YAHWEH spoke all these words, saying, “I am YAHWEH, your Elohim (God), who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself any sculpted image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, because I, YAHWEH, your Elohim (God), am a jealous Elohim (God), visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me; but shewing mercy to thousands of those who love Me, and keep My commandments. You shall not take the name of YAHWEH, your Elohim (God), in vain; for YAHWEH will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain." Exodus 20:1-7
YAHWEH, the God of all creation, wants to have a very personal relationship with YOU. He wants it based upon the very vital concepts expressed in Exodus 20, and upon others found in The Scriptures. While this was originally written to the Children of Israel, and you may not be an Israelite, YAHWEH still invites you to join the many millions over the years who have decided to put Him first in their lives; to honor and respect Him as The One True God. His Word proclaims that He loves you more deeply than any other being with whom you will ever have a relationship. He longs for you to love Him deeply in return. Yet He will not force you to do so. The choice is yours.
Webster’s Dictionary defines relationship like this: 1. connection; a being related. 2. connection by blood or marriage, kinship. Being related can mean a great many things. Again according to Webster, it can mean being connected – by origin, kinship, marriage, etc.; associated; of the same kind, family, etc. If you look up the meaning of connected you discover it means to be joined together, fastened, joined in proper order, coherent, related, affiliated, associated, or having something to do with.
Each of us has many relationships in our lives. They are of differing qualities. You can have a relationship with a person, or group of people, or you can even have a relationship with an object. (Some people are more involved with their car, their computer, their golf game, or the_____(you fill in the blank) than they are with the people in their lives. Some relationships involve a very serious commitment, like marriage and family connections, work agreements and legal contracts. Others are more casual in nature, like people we work with, someone we know from an activity we’re involved in together, someone we encounter at a restaurant or a store, or perhaps even someone that knows someone we know.
Our lives are seriously affected by the relationships we maintain, whatever their nature. Sadly, we often miss this perspective. While family relationships typically are the most important ones, some friends may be more important to us than some of our own family members. Each of us ultimately decides which relationships we will hold as the most important ones, and which ones will be less important, or unimportant, to us. This is often determined on the basis of our experience with the people involved. But it is also determined by our personal values, interests, and desires.
Our relationships are very closely related to these things. That which we hold in the highest level of esteem, or deem to be of the greatest importance, is that which forms the basis of our closest relationships. What we “treasure” is, in the end, what we “worship”; what we hold most important to us. We "bow down" before these values, interests, and desires - often to the exclusion often of YAHWEH, and of many people we encounter in our lives.
This brings us to the focus of this article. The Word of YAHWEH, The Scriptures, presents the concept that He wants to have a relationship with each one of us, personally. He wants that relationship to be the most important one in our lives.
Luke 14:26: If anyone comes to Me, and hates (values less) not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
YAHWEH wants us to place our relationship with Him first, above all of our other desires and interests. In return He offers to us extremely great blessings: Love – His supreme love and acceptance; total forgiveness for our mistakes; salvation from our sin; Eternal Life in His presence; faith; hope; joy; peace; contentment; provision for all our needs; healing; security; protection; – and much more. Are these among the things YOU are looking for?
Few of us ever really grasp the true significance of what YAHWEH offers to us IF we will freely choose to make our relationship with Him the greatest priority in our lives.
It would take many pages of Scripture references to identify all the blessings YAHWEH offers to us when we choose to make Him our first priority. Indeed, the entire Bible exists as a compilation of those blessings. Oh, there are other things there also. It includes warnings about what happens when we fail to put Him first. It includes a promise of “curses” upon those who fail to honor their commitment to Him. It's filled with warnings to be faithful and obedient to Him, and what happens when we're not. But the blessings, the good things, the promises, far outweigh the other things.
The most odious thing to YAHWEH is to have someone enter into a commitment with Him and then choose to willingly walk away from Him in favor of their own interests. This is called apostasy. It’s a very serious sin, for which there is no forgiveness – for they have trashed their relationship with YAHWEH, even though they once worshipped and adored Him. There is no going back again once this is done. Yet for those who willingly honor and serve Him with a heart seeking to remain faithful to Him there is a wealth of blessings promised in return for their belief in His faithfulness.
