7th August 2024 GOD COMES INTO PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEOPLE The God who designed the starry heavens, who created the universe, seeks a personal relationship with us. He had a personal relationship with Moses: "The Lord would speak to Moses . . . as a man speaks with his friend" (Exodus 33:11). And God wants to enter into a personal relationship with you and become your Friend. Jesus promised those who follow Him: "You are my friends" (John 15:14). We have all wrestled with the idea of God, for humans are naturally religious. No animal ever builds an altar for worship. Yet everywhere you find men and women, you find them worshiping. Deep within every human heart is a natural desire to worship, an awareness of God, a desire to become a friend of God. When we respond to our longing and find God, there is no longer a doubt about His existence and our need. During the 1990s millions of atheists in Russia renounced atheism and turned to God. A University Professor in St. Petersburg made a statement that typifies the comments made by many transformed atheists in the former Soviet Union: "I have searched for a meaning to life in my Scientific Research, but found nothing to have confidence in. The Scientists around me have the same empty feeling. As I looked at the vastness of the universe in my study of astronomy, and the emptiness of my soul, I felt there must be some meaning. Then, when I received the Bible you gave me and began reading it, the vacuum in my life was filled. I have found the Bible to be the only source of confidence to my soul. I have accepted Jesus as my Savior and have found true peace and satisfaction in life." A Christian believes in God because he or she has met Him and discovers that He satisfies the heart's deepest needs. The God whom Christians have joyfully found to exist, gives us a new perspective, new meaning, new motives, and new joys. God doesn't promise a life free from trouble and conflict, but He does assure us that He will guide and sustain us if we come into a personal relationship with Him. And millions of Christians will testify that they would give up everything rather than go back to a life without God. This is the greatest wonder of all - that the Almighty God who designed, created, and sustains the universe also desires a personal relationship with every man and woman, boy and girl. David marvelled at this, when he wrote: "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him?" - Psalm 8:3, 4. Our Creator is "mindful" of each one of us. He takes as personal an interest in you as if you were the only being He had created. So we can believe in God: (1) Because of the intricate design in everything He created about us. (2) Because of the longing for God within us that leaves us restless till we find our rest in Him. And, (3) Because when we seek and find Him, God satisfies our every need and longing - to the full! God bless you.