relationship*

As I was reading in Genesis this morning about Isaac and Rebekah, I thought about a relationship with God. Isaac prayed for Rebekah because she was barren and Jacob and Esau were born. From Enoch and Abraham and Noah and others, you get a glimpse of others that had a relationship with God. About Enoch, the Bible is real brief, he walked with God and God took him. But when you read accounts of Abraham and Isaac and others you get a sense that they probably talked every day. I can only imagine Enoch and God talking, so little is said in the Bible. They must have had a very good relationship because God just took him. He didn't face death like Noah and Abraham, Isaac and others. Abraham is the one that trusted God to the point he put Isaac on an alter to offer his only child up as a sacrifice. It was account unto him as righteousness. God told Noah to build an ark. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord when God repented that he had even made man. All of these men had a relationship with God. They talked with God daily, they asked for things from God. They asked for direction. Isaac intreated God for Rebekah and God allowed her to have children. Issac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah and was 60 when Jacob and Esau were born. God made promises to them. Abraham and Isaac would be the fathers of a great nation. Jacob the grandson of Abraham had his name changed to Israel and from Jacob. Jacob / Israel came to be the great nation of the Jews.  Talking with God seems to be one of the main ingredients for a relationship with God. Praying, intreating (asking earnestly) are things we see over and over again. I think of that verse in II Chronicles  7:14 where God says if his people will call on him and turn from their wicked ways, he will hear. God wants us to have a relationship with him. He hears the requests of righteous men. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Listening is also important. Abraham listened and spared his son on an altar. He was being obedient, and God was testing him. He listened. Noah listened and built an ark. How do we listen today? One thing we can do is read his word, the Bible. Conversations are or should be two ways. We pray and God speaks back to us, sometimes thru his word. Sometimes thru his ministers. We need to listen. I ask over and over again, what does this scripture mean to me today? How do I make it relevant to me today? There are several examples that I can think of in my own life. Once when my second wife asked me to pray for a church to attend, I did. After a period of time, I think it was about a month, she asked what did you decide?  I said Second Baptist. She replied (these may not be her exact words): How in the world could you pick Second Baptist? Well, I prayed about it and as I was reading Ephesians 5:25,  I asked how do I make this relevant to me today.  Husbands love your wife and give yourself for them. I chose Second Baptist because I was trying to obey this verse. Second Baptist represented her culture, she was black and I was white. It seemed to me I was giving of myself to her. I had never been to a Black Church before Second Baptist. It was different, I was the only white person in that congregation. I felt so out of place in the beginning, but I did it to try and obey God's word in that one verse. Hind sight tells me I made the right choice. Years later I look back and believe more than ever that God did speak to me thru that verse and I did obey. My second wife didn't understand, it wasn't her prayer, it wasn't her effort to obey God. It was mine, it was personal and I believe I made the right choice even for her. Another prayer I prayed when I was married to my third wife I recently talked about in a blog. I was driving along praying about our marriage and I felt impressed to drive down the next street over. There I received almost an instant answer to prayer. God does speak to us in various ways if we try to have a relationship with him, by praying and reading his word. Another incident where I felt God spoke to me was one Sunday morning when I was going thru my second divorce and hanging around the wrong people. The minister spoke on Psalms 1 and how it says to not stand in the way of sinners. At that period of my life, I was very lonely and was hanging around the wrong people. I took that as a warning from God. I read Psalms 1 every day for a long time as I tried to turn my life around. His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law, he does meditate. A relationship is two way, we pray and we listen back and try to understand what God is saying to us. God has been with me thru many difficult times. I am so thankful I turned my life over to him so many years ago. My life has not been perfect. I have gone thru divorce 4 times since that night in January 1984 when I knelt at an alter and asked Jesus into my heart and life. It's not always been easy but is life always easy even without him?
He has been with me thru every struggle, every good time. I have never regretted the decision I made that January night in 1984 to trust God with my life. God bless LVZ.