IT’S MORE THAN JUST BEING SAVED: IT’S A RELATIONSHIP!

Hebrews 5:7 (NIV)

During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

“With God, it is always about your relationship,” my best friend, Cassie, reminded me as I confessed what the Holy Spirit had convicted me one Sunday when I was visiting the Kampala church of Christ in Uganda. As the preacher referenced Jesus’ reverent submission to God’s plan for his suffering and unjust death on the cross, my heart was pricked. Jesus did not just willingly submit, but he did it in reverence to God, the Father. Hmm.

My way of relinquishing my control lately has been with a more negative, defeatist attitude, thinking, “Okay, I cry uncle, or I give up, God. You’re right. Yah, you’re always right. Whatever.” With my so called “submission” to his plans, where was my reverence for God? Just saying “Okay. Have it your way. I have had it.” was not the kind of surrender that God wanted from me.

“He knows that you are human, so he knows that surrendering in this way is difficult for you,” Cassie continued. “He just wants you to follow his plan. It is never a quick fix. It is always a process. God wants you to be honest and truthful about what you are feeling, concerning your challenges in submitting, and talk with him about it all. He will help you sort everything out.”

God had encouraged Cassie with someone recently citing one of her favorite scriptures Philippians 1:6. So she shared it again with me. God is the one working in each of us, and he is going to finish what he started! Both of us know that we just need to open our hearts and allow God to keep working within us.

Philippians 1:6 (NIV)

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

My best friend knows me so well. Often in the past, I would dwell too much on what I have done wrong. This was her way of encouraging me to be honest and confess my feelings and my sin to God. 1 John 1:9 says that as I confess, God is the faithful and just one, who not only forgives my sin but also purifies me from all unrighteousness. As the Holy Spirit convicts me, I go to God in meditation and prayer, and he heals me. I can now surrender to him with a deeper respect than I have had previously--thanks to Jesus. Though I still must work through the many things that I probably will not ever understand, I can at this moment honestly say, “I trust you, LORD. Here is my life. Do with it as you will.”

Since I have been in Uganda, I have watched people’s different interactions with one another and learned a bit more about the value of relationships. Here, there is a great sense of community, where people really know their neighbors, and family relationships tend to be tight. Of course, as with all countries, there are political challenges, crime, and exploitations of different jobs as well as lack of employment opportunities. Uganda is a low-income country with a young population and significant poverty, but it is making some progress in becoming more developed. In my experience thus far, almost everyone here tries to help one another, working hard to live, and the citizens are proud of their beautiful country.

I came with a friend and her two teenage children to visit their family. The people, that I have encountered thus far, have made me feel very welcomed. Though I am a stranger to them, my friend’s family have opened their hearts and homes to me and have treated me like I am one of them. I have eaten many different types of foods, gone to birthday and Christmas celebrations, attended a couple of outdoor Christmas programs, two Sunday church services and a midweek session at the Kampala church of Christ. I also visited with many of my friend’s family members and friends and paid my respects to some of the deceased relatives of my friend’s mother, who were placed in a beautifully peaceful graveyard. I shopped at two malls, a shopping center and even purchased few items at the local neighborhood stores and spent a weekend at a Safari site. A couple of people have mentioned some other attractions in Uganda, which we won’t have the time to visit. I have learned a few things about the country’s history. In all, most of the Ugandans that I have met are very friendly, and I have enjoyed my time here so far.

I guess seeing the great sense of community and the value of relationships during my visit has reminded me of how dramatically I changed my attitude about my need for deeper connections and for the body of Christ. When I came to Williamsburg, Virginia in 2019, I was a broken woman. The humbled state that I was in was the starting point of my journey in redefining the importance of the church—Christ’s body (Please refer to previous blog about some lessons learned during my mental breakdown). For the first time in my life, I began to value those vulnerable interactions with others so that my understanding of God’s desire for a more intimate relationship with me blossomed. The Holy Spirit has continuously shown me the great importance of having those close friendships. During my restoration studies, I was convicted of how my bond with Christ was incomplete because I did not value and revere his body—my community.

During my diagnosis and various times with my cancer treatments, I felt the importance of my family connections and of my best friendships. (Please refer to previous blogs about how God provides me family; God provides me family and friends; and my letting go to let God). These relational opportunities have helped me to grow more in my surrender to God’s will and even embrace the processes as I have endured various hardships. And now God draws me even closer with identifying my need for truly respecting his plans. I will never fully understand why he allows or sometimes causes things to happen, but then again, I don’t have to know this for me to ask him to help me to believe and trust in him. The Holy Spirit is constantly at work within me.

