It’s interesting how people can feel so connected these
days to others through social media…Yet we also know of the real isolation many people
can experience today due to people making voice or face contact less and less…
I'm sure we've all read or heard something like;
"I have 600 Facebook friends, yet am all alone..."
There has been some healthy encouragement more recently for people to
get off-line more, to realise the addictiveness of social media and the
possible factions they could be creating in their lives with their IRL family
and friends.
Firstly, don’t get me wrong, I am both a supporter and
user of social media, yet having used it for years I am also aware of both its
positive attributes and limitations…
Sometimes it surprises me when I speak with people and they remark about having read my blog or seen updates of mine on Facebook and I hear a ‘familiarity’ in their voice with me, without having REALLY connected with me – You see for me, mostly I haven’t had any contact with them…I have no idea they’ve read a post or few, or that they’ve seen some of my recent family pics...
It can be strange to connect with a person who feels they
know me from things I’ve written or shared yet who hasn’t spoken to me in a
longish time…other times I find it strange when I find out people have come up
with their own opinion of me based on some blog posts and pictures of mine…
The truth is I blog when inspired, so there are many things in my life which I don’t share about, or feel I need to write about…the thoughts and stories I share are only a sample of me…If people REALLY wanted to know me they’d need to spend time with me and have an IRL relationship with me.
Written communication is fantastic, don’t get me wrong…I
am a fan of writing and enjoy expressing myself this way…When The Lord reached
me in 2005 it was through His written Word (The Holy Bible) that He spoke to me
through and the Holy Spirit used to convict me of my sin…and I still love The
Bible today and read it devotionally to connect with The Lord – yet it cannot
replace an IRL relationship with God through Jesus Christ!
Sometimes people think they know ALL about Jesus and even claim this to others based upon what they’ve read in scripture – there are people who think they KNOW Jesus from the Bible and then still reject Him as God…
Yet in the Gospel of John we read that there are MANY
other things Jesus did, so MANY that the world could not contain the books that
would be written if all His deeds were written down (John 21:25). St. John lets us know just earlier that he wrote this gospel
so we may BELIEVE in Jesus and receive LIFE in His Name (John 20:31). This is because
it is Jesus who is the way for eternal life – not our own self-knowledge…it is
Him living in us through the blessed Holy Spirit that we have LIFE in His Name –
it is a IRL relationship!
St. John wrote down Jesus' own words about this fact in John 5:39-40. ‘You search the scriptures because you think in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have LIFE.’
A line of scripture jumped out at me today, it was; ‘It was
no messenger or angel but His presence
that saved them, in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; He lifted
them up and carried them all the days of old.’ (Isaiah 63:9)
We can never be saved from our separation from our Holy
creator by anything we do…even when we think we have turned to Him; He has
already ordained it, reaching us with His LOVE.
He reaches us with His LOVE, pities us, forgives and redeems us, and
restores us to Him BECAUSE He Himself made the way…by God the Son becoming a
human being and dying our death for us.
It
is by HIS PRESENCE we are saved.
God came down to us…Jesus Christ!
And it is by God, the blessed Holy Spirit living in us
that we have eternal life with God beginning from our re-birth continuing for
all eternity…
Sometimes we think we really connect to others through their
social media updates or their blog posts…yet we KNOW this contact is limited! We KNOW that to have a real relationship with the person, it takes IRL connecting…
It’s like when people who don’t have a personal, IRL
relationship with Jesus go to church…they hear the scripture read and songs
sung, yet it doesn’t always connect with their heart because they haven’t called
out to Him for an IRL personal relationship.
Sometimes we’re deceived by the devil into thinking that by
our knowledge and good deeds we can be alright with God…Yet It is by HIS PRESENCE we are saved.
Jesus has done it all – and we ALL need Him for eternal
LIFE!
I urge you to stop living the world’s lie and connect with Him IRL TODAY – call out to Him in prayer…Ask Him in His Name to forgive you, to re-birth you by the blessed Holy Spirit and for Him to be YOUR God leading you today and always! Then get yourself a Bible and ask Him to lead you to a faithful church.
Stop looking at Jesus from the distance; like scrolling through your newsfeed online hoping to connect – don’t be isolated or separated from Him any longer have
an IRL eternal relationship with Him beginning TODAY!
If you do commit yourself to Jesus and need prayer please feel free to email me at echucamel@gmail.com
Praise Him eternally for true LIFE - His presence with us!
Melanie :)
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