Obedience Founded in Love

On November 30th, 2010, the Lord delivered me from a lifestyle of addiction and criminal activity. By His grace and by His grace alone, He brought me into a relationship with His precious son Jesus Christ. It would be an understatement to say it was a radical transformation. I was excited and prepared to give the Lord everything I had but I was stuck with a huge dilemma, ‘What did the Lord want from me?’ There were so many teachings about what salvation, grace, and being born again meant. Each denomination and sect of Christianity seemed to have truth mixed with opinion and cultural influence. My mind began to reel, and the confusion intensified with question after question.

·         Was grace independent of works?

·         Could you continue to sin and claim Jesus paid it all?

·         Did you really have to prove yourself to God and please Him?

·         Was it more accurate to say that you’d better live a life without sin and walk perfectly before Him, so that you didn’t lose your salvation?

I knew that I had to turn to the scriptures first if I was going to get any semblance of clarity on these issues. I couldn’t reason that I was justified to keep on living my life in just any way and that I could continue sinning because Romans 6:1-2 says,

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”

And I couldn’t justify idly sitting by and doing nothing at all. The book of James clearly states that we are to do good works and to apply our faith. James even alludes to the fact that just having belief that Jesus is Lord is not enough according to the scriptures in James 1:22, 2:19, and 2:26:

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

“You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!”

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

But I was taught and thought you just had to simply believe. Is this not what Paul and Silas said to the jailer in the book of Acts when he asked, “What must I do to be saved?” Then, Jesus himself stated that anyone who did not bear fruit would be cut off as a dead branch and thrown into the fire (John 5:2).  After reading that, I reasoned that my salvation would stay intact by faith plus works. I thought that I could prove to the world and to God that I believed in Him by giving my tithes, feeding the poor, showing up to church every Sunday, praying and reading daily, and treated others kindly. I felt confident and relieved that I had all this sorted out in my mind. That is until I read Matthew 7:21-23,

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

My heart and countenance sank, and I became more discouraged and confused than ever before. The Pharisees were the most obedient to the law as anyone could be. Judas himself walked with the disciples casting out demons, healing the sick, preaching. And where are they now? In my heart I knew there was a narrow path to follow, and that path had to go through Jesus. I pleaded with the Lord for years to help me sift through all the confusion and make the truth plain and simple to me. Often though, I found myself resisting the Holy Spirit and ignoring His simple instructions. Looking back, I see that what I was looking for was an easy three step program that makes everything simple. I wasn’t willing then to give myself to the daily discipline and effort it required to seek God. I wanted an instant microwavable Christianity, the crown without the cross. I kept seeking the opinions of man and theological debates to give me the answers I was seeking but I never found them that way. Thank God for His mercy and patience with my walk and for His revelation of His word. The answers I was seeking were all found in John 15:1-4:

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He [a]takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”

The question I should have been asking myself was, “Am I attached to the vine?”  We know that vines produce fruit. But once the fruit and its branch are cut off from the vine it immediately begins to die. It can no longer grow or sustain life because the vine that was giving it nutrients and water is no longer a part of it. When we break our daily communion with the Lord, we are not receiving from Him what we need to grow or survive. He states in verse 4 that we can bear nothing of ourselves. The less time we spend with Him is more time we are influenced by the world. This is what it means to be severed from the vine. What the Lord desired of me was a true relationship, one where I talk to Him and He talks to me. It is imperative that as sons and daughters, we understand that our God is a Father. He wants us to give Him control of every aspect of our life and wants to help and provide for every area of our life. He will accept nothing but full trust and dependence upon Him. We are in constant need of direction and reproof, but we are also in constant need of love and encouragement. Jesus continued in verse 5 stating, “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit.”

It was expected that we maintain and cultivate our relationship with our Lord Jesus in the same way a husband and wife would. When you meet someone, you want to know everything about them, you want to know what they like and dislike, and you want to spend all your time with them. And as you continue to meet and talk with them you begin to fall more and more in love with them and suddenly all other possible suitors are no longer an option. You have determined this person is the one you want to spend the rest of your life with. Now the responsibilities of your life have changed because life is no longer about you but what is best for the relationship and the things you may have done when you were single, you no longer do if they are displeasing to your loved one. Any relationship that may cause your newfound love to be jealous must be cut off. Remember you only have eyes for them now and no one else can take their place.

And it is the same with the Father; communication is a must. Your spouse would not feel loved if all you did was provide for them, and do for them, but never took the time to be affectionate or ask about their needs. Working every single day from morning to night and then a quick, passing by, kiss and a brief “I love you,” will not suffice. Intimacy and growing in relationship and love take work and dedication. It is not just about feelings and emotions. Like anything in life, it takes effort and hard labor to produce good fruit. What deserves more of that effort than your relationship with your Father in Heaven? The man of God, Dallas Willard, once said, “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone.” (The Great Omission, Willard). We don’t need to earn our Father’s love because we already have it. We don’t need to earn our relationship because our Father has already made a way through His son Jesus Christ. But we do need to put effort and labor into growing deeper in our love for the Father. The book of James chapter 4:8 states:

“Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

This is what God wanted from me more than anything. The greatest commandment is to love the Lord my God with all my heart, all my soul, and with all my strength. In doing so, I have found myself year after year becoming more attentive to His voice. I can clearly without confusion, through His word, and through what the Holy Spirit speaks to me, know His will for my life. And I know that He desires for you to know His will as well, producing fruit that will bring glory to His name. He is seeking to be intimate with you and to give you, His heart. If you will seek Him with all you have and give Him all your love you will become more and more like Jesus. As you walk further in love as Jesus walked with the Father you will produce more fruit than you ever imagined possible. I leave you with the words of Holy Scriptures, Galatians 5:22-23:

“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

My prayer for you and for all believers, is that of Paul in Ephesians 3:19, “to know that love which passes all knowledge, that you may be filled with the fullness of God.” May you receive more and more grace to draw closer to the Father more than ever before. Stand strong soldier and remember you are already loved. Rest in that love and cultivate it with all the strength you have.

Shalom.