If Linda wants a Personal Relationship with God . . . . . . let her think again!

IT WAS LINDA'S TURN to pick a card.   "Movies for 10 points: Who played the father   of a talking baby?"    Alice's face contorted, struggling for an answer.    "Oh, c'mon, Alice, this is easy!   You want a hint?"    "No, it wouldn't be fair."    "He was a student of Mr. Kotter's."    Alice shook her head.   "Forget it.   I'll never guess it--"    "He was a Sweathog!   The good looking one." Linda frowned.   "I can't believe you."    "It's no use!   I give up."    "It's John Travolta!   Don't you remember?"   Linda chuckled.    "I don't know this stuff as well as you," Alice said.    Linda glanced up at the wall; her clock said 8:36.   They had been playing for almost an hour. "A few more rounds," she said. "Read the next one.   Guess who's been giving me hard time?"    "Who?"    "Sheri Phillips."    "Why?"   Alice grabbed a card.    "It's that church of her's.   They like to harp on holiness; bunch of Pharisees!"    Alice read the card.   "Movies again for 10 points: Who played Jim Lovell in Apollo 13--"    "TOM HANKS!"    "How do you know this stuff?"   Alice put her card down.   "What did she say?"    "She didn't really say it.   But she kept hinting at it."   It was Linda's turn.   She studied the next card.   It made her laugh.    "What?" Alice said, smiling at Linda's laugh.    "I can't believe it; what a coincidence!"   Linda looked at Alice with a grin.   "Television for 15 points: Name one of the stars of Bosom Buddies."    "I don't remember that show.   What else did Sheri say?"    "I told you, it's her holier-than-thou attitude. C'mon guess, this one's easy.   We just talked about him."    "John Travolta?"

"No, silly.   Tom Hanks!"    "Look, maybe I shouldn't play anymore."   Alice crossed her arms.   "I'm lousy at this."    "Just put your mind to it.   Eventually, you'll know as much as I do.   It's your turn."    Alice, lost in thought, slowly reached for the next card.   "Are you mad at her?"    "Of course not!   I don't hold grudges; that's so unspiritual.   By the way, have you seen his latest movie?"    "Whose?"    "Tom Hanks.   It's written by Stephen King."    "I don't like horror movies."    "Well, I normally don't follow Stephen King,                 either; most of his stuff is satanic.                 But this one's about an Empath."                    "A what?"   Alice returned the                 card to its pile.   "I don't wanna play                 anymore."                    "How about a video game?   My                 husband's got Quake Three.   You                 wouldn't believe what Sheri said                 about it.   Rob was insulted.   She's                 never played Quake in her life;                 what does she know?"    Alice barely listened.   She blindly stared at the table.    "So . . . where do you want to eat after services?" Linda said, trying to regain eye contact.   "There's this Sunday brunch buffet Rob wants to try."    "I'm not going."    "You're not going to church?"    "Sheri's picking me up."    Linda's eyes widened.   "NO WAY!   You're going to her church?   WHY?!"    Alice shrugged.   "Why not?   Maybe there's something to--"    "Alice, HOW COULD YOU?   That church is fanatical; they're too extreme.   They're a bunch of legalistic Pharisees who go overboard on holiness!   God hates Pharisees!   You want to walk close to God, don't you?"    Alice took a hard look at the trivia game spread our before her.   "Yeah, I guess I do."

"Just put your mind to it. Eventually, you'll know as much as I do."

MANY professing Christians recognize       the importance of having a personal       relationship with God.   Many make their profession of faith pursuing such a relationship.   However, "getting saved" is not the only prerequisite to walking with God. Can two walk together? God, through the prophet Amos, asked Israel: "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3)   Can a person walk with God unless God and that person are in agreement?   Can they have a close, personal relationship if they don't share a common ground? The answer is no.    The Bible says: "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, BE YE HOLY; FOR I AM HOLY" (1 Peter 1:15- 16).   God wants His children to be holy because HE is holy.   Holiness is to be the common ground between God and those who are saved. After salvation, personal holiness is a necessary prerequisite for having a personal relationship with God.   Read it again: "He which hath called you IS HOLY, SO BE YE HOLY IN ALL MANNER of conversation [LIFESTYLE]."   God is holy in what He does, thinks, and says.   You could say He has "a holy lifestyle."   Anyone wanting to relate to Him on a personal basis, must also have a holy lifestyle.   Remember: "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"   God hates sin--He separates Himself from it.   That's what it means to be holy.   And if we don't practice separation from sin, we will offend and

