God is The Foundation of Kingdom Relationships

When God created man, He spoke to Himself and went inside Himself to produce man. Here we have the first example of a relationship. In Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let us make mankind in Our image, in Our likeness“. Mankind has the nature and characteristics of God, and we are to function as He does because we come from inside of Him. We are connected to Him!

Question: What is the definition of a relationship? Or at least how it’s defined in Webster’s Dictionary.

Answer: How two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected by blood or marriage. The condition or fact of being related or interrelated.

We may have a sense of relationships based on the definition from Webster’s dictionary, but the truth is that it’s so much more intimate than we perceive. We can only have a true relationship with others when we have a relationship with God our Father. Understanding our original relationship with the Lord is the catalyst for every other relationship that we will have in our lives.

Loss and Restoration: Return of the Holy Spirit

God’s unwavering love for us is evident in the fact that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The program of salvation is intended to bring back what man lost when Adam disobeyed God. What did man lose? Man lost dominion over the earth, man lost the spot, the environment, and the presence of God that we had in the Garden of Eden.

We lost the Holy Spirit on earth; we lost the direct line of communication with God. But thanks to Jesus, He came to bring back what mankind lost, He came to restore us to our original state. He came to be the payment for sin so that the Holy Spirit could return to dwell in us.

Surrender All to Him

So today, what do we think about ourselves and our relationship with the Lord? Do you ever find yourself conflicted with the fact that you know in your heart beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are a born-again child of God? But to what degree do you understand the true depth of that relationship with the Father? You know that in some areas you believe that your relationship with Him is solid and therefore your faith is undeniable. Maybe in other areas, you can’t seem to grasp the depth and degree of your relationship with the Lord.

To know God intimately, in every area of our lives, is to surrender all to Him. To love Him is to obey His word and trust that He desires the deepest form of relationship that can be had. He spoke to Himself and produced us out of Himself, giving us the very nature and characteristics that He has. That means that because we came out of Him, He can live in us. He is saying that He made us be the very environment that He wants to dwell in.

The Undeniable Love of the Father

God never abandoned His original desire to extend His Heavenly unseen Kingdom to this visible earthly kingdom. He said that even though Adam severed the original connection, He would send the second Adam (Jesus) to restore the connection. And when He does, I won’t just walk-through Eden with man, I will dwell in man.

2 Corinthians 5: 21 says that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

Psalms 139: 14 says that you are wonderfully and fearfully made, that you are the marvelous work of his hands.

Luke 12: 7 says God thinks so highly of you that He has numbered the very hairs on your head.

Psalms 8: 4 says what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

Our relationship with the Heavenly Father is reflected in our ability to have effective life-producing relationships with our families and others based on our mindset. How we view a relationship may be rooted in our upbringing or our experiences and examples in our life.

Often, we will say things like “I didn’t have a good example of how to be a good husband or wife” or “I never saw that growing up”. God the Father is our ultimate example of everything we could hope to be or have in a relationship. So, where do we start? How do we start cultivating our relationships, so they honor Him?

A True Foundation

First, Kingdom relationships start with obedience to the laws, instructions, commands, and decrees of God the Father. Through this foundation we learn that it’s not enough to just love someone, you must love them the way God loves them. For example, God tells husbands that we should dwell with our wives according to knowledge. This means that we must know how a woman functions before we can truly love her. We can only learn how she functions if we first get the knowledge of His word.

The Father is our manufacturer and who better to teach us about relationships than He? He knows us very intimately and shows us in His word how we are to cultivate our relationships with others.

We must change our beliefs and concepts of what relationships are. It’s only if God is at the center of our life experiences that our beliefs have the right foundation.

Instructions to Change Our Mindset

God instructs us to change our thinking and develop a stronger relationship with Him by being obedient to the things He tells us. Adhering to God’s word enables us to have the correct mindset to build the type of relationship with everyone else that He intended.

Psalms 37: 1-9

• Don’t get irritated and anxious with your life because of someone else. Sometimes, we tend to feel inadequate if we are not producing in all the different areas of our lives the way that others may be. God says DO NOT FRET!  

• Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.  God wants us to trust Him and do what’s right in His sight. He wants us to be in proper alignment with His Law. TRUST in HIM!

• Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart, as (He has placed them there). We are to take pleasure in knowing that God knows what we need, He is our source. DELIGHT in Him!

• Officially place your entire life in God’s custody and authority. Surrender all to the Lord, He wants our lifestyles just as much as He wants us. COMMIT to Him!

• Relax and be patient. Figure out whatever it is that keeps you from being at peace and patiently waiting on the Lord. Learn not to be anxious when things aren’t going your way. REST in Him!

• Put an end to anger and abandon wrath. Do not allow these feelings to dictate your life because it only causes harm. CEASE!

If we follow these instructions from the Lord, our thinking changes. It allows us to have the loving relationship with the Father and others that He has promised.

Most Importantly

Once we have a Kingdom relationship with God our Father, we can navigate through our relationship with our wives, husbands, children, and others.

We build our relationships with communication. Words (carriers of thought), body language, and expressions. Words are the most powerful tool that we have when directed by a Kingdom mindset. We can build relationships with our words, but we can tear them down as well. This is due to having an illegitimate mindset and improper motives.

 James 3: 5-10 says that the tongue is untamable and a fire, a world of iniquity that no man can tame, an unruly evil. With it, we will bless the Lord and then turn around and curse men that have been made in the likeness of God. Blessings and cursing should not come out of the same mouth. We can’t profess to love the Lord and bless his name but speak badly about or to our loved ones or brethren. 

We are to nurture the relationships that God has entrusted us with. Love our wives, husbands, children, and others by making ourselves emotionally engaged and physically accessible. Just as God has made Himself accessible to us.

God is the ultimate Father, and we can look to His example of undying, unconditional love for His children as the true foundation for our relationships.

In Closing

God’s love for us is patient, kind, and longsuffering. He wants us to build strong life-producing relationships that endure any trials that will certainly come. However, when they come, we can simply give them over to Him because He loves us.

Please leave a comment. Be assured that we are praying that the foundational laws of God’s word strengthen you and produce a Christ-like mindset that cultivates and develops the type of relationships that God wants you to have. Also, please click here for another post that may interest you.