Bible Study Notes

April 9, 2026

Study: What Does it Mean to Have a Relationship with Jesus?

TOP TEN

Philippians 3:8-10

⁸ Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— ¹⁰ that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death …

Over our past two men’s studies, we have discussed various angles and applications to the idea of what it takes to have a relationship with Jesus. Here are our TOP TEN ideas, and, of course, there are many more.

1: Our desire is to strive to be fruitful every day.

Being fruitful is both an outward and an inward thing. We produce fruit outwardly by doing the things being a Christian calls us to do, but perhaps more importantly, we produce fruit inwardly, working to become more like Christ and bearing the nine fruits of the Spirit.

2: Having a relationship with the Lord involves a transformation of both our minds and our hearts.

That transformation clearly is an every-hour, every-day process. I am sure there are many, many ebbs and flows of feeling strong at one time and feeling weaker and spiritually drained at others. It definitely seems to be a marathon, not a sprint.

3: Having a close relationship with the Lord means that we grow to “know Him.”

In Philippians 3: 10, Paul says that it is his desire to “know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable to his death.”

Getting to “know Him” goes deeply into what Christianity really means, what it really looks like. I believe this is a lifetime process and not easily discernible. It is something we continually search for.

In Part 3 of this study, we plan to delve more into that passage and other passages from Philippians 3.

4: Knowing Christ is not merely knowing about Him.

It is knowing Him in a way we might call “experiential” knowing—that is, having the experience of a knowledge of Him.

5: Knowing Christ is not mere intellectual or theological knowledge.

It goes much deeper. It is the type of knowledge we continually seek.

6: We cannot give the devil a seat at the table if we want to build a strong relationship with the Lord.

We learn a great lesson from a book called Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table (from SJ):

The devil continually tries to fill our minds with destructive and harmful thoughts, such as fear, anxiety, insecurity, and many other negative thoughts. That is, he wants a seat at the table that is meant just for the Lord and us. We cannot give him a seat at that table.

7: The Lord will teach us what it means to know Him the way He wants and expects.

In the book, the author gives an example of how baby zebras get to know their mothers. Even though to us Zebras look all alike, they are not. A mother Zebra teaches her young to recognize her even in a herd of Zebras. So, they get to “know” her in a way that we learn to know Jesus.

8: There is a worship in “spirit and in truth” in an inward sense just as there is in an outward or corporal sense.

A daily worship might, as SS said, mean that we “wake up singing.” A relationship with Jesus surely includes a joy that the world does not understand.

9: It is possible to lose our relationship with the Lord. It is something we guard against daily.

The church at Ephesus in Revelation 2 left their “first love.” They allowed even their fervent defense of the truth to take them away from the needed personal devotion and relationship with the Lord and, no doubt, from their love for one another.

10: Our relationship depends on outward actions, too, as well as inward.

We cannot be “caught up in the world’s standards.” There are matters of church doctrine, organization, worship, and practice that we have to seek to follow. Merely saying “Lord, Lord” is not enough to have a relationship. It is not just speculative. There are concrete actions and acts of obedience that we must follow. We can’t love the Lord if we do not obey Him.

These are just ten of the many “takeaways” from our study.

QUESTIONS FOR STUDY #3 (Scheduled for April 21)

1: What are TWO or THREE of your own takeaways from the previous two studies? (Even if they are just thoughts that have come later as you’ve meditated on the ideas).

2: Since our focus for study #3 will be on Philippians 3:8-10 (perhaps even into the section following), list TWO or THREE thoughts or lessons you come up with as you study those passages prior to our study.

Thanks for studying along with us! ~ Coach (coachbowen1984@gmail.com)