Choosing To Make God Relevant In Your Life.

Intro Blog to this message - The Relevance of God.

In the intro blog I had asked, “Do you feel like a squirrel running in an exercise wheel? If the answer is yes, then maybe it is time to re-evaluate what you have been considering relevant in your life?

You may be very happy where you are in life at this point, but still feeling like something is missing. Today, as you read this you may be thinking, “How did I get to this point in my life or is this really my purpose in life?” Everyday experiences and every season of our lives can affect our worldviews based on what we experience or the information we are exposed to.

You may have heard the expression, “How do you eat an elephant? Answer, One bite at a time!”
These changes over time are like the process above with the elephant: one decision, one compromise, one lie, one attitude or one bad influence in your life. Maybe it was one bad church experience or what you heard about someone's bad experience.

I believe it is not an accident you are reading this today. God is always speaking, but it is up to us to listen.
If you have experienced a situation that has affected your life or your worldview, we are here to help you get your life back on track!

God loves you and He has a plan for your life! You are relevant to God!

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 1 John 4:9-10 NLT

Unfortunately, this gift is not automatically accepted or received by most people. We have a part to play in God’s plan for us which will affect those around us. There is a real chance of missing all that He has planned for your life if you have allowed the pressures of the societal messages to take a higher relevance than God in your life.

“This is real love—not that we loved God…” This is where each one of us starts out in life. We are born into a world filled with sin and evil that seems to be growing worse every day. More & more people are engaging in and embracing activities or attitudes that would have been considered unacceptable a few years ago, but now are flaunted, encouraged, and presented as the norm. God or the mention of God has been removed from schools, government and retail businesses. Our schools and government have grown more controlling and more about their agenda than about what parents or constituents want. More and more people are feeling powerless as they see the world changing.

This change started with the attack on the family unit and biblical morals being replaced with worldly and selfish mindsets. It has been a process of renewing the minds of people (deception techniques) to accept the message that God is not relevant!

It is not time to lose hope or get discouraged. I believe it is time for each of us to evaluate our world view and ask ourselves, “Is God relevant in my life?” Change in “our world” starts with us!

The above scripture 1 John 4:9-10 is a great starting point of why you may be facing issues in your life or are feeling overwhelmed with what you are experiencing. What is the relevance of God in your life? If there is no love for God, no significance, no place for Him, then by your actions, God is not relevant in your life or holding the place in your heart that He so desires.

In 1 John 4:9-10 we also see that God has made a way for us to be with Him for eternity after we die, but what about here today and the days ahead? God paid a high price for each of us, but if we do not give His Word relevance in our lives His plan for our lives on earth will not be available to us. If we do not comprehend the value of His sacrifice or His presence in our lives, we will not experience the life He planned for each one of us from birth until we meet Him at death.

It is never too late! God will meet you right where you are!

The relevance of God in our lives matters. I believe it will be the difference between “life or death” in the days to come! It all starts with a decision to repent for not placing God first place in our life and then seeking Him going forward. Repenting means to “turn from.” We turn from the mindset, lifestyle, habits, and attitudes we have experienced to this point and turn to the life God has promised us in His Word, the bible!

If you are already a Christian, you may realize that the relevance of God in your life has taken second place to other priorities or world views. Again, it is never too late to repent and get right back into right standing with God.

​If you are not a Christian now is a perfect time to ask God to meet you where you are at in life. According to The Word of God we must be born again to be a Christian & have His Word apply to us, our lives and our eternal destiny. A True Christian is born again and believes in our heart and confesses with our voice that Jesus is Lord of our lives! It is simply a decision to receive the gift from God to us and to begin the new life that He has for us!
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If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. Romans 10:9-10 NLT

This quality decision is step one! Now it is time to make it real in your life. Remember 1 John 4:9-10 above? “This is real love—not that we loved God” God is perfect Love, but like any relationship it does not just happen. It takes investing our time to study His Word and through prayer to develop your relationship with God. When we start to replace our thoughts and mindsets that we have developed along our path of life we will begin to think like God thinks and do what He did and have what He wants us to have. Wow! That is exciting and that is the life that you can only imagine when you start thinking like God!

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2 NLT

There will be pressure to fall back into your previous habits, mindset and lifestyle, but trust me if you resist and diligently seek God, He will reveal Himself to you! The things of the world will pressure you to come back to your previous place in life or try to convince you that you are making a mistake, or you will lose out on life… You may need to find a place to have some quiet time to yourself and shut the world out for as long as it takes. Or take steps towards God by dropping certain activities or possibly choosing who you spend time with as you learn to hear His voice.

Here are some scriptures that refer to the process of renewing our minds from our old way of thinking. It can be a battle that takes place in our minds and hearts!

The relevance of God in our lives changes as we purposely focus on His Word and drop the old way of living or thinking.

Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. Romans 8:5-14 NLT

We have a part to play in the process of renewing our mind and changing our lives!
We must resist the Devil and take deliberate and purposeful steps to come close to God!

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. James 4:7-8 NLT

“Your loyalty is divided between God and the world” This is where it all starts and why many people may have gotten to this point in their life! The distractions of the world and in your life can take the place of God. Therefore, the relevance of God in your life has been replaced or never experienced in the first place.

If you allow the relevance of God to be lessened or replaced by what the world says is important you will never reach your full potential or experience real freedom. If your mindset, thoughts or what you believe to be true has been your guide to this point in your life you may be wondering, “What is missing?” “Why do I feel this way?”

If you want change in your life, you must do what it takes to replace worldly thoughts with God’s thoughts about you. It comes down to this question, “Who do you put your trust in?” Will it continue to be yourself (and your old way of thinking) or The Creator of the world? Hint. It is best to trust God.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
7 Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
8 Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones. Proverbs 3:5-8 NLT

The above scripture needs to be on your fridge, in your car and on your mirrors! It is a key to survival in the world we live in. According to The Word of God, as the days go by, people in general will continue to digress and we will experience a greater influence of evil. It is imperative that we believe, live and act on the above scripture!

Proverbs 3:5-8 NLT from above “Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones!” What, “God promises us health and healing? Yes, He does, but that is only one of His promises for us, as we renew our mind and develop our relationship with Him! When we take steps to place God first in our lives, He becomes more relevant in our lives and we will begin to experience the new life He has for us.

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:6 NLT

​Atlin Family Church is a faith teaching church. We are here to help you take steps to live the life God has for you and for you to begin to receive the promises (“rewards”) from His Word. We believe that as you take steps to live In Christ you will become an example to others who are searching for the meaning of life.