Experiencing God's Presence #274

Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.

John 14:21

We know it’s possible to obey God without loving Him. The Pharisees and plenty of religious people since have proven that. But the reverse isn’t true. It isn’t possible to love God without obeying Him—or to put it in more relational terms, without sharing His heart and carrying out His desires. And that’s what obedience is, in its truest biblical sense. It’s a heart connection with God that heeds His will and produces His fruit.

Jesus gives a profound, twofold promise to those who have that kind of relationship with Him. He and the Father will love them, and He will reveal Himself to them. Both sides of that promise are remarkable: one implies that the God who loves unconditionally has a unique, conditional love for those who love Him, and the other implies that love is a condition for greater revelation. If we are lacking either—a sense of His love or a clear view of Him—then this may be the reason. Perhaps our love for Him is the problem.

If that’s the case, the solution isn’t to try to muster up more love. That’s futile. We can stoke it and stir it up, but we can’t manufacture it. No, the solution is to ask His Spirit to fill us with His love so that we understand how deeply He loves us. “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19, NKJV)—meaning that a glimpse of His love will prompt a similar response in us. When we are filled with that love, obedience becomes natural and revelation increases. We begin to see Him as He is.

Jesus, I do love You; help me love You more. I want to step into the relationship You have with the Father, to live out Your will, and to see a greater revelation of You.

From the book