Study – How To Develop A Personal Relationship With God and Jesus

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Short Summary
The study emphasizes growing in grace through an intimate, personal relationship with both God the Father and Jesus Christ, grounded in faith in the ransom sacrifice. It discusses the importance of daily prayer, obedience, and meditating on God’s Word to cultivate this closeness, highlighting that while primary prayer is directed to the Father, communicating with Jesus is also encouraged as part of developing a deeper fellowship. The dialogue underscores that understanding and appreciating the ransom fosters gratitude and a sanctified relationship, enabling believers to walk humbly and faithfully with God.

Long Summary
Detailed Summary of the Study on Intimate Prayer, Intercession, and Developing a Personal Relationship with God and Jesus

Theme and Purpose:
The study focuses on intimate prayer and intercession, emphasizing growing in grace through a personal and spiritual relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. It builds on the concept that growing in grace means growing in favor with the Lord via intimate fellowship of Spirit with Him.

Growing in Grace (Reprint 3215 Reference):
– To grow in grace is to develop intimate personal acquaintance and fellowship with the Spirit of God.
– This involves:
– Recognizing redemption through the precious blood of Christ.
– Having personal faith and dependence on the promises of the Father made through Jesus.
– Engaging in daily communion through prayer, observance of God’s will, and obedience.
– Such a lifestyle leads to the ripening of the fruits of the Spirit, making one more acceptable to God.
– The Divine promise: “If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him” (John 14:23).

Praying to Jesus or the Father?
– Jesus taught to pray primarily to the Father (“Our Father who art in heaven”), indicating that God the Father is the primary recipient of prayer.
– Access to the Father is only through Jesus Christ (John 14:6).
– However, there are Biblical examples of praying directly to Jesus:
– Revelation 22:20: “Come, Lord Jesus.”
– Acts 7:59-60: Stephen prays, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
– 1 Corinthians 16:22: “If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be accursed. Come, Lord!”
– Therefore, while primary prayers are directed to God the Father, it is both understandable and encouraged to talk to Jesus in prayer and communion.

Unity of the Father and the Son:
– The closest relationship in the universe is between Jehovah God and His Son Jesus. They praise each other and function as a unit.
– John 17:20-23 highlights the oneness of Jesus and the Father and extends this unity to believers so that the world may believe God sent Jesus.
– The study emphasizes that God loves believers as much as He loves Jesus.

Communion with Jesus:
– Jesus promised to be with believers always (Matthew 28:20), implying His active presence.
– This presence invites intimate communion, not just formal prayer.
– Communion with Jesus can be a conversational, ongoing relationship—like talking with a close friend or companion anytime, anywhere.
– This helps believers develop a bi-directional relationship—not just petitioning God in Jesus’ name but also personally relating to Jesus.

Personal Reflections on Prayer and Relationship:
– Some participants shared how talking with Jesus helped them understand how to walk as He walked.
– The importance of “walking the walk” as well as “talking the talk” was emphasized, echoing the desire to live out one’s faith genuinely.
– The analogy of a bridegroom and bride is used to illustrate the close relationship believers can have with Jesus.

Faith in the Ransom as Foundation for Relationship:
– Developing personal acquaintance with God and Jesus requires faith in the ransom sacrifice of Jesus (John 3:16; Romans 5:8; 1 Timothy 2:5-6).
– Understanding the ransom is critical for intimacy with God and Jesus, as it grounds the believer’s hope and gratitude.
– 2 John 1:9 stresses that abiding in the doctrine of Christ means having both the Father and the Son.
– A proper understanding of the ransom differentiates true Christian faith from false teachings (1 John 4:1-3).

Building Relationship Through Studying God’s Word and Prayer:
– Intimacy with God and Jesus is fostered by walking with God through meditating on His Word (Psalm 1:2; Joshua 1:8).
– Such meditation leads to delight in God’s law and obedience.
– Micah 6:8 calls for walking humbly with God.
– Ephesians 6:15 speaks of having feet “shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace,” symbolizing living and spreading the gospel as part of walking with Christ.
– The ongoing study of Scripture deepens knowledge and intimacy with God and Jesus, with prayer sealing the relationship.

