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God desires a personal relationship with each of us. We should never be satisfied and stop growing in our relationship with Him. We should always be looking to turn up the spiritual temperature in our lives by going deeper with God.

Let's find out what an Old Testament prophet had to say about a relationship with God. Ezekiel 47 says:
And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees.

Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.
(vv. 3-5)
The waters in these verses represent the Holy Ghost. Ezekiel experienced different heights and degrees in the river. These scriptures indicate that there are different levels or degrees in your relationship with God.

Are you satisfied with your relationship with God? Are you satisfied with an ankle deep relationship with Him? Are you a person who needs to turn up the spiritual temperature in your life so your relationship can grow?

Choose Your Temperature
How do you develop a deeper relationship with God? What does it mean to "turn up the spiritual temperature" in your life? First of all, you have to choose to turn up your temperature. God will not do it for you. Although He wants every part of your life surrendered to Him, you have a part to play.

Let's look to Revelation 3:
And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou were cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.
(vv. 14-16)
God says, in verse 15, that He knows you, or in other words, He knows you intimately, inside and out. You can never hide from God. He knows your every thought. If God and His Word are occupying your mind, you will be on fire for Him.

A lukewarm or neutral relationship with God is not what you were called to. Your spiritual condition should be one of fire at all times. You can have a fired-up relationship with God when you spend time in His Word, in prayer, and in worship. Then, when you speak His words, they are life to you (Prov. 4:20).

His Words are active in your life when you are on fire for Him!

Revelation 3:17 goes on to say, "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked...."

This verse refers to a lukewarm Christian as thinking he doesn't need God. But God has another thought about this type of Christian. Inspired by the Holy Ghost, John wrote that a lukewarm Christian's condition is miserable and wretched.

I don't think any of us want to be called miserable or wretched. I challenge you right now to open up your relationship with God, and ask Him what you need to do in your life to change and turn things around if you are lukewarm.

Open Yourself Up
God tells us how to open ourselves up to Him in Revelation 3:20: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."

Open your heart to God by asking Him what you can do to have a closer relationship with Him. Find out what you can do to increase the fire in your life. Allow Him to change your heart by being obedient to His Word.

Sometimes you may not feel like praying or worshiping God, but that is when you can crucify your flesh and spend time with Him. Galatians 2:20 says, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

To crucify your flesh, you cannot live by the way you feel. You must allow God's Word to change you. Then, even if you don't feel like spending time with Him, your spirit will rise above your flesh and you will choose to draw closer to Him.

When you open yourself up to God, He will identify some areas that He wants you to change. Let's go to James 4:1,3-4 to find some signs of a lukewarm Christian. Some of these things may appear in your life if your spiritual temperature is low:
From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
First, if you find yourself fighting with people around you, your temperature is probably low. If your temperature is high, the love of God will always flow out of you and you will treat people right.

Second, James said that when we ask God for things, we ask amiss if we are lukewarm. "Asking amiss" means that you ask God for things with a wrong motive. Selfishness, greed, envy, and jealousy are all wrong motives. These are signs that we are lukewarm and not on fire for God.

Third, if you are in love with the world, then you are actually lining yourself up with God. If you are in this spiritual condition, God can not move for you because you have set yourself against Him.

If you are more fond of the things in the world than you are of God, your prayers will be hindered. Take inventory of your relationship with God, your job, your friends, and your possessions. Keep God first, and everything else will fall in line (Matt. 6:33).

The Bible says:
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
(1 John 2:15-17)
It is more important to find the will of God for your life then it is to love the things of the world. We should never be more on fire for the things of the world than we are for God.

Give God Possession of Your Life
Do you want more of God? The Bible says in James that He wants more of you. James 4:5-8: "Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble."

What does this mean? The Spirit of God that dwells in you is intensely craving to take possession or control of your life. When He takes over the controls of your life, He also gives you the grace or the ability to walk out His plan for your life.

Thank God we don't have to walk in our own wisdom or strength, but we can depend on Him!

God has a purpose and a plan for each one of us, but we are the ones who have to stir up the gift in us. Second Timothy 1:6 tells us, "Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands."

We are the ones who have to fan the flame, or stir up the fire of God, on the inside. How do we stir up the fire of God? We have to deliberately spend time with God and work on developing our relationship with Him. Everything in our lives will come out of our relationship with God. We will desire more of Him if we continue to stir up the flame on the inside.

Every Christian can develop a deeper relationship with God. No one has arrived at the perfect relationship. To move to a higher level in God, allow Him to consume your thoughts.

Spend time in His Word, in prayer, and in worship. When you deliberately draw closer to God, He will draw closer to you (James 4:8).

Faith Family Church
All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Author Biography

Michael Cameneti
Web site: Faith Family Church
 
Pastors Mike and Barb Cameneti are the founding and lead pastors of Faith Family Church. What began as a small basement Bible study in 1988, has flourished into a multi-faceted ministry reaching the world and helping people establish and grow in their relationship with God.
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