You are never cold or mechanical. Rather, you love me with
feeling and heart.
The greatest affection I can experience is “the affection of
Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:8).
Day 11
I thank you, O God, that you are with me in FAITHFUL LOVE.
You are loyal and true to your covenant partners. You keep
all your words. You stay with me. You never leave me or forsake me.
Your steadfast love never ceases; your mercies never come to
an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations
3:22–23 personalized)
Day 12
I thank you, O God, that you are with me in PATIENT LOVE.
You are slow to anger. You forbear with my sins, weaknesses,
and failings. You wait for me to grow into your likeness.
I praise you that your love is patient. (1 Corinthians
13:4 personalized)
Day 13
I thank you, O God, that you are with me in GENTLE LOVE.
You are not rough, abusive, or oppressive with my soul.
I praise you, O Lord, that I can come to you when I labor
and am heavy laden, and you give me rest. I take your yoke upon me, to learn
from you, for you are gentle and lowly in heart, and in you my soul finds rest.
For your yoke is easy, and your burden is light. (Matthew 11:28–30 personalized)
Day 14
I thank you, O God, that you are with me in JEALOUS LOVE.
You zealously protect our relationship from all competitors.
Because you are jealous for my love and devotion, I tear down every idol and altar to false gods in my soul. (Exodus 34:13–14 personalized)
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
Meditating on God’s love will fill you to the fullness of God.
Below is a prayer and meditation guide for practicing the loving presence of God.
I’ve written about God’s love for a year now, and it has changed my life, especially my prayer life. I regularly begin prayer times now by reciting several aspects of God’s love that I’ve written about, such as the kindness or mercy or forgiveness of his love, and that sets the stage for believing and feeling it.
The phrase that helps me most is simple: “I thank you, Lord,
that you are with me in _____ (benevolent love, serving love, patient love, for
instance).” And then I might meditate and elaborate on that quality for a
sentence or two.
Then I do it again with another quality of God’s love.
In this 47-Day Immersion in God’s love, I will summarize all the qualities covered over the last year and link to the original article. You can read each prayer verbatim if you like, or read it and then pray your own words. The last paragraph in each day is a relevant Scripture personalized as a prayer.
This 47-Day Immersion will last seven weeks. Each week you can download a PDF for that week, and at the end of the series you will be able to download a PDF for the entire series.
Deeply understanding God’s love is more than just a means to
have warm feelings, as beneficial as that is. It is the path to being filled to
all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:19 invites us “to know the love of Christ
that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God”
Eph 3:19). Think about the scope and potential effect on your life of those
words: “filled with all the fullness of God.” That’s what we all want and need.
That is the ultimate.
That is why you want to meditate and pray over these
qualities of God’s love.
Your love is higher than the heavens, greater than the ocean, without measure or limit.
Your love surpasses knowledge, filling me with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:19 personalized)
Day 2
I thank you, O God, that you are with me in MERCIFUL LOVE.
You saved me and forgave me when I was your enemy.
I was a child of wrath, like the rest of mankind, but you, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which you loved me, even when I was dead in trespasses, made me alive together with Christ—by grace I have been saved. (Ephesians 2:3–5 personalized)
Your love will never leave me if I will keep following
Jesus. I am secure in your love.
I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor
rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from your
love in Christ Jesus my Lord. (Romans 8:38–39 personalized)
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
You can learn to fellowship with God. He wants to be with and enjoy his people.
Who do you like to hang out with? Although text messages,
phone calls, and video calls are a helpful substitute when we can’t get
together with someone we enjoy, what we really want is to be together in the
same room, at the same table, around the same food or activity.
The biblical word for this is fellowship. One of the
surprising things we learn about God is that he loves fellowship. He loves to
hang out with you. He enjoys simply being together.
Fellowship with God at the beginning
We see this from the start with Adam and Eve. Genesis 3
says, “They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool
of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the
LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and
said to him, ‘Where are you?’” (Genesis 3:8–9 ESV).
Although we’re not told, based on what we learn about God in
the rest of Scripture, it seems likely his visit to the garden was not unusual.
It appears he came in human form, in a preincarnate manifestation of the Son of
God (that is, the Son did not yet live in a human body, but he appeared in the
form of a man). He came to walk and talk with Adam and Eve, his creation. He
came to fellowship.
Unfortunately, their sin ruined that sweet time together.
Fellowship continues
But even after the Fall, with all its devastating consequences,
humans could still fellowship with God. Genesis 5:24 says of Enoch that he “walked
with God, and he was not, for God took him.” The implication is that God took
him because he delighted so thoroughly in him.