Practical Application and Encouragement:
– The study encourages believers to use all spiritual tools given, including prayer to both the Father and Jesus and daily communion with Christ.
– It affirms the importance of individual experience and personal “walking the walk.”
– Communication with Jesus should be natural and continual, not limited to formal moments of prayer.
– The community aspect is important—sharing insights and encouraging one another in faith.

Scriptural References Highlighted in the Study:
– John 14:23: “If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him…”
– Revelation 22:20: “Come, Lord Jesus.”
– Acts 7:59-60: Stephen’s prayer to Jesus during martyrdom.
– 1 Corinthians 16:22: “Come, Lord.”
– John 17:20-23: Jesus’ prayer for unity among believers and His oneness with the Father.
– John 3:16: God’s love expressed through giving His Son.
– Romans 5:8: God’s love demonstrated while we were sinners.
– 1 Timothy 2:5-6: Jesus as mediator and ransom.
– 2 John 1:9: Importance of abiding in the doctrine of Christ.
– 1 John 4:1-3: Testing spirits and acknowledging Jesus’ incarnation.
– Psalm 1:2: Delight and meditation on God’s law.
– Joshua 1:8: Meditating and obeying God’s law.
– Micah 6:8: Walking humbly with God.
– Ephesians 6:15: Feet shod with the gospel of peace.
– John 14:6: Jesus as the way to the Father.
– Matthew 28:20: Jesus’ promise to be with believers always.

Additional Notes:
– The study includes a prayer for a brother facing personal loss, demonstrating the community’s support and care.
– Emphasizes that an intimate relationship with God and Jesus is not just theological but practical, involving daily living, obedience, and heartfelt communion.
– Encourages believers to deepen their faith by understanding doctrine and applying it in daily life.

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This summary captures the rich conversation about prayer, the nature of relationship with God and Jesus, the role of faith in the ransom, the importance of Scripture meditation, and practical ways to cultivate intimacy with the Divine.

Transcript

Intimate prayer and intercession, and we believe and we’re not going to talk a lot about prayer in this talk because we think we covered it pretty well. But there is a question that I want to bring to bear and it comes from reprint 3215 and brother Russell is answering what it is to grow in grace? He says, but what is it to grow into grace? It is to grow in favor with the Lord through an intimate personal acquaintance and fellowship of Spirit with Him.

It implies first a knowledge and recognition on our part of our redemption through his precious blood and a personal faith in and dependence upon all the promises of the Father made to us through him, and then an intimate communion with him in our daily life of prayer and of observation of his will and obedience to it. If such be our constant attitude of mind and heart, there must be a constant ripening of the fruits of the Spirit rendering us more and more pleasing and acceptable to our Lord. A sense of the Divine acceptance and favor is given to us from day to day in increasing measure in fulfillment of the blessed promise of our Lord. If a man love me, he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.

Now when we were studying prayer, we left out the thought, and there’s a thought being given out and that being discussed is should we pray to Jesus and the Father? And I think that Brother Russell is when he brings this forth here, this looks to me like a prayer to Jesus. When you guys read that, do you get that?

So with the Lord would be what’s brought up first and an intimate personal acquaintance of a Spirit and fellowship of the Spirit with Him. It implies a knowledge and recognition of our part of our on our part of the redemption through his precious blood and personal faith in and dependent upon all the promises that the Father made through him, and so that’s dependence on Christ and then an intimate communion with him in our daily life of Christ prayer. To me it doesn’t look like the hymn has changed.

An observation of his will and obedience to do it and then an intimate communion with him in our daily life of prayer, and to be a constant attitude of mind and heart. There must be a constant ripening of the fruits of the Spirit rendering us more and more acceptable to our Lord. A sense of the Divine acceptance and favor is given to us from day and day.

