The Foundation of Healthy Relationships

    

 As strange as it may sound, Christians exist on two realms: physical and spiritual. Imagine the cross: the vertical bar represents the relationship with God, and the horizontal the relationships with others.    In order to pursue that primary relationship, our relationship with God,  a desire within the heart to pursue God, is necessary.

David aptly describes this desire with these words, “As the deer pants for the water brook, so my soul pants for You, O God. (Psalms 42:1 NIV) The question then becomes: How does a person a person pant after God? How does a person pursue a relationship with God? 

So far, I have learned that the following are critical:

·      Conversation with God. At any time of the day, but morning is best.  Before the noise of the day, begins. This is when we tap into our well, and he provides a cool drink of water to quench parched spirits and thirsty souls. We tell God, we ask him, we express thanks.  

·      Listening.  We can learn a lot about who God is by paying attention to what he has said to others.  God’s interactions with mankind from Genesis to Revelation show just how intensely he has been trying to reach us since the beginning of time. Revelation 3:20 emphasizes that point: “Behold I stand at the door and knock. if any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”  (NIV) With persistence and love, God calls us. 

·      Community. This where our horizontal relationships come in.  Living in a fallen world makes living the Christian life a difficult proposition. There is a force out there, aka Satan, who is trying to destroy us.  He could be a wolf in sheep’s clothing “… a roaring lion, walking about, seeking whom he may devour.” (I Peter 5:8 NIV)).  Our best hope for living healthy lives is to add to our relationship with God spiritual relationships with people of the faith.   

When we nurture our relationship with God and with others in the faith, we can live healthy Christian lives--not flawless nor problem-free, but lives pointing toward right being, right thinking and speaking, right loving and living.  

Gifts of Hope

As Christians, God expects us to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. In our states and cities and on the streets where we reside, whether we live in the best part of town or the worst, God has placed an expectation on our lives. 

Jesus said, “Ye are the light of the world” (Matt 5:14 KJV). As light, our assignment is to illuminate the darkness. When we bring light, we bring hope. Like air in a flat tire, hope inflates, allowing lives to travel smoothly across many terrains.

The Gospel

Jesus had walked with the disciples, showing them His love, His power, His truth. He showed that He was relentless in what He believed, despite opposition. He endured hardship like a soldier, allowing His creation to temporarily destroy His body. He submitted to the process of burial and then defied the whole experience by rising again.

He had shown them that there can be healing after sickness, sight after blindness, resurrection after death, forgiveness after sin. And He commanded them to share this message of hope with others.Followers of Christ are expected to share that same message of hope today. 

Whether Christians talk, sing, write, design, draw, dance, paint, build, or play sports or an instrument, God will provide opportunities to share the gospel. Our responsibility is to be prepared and clear. When we share the story of Jesus Christ using our gifts and talent, we are planting seeds of hope to those in need.

Gifts and Talents

God has blessed each Christian with a gift to be used to encourage, educate, instruct, and uplift others. Teachers inspire hope when they explain the truth with love. If God calls a person to sing, they should sing as though the life of every listener depends on it. 

 “Each of you should use whatever gifts God has given you to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (I Peter 4:10 NIV). The gift of administration, hospitality, faith, prayer, writing, or whatever should be used to instill confidence and promote expectation in others because God “has come that they may have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10 KJV).

Money

We can also bring hope by opening our checkbooks. Sometimes God asks us to make financial sacrifices to lighten someone else’s burden; and by doing so, we share His grace and goodness with others. A perfect example of that is The Care Project (TCP), a non-profit organization, which cares for Kevorn’s living space in Antigua.

 Kevorn, in his twenties, is speechless and unable to use his hands or his feet due to cerebral palsy. To bring hope to his situation, ten months ago, a woman from Brooklyn, Dr. Valeria Oliver Durrah, posted a request of $6,500 on GoFundMe to purchase a voice box for Kevorn. This device would teach him to communicate in a way he had never done before. The giving public came through. 

In February 2016, Dr. Durrah traveled to Antigua to follow-up on her donation. These were her words: “This was a very inspiring visit for me. Kevorn’s smile left me speechless and grateful to the Almighty that I can speak, talk, and advocate for children and people in need. This is the will of God.” By sharing her vision of hope, Dr. Durrah opened the door for others to share their blessings with Kevorn. In many ways, donor, recipient, and witnesses are uplifted by the experience. Hope extended is hope multiplied.

Service

Sometimes, neither our gifts nor our money is needed. On occasion, our time is the one thing that brings hope to others. With another church missionary, I had the honor of delivering fruit baskets this past Christmas to the sick confined to their homes. The very first visit left a deep impression on me. When we brought the gift and sat at the kitchen table, the woman engaged us in small talk. At some point the three of us began to sing a hymn. I do not remember the title, but the infirmed one’s tears will be difficult to forget. That woman cried and cried in joy while we sang. It took only fifteen minutes to bring some Saturday morning hope to a senior citizen that day.

Bringing hope to others is tantamount to bringing life, and if we do it with the right spirit, we point them to the giver of life, Jesus Christ.