Don's Devotionals: Learning to love God

Isaiah 41:13  For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

When we’re frightened and concerned it is a wonderful blessing to be comforted.  Sometimes we are the comforter – and sometimes the comforted.  And sometimes we are both at the same time.  I’m laughing as I think of that scene in the movie While You Were Sleeping where Lucy and the brother are trying to walk across the icy sidewalk.  They are hanging onto one another for dear life.

I think of children who are frightened and the amazing comfort they can derive from holding a parent’s hand.  The power is far beyond holding a hand – it is rooted in relationship with who the hand belongs to.  It communicates that I am with someone I love and trust.  I am not alone.  It also communicates that someone is there to help.

There are times when we receive frightening news and we squeeze the hand of the one we are with.  It is a way of releasing the anxiety of the moment and receiving strength from the one with us. The fact that we are adults doesn’t diminish the power of the peace and encouragement that can be communicated through the touch – the hand that is held.

Our God is our Father who loves us.  When Jesus taught the disciples to pray he began, “Our Father…”.  Think of the Prodigal’s father and the joy he had in the return of his son.  Our Father is not a distant, aloof, icy individual.  He is One who cares deeply for us.  He enables us to experience the reality of His loving presence with us.

In Romans 8:15 Paul makes it clearer in case we are lacking in our grasp of who our God is to us, “¹⁵For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father!” (Amplified)

I know that my wife Donna had a less than positive relationship with her dad.  But years ago at a conference, she had an encounter with the Lord where He communicated His Father love to her.  He redefined her entire understanding of what a father’s love was about.  He will do the same for us if we seek Him.  Remember that our loving Father is with us – and in times of need, He holds our hand and says, “Do not fear; I will help you.”

Ephesians 5:1-2   Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

I woke up this morning with thoughts of how we, through necessity or preference, engage others to address certain things we have to deal with.   Think of repairing your car, changing the oil or tires, repairing appliances in your home, having someone take care of your lawn, paint or repair your house, take care of pets, plow your driveway in the winter.  We simply have to recognize that an issue or problem exists and contact the appropriate person to address it.

So many products come with service contracts where we can purchase ‘insurance’ that will deal with any problems we encounter with the product.  All we have to do is pick up the phone and call the repairman.  It is then ‘out of our hands’ so to speak.  We also have the option of ignoring such things – particularly if it is inconvenient to deal with them in terms of priorities of finances, i.e., the warning light on the dash is white not red.

Today’s verse engages us in a very different way.  It calls upon us to imitate God and to live a life of love.    What does it mean to imitate God?  What exactly does living a life of love look like?  If we think we know, how do we know that our understanding is correct?  We are the ones who have to live the life of love.  It is not something we can delegate to someone else or ignore.  But if we think of it as a ‘have to do it’ we’ve really missed the boat.  We get to do it.  We must want to do it.

Think of it this way.  If you are a husband or wife, you don’t delegate someone else to love your spouse – you get to do it.  You want to do it – and if we’re wise, we are always looking for ways to do it better.  This means we are also noting the behaviors and attitudes in our lives that are inconsistent with love.  There is no higher priority for Christians than living a life of love.  Our Lord loves us and we get to love Him and others in return – what incredible privileges!

Ephesians 4:1  As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

What constitutes a life worthy of our calling as a Christian?  What does such a life look like?  Is it a given that when we accept Jesus as our Lord we will live such a life?  Or, following being born again, are we required to play a vital role in its development?  Further, is the life to be lived a progressive thing – that it becomes more consistent with Scripture with the passing of time?

There are sinful behaviors we are set free from the moment we are born again.  Other things He deals with over time.  I’m reminded of stories of the coal miners in the great Welsh revival a century ago.  These men and women had their lives radically transformed. Drunkenness, stealing, cursing and other offenses grew less.  It is told that the miner’s pit ponies became a problem.  The ponies were so used to being cursed and sworn at that they just didn’t understand when orders were given in kind, clean words!

The question then becomes what happens in our lives as the months and years and decades roll by?  Although the transformation in the miners’ lives was miraculous, it was akin to the Israelites leaving Egypt.  They were set free in order to become the people God wanted them to become.

Living a life worthy of our calling involves who we are and what we do.  It involves having a heart desire to love and please God.  It entails being vigilant regarding our character, our thoughts, our intentions, motivations, attitudes and how we communicate with others.  These are the things that the Holy Spirit will continually address, help us maintain and transform over our lifetime.  They profoundly impact the quality of what we do and why we do it.

That desired quality is well illustrated by the experience of looking for good fruit in a market where the vendor will allow you to sample the fruit.  There is appearance, ripeness, texture and flavor.  It’s not a matter of the fruit just looking good and feeling right to the touch.  It must pass the taste test.  What a joy it is to bite into eye-appealing fruit that is ripe and sweet to the taste.  It’s like ‘a party in your mouth’ – to quote a dear friend of ours.  That is the experience we and others around us will have as we walk worthy of our Lord and His calling upon our lives.

Hebrew 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]. (Amplified)

As a student growing up, I was always content with ‘B’s.  There was a national test we took each year in school that indicated that I was capable of better than that but I was set in my ways.  In college the same continued – I was doing okay but just wanted to get through my courses.  Then in my junior year I became a Christian.  Studies took a back seat to prayer meetings, Bible studies, witnessing, conferences and other Christian activities.  My grades sank and I ended up on academic probation.

At the end of my junior year I went to Colombia on a short-term mission trip.  There the Lord gave me a ‘major’ revelation that He wasn’t glorified if I flunk out of school.  I needed to get my degree if for no other reason than to honor my parents and the sacrifices they had made in my behalf.  Needless to say, I repented and went on to graduate.

Several years later the Lord made it clear that I was to pursue graduate school.  (PTL I had my BS degree!)  I pursued going to Wheaton.  As part of the application process I had to take something called a Graduate Record Exam (GRE).  It is like the SAT or ACT for college graduates.  I got a GRE study book and seriously prepared for the exam.  Fortunately I did well and was accepted by the Grad School.

When meeting with my advisor for the first time, he noted that my GRE score was high and exclaimed, “You are capable of excellence!  I’m expecting ‘A’s out of you!”  This led to one of the most life-changing communications to me from the Lord.  I did not hear an audible voice but He could not have communicated more clearly to me.

The message I received from Him was this:  “As long as you think you are only capable of mediocrity you will be content with mediocrity.  You are capable of excellence and I am holding you accountable for excellence!”  Needless to say, I responded.  For the first time in my life I got ‘A’s!

Unfortunately, so many Christians have unknowingly accepted the lie of mediocrity in our relationship with Jesus.  We are content with so much less than He wants us to have.  We read about wonderful things in the Bible or the moving testimonies of others but don’t think we can experience a relationship with God like that.

The message that God gave me regarding my studies applies to all of us in our relationship with Him.  Every Christian is capable of experiencing excellence in their Christian life – and He is holding us accountable for it.  He expects us to respond with faith to His word and His Spirit and seriously pursue Him.  When we do, we experience the excellence that comes with diligently seeking Him.