So what’s your thoughts, brethren? I’ve asked a few brethren about praying to Christ. Do we pray to Christ? Do we pray to God? Or is it only to The Father that we pray.

Brother Paul.

Brother Paul. Oh, that’s Brother Michael. I didn’t know you changed your name. I can just from a.

Just from a instruction from the Lord. You know, when the apostles disciples asked him, you know, teach us to pray, he said, pray after this manner, our Father, and so he is directing us to the Father, and of course, we know from other scriptures that we have no access to the Father except through Jesus. So they’re a team in a sense.

And to gain a personal relationship with Jesus and the Father, you would, as you would want to get to know somebody here, you know, on earth. You want to know how they think, what pleases them, how can you identify with them. So you want to know what their thoughts are, and so we would want to take the same approach to know what is the purpose of our Heavenly Father, what’s the purpose of Jesus in this conversation that’s come down through the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Thank you for that, Brother David.

The closest relationship in the universe is that which exists between Jehovah God and His Son Jesus. There’s no tighter relationship. Jehovah can’t do enough to praise his son. Jesus can’t do enough to praise his Father. As brother Michael said, they’re a unit.

So we recognize that in John chapter. Let’s see here, chapter 16, verse 27 says, for the Father himself loveth you because you have loved me, and I believe that I’ve come forth from the Father. So one might posit the question, can we love Jesus and never talk to him? I don’t think so. If we want an intimate relationship, which is what the study this afternoon is all about, we have to be able to have access to Jesus in prayer.

We have one example of praying to Jesus in Scripture, maybe more than one, but at least one. In Revelation 22:20 we read, he who testifieth these things saith, yea, I come quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. He’s addressing our Lord here.

This is a prayer, a prayer to Jesus. Since Jesus instructed us to pray to the Heavenly Father, I think that should be our primary mode of prayer. But I think it’s completely understandable and encouraged that we talk to Jesus as well, and anytime we talk to Jesus, we are praying to him over. Thank you for that.

And I thank you for the Scripture in Revelation, even though, come Jesus, Lord Jesus, come. Amen. Sister Juliana.

And in First Corinthians 16:22, Paul said those words, if anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be accursed. Come, Lord. So it was also a call to the Lord. But I wanted to quote from Acts 7, 59, 60. It’s Stephen.

Stephen when he was being stoned.

And that. That’s Acts 7, what, 7, 59 and 60.

As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, lord Jesus, receive my spirit, and falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, lord, do not hold this sin against them. So there are certain things that, you know, we may address Jesus as our Savior, as our bridegroom. You know, our affections. You know, we walk on his footsteps.

You know, we need to have that close relationship with our bridegroom. We want to care for him, to love him, to really appreciate, because he’s the only example of a perfect man that we have, that we want to follow. But, you know, as to the Master of the Universe, you know, our prayers are, of course, mainly directed to our Heavenly Father. Because He. He’s our all in all.

Thank you, Sister Juliana. Brother Homer, this morning we had a study on the Holy Spirit, and we had great difficulty in fathoming all the intricacies of what that all means. We had great difficulty, as I recall. So I’m going to give you another scripture and ask a rhetorical question.

I going to John 17, and I’m going to read 20 to 23. These are the words of Jesus. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also, which has which shall be leave unto me through their word, that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee. That they also may be one in us. That the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

22 and the glory which Thou gavest me, I have given them. That they may be one, even as we are one, and the worship I want to focus upon is 23 still part of our Lord’s prayer. I in them and thou and me, that they may be made perfect, perfect in me, and that the world may know that Thou has sent me.

And has loved them as Thou has loved me. So the real question I would ask is, do you really believe that God loves you as much as he loves Jesus?

