So what does it look like for us to love God as we continue in our relationship with Him? As I shared in the last blog , God’s given me two pictures — one that shows the action and the other that shows the emotional side. Let’s first look at the picture He gave me of how we act differently when we love God.
I was in a leadership team meeting and we were reading 1 Peter. As I was on my knees praying after reading 1 Peter, I had a visual. It was this:
I’m in a room and there’s a chair there. Someone comes in and they sit in the chair. They have never heard about God. I began to tell them a little bit about who God is.
He is the creator God, all powerful. He is all good. He is holy beyond our understanding. And this God left heaven and came to earth in the form of Jesus Christ so that we could have this audiovisual of who our God is. He is the creator God. He is above all. He is all powerful filled with compassion and mercy. He is Holy. His love is so amazing it is beyond our understanding.
He brought a human being here, so we could relate and understand Him a bit more.
Jesus came and He walked this earth. He suffered betrayal. He suffered all kinds of pain. And then He hung on a cross for us — a horrible, horrible death — so we could be forgiven for our sins. He took the penalty for us. And we get to be forgiven and we get to be in a relationship with a Holy God.
He did that for us. Then He went back to heaven, to prepare a place for us. A place that is beyond our imagination, it is so good. And while we are still walking this earth, He sent the Holy Spirit to live in us. Nothing can touch us without His permission. We are shielded by His power — and even the hard things in our life, there’s purpose in it.
I went on and on and on, but it was just a bit about who our God is.
Then, this person sitting in the chair says one of two things to me: either they say no wonder you’re so different than I am. No wonder your relationships look so different. No wonder your marriage is different. The way you spend your money looks different, the way you spend your time, the entertainment you’re involved in, just the way you speak and the way you talk looks different. Now it makes sense.
Or are they going to say, “If this is all true, I’m confused. Why don’t you look any different than me?”
I stayed on my knees quite a while, praying, “Lord am I different? I belong to You — am I different?”
Are we talking about Him?
Also, during that time, something else that came to my mind was how often does God hear His children mention His name? We certainly are very excited about sporting events, TV shows, video games. You hear us talking about those things a great deal. Are we excited about Who we belong to?
How often does He hear His children mention His name to people who don’t know Him?
We, Christ followers, are united in Him. We have this powerful connection. Are we living out that connection? Are we talking about Him? Are we saying, “This is what He’s teaching me.” That should be the core of our conversations.
In Kids Community, we hold one another accountable. We ask: How are you doing in your quiet times with Him? What does it look like? Has it become routine? What does it look like, what is the quality of it? And what is the quantity of it?
God really convicted me of this. I would be very close to God in the worship music. That’s one of my pathways to Him. I used to have that worship music with me in my quiet time, and I can remember at some point I must have removed it. I don’t remember making a conscious decision. But now that I think of it, I probably thought, “Those songs are six minutes long, I don’t want to spend that time.” Which is crazy! So God brought that back to me and I put that worship music back into my quiet times.
God-Designed Time Together
The prayer in our ministry has become, “You, God, design our time with You.” If you were to design it, what would it look like?
I need to come to Him to design it. Maybe it’s putting worship music in. Maybe it’s bringing in an additional devotional book with my Bible. Maybe it’s getting up and walking outside and listening to His creation, walking around and thanking Him for His creation. Maybe I should be writing my prayers out. It could be many, many things. But I don’t want it to be my ideas. Lord, You decide. That’s what I want.
So all of this was coming and I was on my knees, so convicted because I am nowhere near where I need to be. But I love that He brought that to my attention.
I can’t do that. But I know He can equip me so that I can live my life in a way that looks like Him. So that others can see what He looks like. That I open my mouth and speak His name again and again. That’s what He has for me.
In the next blog, I’ll share the other picture God gave me for loving Him.