Personal Relationship With The Lord

Instead of sharing my thoughts on a set of verses and pointing at how having a personal relationship with Christ is awesome, I encourage everyone to post the verses that have touched them and mention that relationship.

Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.
(Exodus 33:11 ESV)

Wow! How amazing is this, mainly the part highlighted in blue. It is mind blowing to me how Moses had this. I am aware that Duteronomy 34:10 that Moses was the only one that had this, but is it not the Holy Spirit that encircles us and gets us closer to Christ once we have accepted Christ into our hearts? We might not get to see God face to face until the second coming, but we still most definitely have that personal relationship.

I challenge everyone here to open your bibles and look for these verses, post them here, if you feel you need to get close to the Lord again, this is the time to do it. Nothing stops us from this except our own flesh. God bless everyone here, and I hope to hear everyones thoughts and verses on the matter.
 
So, a little after I posted my original message, I opened my bible and flipped through it, I was going to read a little from 2Corinthians but stopped at Psalm 34. Add this to having a personal relationship with God. :)

(Psalm 34 ESV)
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
What man is there who desires life
and loves many days, that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous
and his ears toward their cry.
The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
He keeps all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
Affliction will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
The LORD redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
 
I guess I can't claim to be in that much of a personal relationship yet. Here's why.

1 John 3:6,
1 John 4:16-18,
Gal 5:16.

Or, in order,
I still sin so I don't know Him and haven't met Him.... YET.

I certainly don't love as God loves yet, so He's not in me and I'm not in Him.

And I still give into temptations, so I don't walk in the Spirit yet, because,

I still have the flesh nature, thus the Spirit doesn't indwell me. < Rom 8:9A.

I can't dismiss those verses as written to make claims of my faith that may fool my friends but have to face God's scrutiny.
 
Back to the OP's regularly scheduled post ... :D ... A verse that has spoke to me all my life is Psalm 8:4
I will never get over the fact that it is ALL about Him and His accomplishments! And I am so grateful!!!!
 
It would seem that my topic about having a personal relationship with Christ seems to have been confusion.

John 15:14-16 ~

14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

So here is another few verses. Now what I am asking is that people post their favorite verses on having a relationship with the Lord. Christ is awesome and loves us so much he sacrificed himself for us. The verse above again shows the power of our relationship we have with our God.

Also this is a board to love one another, love your neighbor!
 
1 Peter 1:7
We are all being refined until that glorious day He calls us home. Refining is not a pleasant process sometimes, but it is a necessary one.
 
In the Orthodox church they have the notion of Theosis, that becoming a Christian is a process that takes both time and effort. I've noticed that among many Protestants they believe that once they've accepted Christ that they are automatically given spiritual gifts and special insights. From what I've seen very few have any special gifts, regardless of claims to the contrary.
 
Mark 12:30-31
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these.”
Pursuit of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the only way for us Gentiles to love God completely. The pursuit of this relationship naturally produces the Christ-like qualities that the Father wants to see in us. His Holy Spirit draws us closer to Himself and refines our behavior thus It is sort of a process. At least that's what I've experienced. :)
 
Mark 12:30-31
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these.”
Pursuit of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the only way for us Gentiles to love God completely. The pursuit of this relationship naturally produces the Christ-like qualities that the Father wants to see in us. His Holy Spirit draws us closer to Himself and refines our behavior thus It is sort of a process. At least that's what I've experienced. :)


And, we are exactly on the same page to this point..... I even like how you explained it, and the words.....:)
 
Major, He is not in confrontation with Christians...I am a Christian and in complete agreement with what he said to you. This is not confrontation, it is called exhortation. He is doing what all Christians should be doing. The question he needs to ask himself is whether or not he is telling you out of love for the brotherhood or to cause strife. Either way he is right when it comes to sin, the flesh and temptation. Temptation IS the trial of our faith.

1Jn 3:6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
1Jn 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
1Jn 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1Jn 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.


Perhaps you need to reevaluate your position on what it means to be born again. I do say this with the love of God in my heart by the Holy Spirit He has given to me. That is in line with this discussion because that is how we have our relationship and our being with Him.


He saved me from a life of sin and a life without Him. When I was still evil, he gave me his Gift of the Holy Spirit. I turned to Him and asked Him and He is faithful as promised!


