Author: Scott Chafee

Scott serves on staff at King’s Grant Baptist Church in Virginia Beach.

God Takes the Initiative

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God always take the initiative in the relationship we have with him, people do not seek after God. That can be a tough statement for a lot of people, but the Scripture supports it.

As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” –Romans 3:10-12

Now ask yourself some penetrating questions:

  1. How many people are righteous on their own?
  2. How many people understand spiritual things on their own?
  3. How many people seek God on their own?
  4. How many people do good on their own?

Sin has affected us so deeply that no one seeks God on his own initiative. My first reaction is that many churches these days have “seeker sensitive services.” Sort of interesting that God’s Word says that their ARE NO SEEKERS, but I digress.

For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. As it is written in the Scriptures, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me… Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.” –John 6:44-45, 65

Again, ask yourself a few questions:

  1. Who can come to Jesus without being drawn by the Father?
  2. What does a person do who listens to the Father and learns from him?
  3. What is the only way a person can come to Jesus?

God came to all the godly characters in the Bible and revealed himself: for example, Saul/Paul (Acts 9:1-19), the Disciples (John 15:16, 19), and specifically Peter (Matthew 16:13-17).

You cannot know the activity of God unless he takes the initiative to reveal it to you. –Henry Blackaby

Here are a few more verses to support this fact (Deuteronomy 30:6, Luke 10:12, John 15:16, Philippians 2:13, 1 John 3:16, Revelations 3:20).

Henry Blackaby uses the words, “God pursues a continual love relationship with you that is real and personal.” At first glance I feel as if God is a stalker, pursuing us and we cannot get away from him. I prefer to say that “God takes the initiative in the relationship” knowing that “there are none who seek him. No, not one.”

I did not chose God, he chooses me, he loves me, and reveals his eternal purposes for my life.

What is this Love Relationship?

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The second reality in Experiencing God is that God pursues a continual love relationship with you that is real and personal. The pastor asked a difficult question in staff meeting this week. “How does it make you feel to have God pursue you in this love relationship?”

Different people will respond differently for a variety of reasons:

  1. Introverts vs. Extroverts
  2. Feelers vs. Thinkers
  3. Men vs. Women
  4. Adult vs. Child
  5. Depending on a person’s love language

Extroverts will tend to enjoy relationships in the “getting together” and conversation, whereas an introvert recharges in peace/solitude rather than surrounded by people. So, when God pursues the introvert, there may be a sense of “stalking” when one needs space. Love is there, but it can get crowded at times.

Feelers experience the emotion and warmth of the relationship, whereas a thinker knows one is loved outside of a feeling. Experiencing love is not based on how one feels but the truth and fact that one is loved (likely based upon one’s particular love language).

Men know what it is like to love another man like a brother, but the language of Jesus (another guy) pursuing us in a love relationship is fairly uncomfortable, whereas there is a trend for single women to view their relationship with Christ as “dating” him, being quite secure in their singleness. For men, the fact that believers (the church) are the bride of Christ doesn’t bring a comfortable image although we understand the concept.

Adults and children understand love quite differently in the fact that most kids accept and give love based upon the fact and reality that they are loved (by parents and others, unconditionally), whereas adults know what it is like to pursue and be pursued by a potential mate (and have people put conditions on their love).

Then there is the interesting fact about one’s love language. These love languages are:

The 5 Love Languages

To put this simply, in order to FEEL loved, a person must receive love based upon their own personal love language. If your language is receiving gifts and your mate is giving you quality time, you will not FEEL loved and your mate will not understand why. It is also interesting that we will often GIVE love the way we would like to RECEIVE love. Learn more about the 5 Love Languages, and actually take an inventory to discover YOUR love language. It is important to know this information because your primary goal in a relationship is to understand THE OTHER PERSON’S love language… and speak it to them, as uncomfortable as it may seem to you.

So, what does this have to do with God? Imagine if God pursues a love relationship the same way for every person. Some will feel God’s love while others won’t. As a male, introvert whose love language is acts of service, I feel loved by God in the fact that Christ died for me (Romans 5:8) and promised never to leave or forsake me (Hebrews 13:5). I don’t prefer the “love relationship” language, or the image of Jesus wrapping his arms of love around me, or the language and imagery of the consummation of the church when the Bridegroom returns.

So, the pastor’s question is a good one: how do YOU feel loved by God or how do YOU feel about God pursuing you with a love relationship?

We are Created for Eternity

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This love relationship into which God calls us is our life’s priority. Imagine climbing a ladder up to the top of your profession and not realizing until you get to the top that the ladder had been leaning against the wrong wall. The same is true in your spiritual life!

