Is it Religion or Relationship

When you think of Jesus do you think of some religious requirements, rules, regulations, or, do you overflow with a love greater than anything on this earth? Jesus is huge on love. Just take a look at 1 Corinthians 13. A whole chapter is dedicated to the love that Christ has for us and the love that we should feel towards Christ, not out of dedication but out of admiration. The God of the Universe cared enough about me that he sent his only son to live a perfect sin-free life adn then die as the ultimate sacrafice so I could go to heaven and be righteous in the eyes of God.

One of the definitions that I love the most for righteousness is, "To stand before God as if you had never sinned." Most people don't grasp that because we are righteous through Jesus we can come to the Father with a boldness that has the power to accomplish great feats.

So, why do we love Jesus only when it's convenient or when the guild of the Holy Spirit is too strong to bear? Why would we ever want to walk away from this precious love. God's love for US is evidnet through the Word. Take for example:

• Isaiah 61:3 "... Bestow on them crowns of beauty."
  
• Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
• Psalm 37:4 "He will give you the desires of your heart."
• Psalm 139:7 "How precious concerning me, [insert your name here], are your thoughts O God! How vast is the sum of them. Were I to count them they would outnumber the grains of sand."
• Psalms 139:14 "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made"

Not only does God want to fulfill us here on earth, he has an even greater reward in store for us in Heaven. This illustration is an inspiration to not give up!

Imagine Susie. She is a Christian but doesn't live it out. She loves Jesus but doesn't act of anything. When she gets to heaven her name is written in the Lambs book of life and she enters heaven. She sees this door off to the side with her name on it and she asks God if she can go inside. God says, "No you don't want to go in there!" However Susie insists on entering. When she walks into this room she sees overflowing reward that extends for miles and miles. But, when she goes to receive it she realizes that she can't talk a hold of it. So, she asks God why and he responds, "This is all the reward you could have received if only you chose to act on the prodding of the Holy Spirit and chose to honor me in everything that you did."

God despises lukewarm Christians. In Revelation 3:16 it states, "So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth" God is sad because, "you don't love me as you did at first." [rev. 2:2] We can't let our Christian life get complacent and common. There is too much to know about God to ever have a reason to get complacent.

God places love about all else "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." [1 Corinthians 13:13]