When the Lord delivered Israel from Egypt, he instructed
Moses to create for him a tabernacle in which he could dwell, so that he could
live among his people.
When the Son of God was conceived in the womb of Mary,
Scripture explains, “‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and
they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)’” (Matthew
1:23).
The future of fellowship with God
And this is the Lord’s plan for eternity.
After a detailed description of the future, eternal city of
God, the last verse in the OT book of Ezekiel says, “The name of the city from
that time on shall be, The LORD Is There” (Ezekiel 48:35).
Revelation, the last book of the Bible, reveals the future
that awaits believers:
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for
the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud
voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.
He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself
will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every
tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be
mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all
things new.’”(Revelation 21:1–5)
This describes God as so near to his people he is wiping the
tears from their eyes!
But it’s not always that easy
It’s important to understand God’s desire for loving companionship
with us because our experiences in this life can sometimes persuade us
otherwise. Has God ever seemed far away to you? Have you ever sought him
earnestly but felt as though you didn’t sense his presence? Have you ever
wanted him to speak to you, but all you heard was your own heartbeat?
Then there is the matter of God’s holiness. The Bible says
many things about this wonderful and important quality of his, but the one
thing his holiness usually does not suggest is that he just wants to “hang out,”
relax, and be together. In the Old Testament, God’s holiness instead provoked
sinful humans to fear and required separation from him.
The door is open through Jesus
But as a result of the atoning death of Jesus on the cross
and his blood that now covers all our sin, we are in a different situation:
“Indeed our fellowship
is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3, ESV). And lest
you think the third member of the Trinity is left out, 2 Corinthians 13:14 says,
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship
of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
The Father wants to
fellowship with you. The Son wants to fellowship with you. The Holy Spirit
wants to fellowship with you. His love is a fellowshipping kind of love, not a
distancing love. In his love for you, he enjoys your companionship. He doesn’t
want separation. Jesus prayed, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have
given me, may be with me where I am” (John 17:24).
Notice that 1 John 1:3
emphasized the reality of our fellowship with God with the word indeed:
“indeed our fellowship is with….” In other words, the fellowship we can have
with God has the potential to be the most intense and satisfying fellowship we
can experience.
That is because God is one
with us and lives within us through the Holy Spirit. He is as close, connected,
and intimate with you as another person can be. A Christian is never alone. The
Lord’s fellowship is always with you, and you become consciously aware of it
when you turn your attention to him.
How to experience fellowship with God
1. Practice God’s presence
To experience fellowship with
God deeply and regularly, we need to learn to practice the presence of God.
2. Walk in the light
On the other hand, the
greatest hindrance to experiencing fellowship with God is if we take pleasure
in fellowship with the world, if we enjoy the spirit of the world. (1 John
2:15–16; 1 Corinthians 2:12)
2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1 says,
“14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership
has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with
darkness?15 What accord has Christ with Belial [Belial is a
name of Satan]? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16
What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the
living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among
them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17
Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will
be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord
Almighty.’ 1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse
ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to
completion in the fear of God.”
God is light, and he
fellowships with light. When you keep your soul as a place of light and purity,
you can fellowship with God readily.
3. Scripture and church
Finally, we normally experience fellowship with the Lord most intensely as we read and meditate on Scripture, as we worship and give thanks to him, and as we worship and fellowship with his people. (I say “normally” because the brokenness of one’s soul, one’s wrong understandings about God, and even the attacks of demons if through evil-doing you give them access into your life, can interfere with the free and open enjoyment of God in these ways. I can’t elaborate on that in this post.)
Our way and God’s way
Our way: Doing what comes naturally, we pay attention to what we see and hear, not the invisible and usually subtle presence of God.
God’s way: The Lord delights in our companionship, but he rarely forces himself upon us.
Life principle: If we are to fellowship with God, we must pursue him intentionally. We must practice his presence.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
God’s righteous love never violates righteousness and justice.
Imagine a father-and-sons
building company. Jason Smith, the father, is a master carpenter who employs
his three sons building houses. Jason dearly loves his three sons, but he has a
soft spot in particular for the middle son Allen. When Allen was a child, he
nearly died in a car accident, and ever since then his father has had a
difficult time saying no to him.
Jason does not toss up
houses overnight. He refuses to work for any developer who wants to construct
inferior buildings. He is a stickler for using quality materials and for
following city building codes to the letter.
And therefore a home
built by Jason Smith and sons is a masterpiece. No crooked walls or corners, no
plumbing that breaks six months after moving in, no surprising leaks in the
roof during an extraordinary rainfall, no cheap light fixtures that blink and
develop shorts, no seepage in the basement, no cracks in the cement, no cold
rooms in winter. When Jason Smith builds a house, a homeowner gets a perfect
home, a dream home to be proud of and safe in. An investment for a lifetime and
an inheritance for one’s family.
