Latest / In the Stillness Podcast / Evidence of a Real Relationship with God

Transcript

Evidence of a Real Relationship with God · In the Stillness Podcast

• 0:00
  Hey you guys, it's friendly. Welcome back to In the
• 0:03
  Stillness. Happy Monday.
• 0:05
  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.
• 0:08
  I seriously cannot believe that we are about to step into April.
• 0:12
  It seems so crazy and it feels like this year just started.
• 0:16
  Yet here we are, almost a new month and new season, and I just
• 0:21
  really believe that the Lord is going to continue drawing us
• 0:24
  deeper into what it means to truly know Him.
• 0:28
  Today's passage honestly hits on something I think a lot of us
• 0:33
  have wondered or thought about before or maybe even wrestling
• 0:37
  with as you listen to this podcast.
• 0:39
  So I'm going to go ahead and read the passage for today.
• 0:43
  We are going to be in first John chapter 2, reading through
• 0:47
  verses 3 through 6. And here's how we can be sure
• 0:52
  that we've truly come to know God if we keep His commands.
• 0:57
  If someone claims I've come to know God by experience, yet
• 1:02
  doesn't keep God's commands, he is a phony and the truth finds
• 1:06
  no place in him. But the love of God will be
• 1:10
  perfected within the one who obeys God's word.
• 1:15
  We can be sure that we've truly come to live in intimacy with
• 1:19
  God, not just by saying I'm intimate with God, but by
• 1:23
  walking in the footsteps of Jesus.
• 1:27
  OK, clearly very straightforward, but I want to
• 1:31
  begin with something kind of funny, but also just very real.
• 1:35
  I don't know if this was a universal experience if you grew
• 1:40
  up going to church, but whenever I was a little girl, anytime the
• 1:44
  pastor at the end of the sermon would say, OK, is anyone ready
• 1:48
  to receive Jesus And ultimately an altar call and would lead the
• 1:52
  sinner's prayer. I would pray it again and not
• 1:56
  just once, like multiple times just in case.
• 2:00
  Like what if it didn't work the first time?
• 2:02
  What if I wasn't actually saved? And looking back, I can laugh at
• 2:07
  it, but I think now it points to a really honest question, Am I
• 2:12
  really saved? Or how do I know that I'm going
• 2:15
  to heaven? And I think a lot of people can
• 2:18
  probably think these things. What I love about these verses
• 2:22
  is that John answers that so clearly.
• 2:26
  If you belong to Jesus, you are secure in Him.
• 2:31
  But there is evidence of that belonging.
• 2:35
  We see that you are to obey Him and you are to live it out.
• 2:40
  This doesn't imply that you do it perfectly, but that you do it
• 2:44
  genuinely. And John actually continues this
• 2:48
  idea later on in this book that we will get into in a few days.
• 2:51
  But first, John 3 verse 23 where he explains what we're called to
• 2:56
  obey, to believe in Jesus and to love one another.
• 3:01
  And that immediately directs us back to what Jesus said in
• 3:05
  Matthew chapter 22, verses 37 through 40.
• 3:09
  Whenever the religious leaders are questioning him about the
• 3:12
  greatest commandment, he says to love God with all your heart,
• 3:17
  with all your soul, and with all your mind.
• 3:20
  And then you are to love your neighbor as yourself.
• 3:24
  Everything hinges on that. And this is where it gets
• 3:28
  deeper, because real biblical love, it's indispensable.
• 3:35
  Like we see in First Corinthians chapter 13, Paul is writing that
• 3:40
  you can do all the right things, you can say all the right words,
• 3:44
  but without love, it means absolutely nothing.
• 3:49
  But here's the question that the Lord put on my heart lately.
• 3:54
  How can we love if we don't actually know the One who is
• 3:58
  love? Because John tells us in chapter
• 4:02
  4 of this book that God is love. So if we are not spending
• 4:08
  quality time with Jesus, if we're not letting ourselves
• 4:12
  receive God's love first, then what are we actually pouring out
• 4:17
  to others every day? You cannot run on empty and just
• 4:23
  expect overflow. You just can't.
• 4:26
  It's not how it works. We cannot neglect intentional
• 4:31
  daily time with Jesus and then expect to love and serve people
• 4:36
  the way that He did because we have to 1st learn from Him in
• 4:41
  order to reflect Him. So that's why obedience really
• 4:46
  matters. It's not just a checklist of OK,
• 4:49
  I'm doing the right things, I'm obeying all that he asked, but
• 4:53
  it's as a response. Authentic love for God leads to
• 4:58
  obedience. And it's that obedience that
• 5:01
  becomes evidence that we truly know him.
• 5:05
  It's similar to what James talks about as he writes faith without
• 5:09
  works is dead. And he's not saying that works
• 5:13
  save you, but works reveal what you actually believe.
• 5:18
  Your actions show what's in your heart.
• 5:21
  It's like your assurance, and frankly, you can only fake
