a devotee, who comes with gifts, not gifts. God cares more about the giver, than the gift. God wants him whole. Let us surrender ourselves to God. That is the greatest gift to God.
The Holy Bible, in the New Testament, tells about the great gift of love, that God gave to the world. It is said that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. God showed His love by handing Jesus over to the cross and giving that sacrificial blood to mankind. Jesus is the person who taught us how to live in this world and how to love God and man. Jesus continues to this day as a guiding light that has never been extinguished for two thousand years. Jesus is always our role model.
Who was this Jesus who split time in two, divided history into AD and BC? The Bible says that when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son into the world (Galatians 4:4). When Jesus grew up, he showed the world a lifestyle different from what the world had seen. Jesus taught the world about a new system of life based on divine laws. Jesus taught about life in God’s kingdom according to God’s system of governing, how to experience God’s closeness, how to receive God’s blessings, how to live beyond financial bondage, how to get healing from God, how to break the bonds of demonic bondage. Jesus gave hope to the underprivileged and oppressed.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
Luke 4:18, 19
Jesus, who was born as a Jew, revealed to the world how to be saved by putting aside religions. The birth of Jesus reminds us of God, the great star that still gives light to the world today. Prophet, guru, sage, philosopher, financial advisor, miracle worker – although Jesus embodies these personas, Jesus is more than that.
There were ups and downs in the life of Jesus too, like people call good times and bad times. Jesus is one of the most persecuted people in history without committing any crime. But neither time nor this world could weaken the mind of Jesus. That life was always full of hope. God and the time gifted Jesus with resurrection. It is this resurrection that draws many to Jesus. If God is with us, no time, no man, no devil can weaken or destroy us. For that, we must become completely under divine protection. Throughout our lives, God is trying to bring us to Himself. Often we just don’t know it. It is because our desires and God’s desires do not match, that we face difficulties. God deals with each person in a different way. It might not be others’ experience that we have. If you look for the circumstances and experiences of getting closer to God, they will all be different. God has always been the embodiment of the most transcendental personality. Be it a beggar, a millionaire, a child, a woman, a man, God can handle them in their own circumstances.
Jesus chose 12 people as his main disciples. They all lived together, slept together and died together. But they were all different characters. It may seem difficult for a common man to understand that Judas was one of them. Judas carried the money box of Jesus and his companions. It was the eye on that money box that brought Judas down and led him to suicide. Peter was fickle and angry. At first, Peter was also a coward who denied Jesus, even in front of a woman. Thomas looked for reasons behind every incident. John, on the other hand, was loving and a gentle person.
We may all be different personalities. But God the Father can guide us in any situation if we surrender ourselves. So we should not try to imitate others. Let us surrender ourselves to God. Then God himself will take control of us.
None of us are perfect. We are the owners of imperfect personality. God is fully convinced about this better than us. God will work in our weakness. If we rely on God, we will see that He stands as a crutch in our weakness. Loyalty and love are important to approach God. Who are we? What do we love? So why don’t we love God the most who paved the way for our beloved relationships and is always with us in all things?
Faithfulness is also needed with love. Faithfulness is necessary for a warm husband-wife relationship. Otherwise the marriage will be broken. God wants more faithfulness from us. If faithfulness is necessary for family safety, it is also necessary for a relationship with God. Do not doubt God. If we are faithful, we can learn how faithful God will be with us. The Holy Bible is also a repository of dos and don’ts. Jesus said that His words are life. “Do not make my Father’s house a place of sale” (John 2: 16). Jesus is the one who beat the merchants with a whip and drove them out of the temple. Even after two thousand years, the same thing is repeated today. When the festivals arrive, the place is measured, distributed to the merchants and money is collected from them. Not only do we rent the place as markets, but also use the money we get from it for worldly pleasures. Does God support us for this heinous deeds? This might be a controversial issue. If so, this could be left for personal evaluation. However, we must be faithful in the presence of God, not only in spiritual matters, but also in financial matters. We should make our body and mind a holy shrine.
A loving wife must be submissive to a good husband. Only then will the relationship be solid. A wife who is submissive to her husband is the strong light of the family, no matter how intellectually it is thought about. God wants every person to be completely surrendered to Him and in obedience to Him. Only then will God be able to guide that person and make him act according to God’s will. A wife who is subject to her husband has obligations; There are responsibilities. They are married. But can any husband tolerate it if she says that I can live as I wish? Can any marriage last and flourish if both husband and wife say that each will continue to live only as per their wish? Similarly, only a person who fully surrenders to God can get blessings from God.
Prayer and solitary meditation are easy ways to draw closer to God. We talk to God through prayer. God speaks to us what He has to say, in times of solitary meditation. It doesn’t matter if we are the only ones talking to God. God has more to tell us than we can say. Give God a chance for that.
As our personal relationship with God improves, so does the joy within our hearts. Our mind will be content with the things of life. Excessive desires will cease. Our life circumstances will keep changing. One by one, problems will seem to be moving away from us. Moreover, we will become owners of a fearless life. We will be able walk in any situation, without fearing even death. If God is with us, whom shall we fear?
But whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.
Proverbs 1 : 33