We are people who love to DO things; we’re active, goal oriented and sometimes we feel that if we do just a little more, God will bless us more or love us more. We need to learn how to rest in the love relationship God has with us. I would call this DOING vs. BEING. Being is the reality of being adopted into God’s family of faith, by faith… not by doing. We simply ARE God’s children when we received Christ as Savior (John 1:12).

We are not created for just this earthly life, we are created for eternity, to spend forever after with God. This life is preparation to be in his presence, becoming more like Jesus, conforming into his likeness (Romans 8:29).

Our satisfaction in life must be in God rather than our accomplishments. How often do we tend to forget God when things are good in life and all is well? Then we call on God and evoke the relationship card when we are in trouble. It’s an age old scenario. Once the people of Israel entered the Promised Land, God warned them about getting satisfied and forsaking God (Deuteronomy 6:10-15). He point plank says it, “when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord.”

Paul’s aim was also at relationship and eternity (Philippians 3:4-14). He considered all his accomplishments, status, position and possessions as loss and rubbish in comparison to Christ. He wanted to KNOW Christ, the power of his resurrection, the fellowship in his suffering (Philippians 3:10 – we certainly don’t pray for THIS very much).

  1. Paul wanted to gain Christ at any cost.
  2. Paul wanted to become like Christ even unto death.
  3. Paul wanted to attain the resurrection from the dead.
  4. Paul wanted to press on toward the goal and win the prize.

Remember to seek first HIS kingdom and HIS righteousness and all these other things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33).

A Love Relationship with God

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Today we move into the second reality that God pursues us with a continual love relationship that is real and personal. We must always remember that God is the one who takes the initiative in this relationship. The first question we must ask ourselves is, “Do I have such a relationship with God and why?”

The answer depends on whom you trust for your salvation. If you answer YES and it is because of your commitment to Jesus, obedience to him, faithful service to Christ, then you just might be off track. However, if you answer YES and are sure of your salvation because of your trust in Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin, then you are right on target.

Blackaby mentions a man in church who was asked a question, “Can you describe your relationship with God by sincerely saying, ‘I love you with all my heart?'” The man could not. He said that he obeyed God, served God, worshiped God and even feared God, but could not say that he loved God.

THAT is what God wants. The Old Testament cornerstone verse is Deuteronomy 6:4-5, and the New Testament equivalent is Matthew 22:37-38, which Jesus called the Greatest Commandment (Mark 12:30).

These verses tell us much about the love that God has for us:

  • Deuteronomy 30:19-20 – God has set before you life and death… now choose life, so you will live, and love God, and listen to God’s voice, and hold fast to God.
  • John 3:16 – This is what God did since he loves us so much.
  • John 14:21 – This is what we will do if we love God, and what God will do for us if we love him.
  • Romans 8:35, 37, 39 – What can separate us from the love of God…?
  • 1 John 3:16 – pair this verse with John 3:16, since we demonstrate our love for God through actions.
  • 1 John 4:9-10, 19 – God showed his love by sending his Son, but the point is not that we love God, but that God loved us first.

A love relationship with God is more important than any other single factor in your life. Everything in your Christian life (about knowing him, experiencing him, and knowing and doing his will) depends on the quality of your love relationship with God. Everything God says and does is an expression of love. We are created for a love relationship with God.

God Speaks with a Purpose

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God develops character to match the assignment he has for you. When God speaks, it is not just for conversation sake, but to reveal his purposes.

The moment God speaks is the very moment that God wants you to respond to him. The moment he speaks to you, it is God’s timing. We often believe that we have weeks or months to think it over, but when he speaks, he means for you to act NOW.

Sometimes it takes 25 years to come to a reality, like Abraham finally getting Isaac, the child of promise, but God had a purpose in that, too. Abraham needed to develop character before becoming a father, and the father of a nation.

As goes the father, so goes the next several generations.

God said that Abraham’s name would be great (Genesis 12:2) but he was not ready for that, so his character needed to develop. It is pathetic to see someone with small character in a big assignment. We often don’t want character from God, we just want the assignment.

We must prove ourselves faithful  in the small things to be trusted with larger things (Matthew 25:21). You are not investing into your abilities, rather you invest into a relationship. Do NOT bypass the relationship.

How often do we make these concessions:

  1. I will finish my plans and then fit God’s plan into my next available slot in my schedule.
  2. I will assume that since God already knew my plans, this new assignment can’t be from him.
  3. I will try to work out a way to do both what I want and what God wants.