"distance" the One we are trying to relate to: "For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?" 2 Cor. 6:14 In all manner . . .                           To be holy means to be                           separated and sanctified.   And                           among the chief things God                           wants us to separate from                           are the world's lifestyles,                           philosophies, and principles.                              Being holy "In all manner                           of conversation" means                           separating ourselves from                           the world in every area of                           our lifestyle, including the                           one area many often                           overlook--OUR THOUGHTS!                           Notice what God commands                           of His children: "Be not                           conformed to this world: but                           be ye transformed BY THE                           RENEWING OF YOUR MIND."                           Rom. 12:2                              The renewing of one's mind                           is very important.   That's why                           God says: "Be not conformed                           to this world."   In other words, don't imitate it, don't follow it, don't behave like it, and especially don't think like it, nor spend most of your time THINKING ABOUT IT!   "But be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." Holiness begins in the mind . . . Jesus Christ taught that holiness begins with the mind.   Notice what He said: "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Mat. 5:27-28).   Lustful thoughts are just as sinful as the acts they induce.   The Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of God, wrote: "... So then WITH THE MIND I MYSELF SERVE THE

Why does God single out the world? God's Word says: "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? WHOSOEVER THEREFORE WILL BE A FRIEND OF THE WORLD IS THE ENEMY OF GOD."   James 4:4    If you want to really have a relationship with God, the world can't tag along.   This rebellious world hates God.   Jesus Christ said: "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because YE ARE NOT OF THE WORLD, but I have chosen you out of the world, THEREFORE THE WORLD HATETH YOU."   John 15:18-19

LAW of God..." (Rom. 7:25).   God commands us to cast down "every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity EVERY THOUGHT to the obedience of Christ..." (2 Cor. 10:5-6).   As truly saved, born-again, new creatures in Christ, we are to "PUT OFF concerning THE FORMER CONVERSATION [LIFESTYLE] the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And BE RENEWED IN THE SPIRIT OF YOUR MIND."   Eph. 4:22-23    There's no doubt that God not only commands us to act holy, but also to think holy.   God sees it all; our thoughts are open to Him and we can't walk with God in agreement if our actions AND OUR THOUGHTS are constantly offending Him. Christians should not be filling their minds with thoughts pertaining to this God-hating, sin-filled world: "SO BE YE HOLY IN ALL MANNER of conversation." "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, THINK ON THESE THINGS."   Phil. 4:8 Examine yourselves . . . No one is saying a saved person could never have an unholy thought.   However, we definitely should not be feeding them into our minds by exposing ourselves to worldly things that will induce them.   For example, ask yourself: n Do I go to the movies and allow nudity, swearing, violence, or any other anti-God sentiment to be fed directly into my mind?   The Psalmist said: "I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me" (Psa. 101:3). "Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD" (Psa.

25:15).   What the eyes take in, often becomes food for thought. n Do I play ungodly video games?   Can I honestly say that during the game my mind is subjected to "whatsoever things are PURE, whatsoever things are LOVELY, whatsoever things are of GOOD REPORT; ..."   Do these games praise God?   Remember God says: "if there be any virtue, and IF THERE BE ANY PRAISE, THINK ON THESE THINGS."   Phil. 4:8 n Do I constantly try to be holy when it comes to my thoughts--"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God."?   Or do I purposely ponder upon worldly things: sports, Hollywood, the latest music, or idle gossip, producing what God would consider unholy thoughts? My friend, many professing Christians are fooling themselves into thinking they have a personal relationship with God while, in reality, they constantly "Grieve the Holy Spirit" (Eph. 4:30) with their stream of worldly thoughts.   Perhaps some of them have never even been converted. They never truly got saved.   The Bible says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, HE IS A NEW CREATURE: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."   2 Cor. 5:17 How about you? Are you truly saved?   Perhaps you profess to be saved and claim to have a personal relationship with God.   Do you practice any semblance of holiness?   Does your "holiness" begin with the mind?   The topics you tend to talk about the most reflect what goes on in your mind, and the Bible says: "They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.   We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error."   1 John 4:5-6

IF you were to die today, are you 100% SURE you would go to Heaven?   The Bible says YOU CAN BE SURE (1 John 5:13). BUT FIRST, you must realize that what keeps you from going to Heaven are your sins, because: "...your iniquities [sins] have separated between you and your God," Isaiah 59:2. In fact, in God's eyes YOU ARE A SINNER: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Romans 3:23. SECONDLY, you must realize that there is NOTHING you can do to save yourself and earn Heaven: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."   (Eph. 2:8-9)   Baptism, good deeds, church membership, self-righteousness are all examples of good works that cannot save you, because, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he [Christ] saved us," Titus 3:5. THE ONLY WAY you can get saved is through Jesus Christ.   He said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."   (John 14:6)   THAT'S WHY: "...while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."   Romans 5:8-9 THEREFORE: You must REPENT (change your mind); admit that you are a Hell deserving sinner and can't save yourself.   And call upon Christ, and Him alone, to save you.   "if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus [REPENT], and shalt believe in thine heart [TRUST] that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."   Romans 10:9 SEND THE LIGHT P.O. Box 815   Fargo, ND 58107

[ Christian Helps Ministry (USA) ] [ Christian Home Bible Course ]