FRIDAY March 6, 2026
Relationship Not Religion
“O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I [Jesus] have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
John 17:25-26
Born-again Christian believers have a love relationship with God; it is not a religion. I am not saying the way to God is through Calvary Chapel––the way to the Father is through the Lord Jesus Christ. His sacrifice on the Cross for sin has made the way possible for us to repent, to be cleansed, and to be saved. Yet there are so many people who are caught up with religion––with rules and regulations––with dos and don’ts.
Our obedience and submission to Christ is a response to His love for us. Knowing all He has done for us causes an outpouring of our love toward Him. We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Our one desire is to be pleasing to Him. Therefore, the love of God shines in our lives. It is a work of the Holy Spirit––a beautiful manifestation of love.
Showing people God’s love, as we give them the Gospel message, gives them hope. There are so many people who are spiritually lost. They are living without Christ, without His love, and without His hope, in a very unstable world. They are scared and nervous about all the bad news they are seeing on television and the internet, and are reading in the newspapers. They wonder, What's going to happen? As Christians, there is no need to worry about the future. God holds our future; we are in the palm of His hand:
Romans 8:38-39: For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Nothing can separate us from the love relationship we have with God.
Learn to commit every situation to God, and trust Him for the outcome. God's love for you never changes, no matter what problems you face or how unsettled life becomes.
~Billy Graham~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!