Trouble
Over the course of time,
Allen befriends some other builders in town who are his age. They hang out more
and more. Surprisingly, given Allen’s upbringing, his new friends are not
master builders. In fact, they are greedy builders whose top priority is making
fast money, not quality homes. They bend rules. They break building codes. They
bribe building inspectors. They make big money, and eventually bitter enemies.
Then an economic downturn
comes to town, and the construction business is hit hard. Developers are
building few homes. Contracts are tough to come by, even for Jason Smith and
Sons.
A quick fix
One day Allen surprises
his father with a suggestion. “Dad, I think we can get more business if we cut
a few corners.”
“What kind of corners do
you mean, Son?”
“Well, Dad, let’s face
it. Our bids can’t compete with other builders.”
“That’s true. We can’t
beat the bids of builders who are breaking the rules and getting away with it.
But that’s only true for the short term.”
“I know that, Dad, but we
have to deal with reality in the short term too. These are hard times. Until
this economic recession ends, I think we need to save money by using lower
quality materials and turning out homes on a faster schedule. You’re secure
financially and can weather this downturn; I can’t. I need the steady income.”
“I’ll lend you money.”
“No, I’m not going to
take handouts.”
“Allen, you know how I
feel about this. But let me think it over for a few days.”
For three days, Jason
Smith agonizes over what to do. He barely sleeps. His every instinct says to
stay the course and do what’s right. But he can’t find the will to say no to
Allen. He can’t bear to see him and his wife and children going through a hard
time.
Finally he calls Allen.
With a sick feeling in his stomach, he says, “All right, Son. Only until this
recession ends, we’ll do it your way.”
Righteous love
In this example, we see a
father who does what he feels is wrong for the sake of someone he loves. God
never does that. God never compromises on righteousness and justice for the
sake of love.
Scripture
says, “Let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that
I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the
earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 9:24, ESV).
This
Scripture is one of many showing that God’s love, righteousness, and justice
are inseparably woven together, like a handmade rug with horizontal and
vertical threads.
Scripture
says of the Messiah, “A throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it
will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David one who judges and seeks justice
and is swift to do righteousness” (Isaiah 16:5).
God’s
love never violates righteousness. His love is always a righteous love.
What
does it mean to love righteously, to love in righteousness, with righteousness,
for righteousness?
Wicked love
Consider
the opposite: wicked love. For an extreme example, think of King Ahab and his
wife Jezebel. They had a worldly love that cooperated in doing wrong. Together
they fostered idolatry in Israel. Together they murdered, stole, and oppressed
the poor, as when they murdered a neighbor who would not sell his field to them
and then claimed the land.
When
love is evil and worldly, relationships are built on sinning together, with two
or more people bonded by their mutual enjoyment of and pursuit of evil. One of
the most commonplace forms of wicked love is two people bonded together in a
relationship of sexual sin. Even more common are friendships built on sins of
the tongue such as gossip and slander.
God only does what is right
Righteous
love means God’s love always does what is right, not wrong, follows what is
right, not wrong, pursues what is right, not wrong. When love is righteous, it
is concerned about right and wrong, not primarily about feelings. Feelings
follow righteousness, rather than righteousness following feelings. Feelings
guide at times—feelings such as compassion, pity, affection, passion—but only
when they align with righteousness.
That’s
because feelings can lead a person astray.
If
Jesus had followed feelings, he would not have submitted to the Father and gone
to the Cross.
If the
Father had followed his feelings, he would not have sent his Son to the Cross
to suffer and die for his enemies.
Justice and salvation
The
preeminent example of the righteousness of God’s love is the means he chose to
save sinners. He did not simply forgive sinners on the basis of his love and
mercy. If he had done so, justice would not have been served. The unrighteous
deeds of men would have simply been overlooked. Murderers, rapists, liars, and
thieves would not be penalized for their crimes. God would have acted as though
all the blasphemies and perversions of mankind had never happened. God’s love
would have somehow covered over the entire, vile mess of human history.
But
God’s righteousness would not allow it. His justice must be served. And so he
found a way to wed justice and love. He sent his holy Son to suffer and die on
the cross as a substitute for us. Jesus took the just penalty that we deserved.
“It
was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be
just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).
“And
now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the
LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him” (Deuteronomy 10:12).
Life principle: We can’t have a relationship with God without repentance.
And in our relationships with other people, true love always is righteous: “[Love] does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6).
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
In love, God offers the priceless gift of knowledge and wisdom in all the subjects that matter most—tuition-free.
