Entering into Relationship with God

You have a personal invitation from God to enter into a relationship with Him.

Jesus says to you:

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Revelation 3:20)

God offers you love, forgiveness of your sin, acceptance and eternal life.

The Bible is clear that there is only one way to know God, to enter into relationship with God, and that is through Jesus.

Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

A personal relationship with God means that you interact with God on a personal and ongoing basis. You put your faith in who God is, His love for you and what Jesus did for you. You acknowledge your sin, asking for forgiveness, not because you deserve it, but because Jesus, the Son of God, died for you. You decide to no longer live based on your own sinful, self-centred way of life, but to live your life in relationship with God – you ask Jesus into your life as your Saviour and Lord. You ask God to keep revealing Himself to you and leading you in how to live according to His ways.

There is a personal cost of entering into relationship with God, you need to be prepared to let go of your self-righteousness, self-sufficiency and pride, in order to let God be God in your life.

This is what happens if you are prepared to put your faith and trust in Jesus:

• Jesus comes into your life by the Holy Spirit and resides within you
• All of your sin is forgiven and removed from you and in it’s place you are considered righteous, without sin in God’s eyes (which is why He can have a relationship with you)
• You become a child of God – He is your Heavenly Father
• God’s presence in you gives you power to live a transformed life
• You commence a relationship with God that will last forever

If you don’t believe in God and are not prepared to enter into a relationship with God based on how He has instructed, that is your choice. You will however have to face Him one day and be judged for your decision.

To enter into a relationship with God you need to pray, which is just talking to God, and you need to be genuine. Here is some guidance on what you should include in your prayer to God:

• Acknowledge that God is present, He is here listening to you
• Acknowledge your sin and confess it before God, apologise
• Acknowledge Jesus, acknowledge that you believe Jesus is God’s Son, He died for you, He took the punishment for your sin and you accept by faith that He did that
• Ask God to remove all of your sin because of Jesus death in your place
• Tell God that you no longer want to live life your way and accept his invitation to come and live in you and change you
• Thank God for what He has done

You can pray this alone, or if you prefer, ask a Christian you know to lead you in what to pray.

If you do follow through and enter into a relationship with God as described here, I’d love to hear from you.

Making a decision about faith in what Jesus did for you is the most important decision you will make in life. No-one can make it for you. Things like being raised in a religious or God believing family, going to church, being baptised as an infant, doing good deeds, confessing to a priest, praying etc will not be sufficient in themselves for your sin to be dealt with and for you to be accepted by God. You need to make your own decision and put your faith in what Jesus did for you in order to be accepted by God and enter into a personal relationship with Him.

Bible verses:

• Jesus death as a substitute for us – 2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 5:8, 1 Peter 2:24
• Salvation in Jesus only – Acts 4:12, John 14:6
• Salvation through faith – Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 10:9
• Eternal life – John 17:3, John 3:16, 1 John 5:11-13
• Forgiveness of sins – Colossians 1:13-14, 1John 1:9
• Becoming children of God – John 1:12-13
• God’s invitation – 2 Peter 3:9, Matthew 11:28, Revelation 3:20