A Relationship With God

God bless each one of you. All right. So this morning I was going to begin a series of messages and I've never done a series of messages, but especially since we're starting a new church congregation here in Eagle.

We already laid out some foundations last week and we want to continue to work on laying a foundation. Foundation doesn't get built in one day. It doesn't get built in one one message.

It doesn't get built quickly. It's one of the most dirtiest and hardest jobs is to lay a foundation. I think Dave and Crystal recently experienced that they laid a foundation underneath their house.

And I wish there would have been a stronger foundation to begin with, but they maybe you know a little bit what it's like to lay a foundation. And so the foundation that I want to lay here this morning is well, it'll be a series of messages. And the first one is a relationship with God.

I believe that's foundational for the Christian walk anything and everything we do outside of that really is like building on the sand. So we're going to speak about that today. And then I carry out a burden for our congregation and I look forward to hearing what your burdens all are.

And once Cornelius comes back, we'll share a little bit what kind of burdens we carry as brothers and sisters and when we want to carry those burdens together, but I get the opportunity to share my burden here now then and I hope that you can all carry it with me. The burden is to have a personal relationship with God number one. And then to have strong families is a burden that I really strongly carry.

And I think that will be about four messages. Because when we have first of all that relationship with God we can build and we can build a strong family on that and then when you have strong families, it kind of comes into the church and you have a strong church and you have a strong community and it grows from there. And so I hope you can carry the burden with me and I trust that you do but in this what I'll eventually share in the next several weeks of building strong families, marriage will be number one.

It is so important to have a godly marriage, a Christ-centered marriage. The role of the husband and father will be a second message. The role of the wife will be a third and the role of children and whatever that will entail the Lord will reveal yet to us will be a fourth.

And then I also carry a burden that we would do well with communicating. So that's separate. That's a third burden that I carry and we would do well with communicating with one another instead of waiting until the last minute and something explodes like Mount St. Helens.

We're better off being communicating in advance and working together. So those are some of the things that I carry but for today, we're going to talk about a personal relationship with God. And so before we get into that, let's pray.

Our Heavenly Father and Merciful Lord. We come before you this morning and we are grateful that we can call you our father. We are grateful that we have a relationship with you through our faith in Jesus Christ Lord that your spirit bears witness to our spirit that we are the children of God whereby we cry Abba father Lord.

We are grateful for that. I pray that you would help us to walk with you help us to love you help us to serve you and honor you and glorify you and may it be all the fruit of having a deep relationship with you Lord receive honor and glory to your name and use this feeble vessel to share your word in Jesus name. We pray amen.

So, you know how it is and maybe a little bit in our Christian life also, but we know how it is. I think many of us could share a testimony of how it is to try and live a Christian life and you don't really know how and you don't really and you're trying and you don't really know how you're supposed to live a Christian life and you see from others that you know our Christians and you try to imitate them and you try to learn from them and yet you still don't know how and you still can't and you still don't and you know it but it just doesn't work. That's been my testimony and I believe some of you would be able to share that same testimony, but the things that we know that we should do are the things that we can't do and the things that we want to do is the things that we don't do and the things that we hate are the things that we do and we don't understand our own behavior and Paul talks about that in Romans 7 for I for that which I do I allow not for what I would that I do not but what I hate that I do Paul knows what that's like his testimony would have been like that too.

And if you read Romans 7 the context is that of still being under the law and we can all testify to what it's like to try and fulfill the commandments of God in the flesh under the law to try and fill the commandments of God in our own strength is an impossible feat. It's like trying to please a harsh taskmaster and as soon as you fail in one little area you get whacked on the head with a club because there is no mercy in the law of Moses. There is no mercy.

It is firm you do it or you die. That's the law of Moses. And if you fail in one point you fail in all points and so it's impossible for us to please God in our own strength, but we know that the law was a shadow of better things to come.

The law was a schoolmaster that points to Christ and I could tell you a story of when I was being enlightened and I remember desiring to put a big plaque on my front porch that had the 10 commandments written on there. I thought that was godly that was spiritual that was good and maybe there was nothing wrong with that and I hear that they want to do that in schools again, and it's probably a good starting point, but remember it's a schoolmaster that points to Christ. And I wondered just in my meditation last week why I didn't instead want to put a plaque on the wall that said abide in me and I in you.

