How to Live With God

How to Live With God




God made us to live with Him. In the Garden of Eden, the first human beings lived with God, enjoying the blessings of close relationships with Him. After they sinned and had to leave God’s presence, God still made a way for people to be with Him by trusting in Jesus Christ for their salvation from sin. Jesus came to Earth as Immanuel (which means “God with us”) so that people could live with God once more. Jesus himself said: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17)

Christians now have the profound blessing of God living with them in the form of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised that “If you love me, obey my commandments. … I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.” (John 14:15-16) Yet too often, we don’t approach God as if we are really living with Him. Instead, we live life over, under, from, or for God, missing out on the type of relationship He wants us to enjoy with Him.

Here’s how we can change the way we relate to God so we are truly living with Him:

Stop living under God. If we’re living under God, we’re relating to Him primarily as a sinner. We’re thinking of ourselves as a bad person who lives under the constant threat of God’s wrath and punishment. We work to figure out what God approves and disapproves of and then carefully live within those moral boundaries as much as we can. We hope to appease God through our morality, as well as by following rituals that we think may please Him. But there are no guarantees that God will rescue us from suffering if we do what God wants us to do, from living with integrity to supporting our church financially. Look what Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus: “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:8-10). Instead, God allows suffering to come into the lives of everyone both the righteous and the unrighteous in this fallen world (and God often uses suffering to accomplish good purposes in people’s lives). Sometimes this is very hard for us to understand. But Jesus told his followers that God “… gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.” (Matthew 5:45) Also, God is most concerned about our internal state (what’s going on in our soul) than He is about our external actions. Recognize that we can faithfully adhere to religious rules and perform religious rituals, and yet still be harboring sinful conditions such as hatred, greed, pride, lust, and deceit in our soul. We can’t connect to God by living under Him. But thankfully, Jesus welcomes everyone (even the worst sinners) to rely on Him (rather than religion) to connect with God. He wants to save us all if we will let Him. Jesus said “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” (Luke 19:10) And Paul added “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:8)

Stop living over God. If we’re living over God, we’re relating to Him primarily as a manager. We’re thinking of ourselves as an autonomous being who tries to control our own life without God’s intervention. An atheist believes that they control their own fate entirely, but when life doesn’t turn out as they had planned, they become frustrated. Other people believe that their fate ultimately depends on how well they implement God’s principles and instructions, and when they do what’s right yet still experience suffering, they become frustrated. But no matter how hard we may try to make certain outcomes happen in our life, we’re ultimately not in control - God is. Trying to take God’s place in one’s life by either denying His existence or trying in one’s own power to “please” Him won’t lead us to the peace and joy that living with God will give us. Scripture tells us to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Stop living from God. If we’re living from God, we’re relating to Him primarily as a consumer. We’re thinking of ourselves as a discontent person who constantly deals with the pain of unmet desires and expects God to give us what we want, when we want it, or we doubt His love for us. We seek God’s blessings and try to convince God to fulfill our expectations, and become disappointed when life doesn’t turn out the way we’d hoped. We don’t care as much about God Himself as we do about what God can do for us. But God is not a divine butler, a cosmic therapist, or a holy vending machine. While it’s true that God wants to bless us, He wants to do so in the context of enjoying a close relationship with us. Also, God knows what’s truly best for us, so rather than trying to dictate what we think He should give us, we need to decide to trust Him to answer our prayers according to what’s best. We need to check our motives when we’re approaching God in prayer and make sure that we’re not too distracted by how much we want His blessings to pursue the biggest blessing of all: a closer relationship with God Himself. “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. You will find me when you seek me, if you look for me in earnest.” (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

Stop living just for God. If we’re living for God, we’re relating to Him primarily as a servant. While serving God is good, it becomes unhealthy if it overtakes the main way in which God intends for us to relate to Him as a beloved child who goes through life with Him, regardless of whether or not we’re able to accomplish something great for Him. We’re thinking of ourselves as a worker whose value as a person is tied to whether or not we’re able to accomplish God’s mission for us in life. If we don’t have the impact on the world that we believe we should have, we worry that we're a failure who doesn’t deserve God’s love and fear that our life is insignificant. But real success comes from connecting to God through a relationship with Him, and our life will be significant no matter what we do or don’t accomplish for God, because our significance comes from the simple facts that God made us and loves us. Although it’s important to work on whatever God’s mission calls us to fulfill, it’s more important to make our ultimate goal pursuing God Himself. When we make our top priority living with God in a close relationship, the details of serving Him will fall into place properly, and we’ll experience peace and joy as we serve Him. Paul tells us that he is “convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

Start living with God. When we focus on living with God, we relate to Him primarily as a beloved child. Then we can see God’s beauty, grasp His unconditional love, perceive His glory, and experience His goodness. We can strengthen our union with God by training ourselves to be aware of His constant presence with us and communing with Him in prayer often. Have faith that we’re always safe in God’s care, place our hope in God Himself rather than in our circumstances, and let God’s love inspire us to wonder, make new discoveries, and have joy that only He can give us.

In closing let’s look at what the Apostle John wrote about how much God loves those who have accepted his Son: “We know how much God loves us because we have felt His love and because we believe Him when He tells us that He loves us dearly. God is love, and anyone who lives in love is living WITH God and God is living in him. And as we live WITH Christ, our love grows more perfect and complete; so we will not be embarrassed at the day of judgment, but can face him with confidence and joy, because He loves us and we love Him too.” (1 John 4:16-17)