LOVING GOD WITH ALL OF OUR BEING

(From Chapter 4, Let's Get Growing, Christians!)

by Willard F. Harley, Jr. and Jennifer Harley Chalmers

  

What does God hate the most? In the first chapter of Romans it says that God hates disrespect, dishonor, and thanklessness. But an equally important question is “What does God want the most?” In Matthew 22:36-38 we find the answer. We read, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.’”

What God wants the most is our complete and unreserved love. He wants to be the ultimate Person in our lives, the Person whom we care about more deeply than anyone or anything. He wants us to create a way of life that reflects our devotion to loving Him. But what does that lifestyle look like? How do we make Him the ultimate Person in our lives? How do we love God with all of our being?

Fortunately, the Bible provides us with many illustrations of those who qualify as lovers of God.

Lovers of God

Enoch is one of the first who created a life that was devoted to loving God. But what do we know about Enoch? Did he build great cities? Did he lead a mighty nation? Did he write an important book? As far as we know, he did none of these things! As reported in Genesis 5:22, 24, after his son Methuselah was born, Enoch simply walked with God. He had fellowship with God. The writer of Hebrews (11:5, 6) acknowledges Enoch as a man who knew God and diligently sought Him. In both the Old and New Testament accounts, we are told that because he pleased God, he did not die, but rather, God took Enoch to be with Him halfway through what was then a normal lifetime. What great thing did he do to warrant such an unusual act on God’s part? He simply loved God and had continual fellowship with Him.

David is another example from the Bible who is recognized as a man after God’s own heart (I Samuel 13:14). The psalms of David reflect his deep love for God. He wrote that his fellowship with God was the cause of the strength and wisdom that he had leading God’s people as no one else had done before or after him. When subsequent kings of Israel placed their highest priorities on their wealth and ambition rather than on fellowship with God, their kingdoms crumbled.

The disciple John wrote more of the New Testament Scriptures than any other disciple and his book of Revelation is the most complete account we have of the days preceding and including the last judgment of mankind. He is the only one who cared enough about Jesus to remain with Him after His arrest. When it appeared that Christ and all His disciples might be crucified, only one disciple remained by His side. It was John. His writings reflect, more than that of any other writer of the Scriptures, the importance of love. And his first epistle is one of the clearest statements of God’s desire that we love Him as well as those whom He loves. John is truly a man of great distinction because of his love for God.

What Is Loving God?

What did Enoch, David, and John do that qualify them as lovers of God? The answer may seem simple. But it was the key that opened the door to a lifestyle of loving Him. Enoch, David, and John knew that this key was continuing fellowship—leading lives where they continually sought His presence.

Most would agree that time together is an important ingredient in any loving relationship. Just as close and continuous fellowship in marriage, a parent/child relationship, or close friendship is essential to sustain a loving relationship, continuous fellowship with God is essential to sustain a loving relationship with Him.

However, fellowship is not something you can do on your own—it involves the cooperation of both parties. And while God is always willing to have fellowship with us, we do not always find time in our busy schedules to have fellowship with Him.

That’s the problem Jesus addresses when He says to the church in Laodicea, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will go in and eat with him and he with Me” (Revelations 3:20). The people in this church did what many of us do—they shut Christ out of their lives, leaving Him knocking at the door.

Many Christians think that attending church services once a week, or even worshiping God three times a day is enough to be in continuing fellowship with Him. But He wants to be fully integrated into our lives, never having to stand outside the door knocking.

So, if we love God and care about how He feels we will decide to invite Him into our lives—permanently and continuously.

The Effects of Continuing Fellowship with God

When Christians create a lifestyle of continuing fellowship with God, there are three amazing effects: (1) we have an increased awareness of His presence and care for us, (2) we increase our sensitivity to His leading, interests, and feelings, and (3) we increase our ability to love and know God’s love—the fullness of His love living within us.

If you are following the assignment from the last chapter— worshiping God three times a day—you are now more aware than ever of God’s presence. By taking that brief amount of time every day to thank Him, you bring His care to your attention. That is the first amazing effect.

