Held by a Relational God

Contents

Bridegroom

God is a Gentleman....................1
Safe arms...................................3
Reunited.....................................5
I wanted a fling............................7
Purity..........................................9
Jealous for me.............................11
Pursuit........................................13
The Church.................................17
Wives.........................................19
Husbands...................................21
Divorce.......................................23
Waiting.......................................25
Attention.....................................27
Hosea and Gomer........................29
Jesus finds me.............................31
The one He loves.........................35

Father

Am I special?...............................39
Little kids.....................................41
Disciplinary love...........................43
Childish.......................................47
Why?...........................................49
I said no.......................................51
Rebellious phase..........................53
How to be a son............................57
Jesus felt abandoned too...............59
Near-sighted.................................61
Like Father, like Son.......................63
Rejection......................................65
Worthy by relation.........................67
Let’s switch...................................69
Different definitions.......................73
Authenticity...................................75
Brutally honest..............................77
Storytime......................................79
Chiropractor..................................81
Unjust...........................................83
One flesh.......................................85
How to be a man............................87
A man like my Father......................89
The wall.........................................91
I love you.......................................93

Friend

Jesus’ seat during lunch.................97
Jesus wept.....................................99
Language they understand.............101
Should I elevate myself now?.........103
Fully human...................................105
Pain’s purpose...................................107
Allowed to be human.........................109
Community........................................111
Grocery shopping...............................113
Friend of a friend.................................117
Uneven...............................................119
Playground..........................................121
Healer.................................................123
Cooking..............................................125
Questions............................................127
Single..................................................129
Sisters.................................................131
Selling insurance..................................133
To be known.........................................135
Fullness of joy.......................................137

Knowing God

I used to be suspicious of the mission of Christians who would
talk about “knowing God.”
They must be referring to what they know about God, right?

How could someone whose vocal cords don’t work like mine
and whose eyes don’t make contact when we speak expect me
to treat Him like a person?
I used to be stuck there.

Until I found out that knowing about God doesn’t even scratch
the surface.
My life looked different after I took God seriously at His offer
to have a relationship with me.

Maybe that doesn’t make sense.
But if I tried to have a relationship with someone who wasn’t
there, don’t you think we would have gotten a divorce by now?

I believe you when you say you know about God.
But there is so much more.

Truly knowing Him is like seeing in color for the first time,
And the best part is that He really wants to get to know
you too…

Read 1 Corinthians 2:6-16

God is a Gentleman

“Lord, if you are who you say you are, then why don’t more
people believe in you?”

I pointed my finger at God with angry undertones because
my perception of what should be stood inconsistent with the
present reality.

I surveyed the world around me and sought the reason as to
why the percentage of people who think that Jesus is worth
giving their time of day to is so small.
If they don’t think He is worth it, then why should I?
If God is so great, then shouldn’t He be everyone’s obvious
choice?
If He truly wants people to follow Him and He has full
sovereignty, then why doesn’t He force us to follow in footsteps
that match His perfect pattern?

What makes dancing with Jesus beautiful, yet difficult, is that
we must stand up and agree to take His hand.
Our stubbornness, our fear, our comfort zone, and our doubt
often make refusing His hand the easiest choice.
Yet His offer never wavers.

God is a gentleman.
He doesn’t force us to do anything.
Any relationship, any conversation, any trust, any reliance, and
any communication that we have with Him is a result of our
follow-up on His initial offer.

He made the first move by making the most audacious display
of love by hanging naked on a cross for us.
What type of relationship we desire to have with Him is
entirely up to us.

Why don’t more people decide to follow Jesus?
Perhaps because His invitation never came with force.

He just waits with flowers at a table with an empty chair with
our name on it.

Read Revelations 3:20