Experiencing God
Day 2: A Love Relationship With God
Day 2: A Love Relationship with God
To be loved by God is the high est relationship, the highest achievement, and the highest position in life.
Picture in your mind a tall ladder leaning against a wall. Now think about your life as a process of climbing that ladder. Wouldn’t it be a tragedy to ascend to the top and find you had placed the ladder against the wrong wall? One life to live, and you missed it! Earlier in the course we talked about your life being God-centered. That means your life must be properly related to God. This is the love relationship for which you were created—a God-centered love relationship. Your walk with God (Father, Son, and Spirit) is the single most important aspect of your life. If it is not as it should be, nothing else will function properly.
If you knew all you had was a relationship with God, would you be totally and completely satisfied? Many people would say, “I would like to have that relationship, but I would also like to do something” or “I would like for Him to give me a ministry or something to do.” We are a doing people. We feel worthless or useless if we are not busy doing something. Scripture leads us to understand that God is saying, “I want you to love Me above everything else. When you are in a relationship of love with Me, you have everything there is.” To be loved by God is the highest relationship, the greatest achievement, and the noblest position in life.
That does not mean you will never accomplish anything as an expression of your love for God. He will call you to obey Him and do whatever He asks of you. However, you do not need to do something to feel fulfilled. You are completely fulfilled in a relationship with God. When you are filled with Him, what else do you need?
Read the following hymn by Rhea Miller and circle everything that may compete with Jesus for a person’s love and attention.
I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold,
I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands,
I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand.
I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause,
I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame,
I’d rather be true to His holy name.
He’s fairer than lilies of rarest bloom,
He’s sweeter than honey from out the comb;
He’s all that my hungering spirit needs,
I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead.
Refrain
Than to be the king of a vast domain
Or be held in sin’s dread sway;
I’d rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today. 2
Reflect on the meanings of the words. If you could have only one or the other in each of the following pairs, which would you honestly choose? Highlight your response.
I would rather have: ❒ Jesus. ❒ silver, gold, riches untold, houses, and lands.
I would rather have: ❒ Jesus. ❒ men’s applause and worldwide fame.
I would rather: ❒ have Jesus. ❒ be the king of a vast domain.
If you chose Jesus for each answer, is this the way you have been living your life? ❒ Yes ❒ No
Do you really want to love the Lord your God with all your heart? He will allow no competitors, not money and things, not fame and popularity, and not power or authority. God says:
• “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money” (Matt. 6:24).
• “When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God” (Deut. 6:10-15).
• From His love for you, God will provide everything else you need—when you love Him and Him alone (see Matt. 6:31-33).
Matthew 6:31-33
“Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Created for Eternity
God did not create you for time; He created you for eternity. Time—your lifetime on earth—provides the opportunity for you to become acquainted with Him. It provides occasions for Him to develop your character into His likeness. Then eternity will hold its fullest dimensions for you.
If you live only for time—the here and now—you will miss the ultimate purpose of creation. If you live for time, you will allow your past to shape your life today. Your life as a child of God ought to be shaped by the future—what you will be one day. God uses your present experiences to mold you for future usefulness here on earth and in eternity.
What are some things in your past that have a strong limiting influence on your life today? These may include handicaps; a troubled family background; failures; shame over a personal or family secret; past abuse;
or things like pride, success, fame, recognition, or excessive wealth.
________________________________________________________________________
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Do you think you are primarily being shaped by your past or by your future? Why?
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I was speaking at a conference when a woman approached me and recounted the heartbreaking story of how her father had abandoned her and her family. She described her feelings of worthlessness, abandonment, and rejection. For years she was consumed with finding her father and convincing him she was not worthless and he should take her back. “Then one day I found my Father,” she said. “He was at the back of the Experiencing God book.” She had been studying Experiencing God and had come to the list of the names of God. She realized her Heavenly Father had always loved her and had been seeking a love relationship with her. Her Heavenly Father set her free from the bondage to which her earthly father had consigned her.
Paul had to overcome his difficult personal history too. Here was his approach to dealing with his past and present:
4 If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, 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 is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:4-14).
Answer the following questions, based on Paul’s statement in Philippians 3:4-14.
a. What are some things in Paul’s past that could have influenced his present?
________________________________________________________________________
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b. How did Paul value these things (v. 8)?
________________________________________________________________________
c. Why did Paul discredit his past this way (vv. 8-11)?
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d. What did Paul do to prepare for a future prize (vv. 13-14)?
❒ Forget _________________________________________________________
❒ Strain toward ___________________________________________________
❒ Press on toward _________________________________________________
Answers: (a) Paul was true and faithful to his heritage as a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin. He was faultless in keeping the laws of the Pharisees. He was zealous for God. (b) He considered them rubbish and loss. (c) Paul wanted to know Christ, to be found in Him, and to become like Him to attain a future blessing (resurrection from the dead). (d) He forgot the past. He strained toward the future. He pressed toward the future goal of a heavenly prize.
Paul’s desire was to know Christ and to become like Him. You too can so order your life under God’s direction that you come to know Him, love Him, and become like Christ. Let your present be molded and shaped by what you are to become in Christ. You were created for eternity!
Investing in the Future
Begin orienting your life to God’s will. His purposes go far beyond time and into eternity. Make sure you are investing your life, time, and resources in things that will last, not in things that will pass away. If you don’t recognize that God created you for eternity, you will invest in the wrong priorities. You need to store up treasures in heaven (see Matt. 6:19-21,33).
This is why a love relationship with God is so important. He loves you. He knows what is best for you. Only He can guide you to invest your life in worthwhile ways. This guidance will come as you walk with Him and listen to Him.
Matthew 6:19-21,33
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
In what are you investing your life, your time, and your resources? Make two lists. On the left list things that will pass away. On the right list things that have eternal value.
Passing Away Eternal
Think and pray about any adjustments you may need to make in the way you invest your life. Ask God for His perspective on your life. Record any adjustments you sense God wants you to make.
SUMMARY STATEMENTS
To be loved by God is the highest relationship, the highest achievement, and the highest position in life.
God did not create me for time; He created me for eternity.
I will let my present be molded and shaped by what I am to become in Christ.
“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.”
I will make sure I am investing in things that are lasting.
Only God can guide me to invest my life in worthwhile ways.
Review today’s lesson. Pray and ask God to identify one or more statements or Scriptures He wants you to understand, learn, or practice. Highlight them. Then respond to the following.
What was the most meaningful statement or Scripture you read today?
Reword the statement or Scripture into a prayer of response to God.
What does God want you to do in response to today’s study?