No matter whether you are saved, thinking about getting saved or have been saved for a long time and feel as you are not as close to the Lord as you once were when you were first saved, this Bible study will help you to evaluate your relationship with the Lord, help you to seek, find and develop a relationship with Him and to be refreshed and renewed by Him.

Developing a relationship with God is an important part of keeping your feelings for Him as genuine and awesome as the day you were saved. You must seek God on a daily basis and you will find Him. You will find true love. The truest love that ever was, ever is and ever will be because God is the ultimate experience of Love.   If you want a personal relationship with Christ you have to open the door to your heart. You must accept Christ as your savior, believe that He is the son of God who came in the flesh and was crucified to save you from your sins and sent His powerful spirit as a comforter to be with you until He returns....He is knocking at the door of your heart and all you have to do is to open the door.

• Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20

You Will Become an Overcomer
You must overcome the temptations and troubles of this world by learning His word, praying unceasingly, putting on the armor of God, and following His commandments and laws and you will be richly rewarded for your earnest efforts.

• To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne,  even as I, also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. Revelations 3:21
• He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Revelations 3:22

It is helpful to evaluate your relationship with God by asking yourself these questions:

• ​How do you treat God?
• Have you spoken to God today? 
• ​Do you pray to God daily?
• When is the last time you got on your knees and worshiped Him?

​​(If you are physically unable to get on your knees you can still take time out of each day to worship Him-He will understand why you are not on your knees).

• When you prayed, did you stop to listen to what He had to say?
• Have you ignored Him?
• Have you been so busy with the cares of this world that you didn't take time to spend with Him?
• ​Have you even thought about spending time with Him?

If you treat others the way you treat God..would they love you and want to be around you?
If you  showed someone that you love them every single day and they never showed any care or love for you and spent everyday busy with the cares of the world, ignoring you, never did anything you asked of them, and basically pretended you do not exist unless they need something from you-would you continue to love them? God does.

• Would you continue to listen to them and answer them?

​Would you rush out to help this someone who pretends you don't exist because they are so busy in their lives they don't have time for you-until they need or want something from you?
​God does.
Answering the following questions can help you understand how you treat God.

• Do you have a daily ongoing relationship with Him?
• Can you feel His presence?
• Can you talk to Him about whatever is on your mind?
• Do you listen for His answers?
• Do you obey His commandments?
• ​Do you tell others about Him?
• Do you know what is required to have a relationship with God?

​ Think About This:
One of the biggest problems people have these days is that they do not know who God is.
Do you know who God is? 
He is the one who created you, the earth, the sky, and everything natural and it is His breath that you breathe through your lungs. He is the one who loves you so very much that He sent His only Son to suffer cruel torture and die on the cross, just to save you from spiritual darkness and eternal damnation.
Have you ever got to know someone you never knew anything about and never talked too?
Have you ever been in a relationship with someone that you have never knew or spent any time with?
One of the biggest mistakes people make is that we only call on God when we are in trouble or we need something.  If you want to have a relationship with God you must spend time with Him every single day.
If you walked up to a perfect stranger and asked them for something really important, Do you think they would give it to you?
God does.
If you did not speak to your spouse, partner, family member or friend unless you wanted something...do you think they would give them to you? or even care if you started asking them for things when you were in need?
God does.
​Are you a stranger to God?
Now you might be wondering, "How can I get to know someone I cannot see?" or "How can I develop a loving relationship with God"?
​The answer is simple: 
​Don't be a stranger to God. If you want to be close to Him you need to do everything in your power to show Him that:

• Seek Him
• Do His will. 
• Study the Holy Bible
• Pray every day
• Praise Him
• ​Worship Him
• Obey His laws and commandments​
• Believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who created the earth 
• ​Believe that Jesus Christ (Yeshua) died for our sins so we can have eternal ife.
• Have Faith in Him
• Believe that He has real power
• Understand that God is love and without Him there is no love
• ​Learn how to love Him
• ​Love others
• Tell others about Him. 

When you pray you are simply talking at God but to have a conversation with Him, you have to commune with Him, wait and listen for His voice.  God's spirit can speak to you and commune with you, sometimes without you physically hearing it because His spirit lives inside of you but you will feel it and if you are patient you will receive His answer. Wait for His guidance. Ask for His wisdom and mercy. Ask Him before you make any major decisions in your life. God does answer and many times more quickly than people think. He may not always answer in a way that you expect and you may not get the answer you wanted. God is a loving God. If you do His will He will give you the desires of your heart if they are in line with His will.  God wants you to delight (be greatly pleased) in your relationship with Him.

