How to have a personal relationship with God?

When God created everything He said: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26). This is what God had in mind when He created Adam and Eve. They were only able to do this task while having a close relationship with God. In Genesis 2-3 we read that God walked through the Garden and talked to Adam and Eve. This relationship was broken when Adam and Eve ‘cheated’ on God. From that moment on, God was no longer the ‘love of their life’. Their heart went out to themselves, to sin, to darkness, to Satan. But thank God that wasn’t the end of it. Immediately, God promised them (and us) that the relationship would be restored. And He kept His promise! He sent His Son, Jesus, to restore this broken relationship; to bring us back to our purpose.

Restoration through Jesus

Jesus Himself explained who He is, why He came and how to have a relationship with the Father: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. … Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in My Name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My Name, I will do it. If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:6, John 14:11-17) This is the truth for everybody who accepted Jesus as their Savior, Redeemer and Lord and who received the Holy Spirit. If you did, you may believe that the relationship with the Father is restored. The Holy Spirit will restore in your life what is written in Psalm 1:1-3: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”

God loves you

When God created you, He created you in His image, with the same purpose as when He created Adam and Eve. Through Christ, and with the Holy Spirit as your helper, you can come back to your purpose again! God really wants a relationship with us. He wants to be a part of our lives, every minute, every hour, every day, every night. He wants us to share everything with Him: all our thoughts, our feelings, our joys, our pain, our worries, our needs, our plans. Just like when you are in a relationship with someone. If you are in love with someone, you want to be with this person always, you want to spend time together, talk to each other, do things together, share your hearts together. God wants the same from you! He wants to hear everything that is in your heart and He also wants to share His heart with you! The Bible is His Word and in it He tells you about His love for you, about His plans for you, about how to share your heart and your life with Him … In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, He it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love Him and manifest Myself to him (John 14:20-21). Do you long to having a deep relationship to God? Ask yourself: how much time do I spend with God daily? Are there things in my life that interfere with building my relationship with God? Is God my number one priority?