The pages of this website are dedicated to helping you discover just how wonderful YAHWEH, and in particular a relationship with Him, truly is. They seek to help you grasp in a new way what He wants for you, and from you. He is available to you, but you must choose, willingly, to put Him first in your life. You must invite Him to become your "Sovereign" (owner or master - as in a bond-slave relationship; it's as if He owns you.), and your Elohim (God) - the one whom you respect and honor above every other person or thing in your life.
He will never force Himself upon you. He has created you with a "free will", with the ability to decide for yourself what you will believe, or not believe, and what you will do, or not do. If you come to Him, humbly asking to have a relationship with Him, He will not reject you.
John 6:37 All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me; and he (or she) who comes to Me I will in no wise cast out.
This verse refers to the words of YAHUSHUA (Jesus, The Christ, The Messiah). He is the Son of YAHWEH. He is also the one whom YAHWEH sent into the world to demonstrate, and reveal, His great love for you. YAHUSHUA gave His very life, a sinless life, in order to pay the "debt" for that which separates you from YAHWEH. He died after suffering merciless torture at the hands of the "religious leaders" and the worldly government leaders of His time. They killed Him even though he was totally innocent of any crime.
The price He paid was very high indeed, His own life. He was buried. The third day He was raised up, back to life - resurrected. Then He ascended into Heaven where He now remains until a future time when He will return to earth a second time. The next time He comes He will transform everything this world knows. And those who have chosen to truly believe in Him (in what He did for us in His death and resurrection) will then begin to spend eternity with Him. Those who refuse to believe in what He has done for them will be excluded from the future blessings of YAHUSHUA and His Father, YAHWEH.
Your relationship with Him is crucial. You either have one, or you don't. There's no in between. You choose to believe in YAHUSHUA, and in YAHWEH, or you choose not to. What is your choice? Whatever it is, it will make an eternal difference to you.
The price YAHUSHUA paid in effect does indeed "purchase" you - when you choose to believe in Him and trust in Him. A Believer is, in fact, a "slave" or servant of The Messiah, YAHUSHUA. We give our service willingly, but we are still nothing other than servants, serving His desires, and not our own.
I like to use the boss-employee relationship (although it's far from a perfect relationship) to illustrate this concept. When you work as an employee for someone else you contract with them to be a "slave", or a servant for them. They pay you to do their work. In effect, they buy you; they "own you". You are not free to do whatever you wish. There are rules and regulations (commandments if you will). There are consequences if you violate those rules and regulations. Likewise, there are certain expectations involved. There are also potential rewards for doing your work well, for being a good servant. Since few of us today relate very well to the concept of slaves, this example perhaps brings us closest to a fair understanding of what's involved in a relationship with YAHWEH, and His Son, YAHUSHUA.
Now, let me ask you another question. Out of all the relationships that you now have, is there any of them that can even begin to compare to the one YAHWEH offers you in His Word? Where else can you receive unconditional love and forgiveness? Where else can you find One so faithful? Where else can you discover hope, joy, and true peace of mind? Where else can you obtain eternal life in a deep relationship of absolute love and acceptance?
There is no other place, and there is no other being (person or spirit) with whom you can find these things. YAHWEH's Word declares this to be so.
Is. 44:6 Thus says YAHWEH, the King of Israel, and His redeemer, YAHWEH of Assemblies; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no god (elohim). 7 And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for Me, since I appointed the ancient people, and the things that are coming, and shall come. Let them reveal them. 8 Fear not, neither be afraid: have I not told you from that time, and have I not declared it? You are even my witnesses. Is there a god beside me? Indeed, There is no god; I know not any.
John 14:6 YAHUSHUA said unto him, I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life: no man comes unto the Father, but through Me.
Belief (faith, trust)) in YAHUSHUA - belief in His sacrificial death, resurrection, ascension, and His second coming to establish Eternity - is the ONLY WAY you can receive the gift of YAHWEH's forgiveness (pardon) of your sin (rebellion and rejection of YAHWEH as your personal "God"). Without this belief, without placing YAHWEH as the first priority in your life, you have no relationship with Him! You will lose everything you think is important one day. With this belief you already have a relationship with Him, and, you have already been given all the promises of YAHWEH!
Where do you stand? What do you choose to believe?
If you haven’t yet decided to commit your life to YAHWEH, and to His Son, YAHUSHUA, please do so this moment. Tell Him you surrender your life to Him. Tell Him you're willing to be His servant. Don’t delay one moment longer to invite Him to become the most important relationship in your life. It’s a decision you will not regret.