Imagine that you started a business, and for the first
fifteen years of running your company you did all the tax returns yourself in
order to save money. Finally the company begins to prosper to the point you
feel you can hire a tax professional. After he looks over your records and
previous year’s returns, he sits down to discuss them with you.
He says, “I notice that you have not been taking the tax
deduction for such and such. Is there a reason for that? It would have given
you significant tax savings each year.”
“What? I don’t know anything about that deduction.”
“You’re not unusual,” says the advisor. “Not many small
business owners are aware of it. We can go back and do amended returns for a
couple of years, but I’m afraid you’re out of luck for getting back the money
for the early years of the business.”
“Oh no, you’re kidding. How much do you think I could’ve
saved if I’d taken that deduction?”
“Probably five to ten thousand a year at least. Sorry.
Ignorance is not bliss. That’s why people like me are a good investment. With
taxes, what you don’t know will always hurt you. I’ve noticed a few other
things that can also save you significant tax expense going forward. You’re
going to be really glad you called me.”
The steep price of ignorance
Ignorance is costly, not only in taxes and business, but in
how to have successful relationships with family and friends and colleagues, in
personal nutrition and eating habits, and in matters of faith and morality and
one’s relationship with God.
God lamented the terrible cost of spiritual ignorance for
his people:
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6
ESV).
“My
people go into exile for lack of knowledge; their honored men go hungry, and
their multitude is parched with thirst” (Isaiah 5:13).
In America today we see the terrible social results of
spiritual ignorance. For decades the elite knowledge-sectors (education and
media) of society have largely abandoned the knowledge of God and the wisdom of
Scripture, and now the U.S. is paying the inevitable, painful price. People cannot
understand why the nation has many social ills and conflict. They are clueless
because they are ignorant of spiritual truth. They have mastered technological
knowledge but forgotten spiritual knowledge.
The loving gift of knowledge
When we see the cost of ignorance, we recognize the precious
value of God’s willingness to teach us. He is happy to instruct us because he
loves us.
“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had
compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So
he began teaching them many things” (Mark 6:34 NIV). Notice that Jesus
taught them because he had compassion on them. He instructed them because he
loved them. He knew the cost of ignorance. Sheep without a shepherd end up in
big trouble, eaten by wolves or straying into wilderness regions lacking food
and water.
In his ministry, Jesus primarily did three things:
teaching, healing, and delivering from demons. “Crowds gathered to him again.
And again, as was his custom, he taught them” (Mark 10:1).
So God teaches the people he loves. His love and desire
to teach are connected in other Scriptures:
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should
go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule,
without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not
stay near you. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love
surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD” (Psalm 32:8–10).
“Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs
sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the
humble his way. All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and
faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies” (Psalm
25:8–10).
The blessings of divine knowledge
If we recall the blessings that come from God’s words of
instruction, we’ll see what a loving thing it is for God to teach us:
Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my
disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John
8:31–32).
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”
(Psalm 119:105).
“You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will
receive me to glory” (Psalm 73:24)
“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the
testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD
are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure,
enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the
rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are
they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of
the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there
is great reward” (Psalm 19:7–11).
Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I
am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew
11:29).
God’s words bring light, life, joy, freedom, reward, wisdom,
guidance, success, strength, encouragement, knowledge. His words make it
possible for us to receive all the things we long for. Thus, his teaching is a
gift of love.
Woohoo!
This
is why the psalmist rhapsodized about his love of God’s laws: “Oh how I love
your law! It is my meditation all the day…. Great peace have those who love
your law; nothing can make them stumble” (Psalm 119:97, 165).
To receive teaching from God’s Word is to get counsel from
the wisest, best-informed person in the universe on how to live your life in
the best possible way for the greatest possible happiness and everlasting
glory.
In every pursuit of life, from hobbies to investments, we
learn that knowledge brings power, competence, authority, success. That’s why
people spend tens of thousands of dollars to get a formal education. God gives knowledge
far more valuable, knowledge that equips us both for this life and life eternal,
knowledge that enables us to live a life that pleases him and receives eternal
reward.
Our way and God’s way
Our way: When fallen sinners hear God’s teaching,
they say, “Don’t preach at me.” A rebellious heart resists God’s commands and
guidance, even though his commands are his loving instruction on the life that
brings happiness. A wicked heart is unteachable, proud, and wise in its own
eyes.
God’s way: He teaches us because he loves us. He is
the teaching God. Jesus said, “You have one instructor, the Christ” (Matthew
23:10). Only as we know and walk in his ways can we be blessed, for “There is
no peace…for the wicked” (Isaiah 48:22). He compassionately laments over those
who reject his instruction: “Why will you die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel
33:11).
