This post is intended to be used in conjuction with the 12-week Bible Study of Experiencing God by Henry, Richard, and Mike Blackaby and Claude V. King.
References to specific quotes and texts are indicated by 'EG' and the corresponding page number and come from the 2022 publishing.
Many years ago, when I was in my first days of motherhood, my mom shared some of her feelings as a first-time mom. She shared about the mistakes she had made, the worries she had experienced, and her fear of not being a good mother. She told me that she knew she had been successful when she had a conversation with my brother, who is the oldest and was an adult when this conversation took place.
He told Mom that there had never been a time in his life that he doubted, even for a moment, that he was loved. That one statement soothed any concerns she had ever had about being a mom. You can’t strive for much more than that in a relationship.
In a loving relationship, one of the goals is for those involved to always know that they are loved despite misunderstandings, conflicts, or circumstances.
Has God ever given you a reason to doubt His love for you?
I think it’s okay to say “yes” to that. I’ve prayed to God before, reminding Him of His Word that “I have not because I didn’t ask”. I asked, but God still saw fit for me to not have that for what I was asking. The minor disappointments I could handle. But the major petitions denied made me question His love and attention to me.
Have you ever given God a reason to doubt your love for Him?
Without a doubt, my answer is “yes!”. I’m sure I have lots of company in that. We say we love Him, but we’re not always ready to mean it when we sing, “I Surrender All”. As we belt out the words to the old hymn “Trust and Obey”, the sincerity is somewhat lacking. And we may sing “I’d Rather Have Jesus” thinking that our hearts are behind it 100%, but how many things and persons do we put before Jesus all of the time?!
Doubts of love on either part diminish to extinction when the relationship matures and strengthens. As your relationship with God deepens and you experience Him more and more, you are more willing to “Trust and Obey” Him to the point that you can truthfully say, “I’d Rather Have Jesus”. Eventually, your life’s motto becomes “I Surrender All.”
“God Himself pursues a love relationship with you. He takes the initiative to bring you into this relationship. He created you for fellowship with Himself. That is the purpose of your life. This love relationship can and should be real and personal to you.”[i] (EG, page 52)
In Experiencing God, the second reality is that God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal.i
Let’s take a closer look at that. First of all, God pursues. The reality isn’t that God is simply available or that He’s waiting. He’s actively pursuing each of us. Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18:12-14 NLT “12 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? 13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! 14 In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.”
The reality is that all of us were once that lost sheep. God pursued us to save us and He continues to pursue us to include us. The kind of relationship God desires with us is described by four adjectives.
Continuing. Love. Real. Personal.
“God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal.
EXPERIENCING GOD
To put it another way, God wants a relationship with you that is ongoing, deeply regarded, not fake, and one-on-one.
If you look at activity #3 on page 52, we’re asked what seems to be a fairly easy question to answer. “If you were standing before God, could you describe your relationship with Him by saying, ‘I love You with all my heart and all my soul and all my mind and all my strength?’”
How many can truthfully answer 100% yes to that question?
The real-life situation given involves a man being asked that very question. His response is quite honest. “No, I could not describe my relationship with God that way. I could say I obey Him, I serve Him, I worship Him, and I fear Him.” (EG page 52). While those things are important, Jesus tells us what is most important in Matthew 22:36 NIV “36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.”
One of the summary statements from day 1 is “A love relationship with God is more important than any other single factor in your life.” (EG, pg. 54) Do you agree with that? If you do, then can you honestly say that your love relationship with God is most important in your life?
One of the statements in this week’s video was something like this. If you get the love of God wrong, it can lead to troubling definitions and all of your relationships will be out of sync. [ii] That’s definitely a paraphrase, but you get the gist. “God is love. He is the standard and everything else has to measure up to Him.”ii
Is God enough to fill your life? We all know the correct answer to that, but is God enough of a priority so that He is all you need?
I saw an interesting video this week. We know that when God is pursuing, inviting, and including Moses in what He’s already doing with the Israelites, Moses has some questions and concerns. One of those involved Moses wanting to know how to respond if he’s ask Who sent him. God answers, “I am Who I am.” And then in verse 15 of Exodus 3, God calls Himself Yahweh for the first time. We know that this name for God is actually spelled YHWH.
“When pronounced without intervening vowels, it actually sounds like breathing.
YH (inhale): WH (exhale).
So a baby’s first cry, his first breath, speaks the name of God.
A deep sigh calls His name – or a groan or gasp that is too heavy for mere words.
Even an atheist would speak His name, unaware that their very breath is giving constant acknowledgment to God.
Likewise, a person leaves this earth with their last breath, when God’s name is no longer filing their lungs.
So when I can’t utter anything else, is my cry calling out His name?
Being alive means I speak His name constantly.
So, is it heard the loudest when I’m the quietest?
In sadness, we breathe heavy sighs.
In joy, our lungs feel almost like they will burst.
In fear we hold our breath and have to be told to breathe slowly to help us calm down.
When we’re about to do something hard, we take a deep breath to find our courage.
When I think about it, breathing is giving him praise. Even in the hardest moments!
This is so beautiful and fills me with emotion every time I grasp the thought. God chose to give himself a name that we can’t help but speak every moment we’re alive.
All of us, always, everywhere.
Waking, sleeping, breathing, with the name of God on our lips.”[iii]
“God did not create you for time; He created you for eternity.” (EG, pg. 56) One of the questions asked on page 56 is “What are some things in your past that have a strong limiting influence on your life today? These may include a troubled family background; failures; shame over a personal or family sin; past abuse; price, or unhealthy desire for success, fame, recognition, or wealth.” (EG, pg. 56)
Are you still tethered to your past?
Oswald Chambers once said, “Beware of looking back at what you once were, when God wants you to become someone you’ve never been.”
