IS IT REALLY possible to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?”
Although my own spiritual upbringing was heavily oriented toward the academic use of the Bible, without much emphasis (except by my parents’ example) on a personal relationship with God, I have come to believe that helping us cultivate just such a bond with the Creator is both the most important purpose of Scripture and the ultimate point of all that the Bible contains.
Jesus came to give abundant life—not necessarily health or prosperity—but a joy from within that thrives despite circumstances, because it is rooted in his immediate presence. I am now convinced that when we lack that, we either are not connected well to Christ, or something is blocking the “current,” so to speak. Sometimes in my life those “blockages” may come in the form of a physical illness or malady, or general distraction or worry, or (most often) my own self-centeredness.
To tell the truth, I have found that the only person in the world who can steal my peace or hinder an open relationship with the Heavenly Father is me. No matter what the problem—whether it be a challenging circumstance, a difficult person, an overwhelming temptation, or a fearful crisis—if I take it honestly to God and lay it openly at his feet, he gives peace and strength for each ordeal. God does not always remove the difficulty, though sometimes he does, but he pours out an anointing balm of serenity, a sense of well-being, which truly transcends comprehension.
May you be filled this day with a strong sense of God’s powerful presence by his Spirit, and may your heart be warmed with the knowledge that God the Creator of the universe, and Jesus Christ the risen Savior, know and love you personally and beyond measure.