1. God deeply desires an intimate relationship with me but, in order to more fully participate in this relationship, I must change, be transformed.

(Before looking at the questions below, take a few minutes to think about this statement. Invite Jesus to speak to you about what He would like you to notice.) 

When you think about God, do you picture Him as close to you and eager to know you, or does He seem distant and impersonal? How would you like for God to be?

How would you describe your current relationship with God?

If growing deeper in your relationship meant that you would experience more joy, peace, and love, would you be willing to invest some effort to help this happen?

When you think of yourself, are you aware of any changes that could be made to make your relationship with God (and others) better?

Ask God to give you an idea of how He would like to participate in your life. What do you sense Him saying?

As difficult as it may be to believe, the God of the universe who created all things, is all powerful, and far beyond imagination, delights in us and wants to share life with us. But in the same exhilarating moment that we accept this opportunity for a relational life with God, we discover that we are completely unprepared it.

For sure, the moment we say “yes” to the Spirit’s knock on our heart’s door, a relationship with God does begin—but that relationship is far from what we might have hoped for. To start with, we are unfamiliar with our new Friend—in fact, He may seem more like a stranger at first. Plus, we discover that our undeveloped and dysfunctional relational ability limits us from relating to God as we would like.

So, it is necessary to embrace a few important ideas as we begin our with-God-life. First, if we truly desire to enjoy the rest of our eternal life with God, we must become more relationally mature. We must recognize and admit that there are parts of ourselves that make relationship with God difficult and unrewarding. Second, we need to know is that God does not expect us to be perfect.

God fully knows and understands our deficiencies and is prepared to work with us. Even more significant, God desires to help and guide us, and to bring about all we need to be able to participate in a growing intimate and deep friendship with Him that will bring joy to both Him and us.

God’s invitation is not just to be the “god” of our lives; He invites us to undergo a long process and journey of transformation under His Guidance. If we do not desire this Spirit-guided journey of transformation, we will surely miss out on most of what God is offering and wanting for us.