I am the vine and you are the branches. Without me you can do nothing. What does that speak of? That speaks of a relationship.

That speaks of something deeper than trying to please God in our own flesh. Have you ever heard or I was listening to the hymns this morning and other hymns have you but have you ever heard of a hymn written that says singing about the 10 commandments? I don't know. I couldn't think of one.

You are more musically inclined than I do. Maybe you have one scripture read singing. Yes, but think about it.

There's other hymns were spirit-filled men and women just poured out their heart before God and started putting something together about the 10 commandments. It's not that I could think of instead of what I was thinking was most of the time if you listen to the hymn writers when they were filled with the Holy Ghost and they were writing songs. It was something to do with God's spirit working with us abide in me and I in you.

Come gracious spirit. I need the every hour and many songs that maybe are coming into your mind right now that speak of a relationship with God. We need to have a relationship with God and the point I want to make with in saying all that is that there's a difference between knowing God and knowing about God is a difference a big difference and the difference is from darkness to light a very big difference to know about God doesn't help us anything but to know God is eternal life.

If you turn to Matthew 7 verses 21, I would like to read something here with you all. Matthew 7 verses 21. It says there not everyone that sayeth unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that do with the will of my father which is in heaven many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works and then will I profess unto them.

I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity and I want to focus in on that. I never knew you there's something about a relationship with God that was lacking these people that stood before that will be standing before Christ on that day. They will say about all the good things that they've done the works that they've done in the name of Jesus, but they never knew him and he never knew that.

There was a relationship that was missing. And without that everything else is vain. A second point.

I want to make it of these verses is it says he that do with the will of my father which is in heaven and so what is the will of the father that and I believe that the will of the father is that we would believe in the name of the only begotten son of God that we would hope and trust and put our faith in him that is in essence the will of the father John 3 18 says he that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. It's simple. Our faith in him is what gives us the victory.

Our faith in him is what will give us eternal life. Our faith in him is what allows the Holy Spirit inside and there's that relationship now faith and obedience. I believe go hand in hand.

If you have faith obedience becomes a fruit not a duty. If we have faith if we walk in the spirit and I believe that we can't it's like James said it's not always perfect. Sometimes we're not walking in the spirit, but by faith we can walk in the spirit and it says without faith.

It is impossible to please him. But through faith we become a new creature. Not before faith will somebody get born again through faith.

We become a new creature old things are passed away. Behold all things become new and I believe this what I was just sharing is a mystery that unbelievers will never understand until they experience what it means to have a full surrender to Christ to see ourselves as we are in him as he is and to believe that what he has done for us was sufficient when we believe it when we see it when we understand it, it's not with our carnal mind that we will understand it's with faith that we will understand it is a mystery, but there is a very deep truth there Romans 8 16 says it like this the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are children of God. So we have God's Spirit in our spirit and dwelling in the same temple and a shoot and giving us the confirmation that we are his children giving us assurance of salvation through faith.

And so obedience then I will say becomes the fruit of our life abiding with him the fruit of those who abide with Jesus. His obedience to him. Jesus's teachings then they're not a list of do's and don'ts that are grievous to us that we can't meet up to Jesus's teachings are not grievous.

They they become a blessing to us and we as John says he says in first John 5 3, I'd like to turn there. For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not grievous to us. I want us to consider that also after the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said these words he that here at these sayings of mine and do with them shall be likened unto a wise man who built his house upon a rock.

And we have that story Jesus shares. The new covenant covenant Jesus shares the greatest sermon ever preached and then towards the end. He says if you hear what I said and do them, I will liken you unto a wise man who built his house on a rock.

