Simply Time With Him
God has been dealing with me a great deal lately about His only commandment for the New Testament church, to love one another. It is not something that comes easily to me, and I am aware that I have no ability in myself to succeed, so I ask for His wisdom and insight. Well, ask and ye shall receive.
I was reading a devotional and came across this gem in the Passion Translation.
Acts 4:13
Then they began to understand the effect Jesus had on them simply by spending time with Him.
Jesus' disciples were dramatically and noticeably transformed purely and only by spending so much time with Him.
This verse went off in my spirit because it reinforced what God had been speaking to me. Being able to obey the love commandment had nothing to do with me except for the amount of time I spent in His presence. It is Him in me that allows me to do anything He requires.
I suspect we have all read the I Corinthians 13 love chapter and felt inadequate. How could a mere human being ever attain this level? I have to admit I have read it and felt a little condemnation for my failures. When God taught me about spending time in His presence, and after many months of putting it into practice, I began to see this a little differently. This chapter and its descriptions of love are not there to put pressure on us but to encourage us as we see and recognize these things developing in our lives- as we spend time in His presence.
Seeing it from this perspective inspired me because it removed the pressure of the ‘you musts’ of walking in love that we are all taught in church. You have sat in those services too. What I always noticed missing was the ‘how to’ of walking this out. So many just grit their teeth, try to make a ‘quality decision’ to obey, but because they do so in their own strength, often fail. This is when the devil comes along to beat them up and bring condemnation. Friends, we were never meant to walk this out on our own, it is too big.
Preaching tells us that everything is about what Jesus did- and it is. We love to sing, “Without Him, I can do nothing, without Him I’d surely fail”. So why do we think we can obey His love commandment without living in His presence? How did it get changed to ‘you’ when taught to make a decision and obey? Think about it. How many of us rush off in the morning with a quick read of a chapter (or verse) and perhaps a five-minute prayer? Did God even get a chance to put something in us for that day? Yet we expect to be able to act like Jesus and feel bad if we don’t. Anything that does not flow out of our relationship with Jesus and His presence in us is a struggle because it can only be our own disappointing works. I see this difference quite vividly on days when I have not spent enough time worshiping God and in prayer.
Picture this instead- You are going about your day full of joy and peace as you are often in the presence of God getting filled up. Along comes brother critical saying something hurtful but you hardly hear it. It does not affect you and you find yourself walking away thinking, “Poor guy, he must be having a bad day”. Suddenly it occurs to you that you paid no attention to a suffered wrong with no effort at all. Why? It is because you spent time in God's presence and HE did the loving through you. You did not have to think about it, struggle with it, or even decide. It just flowed out of your spirit. This is what I call “sweatless victory”.
I am seeing this more and more as I spend time every day in Jesus' presence. The things He teaches in His word are not meant to be hard. I am convinced that this is what He meant when He said, “My yolk is easy and my burden is light” ( Matt. 11:30). Please do not live your life trying to obey God on your own. In my experience, life is so much easier and more peaceful when I spend time with God every day. It is so worth it as He helps me walk out every step and brings His word to life. This, my friends, is how we were meant to live.