To Know God....series.... Relationship..Top Priority

 

 

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

 

"If you are hoping for salvation but see no need for knowing God and do not consider time with God important, then you still believe that your salvation is based upon your behavior. regardless of what a person says about his beliefs, if he is convinced that salvation and Christianity are based upon a relationship with Christ, then that relationship has to become top priority. Anyone who does not seek for salvation through fellowship with God and through knowing Him on a one-to-one basis is a legalist, trying to gain heaven by his own works."

 

"Old Joe was a slave down near the mouth of the Mississippi. One day he was on the block at the slave market, the same place where Abraham Lincoln later stood and watched the tears flow and the hearts break and said, "If I ever get a chance to hit that thing, I'll hit is hard!" Joe stood there, sick and tired of separation and tears and partings. He had determined that he would never work again. But he was on he auction block. The bidders began to bid, and Joe began to mutter, under his breath at first and then louder and louder, "I won't work. I won't work." He was heard, and one by one the bidding dropped off, except for one man who traded good money for this slave who wouldn't work.

 

The new master took Joe to his carriage and drove out into the country to the plantation. Finally he went down a little road that passed a lake. Beside the lake was a beautiful cabin with curtains at the windows and flowers by the cobblestone steps. Joe had never seen anything like it.

"This is where I'm going to live?" Joe asked.

"Yes."

"But I won't work."

Joe, you don't have to work. I bought you to set you free."

(The best part of the story is still to come.)

Joe fell at the feet of his benefactor and said, "Master, I'll serve you forever."

 

You see a group of sinners. They have been slaves to sin and pain and death. They say, "We won't work- we can't!" Have you ever tried it Have you ever tried to produce the works of righteousness? It's impossible. You can't do it.

 

But Jesus says, "You don't have to work. I've bought you, with my own blood. to set you free, and I want to live My life in your."

 

I understand He has some mansions by a lake that looks like a sea made out of glass. There are cobblestones and curtains, and flowers that will never fade. He offers us all this because He loves us. That's the way He is. And when we understand this trade and it really gets through to our heat, we will gladly serve Him forever." excerpts from pgs. 26,27,28 

 

"Personal fellowship with God is God's goal for each one of us."