5 Steps to A Stable Relationship with God from Psalm 15 - Ben Bailey

5 Steps to A Stable Relationship with God from Psalm 15

1.      The Person Who is Concerned About Living with God Will Have a Stable Relationship with Him.  Notice what was on the Psalmist's mind when He asked, “Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle?  Who may dwell in Your holy Hill?” (Psalm 15:1). If a person is concerned about His soul and living with God for eternity, He is not only going to be thinking about that regularly but working toward achieving that goal (Col. 3:1-3). 

2.      The Person of Integrity Will have a Stable Relationship with God.  The Psalmist answers his own question by stating, “He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart” (Psalm 15:2).  Joseph reminds us of real integrity when he was in the house with Potiphar's wife and no one was watching he still said, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9).  If you have the integrity to do right simply because it’s the right thing to do, you are on the right track to a stable relationship with God.  

3.      The Person Who Really Loves His Neighbor As Himself will have a Stable Relationship with God.  The Psalmist emphasized our need to love our neighbor when He said, “He who does not backbite with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend” (Psalm 15:3).  How we treat other people is a direct indicator of how much we love God and are concerned about our relationship with Him.  The Apostle John reminds us, “If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20).

4.      The Person Who is Honorable will Have a Stable Relationship with God.  David noted that the honorable person is one “In whose eyes a vile person is despised, But he honors those who fear the Lord; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change” (Psalm 15:4).  Jules Renard reminds us of the challenge to be honorable when he said, “It is more difficult to be an honorable man for a week than to be a hero for fifteen minutes.”

5.      The Person who is Honest in His Dealings will have a Stable Relationship with God.  The Holy Spirit encourages each of us to be honest when He says, “He who does not put out his money at usury, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved” (Psalm 15:5). Not only is honesty the “best policy” it is God’s policy.  As each of us strives to live with God forever may these 5 guiding principles help us to one day make God’s tabernacle our permanent dwelling place!

--Ben Bailey