The winds the floods will come the winds will blow the storm will be hard and your house will stand and so to be to obey Jesus is to be a wise builder who builds his house on a firm foundation and that will never fall the question that some of us might have or have had is that if we couldn't even obey the Old Testament commandments, how are we supposed to meet up to the New Testament commandments when they exceed the Old Testament commandments and I believe in many ways the what Jesus's commandments were exceeded the the Ten Commandments or the the law not just the Ten Commandments we have in the law where thou shalt not murder and then Jesus says will hate is murder. So we don't even we're not even allowed to hate that's not even acceptable in God's eyes. He says that's murder Jesus or in the law.

It said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. So kind of vengeance was okay, but Jesus says repay turn the other cheek and recompense not evil vengeance is mine say if I will repay say at the Lord. And so in many ways that there's more if we would go through the Sermon on the Mount, we would see Jesus's teachings are they exceed that of the law and the commandments.

But if we can't even meet up to Moses's law, how are how are we to exceed them? And that's where we get the answer about abiding in him John 15 5 says I am the vine and ye are the branches he that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit for without me you can do nothing now if any of us wants to put a plaque on our walls. Let's put that one on our walls. That's that will that goes far beyond the Old Testament the commandments but let's abide in him and him and us and out of that we don't have to live for God in our own strength, but rather we have a relationship with him and he gives us a strength.

We're not expected to live out Jesus's teachings in our own fleshly strength. But his Holy Spirit in us can guide us and direct us and teach us the way. You think about oftentimes when new converts we get a new convert somebody gets saved and suddenly the Bible and light becomes enlightened for them.

All of a sudden God's words are not difficult for them anymore. All of a sudden they rejoice in them. All of a sudden you see they're highlighting their Bibles and they're excited about God's word and it's only because they have the Holy Spirit within and it's teaching them and enlightening them and revealing truth to them.

And so they're getting excited about it and that's a blessing. That's God helping us. That's not us doing it in our own strength.

That's God helping us. I had to think about our forefathers how many of them they couldn't even read if you read out of the martyrs mirror, you'll find some testimonies of those who they were captured by the Catholic priests. They were they were apprehended they were interrogated and one story.

I read there was a man. I forget his name try to find it. Once you read a story out of the martyrs mirror.

If you don't mark it down, it's really hard to find again, but I remember the testimony of a man and he was apprehended and the Catholic priest started interrogating him with one of his friends and started interrogating about the scriptures. What do you believe about about Jesus being the blood and the bread and the blood and what do you believe about baptism? What do you believe and as he was interrogating him the the Christian man he had wisdom to respond wisdom from the scriptures to respond and the Catholic priest couldn't understand how that and he said this you before you become Christians you you're ignorant ignorant and unlearned men, but when you become Christians, then you know the Bible inside and out. He's paraphrasing.

He said something like that and then the Catholic priest would say to him I can see nothing but that this must be the devil wagging your tongue inside of your mouth. I'm not sure if you've read that. But we know that wasn't the devil wagging his tongue inside of his mouth before he was ignorant and ignorant and unlearned and he couldn't read and now he received the Holy Spirit and he became a scholar in the scriptures.

He understood the scriptures be and it's because of the Holy Spirit within and it's because of him teaching this man. It's no longer a law. It's a relationship.

First John 2 27 says the anointing which you have received of him abideth in you and you need not that any man teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things and is truth and is no lie and even as it has taught you you shall abide in him. What a word that is for us that we can have the Spirit of God dwelling within teaching us guiding us enlightening us directing us that goes far beyond obeying the Ten Commandments with our fleshly strength and I believe that's what every one of us needs to focus on having a relationship with God and A spiritual relationship his spirit and our spirit dwelling together in this body of flesh and bones for 2nd Corinthians says that we have this treasure in earthen vessels. You think about that? We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.

So now we exceed the commandments and yet we get no Glory. It's God that gets the Glory. And that's it's hard to imagine that but that's the truth.

I dwell in the high and holy place and with him also that is about humble and contrite spirit. We have that treasure and I will say that outside of our relationship with Christ. Everything else is vain.

What is worth living for and if in a moment's time, it's gone forever. Tell me one thing that's worth living for. Outside of Christ.

We have nothing outside of Christ. We are nothing out quite of outside of Christ everything burns 2nd Peter says the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in the which the heaven shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth also and the works that there and shall be burned up. Again, there is no purpose.

