Religion or Relationship

Just something to think about this morning...

When asked about your religious beliefs by someone or through a forum such as FB...do you state that you are "Christian" as your reply? If so, why? Is it because your Parents & Grandparents replied as Christians...mostly because it's a generational response?

Attend a Church? If yes, why? Is it because your Parents and Grandparents always did, so you just keep in step with family tradition so as not to disappoint? Or do you just go once a year at Easter and maybe at Homecoming dinners?

Do you read The Bible? Do you read The Bible as "The next Best Seller" or so you can point out someone else's flaws according to the Christian belief?

Being a Christian is more than just stating it as a Religious Belief. Being a Christian is about having a Relationship with Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How do you have a Relationship with Jesus Christ? After all, you can't "see" Him...well, if you were blind, how would you have a relationship with the people that you care about? Spend time with them by going out to visit with them at their home or a restaurant or having them come to your home? Listen to them? Talk to them? If your answer is Yes to all of those questions, then having a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ is just that easy.

You can have a RELATIONSHIP, not just a Religion, with Jesus Christ. How? By Going to Church and Listening to His Word, preached by a Pastor, which was Spoken by God and written for us all to read through The Bible. You can have a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ by talking to Him through Prayer. Prayer is Communication. Prayer to God, communication, is not something to be filled with words such as thee and thou. You can actually talk to Him as you would any close friendship/relationship you would have with Someone...like your best friend or your mother. You can have the Realionship not just at Church, but also in your own home, and when you go out.

Carry Jesus Christ with you by living a life as He lived. You do this by Loving people, caring about their soul, caring about where they spend eternity after they physically die here on earth, forgiving people for things you felt wronged by them for. Believing that God sent His son to willingly die as a living sacrifice on the cross to take away our sins and that He did resurrect on the third day and He IS sitting on the Throne on the right side of God waiting until it is time to come back again and take His people, the ones that he has a RELATIONSHIP with, to spend eternity in Heaven with Him.

Think about why your response is that you are a Christian. If you knew without a shadow of a doubt that you were going to die within 24 hours...how would that change the way you would live? Would that change your reasoning for why you go to Church and read The Bible? How would you live your life in front of your children?

You can't live anyway you want to live believing that you will go to Heaven just because you sit in a Church, read the Bible, pray only when something is wrong and are making deals with God when you need/want something once or twice a year.

Being a Christian is about RELATIONSHIP...not Religion.

Let Go Of "The Crutches" In Your Life!

When you think of the word Crutch....what do you think of?

Most people think of a crutch  as a long stick with a padded piece at the top that fits under the armpit too provide support to someone that is unable to walk on their own. It  is often used when one breaks a leg or a foot for a few weeks until the bone heals and they no longer need the support. I, myself, had to use a crutch for about 8 weeks due to breaking my leg a few years back...but that's a whole other story, and not the topic of the day.

The fact is there are many things people use  as a "crutch" to help support  them as they walk through life...food, smoking, drugs, even God. Sometimes, we go to food or smoking as a means of "emotional support" from everyday stress. Some people start using drugs as a way to feel relaxed or to give them energy to get through a hard time. And then there is God. We often treat God as a crutch. We pray, plead, and try to make deals with God to make everything right when everything is going wrong.  We go to Church and be "Christian like" when faced with struggles. Then once those struggles have subsided....we stop going to Church, we stop being involved in Church activities, we stop praying. And then the next "crisis" in life hits and once again we beckon to God to hear us. 

