3 WAYS TO STRENGTHEN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS

One of the worst indictments that Jesus ever made in the bible was the statement in this verse in Matthew.

These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. (‭Matthew‬ ‭15‬:‭8‬ NIV)

Honestly I cannot think of a worse thing for someone to say to me, that I'm a verbal follower of Jesus but in reality my heart is far from him. I've been following Jesus for over 25 years now, and I've had seasons where I've felt like my heart is closer to him than others, and after reading this verse was compelled to share a few key ways to stay close to Jesus.

3 Ways to keep your heart from drifting from Jesus:

1. Make time with Jesus a priority but not a ritual.

Make spending time with Jesus a regular and consistent thing, but do that because you are thankful for who He is and what he has done for you. Make time for Jesus because you love Him, not because you're afraid you have to or he won't love you. Rituals don't need to engage the heart to happen, but a relationship has to have heart, there is no way to build a relationship from rituals.

2. Get involved with what He's doing.

We keep our heart close to Him when we get involved in what's close to His heart. One of the primary things Jesus is doing on earth today is reaching and loving lost people. Incase you didn't know, when followers of Jesus gather together, that's called the Church. We aren't just supposed to go to church but we're called to BE the Church. As the Church one of our primary objectives is reaching lost people. Every local church has different ways of helping with this primary focus, but the key is to get involved. Serve at your church on the weekends or get involved in local or global outreach during the week.

3. Remember the Cross.

One of the quickest ways my heart can drift is when I forget what Jesus did for me on that horrible and wonderful cross. Of course I don't actually forget but when I don't keep the cross at the forefront I can tend to live as if Jesus is secondary. That's why we have a habit of taking communion, to remember Jesus. Let's remember the cross, let's remember the price that was paid, and let's live fully and completely for the one who gave himself completely. 

When I remind myself of the great love and goodness of God, it draws my heart back to His once again.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭38-39‬ NIV)