For for life if it's outside of Christ. Continuing on maintaining a relationship with God. I want to talk about now communing with God in prayer.

I believe in prayer we can get a closer relationship with him. Do you believe it that God hears us when we pray? We believe that he hears us when we pray. I trust that we do.

Did he hear Moses when God wanted to wipe out the Israelites and Moses says hold on. He heard Moses and it made a big difference for the Israelites. Did he hear Joshua when he commanded the sun to sit still? He did.

Does he hear us when we wake up in the morning? We get on our knees still half asleep. And we say Lord, you're an awesome God and then we doze back out and in and out of consciousness. Do I am I the only one that does that son? I don't know.

I get up in the morning first thing. I do I'm on my knees and I pray. And I say all these things Lord.

You're an awesome God and then I get sometimes I've sleeping again and then I won't snap back into it Lord. You're a holy God Lord. Help me Lord guide me Lord direct me Lord bless my family Lord bless my wife and by now I'm a little more conscious Lord bless the church.

Do you think he hears us when we're in and out of prayer like that subconsciously in and out and I believe he does. I believe he does of course. Romans 8 26 says it likewise the spirit also help with our impurities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the spirit itself make it intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

The Jewish version says it this way the spirit helps us in our weaknesses for we don't know how to pray the way we should but the spirit himself pleads on our behalf with groanings too deep for words. That's the blessing of having a spiritual relationship with God in Christ. Jesus we can pray and the spirit takes it and and brings it to God with groanings that cannot be uttered words groanings too deep for words.

And so I believe there's power in prayer even if we stumble through our words and thoughts. I asked a man wants a well-respected Christian man. I asked him he was talking about prayer and I asked him.

Well, what about those times when you're praying but you feel like your prayers aren't going anywhere there it feels like they're hitting the ceiling and coming back down. It just feels like you're praying and praying but it's they're not going anywhere and then he told me I believe some good advice was keep praying just keep praying because God hears those two. We ought to keep praying and the Lord delights in his children communicating with him in that way.

Furthermore, Jesus tells us how we ought to pray in Matthew 6 verses 5 to 15. You can turn there if you'd like. Is it verses 5 to 15 Matthew 6? It says there after this manner therefore pray our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done in Earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen. So I'm not sure that Jesus necessarily meant for us to repeat this prayer. I think it's a good prayer to repeat but for sure he said after this manner therefore pray he's giving us an example of how we ought to pray and I want to bring out a few things here.

First we say our father. This is the first words. We recognize him to be our father our father.

He's not some foreign God. He's not some distant figure that we don't know exactly who he is. He's not an unknown God.

He is our father. He is our creator and that's what he wants us to call him our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name second. We want to look at the fact that he wants us to glorify him.

He is our father and we're going to glorify him. He is glorious. He is holy.

He's done mighty things and so glorify his name third. We see in verse 10. Thy will be done surrender our own will to his we have ideas.

We have plans. We have wills but surrender it to his as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane Lord. Thy will be done not mine.

And so we should do it too. We should learn from Jesus surrender our own will to his and then fourth we see in verse 11 make your needs known. We have needs.

We are needy give us this day our daily bread and who of us can say that we've lacked daily bread. He provides for us and but still he wants us to ask give us this day our daily bread third. I want to point out that we when we pray we don't pray like hypocrites and because he here he says forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and so if we're not forgiving others then we can't pray that so if we pray for one another or if we forgive one another then we can rightfully and without a hypocrite attitude come to the father and say forgive us our debts as we forgive others and I hope that there's no unforgiveness in any one of our hearts and I trust that there isn't and it's a blessing if we communicate in advance we can we can speak about these things now before there is an issue of unforgiveness, but if there is an issue of unforgiveness and I'm not aware and we're not aware.

I would ask you consider that forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors Christ will forgive us. God will forgive us as we have forgiven others. And then lastly in this out of this.

I want to recognize that in verse 13. It says lead us not a temptation recognize how quickly we could fall into temptation if it wasn't for his leading and guiding so quickly without him. We would slip and fall so quickly without him.