Thank you, Brother Brendan, and when Jesus was on the earth at his first advent, his disciples had direct communion with him and could ask him whatever they wanted and fellowship with him and talk with him, and they would pray to God. But Jesus said, you know, hitherto you’ve asked nothing in my name. Now ask that your joy might be fulfilled or might be full.

And so maybe it comes down to. Because we’re also told that he says in revelation, I’m with you always. I’m with you. This is Jesus talking. I’m with you always.

Even until the end of the world or age, as we like to say. So if he’s with us, does that mean he’s just a. A disinterested bystander? I mean, is he in the bleachers just kind of watching? Or is he.

And he says, where two or more are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of you? Do we really believe he’s here? I mean, is that. Or is that just something. We kind of, you know, brush that to the side and continue on.

So maybe there’s a distinction or difference in that vein between actually praying and petitioning to God in Jesus name versus communing with Jesus, which might be a little different than praying from a, I don’t know, legal, technical, whatever standpoint. We want to commune with Jesus. We hope to spend eternity with him as our bridegroom. I mean, what bride doesn’t want to get to know her would be groom as deeply as they can. So all these things seem to indicate that we’re shortchanging our birthright in a sense, or our opportunity, that if Jesus showed right now, or somebody could prove right now that, hey, you can have this, and this is what then we would be foolish not to take that opportunity to learn and to grow closer.

Not just in a study and ethereal sense, but in a real, genuine sense. Talk with Jesus. Pour out your heart to Jesus. Have a conversation with Jesus. You could be driving your car, you know, you don’t have to close your eyes and get on your knees or go into a closet.

This is. It would be just like talking to your best friend or your brother or sister that’s in your car with you. I would say, you know, almost picture them as. Or picture Jesus as being right there. He says he’s there for us, so let’s take him at his word.

If he’s here, let’s talk to them, let’s converse with them, let’s have communion with them, and if any are reluctant because we feel that praying is specifically to God in Jesus name, well, then that’s fine too. You know, make your petitions and prayers to God. But our communion and fellowship should be desired to cultivate that relationship and not just unidirectional. You know, we want it bi directional between us and our risen Lord who is here.

And so I think we don’t take advantage of all the tools and all the things that we’ve been promised and given and kind of gets back to Gabriela’s comment that maybe it is just a matter of truly believing it and buying into this thinking that we have the possibility to do all these wonderful things and we shouldn’t just take them all as being hyperbolic or symbolic or whatever. Over. Thank you, Brother Brenner, and Sister Sonia had to get on Brother Brendan back here. So I do believe that we can.

We can speak to the Lord Jesus. I don’t think anything is wrong with that. So we know to pray to our Heavenly Father in His name. But speaking and talking with him and asking him, you know, to show us, to teach us how to walk the way that he walked, I don’t see anything wrong with that, and the other thing is that it’s good to have opinions about how to do it.

I don’t think I can tell you how to do it. You know, you have to walk that walk for yourself. That’s the whole point. Your opinion about how to do it. That’s for you.

And I think you have to walk that walk. But I appreciate being able to speak to him, and he is my Andy, and he walks with me and he talks with me. He is the one that, you know, that tells me these things, that helps me through these things. When I pray to the.

To the Lord Jehovah, he gives instruction in His Word. He makes things happen for us. But if we want to know how to walk like Jesus walked, I really believe we have to have a conversation with Jesus because we’re struggling a lot of times, and there’s a blues singer, B.D. king, and he said these words in a song once.

He said, I like to live the words that I sing about in my song. So when I testify something or I say something, I want to live those words out, too, and so that’s just the way I see it over. Thank you, Sister Sonia. Brother Paul, after Jesus gives the words that a Jewish bridegroom would say to his bride when he goes to the bride’s home and negotiates a price for her to become his bride, he says after they.

When they drink the cup together, the betrothal cup, he says, I’m going to go away and I’m going to prepare a place for you in my father’s home. Well, this was really perplexing to the disciples, and by the way, this was the last thing said in the upper room before they went out into the Kidron Valley, where he gets into the vine and branches.