And now I can do all things through Christ:

Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Because it is the power of God that saved me:

Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

2Co 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.


1Co 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

I am kept by this power:

1Pe 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Grace is the Holy Spirit, not some kind of hall pass for sinners. You will overcome sin when He takes over your life. Anyone who tells you different is denying the power of God:

Mar 3:29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:

Reconsider your stance on sin my friend....and what it means to be born again.

The main thing that ended up happening was everyone arguing, remember that we are here on the Forum (and part of the forum rules) is to be kind to each other. We are here to build each other up, not tear each other down. Thank you for the verses you provided.
 
Mark 12:30-31
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these.”
Pursuit of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the only way for us Gentiles to love God completely. The pursuit of this relationship naturally produces the Christ-like qualities that the Father wants to see in us. His Holy Spirit draws us closer to Himself and refines our behavior thus It is sort of a process. At least that's what I've experienced. :)

Great pair of verses Covered! I also agree with your comments following these verses. Put your entire being into God, I see this is as praying, reading, studying, praise and worship. Becoming wise in the word and as our relationship matures with him I agree that we become more Christ like.
 
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. heb 11.6

God is a rewarder. It is good for us to follow God. It is always in our best interest to live the Christian life.
 
Amen Josh! Great verse!

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
(Romans 12:11 ESV)

To me this means do not be lazy in your passion for the LORD! :)
 
The main thing that ended up happening was everyone arguing, remember that we are here on the Forum (and part of the forum rules) is to be kind to each other. We are here to build each other up, not tear each other down. Thank you for the verses you provided.

AMEN!
 
But to answer your question, sin is always a possibility as long as we are alive.

The sense of what John is saying in these passages is that the one who is reborn in baptism lives a new life, and leaves his formerly sinful ways behind. But we continue to struggle with sin, as John acknowledges in 1 John 1: 8-10:

"If we say, 'We are without sin,' we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we acknowledge our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing. If we say, "We have not sinned," we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us."

St. Paul talks about the struggle with sin and temptation in Chapter 7 of the Letter to the Romans, which includes the famous saying, "For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want" (verse 19). Paul makes it clear that he depends on God to save him from his sins.

Jesus didn't remove sin and temptation from the world, but He showed us that they can be resisted and overcome, and He gives us the means to do so through the Church.

Agreed! He sent the Comforter, The Holy Spirit of God, when He ascended into Heaven. That's how much the Father knew we would be tempted as we "work out our salvation with fear and trembling" Phil 2:12 .

Question:
IF Christians don't sin after accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, why did Jesus teach the disciples this prayer: Matt 6:9-13 ?
 
Agreed! He sent the Comforter, The Holy Spirit of God, when He ascended into Heaven. That's how much the Father knew we would be tempted as we "work out our salvation with fear and trembling" Phil 2:12 .

Question:
IF Christians don't sin after accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, why did Jesus teach the disciples this prayer: Matt 6:9-13 ?
The short answer is because they asked Him to, but that is not what you meant I know, sorry:( .
If, or rather when I do wrong, it is sin. So if I confess my sin He is faithful and just to forgive my sin. 1 John 1:9.
If I continue in a particular sin, say..... stealing from people, then until I repent, that sin remains even if I confess it each time. Or at least that is my understanding. Reading the whole of 1 John 1, he is saying much the same thing only with a tad more eloquence. V6 is on going sin, V7 is as things should be, The word 'cleanses' has an ongoing quality.
This then covers the fact that we do sin, but we are not continuing in a sin.
hope this helps rather than adds to my confusion.:D
 
I agree with you, Calvin, and I do appreciate your explanation. I didn't find it confusing at all. I suppose the intent of my post - which we both know is sometimes hard to accurately convey ;) - was to refute the teaching that some have peddled that once a person is "saved" there is no more sin to be forgiven. I believe there is biblical evidence to the contrary, hence the prayer taught by Jesus, affectionately known as "The Lord's Prayer."

I had wrestled with this for a bit until the Spirit brought that verse to my mind. Settles it for me, but I know some will believe what they want to believe, hear what they want to hear, and read what they want to read (into a wrong interpretation).

I praise God for this site as it has taught me a thing or two about myself, some good and some bad... :blush: lol!
But onward I press, with His grace, for the prize that was set before me!
 
Back
Top