I am on my journey to Emmaus, in 1998, with My Walk to Emmaus. I so far have shared 4 of the 15 Talks to you. Now I am on Talk 5. If you have missed the last talks, feel free to go to my resent past entries prior to todays date. Talk 5 is about Life in Piety and the talk was given by Dave Parmly.
Our relationship with God influences all other relationships we have.
Piety is our openness with God. Our highest priority. Life lived in openness to God. Pursuing God’s will for you in all activities. A RELATIONSHIP with God in your life’s highest priority.
Pious is having or showing religious devotion. Springing from actual or pretended religious devotion.
Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.
(John 7:16)
Jesus’s teaching was not of His own, but of the one who went Him. That is God, our Father and Jesus’s Father. Jesus’s life was lived completely within the WILL of the Father. While I make this post ask you this question …
What are you getting out of your relationship with God?
4 Characteristics of a God-Centered Relationship
- Honest – God knows everything about you. We cannot fool God. He knows all and sees all.
- Depth – Go deep! Do not be content with a shallow relationship. (Matthew 7:21-23)
- Resourceful – Surround yourself with the resources that will nurture your faith.
- Authenticity – Who we are and how we are to act. Be genuine. Christ’s example is your motivation, not other’s perceptions.
“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”(Matthew 7:23)
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.(Philippians 3:7-11)16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.(1 Peter 2:2)12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
(Hebrews 5:12-14)11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand j on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.(1 Kings 19:11-12)
Practices that will foster a God-Centered Relationship.
- Prayer – Constant conversation with God. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17)
- Study – The means by which we strengthen and build our confession of faith. (1 Peter 2:2 & Hebrews 5:12)
- Meditation – Shutting out the noise of the world to listen for the voice of God. (1 Kings 19:11-12)
- Worship – A practice designed for our benefit to bring us into God’s presence. (Psalm 95:6-7)
- Communion – We share in a common table and recall the sacrifice made for us. (Luke 22:19)
Fruits of a Life in Piety
- Awareness – This often compels you to move even deeper into God-centered relationship.
- Action – We must move beyond words and mere beliefs. (James 2:17)
- Direction – We focus on a goal — “Knowing Jesus”
- Natural – We must be ourselves if we are to convince others our relationship is genuine.
- Courage – Awareness of God’s influence can embolden our hearts to share Him.
- Confidence – We must positively radiate confidence in Jesus triumph over sin and death.
- Joy – The most visible evidence people will see of the light that illuminates us from with.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
7 for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.Today, if only you would hear his voice,
(Psalm 95:6-7)
19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”(Luke 22:19)
17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.(James 2:17)
4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in youis greater than the one who is in the world.(1 John 4:4)
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