But the full awareness of God’s care for us is often hidden by our failure to give it little more than passing recognition. Our time can be so focused on ourselves that we fail to see what God is doing for us and fail to thank Him for the ways He cares for us.

When we take the time to continually fellowship with Him, our eyes are opened to the works of His hands. We see God’s presence in our lives and the lives of others. We are reminded that God not only created everything we have, are, and hope to be, but He also sacrificed His Son, Jesus Christ, so that we can be with Him forever. He intervenes on our behalf in daily events, responds to our prayers, and comforts us in times of crisis.

David’s psalms reflect this awareness. Here are only two examples: 

  • Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens…When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, and what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that You care for him? (Psalm 8:1, 3-4)
  • Praise the Lord. I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly. Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are His deeds, and His righteousness endures forever (Psalm 111:1-2).

As we become more aware of His incredible presence and care for us, we are filled with the desire to thank Him and care for Him. Caring for God means that we are sensitive to how our behaviors and decisions affect Him. And that is the second effect of continuing fellowship—increased sensitivity to His leading, interests, and feelings.

Enoch, David, and John were sensitive to God’s feelings and wanted to know more about Him so they could know what pleases and displeases Him. They cared about Him and knew that a life of disobedience would cause Him grief.

Have you seen the WWJD bracelets? You may have even worn one to help remind you to ask, “What Would Jesus Do?” whenever you had a choice to make. I propose something similar to help you develop the same sensitivity to God that Enoch, David, and John had. Whenever you have to make a decision, ask God how He feels about your options. If you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, He will let you know how He feels through the Holy Spirit and God’s written Word. He wants you to know how He feels about all the decisions you are about to make.

If you take the time to ask Him how He feels about your decisions, He will do more than just give you a “yes” or “no” answer. He will also make suggestions that may not have occurred to you before. That’s what being guided by the Spirit of God means (John 16:13). God directs you into His will when you take the time to invite Him into your daily life, and ask Him to guide you. That’s how to express your love for Him—ask Him what He wants, and then do it.

The third effect of continuing fellowship is that we have an increased ability to love and know the fullness of God’s love. John knew of this effect when he wrote, “Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God, because God is love” (1 John 4:7b). He knew that in order to have the fullness of God’s love within us, we not only need to be a child of God (“born of God”), through Christ Jesus, but we need to “know Him.” And knowing God comes through continuing fellowship.

How do we make God the ultimate Person in our lives? How do we love God with all of our being? The answer should now be apparent—the effects of our continuing fellowship with Him enable us to whole-heartedly obey Jesus’ commandment. We can love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind. 

Becoming a Lover of God 

You might already be in a lifestyle that has continuing fellowship with God. If you aren’t, you now know what to do and why you need to do it. But because of our sinful nature, creating a lifestyle of continuing fellowship with Him is easier said than done. So let’s use the four steps to solving spiritual problems to become lovers of God. 

  1. Pray daily for a solution to the problem

Have you asked God to help you learn to love Him more? Elizabeth Prentiss, in the hymn “More Love to Thee,” expressed her desire to increase her love for God. She prayed that God would enable her to love Him more—a legitimate prayer. God is willing to help us love Him more if we only ask Him. 

  1. Have faith that, between you and God, the problem can be solved

Do you believe that with God’s help you can learn to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37)? God has promised to answer our prayers if they are in His will, and we know it is His will that we love Him more and more. He has promised to be continually present if we invite Him in (Revelations 3:12). Do you believe that God keeps His promises? 

  1. Think of ways that the problem could be solved

Have you thought of ways in which you can come to love God more than you do now? You should first think about the meaning of fellowship with Him. As I mentioned earlier, Jesus is knocking outside the door of your life and wanting more fellowship with you. What can you do to open the door and let Him inside? How can you integrate Him into every part of your daily life? 

  1. Put your best plan into action

Have you tried at least one method to increase your love for God? The solution to this problem must somehow involve increasing your fellowship with Him. How can you increase the time you silently talk with God just to acknowledge that you know He is with you and is watching over you? How can you increase the use of His guidance, asking, “What would Jesus do?” How can your entire day be devoted to fellowship with God?