God has a right to interrupt your life, if he is your Lord. When you received him, you gave him the right to help himself to your life anytime he wants. The servant never takes an order and then differs it to his own schedule, basically saying he’ll do it when he gets around to it. The Master would discipline that servant!

How long was it between David’s anointing as king and its fulfillment? Maybe 10-12 years. What God did was develop David’s character. How about Paul finding salvation and his first missionary journey? Maybe 10-11 years. The focus was not on Paul but on God’s desire to redeem the Gentiles.

Think about God’s purpose for YOU: It is for the sake of lost people that God calls you to join him and his purpose. It is for YOUR SAKE that God may take time to prepare you for his purpose. It is for THEIR SAKE, that you will allow God to work in your life.

God Speaks to His People

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God has not changed; he still speaks to his people (Hebrews 1:1, John 14:26, John 16:13-14, John 8:47). He spoke in the Old Testament, then through his Son, and now through the Holy Spirit who guides, teaches and reminds us of what Jesus taught.

If you have trouble hearing God speak, you are in trouble at the very heart of your Christian experience.

When we do not hear from God, we must check to see if sin has caused separation from God (Romans 3:10-11). We cannot understand the truth of God unless the Holy Spirit speaks to us and the Spirit speaks to us four ways:

  1. Through the Bible.
  2. Through prayer.
  3. Through circumstances.
  4. Through the church.

When he speaks, he reveals these two things:

  1. His purposes.
  2. His ways.

So, why can I not hear from God? The key to knowing God’s voice is found in a relationship. It is not a formula, but a person. Check out John 10:2-4, 14.

  1. Jesus is the Shepherd, we are the sheep.
  2. Sheep listen to his voice.
  3. Sheep follow him because they know his voice.
  4. The Shepherd knows the sheep and they know him.

When we hear God, or we think we have heard him, we sometimes ask for a sign of proof, Like Gideon (Judges 6), but Jesus had something to say about people who seek signs.

  1. Wicked and perverse generation (Matthew 12:38-39).
  2. Asking for a sign is an indication of unbelief.

When we claim to hear from God, there is a caution to heed (this is serious business):

  1. If God has given you a word, you must follow through in that direction until it comes to pass (even 25 years like Abraham).
  2. If you have not been given a word from God yet you say you have, you stand in judgment as a false prophet (Deuteronomy 18:21-22).

God Takes the Initiative

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God reveals his activity as an invitation for you to join him. When he reveals, it is up to us to adjust our lives to God.

What happens when we see God at work? We often get self-centered rather than God-centered. We must reorient our life toward God, seeing life from his perspective. We must allow God to develop his character in us. He is always at work and we must assume that he wants us to join him.

God always takes the initiative. He waits for us to respond to him by adjusting our lives. Perhaps you’ll read a brief story in the life of George Muller and how God worked through this man of faith.

I never remember a period that I ever sincerely and patiently sought to know the will of God by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, through the instrumentality of the Word of God, but I have always been directed rightly. But if honestly of heart and uprightness before God were lacking, or if I did not patiently wait upon God for instruction, or if I preferred the counsel of my fellow men to the declarations of the Word of the living God, I made great mistakes.

Three things helped him:

  1. He sincerely sought God’s direction.
  2. He waited patiently on God until he had a word from God.
  3. He looked to the Holy Spirit to teach him through the Word.

These things led to making mistakes:

  1. Lacking honesty of heart.
  2. Lacking uprightness before God.
  3. Impatience in waiting on God.
  4. Preferring the counsel of men over the declarations of God.

He summed up the way he entered into a heart relationship with God:

  1. Seeking to get his heart into a state where it has no will of its own in the matter. Here is 9/10 of the problem.
  2. Don’t leave the result to feeling or simple impression; or we can be liable for great delusions.
  3. Seek the will of the Spirit of God, through the Word of God. These must be combined.
    1. The Spirit alone can bring delusions.
    2. The Word alone can bring legalism.
  4. Take into account providential circumstances.
  5. Ask in prayer for God to reveal his will.
  6. Through prayer, study of the Word and reflection come to a deliberate judgment according to the best of my ability and knowledge. If the mind continues at peace, then proceed.

God’s Plan vs. Our Plans

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In  the Bible we must remember who accomplishes these great acts… who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt? We tend to say Moses, but it was actually God who delivered them (Psalm 81:10-12) using Moses to do it. Moses tried to assert himself and be the deliverer (Exodus 2:11-15) and failed. It was 40 years later that God sent him back to bring God’s people out.

Understanding what God is about to do where I am is more important than telling God what I want to do for him.

