“Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23, NIV84)
In the scripture above, there is an action by a person followed by a response from God. In effect, if a person loves Jesus enough that he or she will “obey” Jesus’ teachings, then both the Heavenly Father and Jesus will show love to that person and make a home with that person. There is a direct correlation between the human action and God’s response. When you love and obey God, the response you get from heaven is God’s love and God’s presence in your home. Do you realize that God wants to be with you, even being present in your home? If you love and obey God, God is present with you; God doesn’t keep a large distance. God is close.
Three decades ago, I attended a church camp as a counselor. One evening, as camp activities were winding down, I went for a walk down a dark pathway at the camp. Not long into my walk, I almost walked right into a young man. He was sitting by himself in the dark. Usually at camp, youth were encouraged to go off in groups of two or more, so this was unusual. I asked him why he was alone. His response was telling: “I am always alone.” It was then that I knew that this young man was not only by himself but feeling abandoned. We talked for about ten minutes there in the dark. What was nice was that nobody was close, so he felt free to talk. As we spoke, I could tell he didn’t want me there. His words were pushing me to leave him as well. I didn’t.
In the dark shadows of a tree, I asked him about his relationship with God. He told me that he had never felt close to God. I asked him why he was at church camp. He told me that his parents sent him to one camp or another every summer to get him out of the house. The more we talked, the more I felt he had not only felt isolated at home, he was isolating himself at the camp. Then, I saw an opening in our conversation. I said, “How would you like to never feel alone again?” He looked at me confused. I told him how God loves to be “with us” (Emmanuel! Matthew 1:23). I told him to watch for God and hold onto God tightly. In response, I told him that soon he would feel God’s presence and see little signs of God’s closeness. He confessed that would be nice, but he didn’t believe it to be true. I challenged him to pray and talk to God in his heart as much as he could for two straight days to see what might happen. Then, we rejoined the campers together.
Hour by hour at the camp, the boy seemed to loosen up. I saw his first real smile late the next day. I continued to wave to him and spoke words of encouragement to him. He began to come out of his self-imposed shell. By the end of the week, he revealed that he actually felt like God was closer to him. His words to me when he left camp were precious: “You’re right Pastor Dave. I don’t feel alone anymore. God’s right here,” he said, pointing to his heart.
“You aren’t alone anymore,” I responded as I hugged him.
When you show love and obedience to God, your relationship with the divine changes. God responds to your outreach. God shows you love, and God comes to make a home with you (John 14:23). If you are a true Christian, you never walk alone. God is present in a real way. God is with you, beside you, in you, watching over you. The only way to lose that intimacy with God is to stop loving God or stop obeying God. A distance with God will always develop when sin takes over in your life.
If you want to feel closer to God, show love and obedience to God. Invite God to be with you, in your home and heart and mind. This scripture promises that God will respond. You will have a constant companion of a heavenly sort!
When is the last time you and God had a nice intimate conversation about an important topic? When was the last time you felt God’s welcoming presence when you came home from work? If you ever feel alone, you can bet it isn’t because of something God initiated. God loves you and desires greatly to “make your home with Him”.
Three decades ago, I attended a church camp as a counselor. One evening, as camp activities were winding down, I went for a walk down a dark pathway at the camp. Not long into my walk, I almost walked right into a young man. He was sitting by himself in the dark. Usually at camp, youth were encouraged to go off in groups of two or more, so this was unusual. I asked him why he was alone. His response was telling: “I am always alone.” It was then that I knew that this young man was not only by himself but feeling abandoned. We talked for about ten minutes there in the dark. What was nice was that nobody was close, so he felt free to talk. As we spoke, I could tell he didn’t want me there. His words were pushing me to leave him as well. I didn’t.
In the dark shadows of a tree, I asked him about his relationship with God. He told me that he had never felt close to God. I asked him why he was at church camp. He told me that his parents sent him to one camp or another every summer to get him out of the house. The more we talked, the more I felt he had not only felt isolated at home, he was isolating himself at the camp. Then, I saw an opening in our conversation. I said, “How would you like to never feel alone again?” He looked at me confused. I told him how God loves to be “with us” (Emmanuel! Matthew 1:23). I told him to watch for God and hold onto God tightly. In response, I told him that soon he would feel God’s presence and see little signs of God’s closeness. He confessed that would be nice, but he didn’t believe it to be true. I challenged him to pray and talk to God in his heart as much as he could for two straight days to see what might happen. Then, we rejoined the campers together.
Hour by hour at the camp, the boy seemed to loosen up. I saw his first real smile late the next day. I continued to wave to him and spoke words of encouragement to him. He began to come out of his self-imposed shell. By the end of the week, he revealed that he actually felt like God was closer to him. His words to me when he left camp were precious: “You’re right Pastor Dave. I don’t feel alone anymore. God’s right here,” he said, pointing to his heart.
“You aren’t alone anymore,” I responded as I hugged him.
When you show love and obedience to God, your relationship with the divine changes. God responds to your outreach. God shows you love, and God comes to make a home with you (John 14:23). If you are a true Christian, you never walk alone. God is present in a real way. God is with you, beside you, in you, watching over you. The only way to lose that intimacy with God is to stop loving God or stop obeying God. A distance with God will always develop when sin takes over in your life.
If you want to feel closer to God, show love and obedience to God. Invite God to be with you, in your home and heart and mind. This scripture promises that God will respond. You will have a constant companion of a heavenly sort!
When is the last time you and God had a nice intimate conversation about an important topic? When was the last time you felt God’s welcoming presence when you came home from work? If you ever feel alone, you can bet it isn’t because of something God initiated. God loves you and desires greatly to “make your home with Him”.