We were never meant to do anything FOR God, but with Him. It’s the whole point of the cross, resurrection, and Pentecost.
2 Desire without knowledge [of what God really wants] is not good–how much more will hasty feet miss the way.
One of my favorite verses is a short one. It is Ephesians 5:10, “and find out what pleases the Lord.” Sounds simple enough, right? Then why do we fight Him so much when it comes to what HE wants? What DOES He want? Jesus told us in His priestly prayer,
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” John 17:24-26
This is not my first time to write about this subject. the problem comes when people ignore the purpose of salvation for the preference of something else–anything else! The purpose of salvation is for God to take up residence in us so that He can be with us forever. Consider this verse, “Anyone who loves Me will obey My teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23).
- To love Jesus is to obey Him. Why? Because anything else leads to destruction, and He loves us too much to leave us to our own devices. He came to show us the way, and that way is found in OBEDIENCE.
- “My Father will love them.” Who is His Father? The heavenly Father. GOD! “the Father Himself loves you because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and entered the world” (John 16:27-28).
- They BOTH will come and make their home in us!
My mother and father came to live with Robin and me back in 2011. About two years in, my dad and I were working in the garage and I asked him why they left their home in Durant (they grew up around there), their friends, and their church to come up to OKC. My dad looked at me and said, “I got tired of not seeing you.” I have the feeling that God feels the same way about us.
If we don’t want an ongoing, personal relationship with the Father through the Son by way of the Holy Spirit, then we shouldn’t have taken Jesus up on His offer of salvation. In fact, if it was never our intent to live our lives with Him, then chances are you never really received salvation. Jesus said that salvation comes through Him–knowing Him, following Him, and loving Him.
For the rest of us, we need to get back to the basics of life, life with Christ. Do we love Him? Then let’s work on our sanctification WITH Him. That sanctification (becoming like Jesus) is achieved through the Word of God. “Sanctify them by way of the truth; Your Word is truth” (John 17:17).
The secret to the Word of God is prayer, which we will discuss tomorrow.
Father, thank You for coming and taking up residence in my heart. The fact that You, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are in me is amazing! Who could ask for anything more? In fact, knowing You are in me gives me confidence; I’m not afraid anymore. I know You love me and love being with me. It really is the point of the cross. May I never lose sight of the mystery of the ages, “which is Christ in me, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Amen.
In the Master's Hands 