How do you submit yourself to God fully? How do you have a personal relationship with Christ? If you are asking this questions, God is already talking to you!
Roman 12:1 states this,
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
The truth is this, it is a choice you make, it doesn’t just happen. There are thousands of Christians out there that will never have an intimate relationship with God. It must be a desire that is strong in your heart because there are many things working against you in this world.
How can you have that deep desire for Him?
In your own strength you cannot, it is the work of the Holy Spirit. He will enable us, this is His purpose. We must understand the amazing gift we have in the Holy Spirit. Consider this, Peter was the one who denied Jesus three times the night before His crucifixion and hid behind locked doors afterwards. The indwelling Holy Spirit made a huge difference in his life, giving him courage and turning this uneducated fisherman into an effective preacher. Just look at the confidence and faith Peter possessed in the beginning of Acts during Pentecost. Is this possibly the same Peter that denied Christ? You bet! That is the difference between walking alone and walking in the Holy Spirit. We must understand what kind of confidence and trust the Spirit gives us in our relationship with our Father.
Also the Word of God is so very important because it is our guide as to what a deep relationship with God REALLY means and how to work toward it. He will start to clear things from your life that don’t belong there. Your interests will start changing. Daily as we read the scriptures, we will begin to evaluate our lives. Does this fit or that? Is it of God? Does it conflict with the Word of God? Is this pulling me closer to God or away? It is a process that we must go through, it doesn’t happen all at once. God needs to groom us so that we can be living according to His will and so that we will understand His calling. Cleansing will be the first thing that happens in our life and then our motives and interests will start to change. And it won’t be long before we will see that God has really been working in our life, perfecting us for His work. It can feel long, frustrating at times, sometimes you may even feel you are not progressing as quickly as you would like, and you will definitely stumble at times but you must stay committed to the process. It is also good to seek another individual to keep you encouraged, accountable, and focused on your relationship with God.
I'll leave you with an encouraging promise from God,
Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 29:12-14a
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