We would be lost we would lose it. Moving on when Jesus was praying in the garden. We sang a song about that this morning.

It was a blessing. We were to learn learn about Jesus how he prayed we ought to pray. But when Jesus was praying in the garden, he told his disciples to watch and wait he went to pray and he came back and the disciples were sleeping.

And he said you couldn't wait for one hour and he goes on says and he says to them watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak. Again, we can see in prayer.

We commune with God and there's a blessing there. There's power there that helps us to not fall into temptation. We are weak, but God is strong.

We fight when we pray we fight a spiritual battle and if we pray in Christ's name we can win that battle. There's victory to be had. But how often do we pray outside of faith? I believe it's important that we pray in faith.

Jesus tells us that if we pray in faith, we will receive what we pray for. Obviously, we're not going to pray to heap lust upon ourselves, but if we pray in faith, we can have what we pray for. I'm not sure if you've heard the story about the little child who brought an umbrella to the prayer meeting.

Have any of you heard that story? I'd like to share it again. Some of you probably have I think I shared it years ago at the Pilgrim Church in Comber, but it gives us a good idea of how we ought to pray. Pray in faith.

There was a child who brought an umbrella to a prayer meeting. I'm going to read the story. The rains failed again that year.

It was the third year in succession when there was no rain. The crops had disappeared and the land was a brown swath of dusty rubble. Trees had lost their leaves years ago and stood out like silhouettes of cactus on the dusty horizon.

There was a stream that skirted the village in years gone by. Now the riverbed was dry. Where once flowed clean fresh water from the nearby mountains, there was now a bed of clay cracked in a checkerboard pattern with gaps as wide as a foot.

No one knew what had happened to the birds except for the vultures that circled the town looking for a carcass or two of an animal that was left dying. There was famine in the land. People walked around like sticks without flesh, surviving on whatever ration was brought to them by various international charities.

Desperate for help, the people of the village held a meeting under a big banyan tree that was as old as the village. Let us pray, said an elderly woman. Only God can help us now.

There lived people of many faiths in the village and there ensued a big debate as to where to hold the prayer. In a church, a mosque, a synagogue or a temple. There was no consensus.

Exhausted, they decided to hold their prayer in the open late that night under the open sky away from the town. It was a full moon night and the moon shone with its alluring brightness against the background of shimmering stars. Amongst the people gathered for a prayer, a little girl holding hands with her little brother came running from a nearby village, holding high an open umbrella over their heads, huffing for breath.

They stood there looking up, umbrella still unfurled. The gathered crowd could not but help turn around and wonder what was going on. Some were curious, others were annoyed and some others were even furious as they kept being poked by the spokes of the umbrella.

Finally, a curious bystander asked, why did you bring the umbrella? Can't you see there's no rain and we have come here to pray for rain? Only a foolish person would stand on a clear night like this with an open umbrella. Yes, indeed, chimed in the two young siblings. We came to pray too.

We are certain that our prayer will be answered and that it will ring. That is why we brought this big colorful umbrella. So I believe that's a good picture for us to pray in faith.

Pray in faith, not not doubting. Many times I was thinking about what brother Henry shared a few weeks ago. You know when somebody's asking for prayer and we put on a prayer emoji and but do we actually pray? These children took it seriously.

They they prayed not doubting. I remember a few weeks ago, no few months ago. We were I think driving around in this area looking for a church building that we might be able to occupy.

That was still when we were looking for a building and one of the girls asked us in the van. Are we moving to Westmoreland? Are we going to move there? And I told the girls pray. We don't know but pray about it.

And then we kept driving and then a minute later Benji's looking around. He says, are you not praying? So he figured we were to pray right away. He was in his little booster seat praying and we kept driving out of nowhere.

He says, are you not praying? Hey, I think we should pray when we get asked to pray somebody puts on the message on the pilgrim group. Hey, can we pray for this? Let's let's endeavor to pray and believe that God will answer according to his will. Jesus said what things so ever you desire when you pray believe that you receive them and you shall have them.

When we pray we are communicating with our father in heaven. And if we would have a relationship with God, we should communicate with him, right? If we would have a relationship with our father, we should communicate with him. And if he is our father then let's communicate with him.