And so the question, first question is, where are you going? And how can we Follow you. Okay, and Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to my Father.

In other words, no one can be intimate with my father unless they know me as his son, and I’m going to marry you, by the way. He’s already told them that, and then the second thing, Phil. So that was.

Who’s the doubter? Thomas. That was Thomas that asked the first question. The second question is Philip, and he says, and I.

I don’t want to murder it. Show us the Father. Show us the Father and it will suffice us, and Jesus said to Philip, how long have I been with you and you don’t know me? He that has seen me has seen the Father.

So how can you say, show us the Father? Believe thou that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. How? The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life. So that’s what we’re talking about.

I think this whole weekend is the intimacy that we can have through understanding God’s word, imbibing the spirit, and ultimately letting our light shine as much as we possibly can. Over. Thank you, Brother Paul. We’re going to go on to the next position, and I appreciate all the answers.

And when I was talking to some of you about that, one of the best answers I got is, if I don’t speak to someone that I’m going to be with a thousand years, how can I get. If I don’t speak to him now, how will I be able to be with him then? And in this intercession and prayer study that I did, you know, intimate relationship with the Father is a communion and a pouring out his heart. I have made more of an effort to speak more to Jesus since I’ve been looking into this, and I think it’s so beautiful that Jesus points us to pray to the Father when you pray.

Our Father who art in heaven, and so when you think about that, what humility it is that that happened and the oneness that Brother Homer brings out down through the ages, what is so amazing about that is the love that he has for us as the love of his son. Go ahead, Brendan. We’ll take your question or thought and then go on. I like to.

Pardon me, just the scripture that says, if you have the son, you have the Father, but if you don’t have the son, you have neither the Son nor the Father. So, yeah, it’s like was said by others, for lack of a better way to put it, and I don’t mean to trivialize it, but they’re a package deal. If you don’t have Jesus, you don’t have anything. If you have Jesus, you have everything.

Yeah, and I think all of these parts point to that intimate relationship with both the Father and the Son, and so it needs to be thought out in your own minds. It’s beautiful. It’s intrigued my mind.

I was interested in what the pastor had to say about it, and then I was interested in what all of you have to say about it, and so now we’ll go on our second question, or be our first question. We haven’t done a question yet. Uh, oh. Says, what does it mean to develop a personal acquaintance with God and Jesus through faith in the ransom?

And our first scripture is John 3:16, and John 3:16 reads, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life, and then we give you Romans 5:8. But God commandeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. First Timothy 2, 5, 6.

For there is one God and one mediator between God and men. The man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time, and second John 1:9. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, has not God he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ? He hath both the Father and the Son.

Is it imperative to have both a relationship with Jesus through the ransom? Belief in the ransom, how important is that? What are your thoughts on that, Brother Brendan, I will monopolize you.

So what was that last question again? I impress myself with my comedian. What does it mean to develop a personal acquaintance with God and Jesus through faith in the ransom? Okay, but, yeah, there was something else that you said, but. Oh, faith in the ransom.

What’s interesting is, as Bible students, we have been, and I think very properly trained in what the ransom actually is. That I will say, by and large, as an understanding as we have it, Jesus for Adam, the man Christ Jesus for the man Adam. That understanding was not really present down through the bulk of the gospel age. I think it was there at the beginning and reappeared at the end, largely through the pastor’s ministry. But the understanding as we have it for most of the gospel age just wasn’t there.

So you have a lot of. I would style them brethren who give evidence, but they may not understand the details, but they understand that Jesus died for them for their sins, and they Understand the term ransom. They just don’t always understand until they’re shown. Just like I didn’t understand what ransom was. So in the sense of ransom that Jesus died for my sins in a more generic sense then that, I think is the overarching thing.