Paul instructed the Thessalonians to “Pray without ceasing” (2 Thessalonians 5:17). But how can this possibly be achieved? The answer lies in developing a habit of inviting God into your life every minute of the day, and the plan in the last chapter for three daily devotional periods is a start. But to accomplish a moment-by-moment fellowship with God requires an added feature.

These three devotional periods could be used both to worship God and to evaluate your fellowship with Him. During any given period of devotion, you could reflect on how close your fellowship to God was during the three or four preceding hours. How much of the time was He outside, knocking at your door? Were you increasing your awareness of God’s incredible care and love for you? Were you sensitive to His leading—asking, “What would Jesus do?” when you were making decisions?

Then, you could pledge to God to maintain close fellowship with Him during the next three or four hours. The pledge would be an incentive to motivate frequent fellowship with God. You       might also need the incentives mentioned in chapters 2 and 3 to develop and maintain the devotional periods. Over a period of time you could make an effort to increase the frequency of your contacts with God between your devotional periods. Intervals of time with no contact would become shorter and you would become more sensitive to them. Eventually, your continual fellowship with God would be a habit, a very basic, but essential part of your lifestyle.

Consideration of the reward factor in this case is almost completely unnecessary. There are things that you could do that might distract you and take away the maximum enjoyment from your contact with God. But even if you are only half trying, you will find God to be the most wonderful Person you will ever know. He is kind to you; He wants the very best for you; He loves you very much; His personality is infallible; and He is the most consistent Friend you will ever have! When all of your other friends are gone, He will still be with you. The more you know Him, the more you will love Him. 

What’s Ahead? 

As you become more consistent with your plans to respect and honor God, and love Him, you will notice that the next standard we will discuss is a natural outgrowth. The more you know God, the more you want continuing fellowship with Him. Continuing fellowship brings the fullness of His love within you. And being filled with His love will equip you to love and care for others.

In the ACTION PLAN you will be given an opportunity to begin working on this next standard—loving others and treating them as we treat ourselves. You will start by increasing your awareness of the needs of those around you. This is the first phase of loving others, especially your spouse!

The next article is Loving Others and Treating Them as We Treat Ourselves.

KEY POINTS 

  • What does God want the most? He wants our complete and unreserved love.
  • The most outstanding examples of those who loved God were those who created a lifestyle to be in continuing fellowship with Him.
  • The effects of continuing fellowship with God are: (1) increased awareness of His presence and care for us, (2) increased sensitivity to His leading, interests, and feelings, and (3) an increased ability to love and know God’s love—the fullness of His love living within us. This last effect enables us to whole-heartedly obey the commandment to love God with all of our being.

ACTION PLAN 

  • Pray that God will help you have closer fellowship with Him and have faith that you and God can achieve a plan to do it.
  • You can use the plan for three daily devotional periods as a start. But to accomplish a moment-by-moment fellowship with God requires some modification.
  • These three devotional periods could be used both to worship God and to evaluate a continuing fellowship with Him. During each period of devotion, reflect on how close your fellowship to God was during the three or four preceding hours.
  • During these times ask yourself, “How much of the time was He outside, knocking at my door? Was I aware of God’s incredible care and love for me? Was I sensitive to His leading—asking, ‘What would Jesus do?’ when I made decisions?”
  • Then, pledge to God to maintain closer fellowship with Him during the next three or four hours.
  • Review other verses on the subject of love for God: Deuteronomy 7:9; 10:12; 11:1; 13:3; 30:6; Joshua 22:5; 23:11; Psalm 31:23; 37:4; 63:5; 73:25, 26; 116:1; 145:20; Nehemiah 1:5; Daniel 9:4; Matthew 7:21-23; Mark 12:29-33; Luke 11:42; Romans 8:28; 1 Corinthians 8:3; 2 Thessalonians 3:5; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 1 John. 4:20, 21; 5:2, 3.
  • How are you doing with your worship time with God? Are you keeping up your plan for daily worship?
  • Write down a list of people with whom you have contact during a typical weekday and identify possible needs. Don’t forget to remember your family members.

Click to read the article, Loving Others and Treating Them as We Treat Ourselves.