Life principle: When you make it a priority to read the Bible daily, with faith, when you make it a priority to listen to his Word taught in church and elsewhere—when you read this blog! 🙂 —you are welcoming God’s teaching. He sees that you want to be taught, and he will teach you. “Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:10). Priorities, priorities, priorities.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
Does God ever deny the truth to maintain a relationship?
Imagine you became an employee of a small startup company
whose owner invented a revolutionary medical device for doing blood tests in
half the time and expense of any current technology. Your starting salary is
more than you ever imagined you could earn, and in less than a year the owner
informs you she is so impressed with your work she wants to promote you, double
your salary, and give you hundreds of shares of company stock. She also
suggests that if you keep up your good work, you could be a vice president in
no time.
Your head is spinning. You feel as though you have struck
gold.
But a few months later you discover something troubling. Reviewing one of the company’s marketing presentations for use with venture capitalists, you find it contains what appear to be false claims. What should you do? Who is the source of these claims?
You go to the person in charge of the presentation and
investigate. “All the data in this presentation came from the top,” says your
colleague.
“But I don’t think all of this is true,” you insist.
Your colleague replies, “The owner told me the data is based
on information that up till now has been secret.”
For the remainder of the day you ponder what to do. The need for secrecy is a given in this business, but you are being asked to put your approval on a presentation that appears to you to be fraudulent. That’s criminal. On the other hand, there are many things you don’t know about the company. You are not yet in the inner circle. It seems more reasonable to trust the owner because she has information you do not. You don’t want to challenge her information and imply she is lying. In the end, you decide to keep your mouth shut.
To your relief, the marketing presentation eventually goes nowhere
with potential investors, and you resume your ambitious work. Within months, the
owner promotes you again, and you find yourself now working closely with her.
In fact, you have become good friends, eating together often, even hanging out
at one another’s homes.
One day she calls you into her office and puts you in charge
of making an investment appeal to a huge venture capitalist. She hands you a
folder. “Here is the current information to use in your pitch,” she says. You
return to your office and get right to work. As you read the documents in the
folder, though, to your astonishment you once again find data you know to be
false, and this time you have enough firsthand access to know the truth is not
hiding behind a wall of secrecy. The owner is lying.
Your path forward is a simple, though painful, one. You
believe in telling the truth. You are committed to honesty in business. Although
you don’t want to lose your job, income, or friendship with the owner, integrity
is more important than this relationship.
The next day you meet with the owner, confront her regarding
the facts, and immediately you are fired. You return to your office, pack your
belongings, and walk from the building knowing you have done the right thing.
Love must be truthful
Truth can bring people together, and truth can separate them
(Matthew 10:34–38). Whenever people do wrong, the truth becomes their enemy
(John 3:19–20), and truth-seekers become their enemy (Galatians 4:16). In such
a situation, truth becomes divisive, but there is no avoiding this divisiveness
if we are to be people of integrity (John 8:31–47).
Satan is a liar and the father of lies. Jesus said there is
no truth in him (John 8:44). Lies and evil walk hand in hand. Evil-doing needs
lies and depends on deception (2 Timothy 3:13).
God is a truth-seeker, a truth knower, a truth teller. He is light and brings all things sooner or later into the light (1 John 1:5–7; Matthew 10:26). The Lord hates lies (Proverbs 6:16–19). He loves truth (Psalm 15:1–2). He is the truth (John 14:6).
The unavoidable casualty of God’s commitment to truth is
some relationships. When Satan fell from his exalted place and became a committed
liar, God’s loving relationship with Satan ended. When a host of angels
followed Satan and likewise became committed deceivers, God’s relationships
with them ended.
When Adam and Eve fell into evil and began their cover-up,
God’s relationship with them changed dramatically.
Jesus had to choose between truth and relationships
God’s love for us rests on the foundation of truth. He does
not compromise truth to begin or maintain a relationship (for example, see Mark 10:17–23). Anyone who enters into a
relationship with God must be willing to hear the truth and follow it (John
6:51–67). Those who stubbornly hold to a lie in order to maintain their
evil-doing will eventually find that their relationship with God has ended (1
John 2:3–5), for when there is a necessary choice between truth and a
relationship, the God of truth and righteousness will always choose truth (for
example, see Matthew
16:21–23).
He is patient and long-suffering in cleansing sinners of their deceiving ways, but there comes a point when that patience ends. God is love, but he is not a liar. So, his love for you will always be a truthful love (1 Corinthians 13:6).
