Sometimes a pastor just wants to sit down with his sheep and love on them.  Oh, yes some day's I can be hard on you but that truly is because I do love you with all my heart.  Over the last few years I have been going back and forth with a young man that is steeped in his legalism.  Every time I mention a personal relationship with Jesus he runs and hides.  He admitted it one time that when I spoke of having a personal relationship with Jesus he thought I was double talking.  But, because I know Jesus loves him I will continue to try to explain to him what it means to have that personal relationship with Jesus.    Sadly, he is steeped in legalist doctrine that if we do not keep God's commandments especially keeping the Sabbath we are going straight to hell.   I have tried to explain to him that of all the Commandments that the Sabbath is the one that Jesus never directly addressed.   In fact if we study the live and times of our Savior Jesus we see that Jesus went out of His way to break every Jewish law He could concerning the Sabbath.   John 9:1-7 (NLT) 1As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2"Teacher," his disciples asked him, "why was this man born blind? Was it a result of his own sins or those of his parents?" 3"It was not because of his sins or his parents' sins," Jesus answered. "He was born blind so the power of God could be seen in him.  4All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent me, because there is little time left before the night falls and all work comes to an end. But while I am still here in the world, I am the light of the world." 6Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and smoothed the mud over the blind man's eyes.  7He told him, "Go and wash in the pool of Siloam" (Siloam means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing!    Did you realize that there is a little known Pharisaical law that it was wrong to heal a blind man on the Sabbath by this method?  But, there is so much more to notice in this passage.  First, Jesus told his disciples that this man was born blind for one purpose only "so the power of God could be seen in him."  When I first read this as a young Christian I thought "What kind of God do I serve? Who would make a man blind for a good portion of His life just to show His power?"   As I grew to have that personal relationship with God's one and only Son I looked at this in a different light.  Now I say "What kind of God do I serve? One who would honor a common man that he could be used to show Gods power and glory and then give him the boldness to preach this new testimony to the religious leaders of the day!"  
        My Jesus has shown me many different truths over my years working for Him.  But, one of the most important is that if a word from God is really important it will appear at least 3 times in the scriptures.  If you think about it logically this makes perfect sense when God's perfect number is 3.   There are three places in the word of God that we have Jesus saying. John 13:34-35 (NLT) 34So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.  35Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."  Then a second time in; John 15:9-12 (NLT)  9"I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10When you obey me, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father and remain in his love.  11I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!  12I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you.   Finally in; John 15:17 (NLT) 17I command you to love each other.  Ok, before you jump up and down saying see we are to love everyone into the church let's really look at these.  First, all three of these scriptures are talking about members of the Body of Christ.  So these do not have anything to do with showing or not showing Jesus' love to the world.  Second, this only applies to true Christians.   What do I mean?  Look honestly at the scriptures.   10When you obey me, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father and remain in his love.   The Greek here for "obey" can also be translated commandments.   If we look at the root words that make up the Greek phrase we see that this implies a deep respect of the individual we are honoring by keeping their word to the point we become like them.   So, what is this saying?  Jesus was telling us that by loving our brothers and sisters in Christ we will have joy overflowing and we will show the world we are Disciples and most importantly we will honor our Father in heaven.  But, Jesus defines who are our brothers and sisters in Christ.  He defines them as those who keep God's, therefore Jesus' words.   Again for you legalists, remember when Jesus was asked about the greatest commandments he said Matthew 22:36-40 (KJV) 36Master, which is the great commandment in the law?  7Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the first and great commandment.  39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.   You see my friends, those that say "find your own way to God then worship with us!"  Or "there are many paths to God!"  Or that the words of Jesus John 14:6 (NLT)  6Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." are not really true Jesus meant something different.   Or those who say we must keep the Sabbath or the law because God never did away with the Law. The young man I mentioned earlier equates keeping the law and Sabbath with salvation and does not even know Jesus.   OK! Wait one minute!  Do not hang me or get mad at me.  I am not talking about those with a relationship with Jesus who want to or believe that we should worship on the Sabbath.  I have many good Christian friends that have a great relationship with Jesus and love Him with all their heart and want to honor Him by worshiping Him on the Sabbath.  This is great because as Paul said it does not matter what day we worship Jesus so long as we do it to honor God and His Son.  I paraphrased of course. 
        Ok, on with the point. Or Those who in anyway, shape or form change or pervert the word of God to suit their own beliefs are not and cannot be your brothers or sisters in Christ, at least not by our Lord and Saviors standards.   Jesus said it, and therefore it is true.  Matthew 7:13-14 (NLT) 13"You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way. 14But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.