Time spent in our closet is time well spent. I would like to compare that example with an earthly father. What would it be like if we spoke to our fathers or our children only spoke to us about five minutes a day? We communicate about five minutes a day.

That doesn't seem like much of a relationship. What if your child talked to you for three minutes in the morning and a couple seconds 20 seconds during lunch and supper and another few minutes at night? Would you be content with that? We as fathers would we be content with that? I don't think we would be. It wouldn't be a very deep relationship.

But we should be speaking with God throughout the day. Speaking with with him throughout the day praising his name seeking his blessings asking for direction just as a child would from a father surrendering our own ideas to him because we know that he is greater than us. We know that he is wiser his ways are better.

But I believe we can do that always communicating with God and everything not just at set times but in everything we do Lord where would you have me to go? What would you have me to do? What kind of a relationship do we have with God? What kind of a relationship do we have with our children? And I would like to give an example with that with little children like I don't have teenagers. So I can't say what that's like, but I look forward to that one day but with little children the relationship kind of goes like this. It's help me help me.

I want this I want that I'm hungry. I'm thirsty. I need potty.

Can I have this and I have that it's a very needy relationship and I think that's that's normal and that's okay, but there's also the tell me a story and play with me daddy and carry me we have that too and that's a blessing and this is the type of relationship that a two-year-old might have with his father or a three-year-old and we can have this relationship with God to help me Lord with this situation. Leave me through this protect me carry me. But then as you see a child will mature.

Their physical needs may be less but their emotional needs are deeper. They might want a deeper relationship. Ten-year-old doesn't need so many physical needs met but they need more emotional needs met.

They have a need for a deeper relationship. Teach me father and mother. I know mothers are oftentimes more in tune with the needs of the emotional needs of their children, but I'm trying to give the example of a father and God being the father but I'm sure that works with a child and her mother too.

But a ten-year-old would say father teach me. What does this mean? What should I do about this situation? Can we have some time just me and you can we have a date? I know our children would love if daddy took him on dates more often. I know mommy does a good job of that.

But to steal a while away with our father in heaven. I remember when when I grew up, we didn't really have a strong relationship with my father. We have somewhat of a relationship.

We were a family that worked together on fields and and we would work all day but hardly talk but we knew where the lines were with dad. We knew what we could do and what we couldn't do. We knew we knew that about him, but there was not a relationship.

And then when we were when I was about 14 years old, we found that we found a market in on in Toronto called the Ontario Food Terminal and we would be able to find a place now to sell our produce. So we'd work all week on the field pack our trailers full and this trip now that would cause us to go from Comber to Toronto twice a week. It would be just me and my dad.

We would spend some time together. And then so we go from Toronto or from Comber. We'd leave at 1 in the morning.

We'd be there around 4 and we'd market produce until about 12 and we'd come back. So we'd have 10 hours just me and my dad spending time together and I can clearly remember one time when I had not been used to talking to my dad about any relational things. But I wanted to ask him something.

I wanted a fatherly input in my life. I wanted an answer from my dad and I remember asking him something dad. What do you think about this? And honestly, I forget what I asked but that's not the point and he gave me a fatherly response.

I will say there was something there that bonded us. I don't know what the question was. I don't know what the answer was.

But I know we were able to I was able to be filled in the in the need of a relationship with my father. And that I will never forget it. And if I were to explain that to him today, he probably wouldn't know what I was talking about.

But there seriously was at the age of 14 when I was finally able to just ask my dad a question and he would give me a response back. It was almost like him saying I love you son, but our fathers would never do that. They do now actually my dad.

He got softer when he was older and he always says love you Benny. Thanks dad. Love you, too.

Never heard that growing up, but it's a blessing. It's a blessing to have that relationship with your father. And I believe God wants that relationship with us.

He says the Bible says draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to him. I think it's important for us to spend time with him. Years ago, brother Mark Miller came to our church and he encouraged us to have date nights one day a week where you would spend time with one child of your family and let them go to sleep and spend time with one of your children play a game read a story pray together eat a snack, whatever it is and spend time with them.