Let me be Real with you... Personally, my crutch of choice in life have been alcohol and the attention of men. A little too personal? It's ok...it's my Life Lesson! Maybe there is something from my life that will help you. Maybe you will see that you are not alone in this world. Maybe you will see that others have "been there, done that". Maybe you will see that there IS a better life waiting for you if only you are willing to accept it! It's not just a crutch to get you through when you need it! It's a way of life. It's a Love like you have always wanted.
I started drinking when I was 24 after my first divorce from a marriage that shouldn't have been. I guite school, got married at the age of 17, and had a baby just a couple weeks after I turned 18. I sought after what I could to make me forget the unhappiness I was feeling. The drinking made me forget the bad stuff and the men made me happy...or so I thought. I was raised in Church as a child and would go to Church occasionally during my married life with friends, but I never really "walked the walk & talked the talk" as they say as an adult. After the divorce, I turned away from Church. I stopped talking too and hanging out with my "Churchy" friends. In order to make my new lifestyle ok within myself... I would only drink and have "relationships" with men on weekends when my son wasn't home. I didn't want my son to  know about or be affected by my choices.

One day, I meet a man... not just any man, but a Preacher man. He happened to be a customer where I worked in a fast food restaurant. He had just become a Pastor at a Church that was just down the road from where I worked. He would come in, get his coffee, and talk to me for a few minutes everyday. I soon became comfortable enough with him to let him know my life story....and guess what!?! He didn't judge me! He didn't tell me how much of a screw up I was! Quite the opposite. He never "pushed" me into going to Church...but he would always plant little seeds of Hope, Strength, and Support in my mind.   He told me there was something better for me then what I was using as a "crutch" to get through my life. He told me that their was a God loved me before my marriage, after my divorce, and after my mistakes, He said that God would always love me. It didn't matter what I had done in the past. He told me that I could start over. He said I could ask for forgiveness. He said that I could leave the old life behind. He said that I no longer needed "Crutches" to get me though life. Eventually, he shared two Bible verses with me that made me look at life with a whole new perspective.

Isaiah 54:4 TLB~ 4 Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. The shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood will be remembered no more. 

John 3:16 TLB ~ 16 For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

As a challenge from the Preacher man...I said these verses daily for a few weeks. Then one day, I realized that I wanted more. I decided I would go to a Christian Book Store and not only purchase a Bible...But a study Bible. I wanted to know more about this God that could make me happy. So happy that a few drinks or a date with a man, (AKA..my "crutches") was no longer the support to get me through from one weekend to the next. Soon, I started going to Church every Sunday and listening to the Preacher man.  I learned that God was someone that I could  depend on for support. 

But then...suddenly, I started thinking that life was going great. I had a good job that I liked. I had gone to the local college and obtained my GED. I bought a house. Then another man came into my life...but not just a man to make me temporarily happy like before...but someone that I feel in love with. Someone that I allowed to move in with me. Someone that I had a real relationship with. Yes, I had just used God as my crutch, life was going well...I no longer needed God. I stopped being involved in Church activities and soon stopped going to Church altogether.

After a few years of living with my boyfriend, occasionally, someone would say little things that would start planting those little seeds of Salvation through Jesus Christ and living right according to His Word in my mind. I started to not feel right about living with my then boyfriend so we talked about our relationship. We decided it was best to get married. But I didn't fully surrender myself and our life together to God. After about 10 years of up's & down's in our marriage...we eventually divorced. 

I then found myself once again alone. However, because of the previous seeds planted in  my mind of Hope, Strength, and Support in God's Loving arms and the constant reminder of God's Words in my mind ...the former crutch's were no longer a desire of my heart. I then realized that I would only find what I needed in the Love that only Jesus Christ could provide. From that point to this very day, I no longer live with crutch's to get me through life.  I have Trust, Hope, Faith, and a Belief that God loves me and that I am saved through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Life is not perfect in the human sense...but my life with Jesus Christ fills my heart with peace. I no longer need the "crutches" in life. All I have is my Faith...I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am so loved by God that he gave His one and only Son to save me...

My Life Lesson: Life is a precious gift and God is with us every step of the way with His Loving support. He never leaves us. He never forsakes us. All you have to do is give Him the opportunity to show himself to you. God will use other's to plant the little seeds of His Word in us. God's Love is Everlasting!

My current Life Verse: 

Ephesians 6:13~ TLB

13 So use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over, you will still be standing up.

I am no longer playing satans games...I have surrendered my life to Christ and in Him will I stand...no crutches necessary!!!