Our way and God’s way
Our way: Fallen sinners need lies and tell lies. They
compromise truth in order to
maintain relationships they don’t want to lose. They can be loyal to a fault,
loyal to the point of believing and supporting lies. They shade and twist the
truth in order to please people they love. Postmodernism, which is the
prevailing worldview of Western culture, is a belief system riddled with
falsehoods, exemplified in phrases such as “your truth,” “everyone has their
own truth,” and “follow your heart (even when your heart contradicts moral
truths revealed in Scripture).”
God’s way: He cannot lie. He speaks only truth. This harmonizes with his love, for lies destroy. He is not sentimental, not guided by feelings over against truth and righteousness.
Does this mean there is no hope for deceived sinners? No, God,
in love for evildoers, found a way to follow truth and still adopt them as his
children. He sent his holy Son to die on the Cross to take the punishment that
truth and justice require of deceived evildoers. As a result, God in love can uphold
truth and forgive sinners. That is, sinners who confess the truth by repenting
of their rebellion against him and trusting in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness
of sins.
Life principle: Those who love God must love the truth he reveals in Scripture even when it counters falsehoods that our fallen, deceived minds have followed for years. God knew the deceptive power of Satan and the falsehoods that would fill our fallen world and its fallen systems, so he gave a book of inerrant truth. Jesus, who is the Truth, always treated the Scriptures as a fully inspired, word-for-word, revelation of God’s truth. If you are wise, you will follow the example of Jesus, who as the divine Creator knows infinitely more than you do, and infinitely more than the deceived people who shape our confused culture.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
If you feel empty, unsatisfied, you need to experience the love of God.
Recently my wife and I drove 30 minutes to a forest preserve
and took a two-mile walk. The walk lasted through lunchtime, so afterward we
decided to get lunch somewhere nearby. I checked the map in my phone, and we selected
a Mexican restaurant. The restaurant was small and tucked into a corner of a
struggling shopping center. The sign in the window said, “Authentic Mexican
food.” By the time we sat down at a table and ordered, we were famished.
I ordered a chicken burrito, and we had guacamole and chips,
jalapenos and pickled carrots before the main course arrived. The sign in the
window was accurate, for the food was like homemade. Everything was fresh and delicious.
My burrito was large, but I ate it all. When we eventually walked out of the
restaurant, I felt mucho bueno. That meal literally was a happy meal.
The satisfaction loop
One’s soul goes through repeating cycles of hunger, eating, and satisfaction. The loops can be with food, with work and rest, prayer, intellectual learning, connection with friends and family. In all these areas we know what it’s like to experience deep satisfaction. Your soul says, Ahhhhhhh, that was good. I’m at peace. I’m full.
According to Psalm 63:3, the greatest satisfaction the soul
can have comes from experiencing the love of God. It says, “Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.” It appears that the psalmist David was trying to find
a comparison to say that God’s love brings ultimate satisfaction. He may have
gone in his mind through a list of satisfying things: Your love is better
than seeing a beautiful sunset. Your love is better than fresh grilled lamb.
Your love is better than being intimate with my wife. Then he realized that
experiencing God’s love is better than any of those things. In fact, it’s
better than all of them put together. And the best way he could find to say
that was, your love is better than life itself.
Full satisfaction in God’s love
God’s
love is better than anything in life, than everything in life put together. It’s
so great that it’s even better than being alive itself. Which is a paradox, of
course, because you can’t experience God’s love without being alive. But just
being alive is good and wonderful, when we are in our right mind, not
complaining or depressed or afraid or misguided by other bad attitudes. When we
are thinking clearly, we realize that just being alive is a great pleasure and
gift.
We’ve
all heard people who somehow sidestepped death from something like sickness or
a car accident, and through that event they came to appreciate every day the
gift of life, all by itself. Just being alive is deeply satisfying. So, the
psalmist is saying God’s love is even better than that. Knowing God’s love is
the most satisfying experience available to the human soul.
A prayer guide for thinking about God’s
love
That’s
one reason why for nearly a year I’ve been posting articles on that theme.
That’s why as I now finish the theme, I plan to give in a forthcoming post a
summary outline of the ground we have covered, with Scriptures and declarations
you can make in prayer and meditation. So that as you keep calling these truths
to mind, your hungry soul can say, Ahhhhhh.
God is
love (1 John 4:8, 16). Your soul’s greatest satisfaction matches the
fundamental nature of God. That’s not a coincidence. It’s one more example that
confirms you were created by and for God.
Not you?
You might
read this post and feel disappointed, however. You might feel that meditating
prayerfully about God’s love doesn’t bring you that much pleasure and
satisfaction. My counsel to you is, be patient and ask God to teach you about
his love and to reveal it to you (Romans 5:1–5; Ephesians 3:14–19). Some people
get hold of this easily, but for a host of reasons others don’t. If you persist
in asking and seeking, you will have a dawning of God’s love in your soul and
find the satisfaction you cannot have in any created thing.
