JOHN SHIRK – In the Year to Shine, today’s Vital Step to a Radiant Faith is Intimacy with God.

James 4:8 invites us to a closer relationship with God.  “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” How would our lives look different if we accepted this invitation?

An intimate relationship with God means that we know Him personally. We are familiar with His ways and seek His will. The more we walk with Him, the better we understand His heart. We are moved by His unfailing love for us to live by faith in Him.

In the Old Testament, David yearned for an intimate relationship with God. He wrote in Psalm 63:1. “You, God, are my God. Earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you…”

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul expressed a similar yearning in Philippians 3:10, “I want to know Christ-yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings…..”

Intimacy with God is a vital step to a Radiant Faith that makes a difference in our world.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Faith-Building Verse is Philippians 3:8.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him.”

Some people have an impressive religious resume and find their security there. For a while, that was Paul’s source of confidence before knowing Jesus as His Lord. When it came to legalistic righteousness, Paul said he was faultless. He had all the credentials of a Pharisee. His zeal led him to persecute the church because he was opposed to Christ.  After his encounter with Christ, Paul moved from legalistic religion into a faithful relationship with Jesus.

Apart from faith, our good deeds are like filthy rags. With faith in Jesus, our good deeds produce fruit that brings glory to God.

This Faith-Building Verse inspires us to understand the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus in the Year of Relationship.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com