How do you know when you are in love? What are people in love doing?

They get the warm fuzzies. They are thinking about them 24/7.

Now, how do you know you love God? At this point thinking about loving God purely on an emotional level is not helpful. I have been a Christ-follower for more than 40 years and I can’t think of a single time where I thought about God and got the warm fuzzies.

Earlier on, as a young Christian, I had encounters with God where God’s presence was so imminent that it was undeniable. These encounters normally occurred in the context of intense worship or prayer. And because I thought that this feeling was what loving God was, I tried desperately to recreate the environment for such encounters. Christians call this a spiritual high.

When I couldn’t feel God’s presence I would try harder. I would pray harder. I would worship harder. And when the highs would not come, I would think there was something wrong with me. I would fast, I would pray harder and worship harder. I was desperate to feel God’s presence. And when I couldn’t get the same feeling, I would feel like there was something wrong with me.

I was a spiritual junkie – seeking one spiritual high after another.

This is NOT what it means to love God. This is unhealthy. This is not biblical.

So then, what does loving God look like?

Listen to what Jesus tells us, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14: 15).

What does loving God look like? It looks exactly like obedience! It has nothing to do with feelings. It has everything to do with subjecting our wills and wants to what God desires.

And you know what loving God people who are obeying are doing? Look at what Jesus tells us, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

Jesus was asked, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest? Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all you mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets’” (Matthew 22:36-40).

What does a person who loves God look like? What are they doing? They obey God’s commands and they love God’s people.

Now, that’s a great way to live! I bet God could change the world with a church like that!!!

So, if the point of being a Christian is NOT living the best life now what is the point?

The Bible tells us, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29).

The purpose of the Christian life is not for our wealth, health, and prosperity. It is simply to make us more and more conformed to the image of his Son. The point is to make us more like Jesus.

This is the only way to make sense of Jesus saying, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). Normally “mourning” is the very opposite of blessed. How could mourning possibly be good? People mourn when bad stuff happens – like a loved one dying. So, what in the world was Jesus talking about?

We are sinners. Christ died for us and redeems Christians, but until Jesus returns we will continue to struggle with sin until the day we die. When we become Christians, we don’t celebrate sin. We mourn sin. We mourn the fact that we continue to struggle with those things that hinder us from being more like Jesus. The reason why those who mourn are blessed is because they are fighting against sin because they want to be more like Jesus.

If we measure God’s goodness and presence in our lives by how easy and comfortable our lives are – i.e. healthy, wealthy, prosperous – then we will be terribly disappointed with the Christian life. However, when we recognize that the goal of the Christian life is to make us more like Jesus, that changes everything! We celebrate the work of the Holy Spirit when he convicts us of sin. We are grateful to God when we are confronted with God’s holiness and that God never ceases to give us opportunities to become more like his Son.

Everything in this world until Jesus returns to make the kingdom of God a reality here on earth as it is in heaven is to make Christians more like Jesus.

So, do you find yourself struggling with sin? Great! Keep on struggling. Never settle. Never accept. Never celebrate anything that the Bible calls sin. If you’re struggling with sin, you’re on the right track.

Blessed are you who mourn. God predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son.

Live your best life now…
You only live once…
God wants me to be healthy, wealthy, and prosperous…

A. W. Tozer wrote a century ago, “The idea that this world is a playground instead of a battle ground has now been accepted in practice by the vast majority of Christians.” Not much has changed in a hundred years.

What is the difference of seeing the world as a playground instead of a battle ground? If this world is a playground, it’s supposed to be fun! It’s supposed to be for my best life now. That means no pain, no suffering, no tears, no diseases. If this is the playground, then I ought to have health, wealth, and prosperity.

And the amazing thing is that there are versions of Christianity that have swallowed this wholesale. The only problem is for anyone that’s been alive for a chunk of time, pain, suffering, tears, diseases, death seems to be the hand life deals us on a regular basis. So, Christians who have bought into the playground life are convinced something must be wrong with them and their faith when things aren’t a playground.

The reason why the playground metaphor is a lie is because of what God tells us in his word.

God says, “For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers , against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

The consequence of being at war is that Jesus told his disciples, “You will be hated by all because of my name” (Matthew 10:22), and “They will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name” (Matthew 24:9).

Because we are at war, God tells us, “Share in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:3). The Apostle Paul reminds us, “For he has graciously granted to you the privilege not only of believing in christ, but of suffering for him as well” (Philippians 1:29).

Live your best now…
You only live once…
God wants me to be healthy, wealthy, and prosperous…

Because so many have bought into the view that this world is our playground, when things get hard, when we suffer, when we are persecuted for our faith, many are distraught and many quit.

Suffering in a world that crucified our Lord is part of the program. God tells us, “For this you have been called, because christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21).

But when we see the world as a battleground where the spiritual forces are at war, we gain an entirely different perspective re hardship, suffering, and persecution.

Tune in tomorrow for more.