Our way and God’s way
Our way: The fallen soul seeks ultimate satisfaction
in created things, rather than God. Following this course is like a person who
is adrift in the middle of the ocean in a lifeboat, desperately thirsty under a
burning sun, all fresh water long gone, who finally reaches over the side and
drinks salt water, which only exacerbates dehydration and kills the person who
drinks it.
God’s way: God made us for himself, for divine love,
and the soul is always thirsty and hungry until it learns to feast fully on the
love of God.
Life principle: We do not automatically know how to
experience God’s love continually. We must learn to love him and learn to comprehend
his love.
In this series on God’s love, I’ve written three other posts that address the strength of God’s affection for his people (Affectionate Love, The Intimacy of Absolute Trust, and Romantic Love). Each has a different emphasis. I want to do one more on the theme because it also has a different, encouraging emphasis. This topic is God’s cherishing love. Two Scriptures call attention to it, both using the same Greek word (thalpo), one using the analogy of a person cherishing his own body and the other using the analogy of a nursing mother cherishing her child.
Cherishing our bodies
“No one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes [Greek, thalpo] it, just as Christ does the church” (Ephesians 5:29, ESV).
Consider
the many ways you may have cherished your body this week: cooking and eating
healthy food, enjoying unhealthy food, sleeping, brushing teeth, showering and
washing hands and assorted other cleanup, beautification of hair and face,
exercising, assorted doctor visits, buying and caring for clothing, looking in
the mirror, cutting nails, applying lotion or sunscreen, taking medicine and
vitamins, physical therapy. You may have even gone to a spa.
Yes,
we cherish our bodies. We nourish, pamper, comfort, strengthen, heal, and
protect them. Jesus cherishes the church, and you a Christian, the way people cherish
their bodies.
Cherishing a child
“We were
gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care (Greek, thalpo)
of her own children” (1 Thessalonians 2:7, ESV). Notice that the comparison
here is not just to a mother but to a nursing mother, a woman who tenderly
holds a baby to her breast and lets the child suck milk from her for hours each
day. Nursing mothers sing to their children. They caress and shelter them. They
gently nurture and hold them.
To
communicate this same idea, Scripture also uses the analogy of a shepherd with
sheep. Isaiah 40:11 says, “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will
gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead
those that are with young.”
Psalm
23:1–3 says, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down
in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.”
Jesus
commanded the apostle Peter, “Feed my
lambs” (John 21:15).
The
Book of Revelation describes the cherishing kind of love God will show to those
who have suffered on earth for their faith. “Therefore they are before the
throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on
the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more,
neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will
guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from
their eyes” (Revelation 7:15–17).
All these Scriptures
picture God’s heart toward you.
Our way and God’s way
Our way: A fallen person tries to take advantage of God’s
cherishing love. Or we may think of God in either-or categories: always either judging
or tender.
God’s way: His love is not indulgent, but he is not just a disciplinarian. He truly cherishes and treasures his children more than any mother cherishes her child or any woman cherishes her body. In a sense, God’s love is a spa for the soul.
Life principle: When your soul yearns for comfort, think long on the cherishing love of God.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
God’s discerning love ensures the most excellent goodness for you.
Recently I overheard my wife Nancy on the phone as she was discussing the first few days of the new school year of one of our grandchildren, who, she said, came home quiet and subdued. “It was a hard week” for the grandchild, she said. That grade level is a big adjustment, she said. Without the child saying anything about it, Nancy showed the ability to discern a child’s heart, to recognize correctly what the child was feeling and thinking. Mothers know when a child needs a nap, needs help, needs a hug.
God is discerning about all things. His love is discerning.
Scripture says of Jesus, “He knew all people and needed no one to bear witness
about man, for he himself knew what was in man” (John 2:24–25, ESV).
To discern is to detect, to recognize, or to identify as separate and distinct. We exercise discernment when we can taste a particular spice or ingredient in a dish, or when a doctor can diagnose a disease based on symptoms. An investor like Warren Buffett exercises discernment when he buys stock in companies that prove to be valuable. A coder uses discernment when she skillfully uncovers why a website is buggy.
God’s discerning love brings comfort
God’s ability to discern the heart of a man means he knows both
the bad and the good, including all a person’s potential in God.
Jesus showed this when he first called Nathanael to be his
disciple. Scripture says, “Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of
him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!’” (John 1:47).
David wrote that God’s discerning love was a comforting
thought to him, “O LORD, you have searched me and known me! 2
You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts
from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down and are
acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my
tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether” (Psalm 139:1–4).