Looking back on our past can be crippling. But not just when our past is what we would consider negative (promiscuity, addictions, mistakes, poor choices, and any kind of sinful behavior). We can limit ourselves now when we choose to live in our old glory days. When what we once were was only impressive to ourselves (awards, recognition, talents, successes or accomplishments of our own, or even our spouse and children).
Luke 17:32 “Remember Lot’s wife.”
Those three words are nestled in when Jesus is teaching His disciples. What’s quite interesting is that Jesus makes it a point for us to remember her. We don’t even know her name, but Jesus said to remember her. Not Mary, Martha, Esther, or Ruth. But Lot’s wife.
Jesus was stressing the importance of not looking back. In Isaiah 43:18 CEV, God tells Isaiah, “Forget what happened long ago!
Don’t think about the past.
19 I am creating something new.”
Lot’s wife was emphatically told not to look back, but she did. Whether she was longing for what she was leaving behind (possessions, friends, prestige, wealth) or she was doing the Adam and Eve routine of “you can’t tell me what to do”, we don’t know. What we do know is that the Hebrew word used here in Scripture for “looking back” indicates she didn’t just casually take a glance over her shoulder, but rather she considered, regarded, and paid attention to what was behind her.[iv]
It’s difficult, if not impossible, to experience God in what He’s doing around us when we’re focused on what once was.
Christine Caine wrote, “I have found that if we linger too long where we’re not supposed to be, we’ll start longing for what we are supposed to no longer be lingering in. When we linger, we hesitate. The literal meaning of linger is “to be slow in parting. To remain in existence although waning in strength. It’s to procrastinate.” And it includes one more eerily accurate depiction: “To remain alive although gradually dying.” Lot’s wife might not have had any idea that looking back would cause her death, but it did, didn’t it?
Are you longing for something that once was? That is no more? That can never be again?
Are you lingering there in that place where you should no longer be lingering?
Are you lingering in a place and longing for what was, all the while tolerating what is, all in hopes that if you linger long enough, you might get back what God told you to leave?”[v]
Lot’s wife looked back and she became a pillar of salt. Notice Scripture doesn’t tell us that God turned her into a pillar of salt. She did it to herself.
Remember Lot’s wife. Don’t look back on your past mistakes or linger in your past successes. God is creating something new!
We had a different kind of assignment on day 3 and I hope you were able to carry it through. We were asked to spend 30 minutes with Him. If you did that, how was it? Was it a unique experience? Were you different afterward? Hopefully, it was an “Experiencing God” moment for you.
“People who struggle to spend time with God don’t have a scheduling problem; they have a love problem.” (EG, pg. 59) Too often we are busy doing things for God that we don’t have time to spend with God. While doing things for God is important, spending time with Him is crucial. How will we know what God wants us doing if we’re not in communication with Him?
We’re told on page 61 (bottom of the page) that “If you are going to experience God and know His will, you must be absolutely convinced of God’s love for you.” (EG, pg. 61) So how do you know God loves you? First of all, the Bible tells us so. If you believe that the Bible is God-breathed and everything word in it is true, then there should be no doubt that He loves you.
If you’re still having trouble convincing yourself of God’s love for you, then stop and fixate your focus on the beatings that Jesus endured, the mocking that was hurled at Him, the unbearable suffering He willingly took, and the excruciating pain He experienced. For you. For me.
But God has shown us how much he loves us–it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!
romans 5:8 gnt
“Do you realize that from the beginning of time, God determined to love you? Apart from His work in your life, you never would have become a Christian. He had something in mind when He called you. He began to work in your life. You experienced a love relationship with God when He took the initiative. He opened your understanding. He drew you to Himself.” (EG, pg. 62)
There’s a sentence in that paragraph that stood out to me. “Apart from His work in your life, you never would have become a Christian.”i That statement takes me to the 7 realities. “God is always at work around me”I which means that He is working in the lives of people around me to be saved. He’s pursuing them like He pursues me. And then look at reality #3. “God invites you (me) to become involved with Him in His work.”i
We have free will. We have choices to make. We can either accept God’s invitation to work with Him. We can sit back or linger where we are and not get involved. Or, we can behave in such a way that we are more of a hindrance than a help.
I was talking with a close friend this week and we were discussing someone who is a new Christian but is struggling in her faith because of the actions and behavior of someone else. This other person claims to be a Christian, but their behavior is anything but Christ-like. Our friend who is the new Christian asked me, “Is this normal behavior for someone who says they’re a Christian?” It broke my heart. But it also convicted me. Do I always exhibit Christ-like behavior? If I am responding to God as I should in these 7 realities, then I should be.
Day 5 is titled “A Real, Personal, Practical Relationship”. “The relationship God wants to have with you will be real and personal. But ‘real’ I mean that God is more than a doctrine or a person in history. He wants to interact with you on a personal level today. He is also practical in how He relates to you. Some people ask, Can a person actually have a real, personal, and practical relationship with God? They seem to think God is far off and unconcerned about their day-to-day living. This is not the God we see in the Scriptures.” (EG, pg. 64)
I hope that there are many experiences with God that come to mind for you. The number of experiences will depend on how long you’ve been in a relationship with Him, the depth of your relationship, and the amount of time you spend with Him. God is always working and He wants you to join Him.
“When my relationship is as it ought to be, I will always in fellowship with the Father.”
EG, pg. 60
[i] Experiencing God by Henry, Richard, and Mike Blackaby, Claude V. King
[ii] Experiencing God by Henry, Richard, and Mike Blackaby, Claude V. King, Video Session 3
[iii] When breathing speaks the name of God (godreports.com)
[iv] Why was Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt? | GotQuestions.org
Beacons of Light 