And that’s kind of what existed throughout most of the gospel age, and so that’s the gate without that believing in Jesus, that he died for our sins in whatever the technical details behind the scenes are, that’s the. I’ll say the go, no go. It’s a very binary thing. If you don’t believe in Jesus, that he was a man, that he died for our sins, then that remains a black box to us.

There’s the possibility for a relationship at this point during the gospel age doesn’t exist without the realization that Jesus died for our sins. Over.

Thank you, Sister Juliana.

Well, it’s not only like an acquaintance, it’s really a relationship, a closeness with God and Jesus. Because what the ransom brings is the gratitude of our heart. Because without the ransom, we have no hope, we’re lost. So when we realize what Jesus did for us, and you know, God, who gave his only beloved son to rescue us, you know, we have that sense of gratitude, and it’s really well expressed by David in Psalm 116, and we know it from my morning resolve. What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits to warn me?

That’s our heart gratitude, you know, what shall I render unto him? Because I owe him everything. I owe him life. So that’s for me, the starting point. Thank you.

Thank you. I want to share a scripture with you, and it’s 1 John 4:1:4. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God. Because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Hereby know ye the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that confesseth not Jesus is not of God, and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, whereof you have heard that it cometh, and now it is in the world already. There’s an interesting scripture that Gnosticism was in the world at that time, and the doctrine of Christ was being pointed out to us by John at this time that every spirit that says that Jesus has come in the flesh is of God.

So it’s something to think about and the thought that it’s misunderstood, and I know a lot of people that I talk with that are in different denominations would say they don’t believe in the ransom. But when you talk about it, they say that they do, just like they would say they believe in the Trinity. But then they say that they do, and maybe there is not that complete understanding, but I think to have a truly intimate relationship with both the Father and the Son, I think that for me, and my understanding is that ransom has to become known.

Brother David, One cannot help but think about what’s involved in building a relationship with another person, and that same process applies to the relationship we build with our Lord Jesus and with our Heavenly Father. When I was a Jehovah Witness, I felt like I knew Jehovah. I certainly knew Jehovah a lot better than I did when I was a Catholic. But when I learned the ransom for all, I learned something about my God and my Heavenly Father that I didn’t know, that he was so wise, so smart, so just.

He made an arrangement for everybody. Like the scripture on your list, John 3:16. For God so loved the world. Stop there. He loved the world.

He had an affection for his creation. So building a personal relationship is sort of like that. When I was first dating Kathy, I had all the neuroses of a teenage boy. Oh, was she like me? Am I going to.

What does she think about me? We did a lesson earlier this year on Genesis 22 regarding the selection of Rebecca for Isaac, and we were thinking about that ride from Rebecca’s home to Isaac’s home, that journey of two or three months. I forget how long it was, and she’s peppering Eliezer with all these questions.

She’s thinking about this relationship she’s going to have. Here’s some questions she might have asked. This is taken from our lesson. What does he look like?

First, John 3:2 says, we shall see him as he is. We’ll see what Jesus looks like. Does he have a favorite food? Is he going to be a wife? Right.

Is she going to cook for him? Jesus says in John 4:34, My food is to do the pleasure of him that sent me. Do you think he’ll like me? John 13:34. A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another even as I have loved you, that you love one another.

Jesus loves us. So that relationship that we have with Jesus and Jehovah already exists on their side. We have to deepen it. We have to understand it. We have to pursue it.

And we do that by getting to know Jesus and Jehovah better. We call ourselves Bible students. It’s not a denominational name. It’s a functional name. We’re Christians.

We want a title. We’re Christians, disciples of Jesus, but we’re students of the Bible because we want to know our Lord and our Heavenly Father better and better, and every little nugget of truth that we learn about our God and about our Lord Jesus from one another in our studies, the closer that relationship comes and then we seal it through prayer, and I like, I think it was Brother Brendan that mentioned that our relationship is really close. When our prayer is not limited to just formal prayer.