God’s discernment of your heart enables him to know how to
work for your highest good in every situation. He is not an inept parent who
constantly misreads his children’s motives or needs. He does not discipline us
without real cause. Rather, he resembles the mother of a toddler whose nose
knows when the diaper needs changing. He is like a father who recognizes when
his son is ready for a challenge, strong enough for his next responsibility.
David saw the benefit of this. “Search me, O God, and know
my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in
me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23–24)
Always in love
Love always seeks the good of another person. The connection
between love and discernment is seen in Philippians 1. “It is my prayer that
your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and alldiscernment,
so that you may approve what is excellent” (vv. 9–10).
Notice it is discernment and the knowledge it brings that enables
a person to approve what is excellent. God’s discernment enables him to pursue
the highest good in you, the excelling good—the excellent. Every day you can
look at your life and be assured that God’s work in this situation is
excellent.
Moreover, in this world of many sorrows, it is God’s loving
discernment that enables him to know what you can bear. Scripture says, “God is
faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but
with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be
able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Moreover, through discernment he knows your needs, your real
needs, and thus can provide every one. “My God will supply every need of yours
according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19) If a true
Christian feels that God did not meet his or her need, it was because God knew
whether it was a real need in relation to his perfect purpose for the person’s life.
Our way and God’s way
Our way: Fallen people think they know better than God what is best for them. A fallen person prefers to walk in the darkness and hide from God’s searching knowledge.
God’s way: The Lord knows you infinitely better than your mother knew you. The expert on you is not you; it is God.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
God’s covenantal love is a faithful, committed, loyal, no-messing-around love.
How many covenants are you in? That is, how many
relationships are you in that are bound and ordered by a formal covenant?
A business contract is a weak form of covenant. I am bound by
two contracts with publishers for books still in print. I have obligations and
promises to fulfill under those contracts, and so do the publishers. I am also
bound by contract with a rental company for my apartment, involving a host of
promises and obligations, with financial repercussions for breaking them.
But beyond business contracts, I have also entered two formal
covenants. When I married my wife, we each entered a marriage covenant in the
sight of God and under the guidelines of Holy Scripture in which we made vows
to each other. God is the witness to our vows, and he holds us responsible if
we neglect or break them. A marriage covenant is far more than fine-sounding words
in a marriage ceremony. It requires faithfulness.
In covenant with God
Finally, I have also entered a covenant with God. That’s the
most serious business of all. Anyone who becomes a follower of Jesus Christ
enters the same covenant. Jesus called it the new covenant in his blood. At the
Last Supper, Jesus took “the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that
is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood’” (Luke 22:20 ESV).
We are reminded of our covenant each time we receive Communion.
This covenant with God is ordered and bound by promises and
obligations. God’s promises are found in the Bible, and you can be sure he will
never be unfaithful to them, for he is incapable of breaking his Word. He is
the God of perfect truth and faithfulness. He cannot lie; he cannot break
faith; he cannot be disloyal.
In Scripture we also find our promises and obligations as
followers of Jesus Christ and the repercussions of being unfaithful.
Unfortunately, we have not yet been perfected, and so we do fail to keep the
covenant completely. Thankfully, we have an advocate and High Priest who
mediates for us, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shed his blood for the forgiveness
of our covenant breaking if we will confess and repent of our sins (see 1 John 1:9–2:2).
God’s covenantal love
God makes covenants with people as an expression of his
love. Just as a man and woman enter into the marriage covenant as an expression
of their loving commitment to one another and their pledge of enduring
faithfulness, so God in love pledges himself to us and calls us to pledge
ourselves to him. He doesn’t do one-night stands. He doesn’t do no-obligation
cohabitation. He doesn’t have partners; he has only covenant partners. It’s his
nature. His love is a faithful, committed, loyal, no-messing-around love.
His love is a promise-making love. He delights to obligate
himself to people he loves and come through forever. He promised himself in
covenant love to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Phinehas, Levi, the nation
of Israel, and the followers of Jesus Christ. If you have surrendered your life
to Jesus Christ, you are in the most wonderful, life-giving covenant
imaginable, and if you remain faithful it will be your perfect satisfaction,
safety, and security forever.
Our way and God’s way
Our way: In our fallen nature we are reluctant to
commit to others and prone to breaking the commitments we do make.
God’s way: In love he yearns for covenant
relationships and maintains his faithful love forever.
Life principle: The essence of keeping our covenant with God is to believe in him and all his words recorded in Scripture; to trust in Jesus for our salvation; to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
I invite you to read my weekly posts about knowing God and his ways better. —Craig Brian Larson
