Open Hearts

Relationship with God

God spoke to Moses out of a fire with no shape or form. Yet out of the darkness (Deuteronomy 5:22-33) God spoke and shed light on the path the Israelites were to follow and how they were to lead their lives. The commands that God gave Moses were to be carefully observed. Not to be forgetten nor allowed to slip away from their hearts. He instructed the Israelites to hear, learn and follow them. The ten commandments were laws that enabled the Israelites to build a strong relationship with God and one another. Moses urged the Israelites to love the Lord their God with all their heart, mind and strength. He did not want them to make any idols in any shape or form.

Moses had a well founded personal relationship with God. He was able to speak and listen to the voice of God. The Lord anointed Moses with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gave him the gift of performing miracles, and the ability to lead and teach the people of Israel. It was this Spiritual relationship that empowered him to be the one who brought them their freedom from the Egyptians (Isaiah 63:12-14). The anointing of the Holy Spirit that was within him was so abundant that God passed on some of his gifts to selected elders of the Israelites too (Numbers 11:16-17). It was his relationship of trust and faith in the living God that enabled him to perform the impossible. The courage to speak to Pharaoh and command him to free the people of Israel from slavery.

God wanted Moses to establish a similar relationship between God and the Israelites. It was his wish that all of God’s people will have the spirit of God dwell in them like he did. (Numbers 11:29). Moses summed his message to the people by saying that they should love God with all their heart, mind and strength. It was not really enough to follow these commands but they should also do so out of an insatiable desire (Deuteronomy 5:29) to do the will of the God. It was a relationship that would not allow contention with another idol that represented God in another form.

Relationship with Jesus 

Paul says God has made his light to shine out of the darkness into our hearts (2Corinthians 4:6). Why did God do this? Unfortunately no one could follow all the commands that Moses laid down. As Paul says in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. The light Paul refers to that shines out of darkness is the knowledge of the glory of  the face of Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul succinctly says, Christ is the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). The core of his message is Christ has through his death and resurrection reconciled us with the Father. God loved the world so much that he sent Jesus so that He could be our mediator between us and God. This relationship could only come into being by the grace of God. It is Only through Christ’s life and witness we really came to understand the depth of God’s love for us. 

Proverbs 3:6 tells us that if we seek Gods will in all that we do, God will direct our path. To seek the will of God is to live in the light of God's words. If we follow our own selfish desires we end up in darkness. When Samuel heard the voice of God, Eli the then High Priest told him to say to God that he was his servant and he was listening (1 Samuel 3). It is this attitude, where we have a willingness to go down on our knees and humble ourselves before this loving awesome God, and say that our hearts are open and will love to serve Him in whatever it may be that God bids us do. It is then we will know and experience the loving will of God flowing through our hearts and minds.

Frank Laubach, a modern day mystic, through his journals brought number of people to a strong personal relationship with Jesus by increasing their awareness of God. They were encouraged to ask Jesus in every waking moment (situation), what it is He wants them to do next, then to wait and try to discern what He is saying. He spoke of two burning passions. The first to be like Jesus. The second was to respond to Jesus as a violin responds to the bow of the violinist. We open our hearts and minds upwards to let the glory of God shine into our lives. It is when we respond to God‘s love in our hearts through acts of love towards others with hearts open outward, they will see the glory of God shining through us. He made an effort as he saw people to pray that God would touch their lives and make them into the people he wanted them to be. It was seeing people through the eyes of love. It is when we surrender it all in God’s hands, he works through us and does amazing things which we never imagined.

Moment by moment, I’m kept in His love;

Moment by moment I’ve life from above;

Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine;

Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.