For about the first 20 years of my Christian life, I was a “box-checking” Christian. I was great at it! I went to church three times a week, gave tithes and generous offerings, had family devotions with my kids, participated in MANY of the church’s ministries, sang in the choir, sent my kids to Christian school, and invited church visitors into my home for dinner. Yes, I was a super “Christian” but I was fooling nobody but myself. I was doing all these things as a substitute for my relationship with God. Sure, from time to time, my heart was touched and I’d have a short spiritual revival, but eventually—I threw in the towel—and walked away from it ALL.
Why didn’t I stick with it?
Well, because I didn’t understand that the ABUNDANT Christian life comes—not from SERVICE to God—but rather, from SURRENDER to God. It’s much like a good marriage. If a couple serves each other out of obligation then it gets old very quickly. But if both are serving each other out of love [because God is their greatest source of satisfaction] then each act of service produces more love. Service out of love increases love; service for any other reason is checking the box and it just leaves you dissatisfied. I know—I’ve been there. Remember, love is selfLESSness. We all want it.
God IS LOVE; which means He embodies selfLessness.
We are created in HIS image and thus, we NEED love. The daily surrender of our life to God places us in the midst of His gloriously loving presence. This is our power position. Service out of love is a powerful force because remember, love conquered our greatest enemy—death. When we are filled with God’s Spirit, our life is abundant. Pastor Lon Solomon said, without God’s Spirit empowering us, we are like a fan without electricity. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lon-solomon-ministries/id1578620419?i=1000567255870We can spin our own fan for a while, but we’ll quickly tire when we see it’s not accomplishing the purpose for which it was made.
Serving God without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit is like trying to run a fan without electricity.
It’s like living in “religion” without “relationship.” But when we return to God, and He becomes the greatest longing of our heart, we sing like the Psalmist:
“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.” (Psalms 63:1-4)
Psalms 63:1-4
We will only love God with the kind of passion described by the Psalmist, when we know Him. We need to get to a place in our life where we seek, thirst, and long after God. When we experience His loving kindness as being better than anything else in our life, we make our relationship with Him our GREATEST priority. We make time for Him. We adore Him. We thank Him. We sit at His feet and allow Him to teach us from His Word.
In God’ s presence, we see how often He protects us and comforts us. We see how merciful He is to us. His love makes our heart melt in gratefulness and praise. We are caught up in the beauty and peace of His love. He is so glorious that we desire to share our experience with everyone we meet! God’s love pours out of us in our service to Him—in every area of our life—work, family, church, community, and anyone who knows us.
God’s love makes our Christianity authentic: To have HIS love—we must be in HIS presence.
To learn more about Kimberly Faith and the mission of Faith Strong, click HERE.
Out Now – Essential Faith, Volume II. Find it on Amazon by clicking HERE.
