A Relationship With God

HOSEA 2:19-20 NLT 19 I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion. 20 I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the LORD.

Sometimes God illustrates His relationship with His people by using the human relationship of marriage, the most intimate relationship between human adults.

By using this illustration the Lord is trying to help us understand His feelings: His deep love toward His people, and the pain caused by their unfaithfulness and lack of love for Him.

EPHESIANS 5:31-32 NLT 31 As the Scriptures say, "A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one." 32 This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.

Whenever I have been tempted to complain about how my wife was treating me, the Lord has gently shown me how I was also treating Him in the same way. For example, if I thought she was not giving me enough attention, I realized I had been treating the Lord the same way. (I have a wonderful wife, but our relationship has had to grow just like every relationship.)

What a way the Lord has of illustrating things and teaching us!

God has feelings, just like you do. God is a Person. He does not enjoy being ignored, neglected, or disrespected any more than you do. Fortunately for us, God is not controlled by His feelings, but always acts in line with His Word!

God's plan is not to force us to do His will. His objective is for us to freely desire to do His will. God gets no pleasure from forcing us to love Him or do His will.

God already made the first move and now waits for us to reciprocate. He loved us first and demonstrated it at Calvary.

Of course the devil, the father of lies, tries his best to deceive us into thinking God doesn't care and doesn't deserve our love. What a lie!

SAY THIS: God desires a close relationship with me, so I will not disappoint Him.