And I will say that's been probably one of our children's greatest blessings and ours too. It's right up there with birthday parties. I was thinking about what did they like more than that and I couldn't think of anything that they would say.

I like that more than a time away with mom dad and evening up and then I thought about birthday parties. I well, maybe they would like birthday parties better, but it's right up there. Our children love it and we do too and and it's important for us and it's important for us to build that relationship with them.

But in likewise in the like manner, let's spend time with God steal a while away for God. Get on our knees and get up early and pray and seek his face and pour out our hearts before him and listen to what he may be speaking to us and not only speaking but listen be still and know that I am God. And then a quiet secret place along with God is where we can get close to God and build our relationship with him.

I just like to make a few closing comments and I want to use an illustration for this too. There was a few weeks back. I got up a little earlier one morning and I started I went to the shop and I got my chainsaw and I started chopping down some branches that were hugging the driveway.

And it was a cold day when I went and started up the chainsaw and the girls and Benji were still sleeping. And before you know it I had some girls of the window looking at that cheer me on by cheering me on. I mean, hi dad for me.

That's like cheering me on and so I was in the trees cutting down trees on the ground chopping them up and it woke Benji up and if you know probably most little boys they're interested in anything from a little drill bit to a telehandler and anything in between they love construction tools boys stuff, but Benji had never seen a chainsaw before this was new and he was a little bit excited. I think so. I was cutting there and before you know what mama had dressed him and he comes walking out with his boots and his jacket his winter jacket and his hat and he comes up to me and I turn off the chainsaw and I said, oh no, actually I turned on the chainsaw in front of him and I said, hey Benji watch this and I took a nice big log and I cut it right in front of him took about eight seconds and then I turned it off and I said you like that bud and he looks at me and he says you're my daddy.

That says way more than you're strong. That says way more than my daddy's the smartest or the best you're my daddy. Hey, let's do this with God.

Let's do this with God. Meditate upon his greatness meditate upon his might meditate upon his power his strength and tell him what you think about it. You're my father.

You are my father. And I wonder if he doesn't have tears. You're my you're my father.

I know son. I know. That's what I was trying to tell you all along.

That's what I want a relationship. You're my father. You're an awesome father.

And then meditate upon God and his mercy and his love towards us and meditate upon what Jesus did for us meditate upon the cross. Why does he care about me? Why answer that for yourself? Why does he care about me? Romans 6 5 6 is for when we were without strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly for scarcely for a righteous man will one die get prayer Adventure for a good man. Some would even dare to die but God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

Much more than now being justified by his blood. We shall be saved from wrath through him for if we if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son much more being reconciled. We shall be saved by his life.

Why did God do it? Why did you do it? God? Why did you save me? Who am I God that you are mindful of me? There were 99 other sheeps. Weren't you happy with them? Why did you waste your time with me? Was it a waste of time? Why did you go through so much trouble to save one sinner? I was your enemy. Had I been there in that dreadful day when they crucified you I would have yelled crucify him crucify him to why did you die for me? Why did you say forgive them for they know not what they do? Were those words for me? Five bleeding wounds.

He bears received on Calvary. They pour effectual prayers. They strongly speak for me forgive.

They cry forgive. They cry forgive them. Oh forgive.

They cry for me. And then when it all sinks in and we begin to understand that it really was for us. What is our response? You're my daddy.

That's the response. He wants from us. Abba father.

He is great. He is big. He is Holy.

He's omnipotent. He's omnipresent. He's everything.

He's all or anything we can imagine. That's good. But what he wants to hear from us.

You're my daddy. He knows that he's great. But he what he wants to hear from us.

Abba father and I believe that hits the nail on the head that speaks of a relationship with Christ. That's what he sent Christ to die for. Right? He sent Christ to die so that he could restore the relationship that was lost because of sin in the Garden of Eden.

And through faith, we can tap into that relationship with God and we can be restored back into a right relationship with him. So brothers and sisters, I hope that was a blessing. That's the number one thing.

Do we know God and does he know us? Aside from this nothing else really matters. So let's build on that. God bless each one of you richly.