We went to another
village where Raja had planted a church. The people came in slowly. We sang,
they sang, and we spoke.
God placed something
on my heart for me to share. Before I did, I wanted to explain something. I
told them that before each village we pray and ask God what he wants them to
hear, and then we share. And this is what the Lord wanted me to say:
John 10:27 says,
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
What does a relationship
look like?
I accepted Christ
when I was young.
I remember Sunday
school teachers, my parents, friends, youth pastors, and pastors telling me
that I need to have a relationship with God, and I remember saying it to people
too.
One thing I never
got though was how to actually have a relationship with God. I didn’t
understand the relationship part, at least as much as I do now.
I thought I was the
only one in the relationship who could talk. I would say what I wanted, ask for
what I wanted, and do what I wanted. I read His word because I had to and went
to church because I wanted to.
It wasn’t until
recently that I learned the ‘how to’ have a relationship with Jesus.
It isn’t something
complicated or impossible. I was just ignorant, I had never known, and this was
my fault.
When you have a
relationship with someone, you talk to each other.
My best friends and
I talk on a daily basis. We have conversations, we talk about life, we share
secrets, we ask questions, we hold one another accountable, we call each other
out, and we love each other. We know our love languages and we serve one another.
This is exactly how
to have a relationship with Jesus. In John, Jesus says that we listen to him
and follow. We listen to him just like we listen to our friends. We talk to him
just like we talk to our friends.
When I said I
recently learned this, I mean recently. It was this past January when I learned
what it meant to have conversations and hear from the Lord.
In order to have a
conversation, you have to talk and listen. I’d ask him simple questions like,
“what do you think about me?” or “what should I do today?”
and now that I am on the Race, “who do you want me to talk to today? how
can I die to myself? why am I here?”
I do believe I have
had a relationship with him since I was young when I asked him into my heart,
but I do know it was always one sided.
And to be honest, a
lot of times it still is. Sometimes God has to interrupt my whole life or my
whole day so I can hear him. After all, that’s how I got on the race.
