His Life, His Way
Jesus was asked a direct question by the Scribes…which is the greatest commandment of all?
When Jesus answered - He gave us the ultimate divine sound bite, if you like. It was the way to success in our own mental and emotional health, in how to build and grow healthy social relationships with the people we live, laugh and work with - and of course - how to do it all in relationship with God Himself.
Jesus said in Mark 12:29-31 NKJV
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.
The first thing we have to accept in this commandment is that God is not asking us to do something that is out of our reach.
He is a good Father.
No father, who is good, gives commands, or sets the standards, to an unreachable or impossible level – that sets their kids up for constant failure. This is just cruel and, almost abusive. And because God is the Perfect Father, you can be sure that His commands, at the very heart of them, are aimed at helping us find living and powerful sources of LIFE and HEALTH and HUMAN FLOURISHING.
God knows that LIFE ITSELF is only possible for us to experience when we come to Him.
Why? Because He is the source of life. There is no destructive or abusive or ‘in any way’ detrimental motives or patterns in the mind of God towards us.
God is utterly and completely out for our good.
His Presence, His words, His love, that we can bathe ourselves in, literally contain ALL THAT WE NEED to live good, healthy and prosperous lives on earth. God doesn’t just give us life at birth, then just stand back and watch and see what happens next, as we are left to fend for ourselves and make our choices that cause us to meander through life’s challenges and problems.
What kind of Father would do that!
God is fully present with us, each and every minute, of each and every day; whether we are conscious of Him or not. But He knows that the more we can live in a state of conscious awareness of Him; a lived fellowship with Him; the more we will bring who He is, His life of peace and joy and assurance and love, into our daily existence. And then, live out of that reality.
So, He says to us - don’t half do it. “Love Me” with ALL OF YOUR HEART, YOUR SOUL, YOUR MIND and YOUR STRENGTH. Because He is life itself, when we open ourselves fully to Him in this way, and LEARN TO DO THIS repeatedly each and every day, we will draw into our daily, lived experience the very life force of the Creator Himself.
There is no true maturity outside the Presence of God.
When we lean on Him, when we rest in Him, when we fully surrender to Him; it’s not a weak thing to do. Like a last resort, or what humans do when they can’t think of anything else themselves. It’s not like, “OK, now that I have exhausted all my options, let me give this God thing a go.”
No.
Living from the place of the Presence of God, as our first impulse, is actually the wisest, most powerful thing we could ever do. And, it generates in our human heart thoughts, ideas, assurances and a multitude of inner strengths and resources that far surpass our human capacities or abilities to originate or manufacture such things.
Life with God is not about ME asking JESUS to come into my life and, in doing so, somehow optimize me or make me my best self. Life with God is ME entering into HIS LIFE. Jesus is offering His place before the Father to us. He says, come stand in My shoes, experience the assurance I HAVE before the Father, the validation that I HAVE with the Father, the relational connection that I HAVE with the Father.
Why? Because this is what true sonship and daughtership with God looks like.
There are not 2 speeds - or 2 classes of relationship within God. As though Jesus has the VIP pass, and we are ‘IN’ - but relegated to the cheaper seats. No. Jesus is offering us HIS PLACE OF FELLOWSHIP BEFORE THE FATHER.
There’s ONE SEAT.
ONE CLASS.
ONE VIP section.
ONE PLACE OF SONSHIP.
And it is only found IN JESUS…AS JESUS.
And…we have all been invited in.
It’s when we constantly and intimately fellowship with the Father that we find the protection and sustenance our hearts are craving. Where we are literally covered with a blanket of the rich, thick, honey-like substance of His Holy Spirit. In this place of relationship and fellowship, our spirits literally incubate and grow into divinely inspired health and maturity.