Last summer, one of the teachers in our church community had mentioned the greatest difference in the God of Israel and the gods of other nations was in how the worshippers related to their deities. As the one true God, our LORD, established a special covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15 and 17) and fulfilled his promises, God dealt with his people more in a relational way rather than a transactional way. (Even Jesus always referred to God as our Father in heaven.) Whereas people from other nations interacted with their deities in more of a self-serving exchange, looking for a specific immediate gain (like a business deal). Their attitude was more of doing certain things with an expectation that when they did it, they would get what they believed they deserved. (Reference: Google AI overview: Why does God seem transactional in the Old Testament?)

Because of his promises to Abraham, God kept demonstrating his great love to the Israelites in doing everything for their benefit (Psalm 103:7-12). He wanted them to develop a long-term trust in him and taught them about having a deeper emotional connection with him. He did this with an expectation that the Israelites would reciprocate with love and appreciation, telling them to love him with all their hearts, souls and strength and to put his commandments that he had given them on their hearts (Deuteronomy 6:4-6). He desired that they would choose to follow his plan so that trust and loyalty could develop. He wanted them to be more emotionally invested and connected with their Creator. It was about growing together rather than just obeying to get a reward. (Reference: Google AI overview: Transactional vs relational relationships and Google AI overview: Is God of the Bible relational or transactional?)

Of course, most of us know the story that many of the Israelites rebelled against God’s beautiful plan and had wandered in the desert for 40 years. But God knew all this even before he created the heavens and the earth. His plan from the beginning was for Jesus to be our sacrificial Lamb (1 Peter 1:18-20). Our LORD has done all of this because he desires for us to be reconciled back to him. He longs to be deeply emotionally invested with each of us so that we can be motivated by his love. God wants us to respond to his many gifts with appreciation and love, and obeying his commands shows that we greatly value this relationship (2 Corinthians 5:14,18-21 and John 14:23).

So, though it is true that heaven will be the reward for those of us who keep the faith (2 Timothy 4:7-8 and 2 Peter 3:13), I believe that God’s intention for us is not just for us to be in heaven with him.

After all, if we believe in both heaven and hell, I don’t think any one of us want to join satan, the beast and the false prophet in being tormented day and night forever and ever in the lake of burning sulfur (Revelations 20:10). Give me a break! It is human nature to avoid pain and the idea of having it 24/7 is quite scary. I am also sure that most of us will want to do all we can to get right with God when we are on our death beds. But let’s face it, fear is not a very good motivator since basically we would be obedient just to avoid punishment. God wants our hearts and not just our behavior (Psalm 51:16-17).

1 John 4:18-19 (ESV)

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he (God) first loved us.

Though fear can jolt us to be aware that some action is needed (freeze, fight or flight), this way of responding is not meant to last. It is so easy to get comfortable and complacent about our sin and to forget that God has already provided us with all that we need. When we don’t choose to be more vulnerable before God and just obey to avoid the fiery pit, we view God’s love and grace as cheap rather than the most valuable gift in the whole world. God yearns for us to respond to his love with great appreciation and respect for his unending love for us.

With this lesson and my experiences so far in Uganda, I now understand why going after deep and meaningful relationships tend to be so challenging for me. Because of my recent decisions about validating and acknowledging my feelings, I find it quite difficult to choose to relate more to God and to others in this relational way. It is far easier just to view all my interactions in the way of “what can I get” instead of “what can I give”. This is that self-centered part of my sinful nature.

Also because of my negative views, I focus on the flaws and failures more than the victories and blessings in life. I am constantly critical and judgmental about all things, leading me to be a self-righteous hypocrite. I highlight the problems and the woes (woe to me or woe to us that this is happening), not seeing the potential or opportunity for change. This is that prideful part of my sinful nature.

Romans 7:24 (NIV)

What a wretched (wo)man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?

But thanks be to God that my old self is gone and the new is here.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

God is constantly changing my heart and now as he has been helping me to understand him more and to see how he loves me. He challenges me to not view him as I had so many times in the past, wondering what I am going to get with my investment. He keeps showing me to trust in him and that it is as my friend, Cassie says, “It’s all about the relationship.”

How about you? How do you see the God of the universe? Is he calling you to have such a relationship with him? I encourage you to pray to him about it, and he will graciously show you what he desires for you to do as you choose to follow him. Our LORD has done and will continue to do all that he can to strengthen our relationships with him because he always has been and always will be so much more than just our Savior. As always to God be the glory! Amen.

The above cited passages are from the New International Version of the Bible:

Psalm 103:7-12 

⁷ He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:⁸ The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.⁹ He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;¹² as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Deuteronomy 6:4-6

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.

1 Peter 1:18-20

¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. ²⁰ He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.

2 Corinthians 5:14,18-21

¹⁴ For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.

¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin^] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

John 14:23

²³ Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

2 Timothy 4:7-8

⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

2 Peter 3:13

¹³ But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

Revelations 20:10

¹⁰ And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Psalm 51:16-17

¹⁶ You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.¹⁷ My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;    a broken and contrite heart    you, God, will not despise.