Religion VS. Relationship

       At the start of my Christian walk I probably began like a lot of Christians. It was mostly about what I wanted God to give me. For a while this was fine, this is where most of us start, but I began to want more. As I grew closer to God through reading His Word, I began to see how selfish I was. If I claim to love God, I can’t expect from Him without doing in return. This is like any relationship. No one wants to do all the giving an get nothing in return. We come to God with our list of desires and dreams or problems and we want Him to just fix everything. But eventually the time comes for us to grow and mature.

     On of my favorite verses is Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” This verse tells us to seek God (righteousness) then He will bless us. It isn’t the other way around. Don’t expect Him to give if you aren’t looking to obey. Seek is a strong word. It means “to crave, pursue, to make sacrifices to get, to go after with all of your heart.” Seeking means to go after a relationship with Him as if it were everything. Our relationship with God is really what matters most. But sometimes it takes time for us to understand that. I remember a time in my life that I really had all the things I wanted, but I still wasn’t really happy. I prayed and spoke to God. I felt God say to me, “Demanuel I want you to really know me.” It’s left up to us to seek God. God is so good that He won’t force us to do anything. Since the beginning of time He gave us free will. Depending on who you are that can be good or bad. Free will could mean you could go your whole life living as you want and never develop a relationship with God. Seeking God for ourselves is left up to us.

     Romans 14:17 says, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,”. God isn’t look to bless me solely with material things. Faith in God isn’t just about prosperity. We’re here to be a blessing to others. Faith means that we trust in God’s will for our life, and His will for our life is obedience to His Word. God is more concerned with our hearts. I had a complete list of things that I wanted, but none of those things pertained to my heart. God wants to take care of every aspect of our life, but He’s most concerned with what’s inside of us versus the outside. If we are spiritually strong on the inside, then we will be able to handle the things on the outside. When we focus more on God than ourselves, we not only have a greater sense of fulfillment, but our desires come in alignment with His plan and what’s best for our lives. Psalm 37:4 assures us of this: “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

     To grow closer to God we have to really desire a deep connection with Him. Isaiah 37:31 tells us, “Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.” Have you ever tried to dig up a tree? You will notice that the roots spread wide across the ground and are deep within the soil. Without the roots being like this, a tree could never weather a storm. We must develop deep spiritual roots with God to live the life He intended for us. This means having a relationship with God, finding out what His will is for us in His Word, and becoming rooted and grounded in His love. We must learn to seek Him first, rather than things. So many times we go about it the opposite way and seek “things” first - a bigger this or a better that or more of the other. But if we don’t have a strong foundation in God, none of these things will be beneficial to us. Wee must establish deep roots of faith in God to endure the storms of life that will definitely come. I think my time in the military was one of the best moments of my life as far as my relationship with God goes. I joined immediately after high school, so I didn’t have the pressure that most college students have. I was either alone most of the time or around older people and away from home. This was very uncomfortable to me, but it allowed me to grow a lot because I spent a lot of time praying and talking to God. I had my list of plans for my life, but I am thankful God gave me a willing heart to submit my plans to Him. This didn’t happen immediately. In fact it took a few years. This taught me a lot about patience. We want God to answer us right away but He doesn’t work like that. Another thing to consider is that sometimes answers to prayers aren’t recognized because we are too intent on waiting confirmation of our own desires. We fail to see that the Lord wants us to do something else. Be careful to seek HIS WILL.

     When you spend daily time with God and fellowship with other believers, so many things will be revealed to you and your spiritual relationship will grow. I encourage everyone to seek a relationship with Christ.

     We have looked at what a relationship with Christ is like and now we will look at what it means to be religious. 2 Timothy 3:5 tells us about this type of person: “having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” This is a religious person. This verse tells us that they have a form of godliness but deny its power. A religious person is someone who goes to church every Sunday, may quote scriptures here and there, use Christian cliches, but have a life that doesn’t reflect that of a Christ follower. This may make them look good on the outside, but it’s all meaningless if their heart isn’t conditioned to love and reverence God. Religion is a mere shell. It’s simply a system of faith and worship, but there’s no real connection to God and the person if a system is simply being followed. A religious person is missing the key ingredient needed to know God. They don’t “seek” to know God. If God isn’t in that person’s heart and causing them to love, then the religion is a waste of time. God wants us to seek His face.

    I encourage you to be intentional in pursuing and seeking God for who He is and make your relationship with Him a priority. Dig deeper and believe what you discover. Know God’s Word, study it, learn it, and fill your mind with it. Back to Matthew 6:33, this is a great scripture to live by. I know from experience that when you put God first, He will fill your life with peace, joy, and satisfaction…and then some.

Brain Drain

In the summer of 2013, I took a management course as a part of the curriculum for my construction engineering degree. This was a very interesting course to me, but one thing really stuck out to me about this class.  My teacher introduced the class to the term “brain drain.” Brain drain is the departure of educated or professional people from one country, economic sector, or field for another usually for better pay or living conditions. This is why many of us pursue a college degree. We go to school in hopes of getting a job so that we can leave home and move to a place that offers everything that our hometown didn’t. Don’t get me wrong, this is our right, and I see nothing wrong with that. That was at one point my dream. But this term brain drain really got me to thinking. If all of the educated people leave, what will happen to the future generations in those communities? Who will give them hope of a brighter future? As I mentioned in an earlier blog I changed my major to elementary education after a lot of prayer. This was something that was very dear to my heart. Being that I’m from MS, considered one of the poorest and most uneducated states in the U.S., I wanted to have an impact on turning that around. After all, that is what life is about. We are here to be a blessing to others. So many people choose a place to stay based on how it will benefit them, not how they can be a blessing to others. Christians are to be a source of hope, and there’s no way we can bring hope if we run from every opportunity to make a difference. A verse that was revealed to me after I began to think about this is Isaiah 61:4, “And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.” This is a charge given to all believers. When I think of old ruins, I think of something that was once great. Maybe once upon a time your city was flourishing with excitement and potential, but somehow things came crashing down. but there's no reason that you can’t help return it to it’s former glory. We can choose to keep walking or we can choose to restore. It’s a chance for us to bring healing to others. To raise up former desolations means to give hope to what was once hopeless. Repair the broken communities by using your education and knowledge to influence those in broken cities. We have the power to be the change in the world. This may not touch everyone the same, but I hope that some will be touched to think about this. God’s greatest commandment is in Matthew 22:35-40. We are to love God and love others. Nothing done in love says to receive. It’s all about giving.
I think about the life of King Solomon. King Solomon was the richest man in the world. He had all the money, women, houses, and jewelry that anyone could dream of. His possessions were plenty, but at the end of his life he said that all of these things were “vantiy and vexation of spirit.” It was all emptiness and troubling of his spirit. What we can learn from this is that seeking the be the richest or have the best possessions may be a worthless pursuit. It won’t mean a thing in the end. Money won’t mean much of anything if it isn’t being used towards a good purpose. Instead focus on something else. I’m a firm believer that God will supply all of my NEEDS (Philippians 4:19). So if helping build up old ruins means I have to drive a Toyota instead of a Lexus, my need for transportation is being met. If it means I have to wear the same shoes for two years, still my need for clothing is being met. If I have to eat chicken instead of steak, God still met my need for food. So if I have to sacrifice having the luxuries of life I will do so if it provides me with the opportunity to restore old ruins. Life is but a vapor, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away(James 4:14).” It is over before you know it, and I plan to spend mine making a difference in the world rather than chasing things that really won’t matter in the end. Let us all have the heart to to restore old ruins. When a group of educated people come together we have the chance to make a difference in the lives of others. May God guide you to be that difference.