        So what has this to do with a personal relationship with Jesus?  Well let's bring it down to real human life terms.  If you had a best friend, wife or husband who never took you at your word or worse changed the meaning of everything you said would you be able to have a real relationship with them?  Or even worse how would feel about a relationship with someone who basically said that you and what you said was unimportant and told you that only your fathers words mattered.  Even though your father showed up on the scene and told them  this Matthew 17:5 (NLT) 5But even as he said it, a bright cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with him. Listen to him."   Do you understand what having a trust, a 100% trust in the words of Christ means?  Only by listening truly listening and believing Christ's words can you have a personal relationship with Him.  It is not an easy thing my friends, it requires commitment, it requires the willingness to listen to that still small voice of the Holy Spirit, it requires work and effort also.  It requires the willingness to allow Jesus to change your heart as He needs.  But, most of all it requires you to set your life aside so you can do the will of the Living God in heaven.  A personal relationship with Jesus is the greatest thing you can ever have in your life.  If you currently have a relationship with your church or your religion you are first missing the point but more than that you are also missing out on so much of what Jesus wants for you. 
        Let me give you just a couple of real life examples of what having a personal relationship with Jesus means, at least, to this old pastor.  Many years ago Mary and I were struggling.   Not just with finances, but with our troubled twins daughters.  It seemed like we were being attacked on every corner.  It was so bad, (how bad was it?) Mary and I were even getting on each others nerves.  This is something that never happens.  Well we drove out to one of our desert spots and prayed.  I hiked to the top of a hill about 200 ft above the old jeep where Mary was praying.  I sat down in the middle of the flat area and just started to cry out to the Lord.  I honestly cannot remember what I was saying, but after sometime a wind came out of no where.  I cannot really explain it but I could see the wind but not.  It was transparent but I could see it.  The wind swirled around me in a tornado type vortex and literally picked me up off the rock and set me on my feet.  At that moment every care on earth was removed from me and I knew what Jesus meant when He said "I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!"  I started singing praise hymns at the top of my lungs.  After sometime I hiked back down the hill to my Mary.  She was deep in prayer and heard a choir of Angels singing as I came down the hill singing.  Both of us were so filled with joy all we could do for sometime was praise the Lord. 
        Another time I was with the family in one of our desert places and I was seeking the Lord's direction on several things.   The family was waiting in our old jeep and I walked off up the canyons to cry out to my Jesus.   I guess I was gone longer than I thought because later my lovely wife thought I had gotten lost.  I was deep in prayer miles from any human when I felt a hand upon my shoulder and heard as clear as day the words "It will be all right my son".   I almost came out of my skin as I jumped up but there was no one there.  But, guess what, my Lord was right all those things I was praying about were all taken care of. 
        The final time I will leave you with happened during one of Mary and I prayer retreats.  We were having worship, study, prayer and the Lords Supper everyday.   We were away from man in the mountains of Wyoming.  During the Lords supper both of us were deep in prayer and we both saw Jesus standing before us with a big smile on His face.   These are not saying Pastor A.J. and Mary are special, these events are related to a personal relationship with Jesus.   This is why I cannot stress enough the importance of having a personal relationship with our Lord.   Not just a passing relationship, not just a pew sitting relationship, but a relationship where Jesus' wants and desires come before yours.  
        When you find the true love in your life you want to do anything you can for that person.  Many times humans believe they have found true love only to find it was false.   Just look at the headlines and see how many young people are killing others for the love of their lives to only find they were wrong. You will never find you're wrong if you make Jesus the first love of your life.  When you have a personal relationship with Jesus you hang on His every word.  You do not try to change them to fit what you think! Nope! You accept them as the truth and change your life to fit them.  When you have a personal relationship you do not blame Jesus  when things go wrong.  You run to His arms and trust His words that His father cares more for you than the sparrows.   When you have a personal relationship with Jesus you pray as He did.  Honored be the Father in Heaven and His will be on earth, in your life and in heaven.  There is a movie I would suggest you get and watch.  It is called "In search of a Miracle, Against all odds."  It is the story of a Jewish reporter searching the history of Israel as a modern nation.  He proves how time and time again God has preformed miracles to protect the Jewish nation and Jerusalem.   These are the people that rejected God's Son (see Matthew 23:37-39).  How much more will our Lord bless you in a personal relationship with him?
        You see my friends a personal relationship with Jesus is just that.  You feel comfortable enough not to hide your silly little sins from Him but you go to Him feeling free to confess your deepest heart and thoughts knowing He loves you enough to forgive you.  You also respect Him enough to honor Him, His Father in heaven and the Holy Spirit.  My friends, you can take it to the bank.  You want your life to be different, you want joy unspeakable, you want nothing to be able to shake your faith on this earth, you want to be greeted in Heaven with open arms and well done good and faithful servant?  Then get back to the basics and get a personal relationship with Jesus.  Matthew 7:7-11 (NLT) 7"Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened.  8For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks.  9You parents-if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?  10Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not!  11If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.

        My friends, as the old commercial said "try it you will like it!"