• "Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart's desires" Psa. 47:4 NLT 

Many times we do not get an answer because we ask the wrong way.
If you are asking God for something for selfish reasons, asking Him to change something, fix something, give you something because you want it your way, you are asking amiss. If you are asking God for something, you can be sure, He wants something from you. He wants your love. He may give you what you ask for even if you are undeserving, if it is in line with His will, just because He loves you. He may not give you what you are asking for other reasons. Your request may be harmful in the long run, or it may interfere with His plans for someone else. If you are asking God for something you should be prepared to show Him you are willing to earn it.
For example, If you were asking your boss for a raise (even though you had not done any work that would merit one), Would you just walk up to your boss and say, "Hey I need more money and you should it give it to me just because I am me."  No! You probably wouldn't and if you did, you probably would not get the raise.
Yet, God does give people things even if they do not deserve them-this is called grace (undeserved favor).
God does love you, He loved you before you were even born when He breathed life into you at conception. He loved you before you even knew He exists. God loves you so much that He sent His Son to be sacrificed for you, for all people, even people who had never been born yet...that is a form of spiritual love that is hard for many to comprehend in this world where so little real love is left. GOD IS LOVE and without Him. If you know how to love then you know God's love.

• "Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love" I John 4:8

God is NOT Hiding From You!
God is with you throughout your day, while you sleep, when you are happy, when you are sad, when you are angry, when you are grieving, no matter what feelings you are having He is always waiting for you to seek Him, open the door, talk with Him, walk with Him, spend time with Him, study His word. Trust me, if you do these things they will change the way you think, the way you feel, the way you act and will change your life in a way you could never imagine. You have to TRUST HIM, BELIEVE HIM, FOLLOW HIM, SEEK HIM AND YOU WILL FIND HIM

• "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Isa. 55:6 KJV

Changing our ways and our way of thinking and asking the Lord for mercy and forgiveness is an integral part of our relationship with God and He will forgive generously.

• Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the LORD that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously. Isa. 55:7

Another example, If you were applying for a job. Would you just walk in the door all bedraggled and say, "Give me this job"? Do you think the employer would hire you?
​If you don't do any work would you expect to get paid? Your paycheck is the fruit of your labor. God expects us to produce fruit, He wants us to get other people saved. He wants us to love others in the same way as He loves us-unconditionally. BUT, you cannot bear fruit unless you do something..you have to ABIDE in Him. You cannot do anything in your life without HIM.

• "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me".  John 15:4-5

Sow Seeds for the Lord
Once you have established your relationship with God you are ready to start sowing seeds. What this means it is now time to start telling others how He changed your life (which is also called witnessing for Christ). It is important to be prepared for the seed sowing process by  seeking God, praying, worshiping Him and studying your Bible and putting on the full armor of God, so that during the process of sowing seeds you will be prepared to answer questions that unbelievers or new believers may ask you. You may even be called upon by the Lord to teach others His word so preparation is essential. If you do not sow the seeds you will not produce fruit, any one who has planted something in a garden can tell you that. We are to be sowers of His Word. It does not matter how people respond to the seeds we sow, as is demonstrated in the Parable of the Sower, what matters to God is that we sowed the seed. Once we have done that, we show God that we are doing His will. He wants us to follow Christ's example, He wants us to follow His commandments, He wants us to tell others about Him. Your relationship with God will become closer and closer as you do the things He requires of you. These are not hard things but you will have to choose between what is important to you, Him or the things of this world. God has great plans for you. If you do well with a little bit, He will give you a lot, pressed down and shaken together. God notices what you do, He sees everything you do and hears every single thing you say. He appreciates what you do for Him. "Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full--pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back." Luke 6:38
​Seek God today. He is knocking...Open the Door.
Did you know that Jesus set an example for us to follow in everything including regarding Prayer? 
​Read Matthew 6:5-15
Jesus prayed in a quiet solitary place. Mark 1:35, Mark 1:34-36
Jesus withdrew to places where He could be alone when He prayed. Luke 5:16
Jesus looked toward heaven when He prayed. John 17:1-3
It's easy to fall in love with God when we hear of how much God loves us, when we truly believe and we realize He sent His son Jesus Christ to die for our sins and are saved but then, many fall away from God. Some fall away because they stop praying, don't study at all or don't study enough, and often go back to their old ways, while others fall away because they do not understand how to love God, are unsure, have unanswered questions due to a lack of knowledge, don't pray, don't read the bible, and basically do not know how to show Him they love Him. You can feel that same rush you felt when you were saved every single day if you spend time with Him, talking with Him, thinking about Him, studying His word, praising Him, singing to Him, and following Christ's example and God's laws. If you want to know more about learning to love God click the button below.

Learning to Love God

Memory verse: Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20

Bride of Christ

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