• 5:26
  things for so long. Eventually, the striving, the
• 5:30
  pretending, the trying to hold it all together with wrong
• 5:34
  motives, you're going to experience burnout.
• 5:38
  And God sees intention. Over time, your character will
• 5:43
  always be revealed. So I jotted down a few questions
• 5:47
  that I felt like the Lord was giving me and I'm just going to
• 5:51
  go ahead and read them for y'all.
• 5:53
  Are you flirting with sin in any way?
• 5:57
  I don't just mean obvious things like sexual immorality, but like
• 6:02
  idolatry. And if you're not trying to end
• 6:06
  up with sin, why would you entertain it?
• 6:10
  It's kind of like a dating relationship.
• 6:12
  If you are truly dating with intention for marriage, why
• 6:16
  would you invest time and attention into something that
• 6:20
  isn't for you in the long run and going into idolatry?
• 6:26
  This could just look like putting yourself at the Sinner
• 6:28
  instead of God or having an ego driven mindset instead of a
• 6:33
  surrendered 1. Ultimately these verses are
• 6:38
  ending with a very clear call. Live as Jesus did.
• 6:44
  Now obviously we are not Jesus. He is the Son of God and He has
• 6:49
  a different divinity. We are not performing miracles
• 6:53
  or fulfilling the cross the way that He did, but we are called
• 6:58
  to walk in his footsteps through obedience, through surrender.
• 7:03
  And as I was reading this passage, I was thinking back to
• 7:07
  the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus is praying so intimately
• 7:13
  and passionately to the Father and he says, not my will, but
• 7:18
  yours be done. And that level of surrender, I
• 7:24
  think it's beyond our comprehension as humans, but it
• 7:28
  is so weighty, but it's also so beautiful.
• 7:33
  And that is what we are called to do, is to surrender to the
• 7:36
  Father's will above ours. And I think in today's world,
• 7:42
  we've heard the phrase WWJD. What would Jesus do?
• 7:45
  There was a time when it seemed like everyone had those
• 7:48
  bracelets on their hands and it kind of became cliche.
• 7:53
  But that phrase is actually so powerful and significant.
• 8:00
  Like seriously, let's consider what would Jesus do when, say,
• 8:05
  someone cuts you off in traffic. You're running, like do an
• 8:08
  appointment, or there's one last piece of food and you're hungry.
• 8:13
  You want it, but someone else does too.
• 8:15
  Or you're taking an exam and you know it would be easier to cheat
• 8:21
  because other people are doing it.
• 8:23
  Or maybe you're in a group that is gossiping.
• 8:26
  What would it look like to actually be a leader and to call
• 8:30
  the truth or call it into truth and say, hey, let's not do this
• 8:36
  because those everyday in the moment decisions, that is where
• 8:40
  obedience actually becomes so real and it's where Jesus light,
• 8:46
  I think can shine the brightest because choosing his way in
• 8:51
  those moments is so countercultural.
• 8:55
  It reveals him. So the question can become, am I
• 9:01
  living in a way that reflects Jesus?
• 9:05
  It's so simple, but think about it, can people see Him more
• 9:10
  clearly by being around me, by speaking with me in
• 9:14
  conversations? And this isn't because you have
• 9:18
  to, but it's because you want to, because you love Him.
• 9:24
  And this is what gives us confidence.
• 9:26
  Confidence that we truly know God and that He knows us.
• 9:31
  As it says in Second Timothy 2 verse 19, the Lord knows those
• 9:36
  who are His. And because of that, we don't
• 9:40
  have to shrink back. We get to stand secure in Him
• 9:44
  and rest assured that we are His and He is our Lord and Father,
• 9:51
  and He cares for us and He is taking care of us.
• 9:55
  So with all of that, let's go ahead and closeout in prayer.
• 10:00
  Dear Father, thank you for the clarity in your word.
• 10:07
  Thank You that we don't have to live in confusion and we don't
• 10:11
  have to shrink back in fear, wondering where we stand with
• 10:15
  You. Would You help us to truly know
• 10:18
  You, not just in words, but in the way we live as seen in our
• 10:23
  actions? I pray that we would learn to
• 10:28
  love the way that you love and to walk in obedience from a
• 10:32
  sincere place of devotion. Father, would you search our
• 10:38
  hearts, expose anything that does not align with you, And I
• 10:43
  pray that we would surrender it right then and there because we
• 10:48
  want to live like you, Jesus. We want to reflect you and to
• 10:52
  bring you glory in every single moment, not just in the big
• 10:57
  moments that everybody sees, but even in the smaller ones.
• 11:01
  We love you and we give you all the praise today.
• 11:05
  Jesus in your name, Amen. OK guys, well that's today's
• 11:10
  episode. Praying that y'all have a great
• 11:12
  rest of your Monday. A wonderful start to the week
• 11:15
  and I will see y'all on the next podcast.