get to know Him

How do you develop a relationship with God?
It's a simple answer for which many people do not know the answer.

How do you develop relationships with your friends and those you love?
-spend time with them
-listen to them and talk to them about yourself (get to know each other)

How do you develop a relationship with God?
-spend time with him
-listen to Him talk and talk to Him about yourself

You spend time with God by spending time worshiping, praying, reading the Bible.
How do you listen to Him talk? You can do this by reading His Word. You can listen to Him by listening to preachings. You can listen to a song that encourages you in whatever you are going through. Prayer is simply having a conversation with God. Talk to Him, sincerely from the heart. Then in turn listen to Him speak. There have been so many times in my life that I have been praying about something and when I opened my Bible to read what I read was related to what I was praying about. That's God speaking!

You develop a relationship with the Lord when you read your Bible (you're listening to Him speak), when you pray (you are speaking with Him).
And the awesome thing is that you can pray anywhere! While your riding to school you can have a conversation with God without ever saying a word out loud and that is enough! You can be all alone with God in the midst of a crowded room.

Get to know God. Read the Bible and see what He's about and what He's saying to you. He is speaking all the time, all we have to do is take time to listen.


Psalm 85:8 (New King James Version)

8 I will hear what God the LORD will speak,
For He will speak peace
To His people and to His saints;

who do you chill with?

I want to deal with how to build a relationship with Jesus now that you have decided to give your life to Him (we hope you have and if you have done so recently we would like for you to let us know by sending us a message on our blogs). Last round in the first week we explained how Jesus had to die on the cross for the sins of the world. Not only did He die on the cross but three days after His death He rose again and showed Himself to some of His followers. After about forty days with them they saw Him go up into heaven and now He is sitting right next to God on the throne. Wow, pretty sweet. This is real. So Jesus is not dead. He is alive. Not only did He die for our sins but He stayed alive so that He could show us how to live. Thats some off the chain stuff if you ask me. So let me ask you a question. Who do you chill with? Your boys, your girls? Who? What if I told you that I've chilled with Jesus? The creator of the world. Everything from the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains and the ocean was created by Him and I get to hang out with Him. Now that you are freaked out I want to let you know that the point of this round is to let you know that you can hang out and chill with Jesus to. So how do you do that? How do I build a relationship with Jesus? I am glad you asked. One way is through prayer. If you have never prayed before,.. that is okay. I to was in your shoes before I met Jesus. Its simple. All you do is have a conversation just like you do with your boys or girls. You just ask him about serious stuff though. I first started out praying one minute a day. It was weird talking to someone you can't see but the more you do it the more you get used to it. Commit to it and it will change your life. Another way is through reading the bible. The bible is the real, absolute word of God. That means that God pretty much wrote the book. The creator of the universe wrote a book so that He could reveal Himself to us. The more you read it the more you find out about who you are and what you were created to do. Nowadays you can download the bible into your iPod or you can get it on dvd or a cd. Just pop it in and listen to it. Those are just two of the ways you can build a relationship with Jesus. I will let the team go into more details on those two and maybe another one that you can use in your life. I hope you enjoyed and until next time...
Peace and God bless.