Thanks for the food, thanks for the day. But you’re working outside and you’re talking with our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus, just about things, about everything. Anything that comes into your mind. That fluency of prayer certainly belies, not belies, but indicates or demonstrates that we are developing a very close and intimate relationship with the both of them. Over.

Thank you, Brendan. Go ahead. Or thank you, David. Go ahead, Brendan. Actually, it’s just an announcement.

And Brother Paul just notified that Sister Jean Dolan has finished her course and that to keep Brother Joe in prayer as he sure it’s a difficult time for him at the moment. Over. Would you like to offer that prayer right now, Brother Brian?

All right. Our Father in heaven, we come to you in Jesus name, and you know that we love Brother Joe and Sister Jean and we know this comes into all our lives. But we ask that you would be with Brother Joe, that you’d strengthen him and lift him up and give him some emotional stability at this time as he endures the loss of his beloved wife, and we thank you that she was a part of our lives as well, that we got to see her smile and hear her voice and fellowship with her and spend time with that big beautiful heart of hers.

And we pray all this in Jesus name. Amen. Amen, and we’re talking about an intimate relationship, but we could also add a consecrated and sanctified relationship, and we’re looking at how do we personally develop a relationship.

And so when I think about that, and we think about coming more and more to do the things that Christ did, and we are asked to follow in his footsteps. What he did was he sacrificed his life and we’re to lay down our life for the brethren. Also, Jesus said, a new commandment I give unto you, that you love each other as I love you, and so the understanding of the oneness of God and Jesus to have a sanctified relationship, I would suggest, brethren, that you’re among the very few that have that, and that that is very important in our intimate, consecrated and sanctifying laying down of this flesh upon the altar.

So with that we’ll go on to our to our next question. 307 and that is, how does walking with God and meditating on His Word foster intimacy with him and Jesus? Delighting in the mediation on God’s Word we may say advocation so Psalms 1:2. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, but his delight is on the law of the Lord, and in his law does he meditate day and night. Then we have Micah 6:8.

He has showed thee, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with that God. With thy God. What does it mean to walk humbly with thy God?

There is a We thought about that both in Psalm 1:2 and Joshua 1:8 that it stresses the importance of God’s law and that’s His Word and in the life of the one who walks with Jehovah. Psalms 1:2 describes a person who finds delight in Jehovah’s law and meditates on it day and night, indicating a deep love for and constant engagement with scripture, and Joshua 1:8 instructs that the book of the Law should be constant focus, spoken, meditated upon, and obeyed to ensure success and living in accordance with God’s Word. Together we see these verses show that walking with Jehovah involves an ongoing, heartfelt commitment to studying and applying His Word, making it the foundation of daily decisions and actions. That’s what one of our classes come up with.

When we were studying this, we want to bring forth a couple more scriptures where Micah 6 Micah Ephesians 6:15 or Ephesians 6:15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, what does it mean to shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace?

Brother Jerry?

Huh?

Yeah, It’s Brother Randy. Brother Randy. I’m sorry. No problem. What I’m looking at, it was mentioned before, but John 14:23, Jesus answered and said unto him, a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.

So if we are studying His Word and making it a part of our lives, it says, the Father will love him love us, and his Son will love us, and so we need to study His Word and keep it and make it a part of our lives in order to have this intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father and with His Son. Thank you, Brother Randy. Brother Brendan, if your feet are shod with the gospel of peace, then you’re walking the talk. Literally, wherever you walk, you’re bringing the gospel of peace with you.

Yeah, I think that that’s when we walk with Jesus and we’re following Jesus footsteps. First of all, Jesus walked everywhere he went, and when walking prepared with the gospel of peace, that is going out into the world, walking into the world and spreading the gospel, I do believe, and then we come back, we have the part of our feet being washed. So if we’re walking with Jesus out in the world, we’re going to get some dirt on our feet.

And when we come back together as an ecclesia and we wash each other’s feet, then we take that away, we get cleaned up when we come back with each other so that we can walk and keep walking this walk with our Lord.

Brother David.

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