Relating to Jesus

 

We are coming to the end of another challenging year and I hear from a lot people that they are tired. I understand and identity with feeling tired. There has been one huge truth that has keep me hopeful as I have gone through the year.

 

The truth is that it is about relationship with the Father through surrendering my life to Jesus as my Savior and Lord.

 

In John 17:3 Jesus says that eternal life is knowing the one and only God and the One He sent, Jesus Christ. Eternal life is not a commodity to be earned or a reward to be deserved. Eternal life is a relationship with a person, God.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing God.

 

Ephesians 1:13

In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believing in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is being filled the Holy Spirit and having His presence as the security of our salvation.  

 

Eternal life is knowing God the Father and Jesus the Son of God and being sealed in that relationship by God the Holy Spirit.

 

The Bible makes it clear that it is relationship, not religion or rules or rituals.

 

Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33 that we are to seek first (above everything else, with no competitors or rivals) the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and God will provide what we need.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is seeking God’s kingdom and experiencing the provision of God.

 

We focus on a relationship with God, being sealed with the Holy Spirit and seeking God’s kingdom.

 

What does it mean to have a relationship with Jesus and seek His kingdom?

 

Relationship with Jesus involves:

Experiencing God’s Presence

Obeying God’s Word and Will

Serving God

Making Jesus the Sole Ruling Authority of Our Lives

 

A relationship cannot be healthy if it is based in religion or rules or rituals.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing God’s presence and obeying God and serving God and having Jesus as Lord.

 

Seeking God’s kingdom is defined in two verses.

 

Romans 14:17

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

 

God’s kingdom is not what you eat or drink or how you eat or drink. It is not a matter of religion or rules or rituals.

 

God’s kingdom is about experiencing God’s righteousness.

God’s kingdom is about experiencing God’s peace.

God’s kingdom is about experiencing God’s joy.

 

These are all experienced through the filling of the Holy Spirit. They are not experienced through religion or rules or rituals.

 

1 Corinthians 4:20

For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.

 

God’s kingdom is not about knowing the right words. It is not about knowing the language of the church. God’s kingdom is about experiencing the transforming power of God in our lives.

 

I grew up in the church. I knew what I was suppose to say, when to say it, and how to say it, but I didn’t believe it.

 

God’s kingdom is about being conformed by God’s power through the work of the Holy Spirit into the image of Christ.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is being made more like Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit.

 

In just a few days we will start a new year. I pray that you will have a 2022 experiencing a powerful relationship with the risen living Lord Jesus.

 

Experiencing Jesus and Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                 Joe