And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ~Romans 8:28-29
God tells us He is working all things together for the good for those who love Him. So, there is a premise to this promise…it’s for those who love Him. Believe it or not there are a lot of people running around confessing and clinging to this promise but aren’t demonstrating much love for God by clinging to His ways of doing things. Jesus said in John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (ESV)
Keeping Jesus’s commandments is how we demonstrate our love for Him. If you were to tell your spouse you would take them to dinner and then did not come home that night, you would be professing your love and desire to demonstrate it, but you wouldn’t actually be doing it. How would that make your spouse feel? Maybe a little neglected? Unappreciated? Unloved? Saying something and doing something can be two very different things. What comes between our declarations of love and actually demonstrating our love? For the most part we are what comes in between. Our desires and our needs are continually vying for the forefront of our minds and our agendas. It takes work to push them back and focus on a lifestyle of loving other first, making them and their needs our priority, but that is exactly the example Jesus set for us.
The great news is God can change our “wanter”. He can conform us into the image of Christ, but we must become teachable and even more important than that we must become lifetime learners. Seeking God every day demonstrates to Him a heart of love for Him, it also demonstrates our love for Him to those around us. Giving God first place in our hearts and in our lives changes us from the inside out. It transforms us from glory to glory, that means things get better and better the longer and more consistently we are seeking Him. We get smarter, stronger, more capable, because we are being transformed by the master! Transformation is a process and when we look at nature, we see that it shouldn’t be messed with. What happens when we separate a bird from the eggs in the nest? The longer the separation the more detrimental it can become. The same is true for us when we aren’t experiencing the consistent and continual presence of God through His Holy Spirit. Immediately following Jesus saying, “if you love me, you will keep my commandments”, He goes on to say in “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever- the Spirit of Truth.” ~John 14:16 (NIV) So, God went ahead and did what only He could do, and He made provision for our reconciliation to Himself for all eternity. The most loving and selfless one has made His home in our hearts. The Holy Spirit. God in us, helping us to be all He created us to be. Who wouldn’t want to seek Him out daily and learn from Him? There is no shame in praying for God to change your “wanter”. We need to do it regularly. We win in life when we are able to keep Him and His way of doing things at the forefront of our hearts and minds and we can only do that by seeking Him.
Seek the Lord and His strength; yearn for and seek His face and to be in His presence continually! ~1 Chronicles 15:11 (AMPC)
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