God’s way is always the best way. When God reveals what he is up to, it is our responsibility to adjust our lives to what God is about to do.

The prophets had a two-fold message:

  1. The desire of God was to call the people back to himself.
  2. The people are closer to the time of judgment than ever before.
    1. Tell the people what I have been doing.
    2. Tell the people what I am doing.
    3. Tell the people what I am about to do.

So, how do we adjust our lives toward what God is doing in our personal life, family life, church life, work life, community and nation?

Martin Luther went against the established church when he came to understand that the just shall live by faith, and what it means to be saved… and brought about a great Reformation.

Charles and John Wesley prevented a bloody revolution (like in France) by initiating a sweeping revival in England.

When God wants to interrupt your life for something great, we often react with a self-centered way by declaring, “I’m not trained, so I can’t do it…” This focus is totally on SELF. We try to give God all the reason that he has chosen the wrong person for the job.

God-centered vs. Self-centered

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The essence of sin is the shift from a God-centeredness to a self-centeredness. To know God’s will, we must turn away from self-centeredness. Look at it this way:

To be self-centered: life is focused on self, we are proud of self and your own accomplishments, we have confidence is in self, a dependence on self and our own abilities, seeking acceptance from the world and its ways, selfish and ordinary living.

To be God-centered: we have confidence in God, dependence on God and on his abilities and provision, life is focused on God and his activities, we have humility before God, denying self, seeking first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and seeking God’s perspective in all circumstances, holy and godly living.

In the Bible we don’t see God asking people to dream up what they want to do for God. The pattern is to submit, wait, watch and then join him.

Our goals for experiencing God, basically to know and do the will of God…

  1. I must deny myself and return to a God-centered life.
  2. I must reorient my life to God.
  3. I must focus my life on God’s purposes and not my own plans.
  4. I must seek to see from God’s perspective rather than from my own distorted human perspective.
  5. I must wait until God shows me what he is about to do through me.
  6. I must watch to see what God is doing around me and join him.

The Seven Realities

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Here are the seven realities of experiencing God:

  1. God is always at work around you.
  2. God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal.
  3. God invites you to become involved with him in his work.
  4. God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal himself, his purposes and his ways.
  5. God’s invitations for you to work with him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.
  6. You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what he is doing.
  7. You came to know God by experience as you obey him and accomplish his work.

We tend to ask questions trying to determine whether we really heard from God…

  1. How can I know it is God speaking to me?
  2. How do I know where God is at work?
  3. What kind of adjustments will I have to make to be obedient?
  4. What is the difference between adjustment and obedience?

Here are three similarities in the lives of biblical servants through whom God worked:

  1. When God spoke, they knew it was from God.
  2. They knew what God was saying.
  3. They knew what they were to do in response.

Let’s look at the seven realities of Experiencing God in the life of Moses:

  1. God is always at work around you. The people groaned in slavery, cried out to God, and he heard them, he looked on and was concerned (Exodus 2:23-25) .
  2. God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal. Moses came up to the mountain of God and talked with him, and told Moses of his plans for deliverance (Exodus 24:12, 15-16, 18).
  3. God invites you to become involved with him in his work. God said he was sending Moses (Exodus 3:8, 10) to do the work of God.
  4. God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal himself, his purposes and his ways. The lord appeared in the flames of the bush, and later while Moses would visit God face to face (Exodus 3:2-8, Numbers 12:6-8).
  5. God’s invitations for you to work with him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action. Moses gave five excuses why God could have picked a better person for this job (Exodus 3:11, 13, 4:1, 10, 13).
  6. You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what he is doing. God said GO and Moses started back to Egypt (Exodus 4:19-20).
  7. You came to know God by experience as you obey him and accomplish his work. Moses came to know God more intimately through his obedience (Exodus 14:15-17, 21-23, 26-27, 29-31).

When God is about to do something, he reveals to a person or to his people what he is about to do. Points to remember are that God sees, hears, cares, acts and has a plan for this people. When God reveals what he is about to do, that revelation becomes an invitation for us to join him. The great part is that God is already at work in the place he is going to send us!

God uses ordinary people to accomplish his purposes. We often think of Elijah as an extraordinary person of faith, but the Bible actually tells us he was ordinary (James 5:18-19). Peter and John were nothing special to the rest of the world (Acts 4:13) but were used in a mighty way by God. This is God’s pattern to use the weak to accomplish mighty things (1 Corinthians 1:26-31). When people don’t measure up to human standards, God is still at work in their lives.

When you believe that nothing significant can happen through you, you have said more about your belief in God than you have said about yourself. – D. L. Moody