Friday, November 29, 2013 - 3:55 pm

This past Sunday, Pastor Kip finished off the series 'Here I Am' with a look at Revelation 3:15-20. In this passage, when Jesus is knocking on the door that people have left shut on Him, He's calling to Christians, basically saying, "I see all the things you're doing, supposedly for me, but you've forgotten about me! Relationally you make me sick! ...Here I am!" God could make us fear, obey and submit, but He can't make us love Him. That has to be our choice, so He stands outside knocking until we realize that He's been there the whole time, wanting and waiting for us to fall in love with Him - not just do things for Him, but fall in love with Him to the point where what we do for Him springs out of our love for Him. Often, however, we get really good at fitting God into our life, giving Him portions and keeping others for ourselves. We try to maintain control and build a routine, and eventually the routine becomes something fruitless, pointless and empty. This kind of routine, a religion without relationship with the Father and the Son, is dangerous, hypocritical and misses the point. We have the form but none of the essence. There was always meant to be a personal, intimate relationship behind our response to God's commands. We need to believe, press in and allow God to capture our hearts, to know Him in a real, personal way. Any relationship with intimacy requires time, transparency and submission, and the same goes for our relationship with God. It's all about trusting Him enough to give Him our lives in their entirety. After all, that's just what He did for us.