***Hello it's Mark Lanier here with your video thought for the day
so this week i thought we'd do five video thoughts for the day
all on a common theme and the theme is relationships those are something we all
experience we have good relationships we have bad
relationships in fact you'll find that a good bit of
who you are is made up with the way
you have reacted to or been involved in relationships because people rub off
on us and we rub off on other people relationships can bring us great joy
they can bring us great despair a thriving relationship is
like a vibrant plant that not only adds beauty
to your life but adds meaning to your life
a stagnant relationship is like watching a plant
die and you just feel miserable so within the context of that i want you
to think about relationships now I'm shooting this video in front of a bunch
of pictures I've got here's my daughter Rachel a picture of
her and I in the courtroom here's a picture of me and Rebecca and
Sarah some other daughters I've got a granddaughter over there I've got
another daughter Gracie over here my son-in-law John
the 3rd John Henry Thies the grandson
I've got our relationships all around me and you do too maybe not with pictures
but with people so how do we build relationships
that thrive that give us meaning and purpose and joy well my suggestion
to you is that at the basic fundamental needs
to be the most important relationship we can have
and that's our relationship with the divine one
with God the creator and yesterday if you had a chance to
watch my class that I taught I taught the class on the
idea of knowing God but not knowing God
just in some intellectual sense like I know um I know
how to tell you to do some yoga poses but I couldn't anymore do those yoga
poses than the man in the moon there's a difference between knowing and
experiencing knowledge on a deeper level the Greek word gnosco for no
is the same Greek word that's used for a sexual union
the Hebrew word Yadah for no is the same Hebrew word used for sexual
intimacy because knowledge in a biblical sense of
God is something that is is fundamentally
an interconnectedness it's a unity so when when we have that
relationship it will drive and infuse and instill and inspire
us to have better relationships with everyone else
at its core the relationship with God is one that's built on
trust and and integrity and honesty not that we're that
trustworthy not that we're that full of integrity
and not that we're always honest even with
the Lord but he is with us
and he takes us and he in his trustworthy
manner the hebrew word means a commitment a willingness to be faithful
and trustworthy and that word is used to describe God
over and over in the Old Testament he is faithful he is trustworthy and
that will drive and provide a foundation for a
relationship that is secure and tight and meaningful
and joy-giving that's a foundation that we need in our lives and from that
we'll be educated and inspired
to have better relationships with those around us
more to come on this this week but as you take this first video thought for
the day I want you to look at your life and
figure out how you can be more honest how you can
be more reliable and trustworthy in
relationships even as you experience that in your
relationship with the divine that's your video thought for the day
I'll see you tomorrow