-Mick
mickeyspassion@hotmail.com

a best friend

Everything in your environment teaches you. Music artists, television, radio, magazines, movies, and books are constantly teaching and finding ways to reach out to you so that you can learn from them. And they put things into your minds day in and day out. They play the same songs over and over again until they go out of style, you hear the same thing on the news over and over again, and the same kind of movies that have violence and sex get the highest ratings over and over again. There is a method to their madness. They know if they can play it over and over again you will remember it. And what you remember is what you will think about and what you think about is what you will do. These types of media spend millions of dollars so that they can reach this generation one way or another. Can I be real with you? The one who is behind all of this, the devil, is not stupid. He knows that if he can get the way his kingdom runs into your mind you will live by the rules of his kingdom. Satan has copied God's system of running things but he uses hate instead of love, evil instead of good, and revenge instead of forgiveness. The devil can not create, so he uses God's way of doing things, but he uses a perverted version. And he is using the media that I spoke about above to get into your minds. God created the idea of seed, time, and harvest. This just means that it takes time for you to learn, to grow, and mature. And during this process there must be seed planted in your mind over and over again. Seed can come in the form of words, songs, and pictures. The devil has copied this idea of God and he is using it pretty good. He has done a good job of getting into the minds of this generation and making us think that sin is cool. It is because of this that we are teaching on the kingdom of God over and over. So that you can get it in your mind and live by it.> Well another way that you are taught that I failed to mention is through your friends. Have you ever wondered why you want to be soo accepted by your friends and your peers? Why do you fear being left out? Is it because you don't want people to make fun of you? Is it because if you let people know the real you they won't hang out with you anymore? These are real questions that need to be answered. Because if you ever broke out of that fear you would be unstoppable in life. Why do we have to be accepted? Because even in the beginning God said 'It is not good for man to be alone'. We were created to have companionship. This means that we want to be loved by someone. Its okay, its natural. We were made like that by the Creator Himself. He is the one to blame for this mess. I am just kidding!! But what we fail to miss, especially in the society we live in now, is that when God said that to Adam they already had a relationship with one another. The bible says that "God walked with Adam in the cool of the day". This means that there was a specific time that they met everyday. They walked together. Can you imagine walking with God everyday? Can you imagine the creator of the universe being your best friend? Thats what Adam had. His best friend was the one who made him. OH MY GOSH! Listen, the one who made the heavens and the earth wants to be your best friend, He wants to walk with you, and teach you at the same time. If you can make Him your best friend then it does not matter who accepts you and wants to be your friend. Thats why you want to be accepted because you were created to have relationships. And if you are not hanging out with people who accept you then you are going to feel empty. Stop seeking your friends to satisfy this emptiness. Go to God first, let Him fill you up, and then go out and find the friends that best fit your life with God. Don't try to fit with them, let them fit with you. If they don't match your lifestyle that you have with God then don't make it fit. You can still hang out with them but make sure that it is not costing your friendship with God first. > I will end with this. In these days God has provided a best friend for us. When Jesus walked on this earth He told His fiends "It is better for you that I leave so that I can send the Comforter". The comforter is God's Spirit. He is called the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is supposed to be inside of you. If He is not, ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit. Think about this for a minute. God is saying that He wants to live inside of the very thing that He made......WOW!! He wants to live inside of you. Let Him and He will teach you the right way to live and you will never be the same again. The Holy Spirit will lead you, teach you, and comfor you. There is soo much He can do if you let Him help. In the next three weeks we will talk about how He leads, comforts, and teaches you about the kingdom of God. He wants to be your best friend. Why not let Him. Love you guys and talk to you again soon.> > Mickey Santiago

choose friends wisely

Hello and Hola to all!

This week we will talk about how we seek God in our relationships.

Do you remember when you first got saved? Or when you had your first true encounter with the Glory of God?
I remember mine. I threw out books, music, movies and anything else that I knew were not pleasing to God.
Not only that, but then I got new things that I knew would help me grow in my relationship with God. I got new books and inspiring movies. I got music that praised God.
We need things in our lives that are not just there to be there, but that are there to help us grow our relationship with God.
One of the biggest “things” is people. God has blessed us not to be loners but to be able to bond with others. It might be friends or family. When God created Adam he knew it was not good for him to be alone. This speaks about more than just marriage. Marriage is just one form of a relationship. There are parents, friends, siblings, husbands, wives, mentors, pastors, etc.
One awesome way to grow is to find mentors. There are people all around that have experienced more of God than you. People who have more wisdom and who have learned more through different experiences. God speaks to us through people all the time. We are to surround ourselves with people who love God, who are seeking more of Him everyday. That is because these people will help inspire us. They will help encourage us. They will challenge us to grow to the next level.
Our closest friends should not be people who want no part of God. Hanging out with the wrong crowd will bring you in the wrong direction. It always seems easier to become like others instead of them becoming like you!
2 Corinthians 6:14 says: Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
To be yoked means to be bonded to. Like I said, it is always easier to go with the crowd. For this reason we should seek out friends (or crowds) who also love God. Seek a mentor --- someone who can pray for you and counsel you according to the Word. Seek out those who can nudge you towards God and your destiny and not towards your own destruction.
Relationships are powerful, so choose with care! The right relationships will bless you for a lifetime.

God Bless!
Arlene