True Christian Life

Stick with me here... this might be a long one, but its worth it. I hope.

Sometimes I get so mad thinking about what "Christian Life" looks like in America. What does it mean to be a Christian? To vote republican? To dress up on Sundays? To judge people who don't follow the rules?
My heart breaks for the wrong impression we give. The people who Jesus spent time with, the sick, the emotionally hurting, the outcasts and the sinners are the very people who feel most rejected by today's Christians.
Is life as a Christian all lollipops and rainbows? Is it just about staying sober and abstinent? You better not curse, either, because then you're probably not a Christian.
Well, shit, that doesn't sound all that great.

To me, Christian Life is my relationship with God. Not my relationship with going to church on Sunday, but a real relationship with Him. I doubt Him, I get mad at Him, I get scared and lazy. He reassures me, forgives me, comforts me and encourages me. Sometimes our relationship seems as big and hard to grasp as my view from the top of a mountain on the Appalachian Trail. Sometimes it is as real as a hearing Him say "Valerie, you know how much you love your child? I love you even more."

Andrew Murray describes intimacy with God much more eloquently than I:

"The precious blood of Christ has opened the way for the believer into God's presence, and intimacy with Him is a deep, spiritual reality. He who knows the full power of the blood is brought so near that he can always live in the immediate presence of God and in the enjoyment of the unspeakable blessings attached to it. There, the child of God has the assurance of God's love; he experiences and enjoys it. God Himself imparts it. He lives daily in the friendship and fellowship of God. As God's child he makes known to the Father, with perfect freedom, his thoughts and wishes. In this intimacy with God, he possesses all that he needs; he lacks no "good thing" (Psalm 84:11). His soul is kept in perfect rest and peace, because God is with him (Isaiah 26:3). He receives all necessary direction and teaching. God's eye is ever upon him, guiding him. In intimacy with God, he is able to hear the softest whispers of the Holy Spirit. He learns to understand the slightest sign of his Father's will and to follow it. His strength continually increases, for God is his strength, and God is ever with him.

Fellowship with God has a wonderful influence on his life and character. The presence of God fills him with humility, fear and a holy circumspection. He lives as in the presence of a king. Fellowship with God produces God-like inclinations in him. Beholding the image of God, he is changed into the same image (2 Corinthians 3:18). Dwelling with the Holy One makes him holy. He can say, "It is good for me to draw near to God" (Psalm 73:28).

Oh, you who are the children of the new covenant, do you not have a thousand times more reasons to speak in the same way, now that the veil has been torn asunder and the way opened for living always in God's holy presence? May this high privilege awaken our desires. Intimacy with God, fellowship with God, dwelling with God and He with us-may it become impossible for us to be satisfied with anything less. This is the true Christian Life."