Basic Preparation for Transformation
Week 6, Email 3, Friday
Week 6, Email 3, Friday
Guide for a More Personal Relationship with God in Eternity: Part 3
Of course, God has perfect empathy with us. So, the question arises, “How do we develop more empathy with God?” In conversations with God throughout eternity, how can we say to Him when talking about the great and wonderful things He has done, “I can relate to that” and enjoy the deeper connection?
To answer this, we must remember that Jesus said that seeing him is the same as seeing the Father. (John 14:9) So, understanding the character of God depends on our ability to know the specifics of Jesus’ character and behavior. Then we gain empathy with Him through practicing Christ-like character and seeking opportunities to act out those qualities, as aided by the Holy Spirit.
Although we settle for knowing the broad strokes of Jesus’ nature, such as “He cared for people” and “He was selfless”, it is possible to know more specifically the aspects of His character.
Jesus told his disciples to love each other as He had loved them. They knew from experience his loving characteristics, but we must discover them.
“A new command I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
John 13:34
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”
John 15:12
As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
John 13:34
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”
John 15:12
Even though the gospels do not tell us specifically how Jesus loved his disciples, we can solve this dilemma. Jesus would have done with his disciples what the Bible tells us to do when we are together. These comprise our 65 Togethers of Scripture.
In short, to develop empathy with God, we need to do what He has done. Jesus specifically did the 65 scripturally documented Togethers. They were the very ways he loved his disciples.
So, to achieve greater empathy with God for our personal relationship with Him for all of eternity, we must increasingly practice the Togethers. This will not only instill in each of us the loving essence of Jesus, but it will increase our “understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts and experience of” God Himself.
Let’s use the stomach flu, Colorado tick fever, and the Together “Die for One Another” to clarify how relationship is enhanced through empathy, especially when it comes through experience.
When someone says they have the flu, those who have gone through the unpleasantries of this illness can relate better with the one suffering. This is easy empathy because it is so common and uncomplicated. Similarly, we can all relate to God’s forgiveness of such common sins as forgetting. We have all had people forget to pray about something important to us, and we have easily forgiven them.
Now take Colorado tick fever which has two very painful cycles but is not fatal. (A person can die from Rocky Mountain spotted fever, but one only hopes to die with the pain and suffering of Colorado tick fever.) Colorado tick fever, as my wife and I experienced it, is just absolutely terrible for a couple of days and then a person feels normal and without pain. But, after a day the cycle repeats itself. So, during that one day of feeling good, great dread sets in because the pain is coming back just as bad. And when it is finally over, for months afterward there are intermittent periods of extreme tiredness, muscle cramping and great soreness.
My wife Jean contracted Colorado tick fever on one of our first backpacking trips over 30 years ago. She was miserable. Sometime later, after the two cycles of severe pain and discomfort, Jean was experiencing great muscle soreness. I felt bad for her, but I did not have experiential empathy. Without it, I commented offhandedly, “Are you still moping around?” This, of course, hurt because she wanted me to understand and care more than that. In fact, it hurt so much that she still likes to tell how that day she prayed to the Lord, “Let him feel what this is like!”
God answers prayer! That very day of her prayer I became host to a tick and four days later came down with a far worse case of Colorado tick fever. (That year 14 people in the whole state of Colorado came down with it, and we were two of them. Oh, and I picked up my tick weeks later and 50 miles away from where she got hers.)
Needless to say, after my own super painful experience with a fever above 104 degrees, I knew Jean better and could relate to her at a much deeper level about being sick with Colorado tick fever. In the words of Merriam-Webster, I could understand, be aware of, be sensitive to, and vicariously experience Jean’s feelings, thoughts and experience.
Having gone through this similar experience, Jean and I were more connected and closer. When she or I referred to the misery of Colorado tick fever, we did not just “know about” what the other had gone through, we “knew” what the other had experienced.
This deeper connection, like the one we want with God for all eternity, happens often to people who serve together in the military, play on the same sports team, or face tragedy together. A special bond is made by facing or doing something difficult together.
Can I really relate to God’s forgiveness of horrible sins, sins like abandoning spouse and family for another man or woman, if I have not myself actually forgiven something similarly heart-breaking? I can, as it were, praise God “from afar” for His amazing forgiving nature, but it will be less-appreciative praise because of the lack of any amazing forgiveness on my part.
On the other hand, going to ever greater heights of dying for another person will take a Christian’s relationship with God further. (We define Die for One Another this way: Lay your life on the line for other Christians. Risk reputation, financial security and anything necessary to help. Let go of the idols of safety, comfort and pleasure. John 11:16; John 11:25-26; John 12:23-25; **John 15:13**; Rom 6:1-2; Rom 14:7-8; 2 Cor 5:15; Col 3:1-10)
We all relate to Christ’s death on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and set us free for eternal life. But, if we die for another, we add experiential empathy to our understanding of His sacrifice.
If a person does not mention that he hit two holes-in-one on the golf course this summer in order to not to take away a person’s fifteen minutes of fame when another is excitedly telling of his one hole-in-one, that person dies to self for the good of another. But, such dying to self, while a God-honoring thing to do, will not greatly develop our appreciation for Christ’s death on the cross.
But, if a person builds that spiritual discipline of dying for another and eventually befriends poor people to the chagrin of his or her friends and business associates who now spurn contact, there will be a greater ability to relate to God around Jesus’ great sacrifice.
Remember this ability to have a heart-connected conversation with God about his Son’s death and His great compassion will not grow in heaven after we die. In heaven we cannot experience even a little of what Jesus endured in our sinful, unbelieving world.
This should motivate us to place the 65 Togethers and the Scriptures at top priority. We must stop thinking that we are doing them significantly. We are not! Much work needs to be done on each Together to become more and more like Jesus. And in doing so we make deeper and deeper experiential connections with God, enhancing our relationship with Him for all eternity.
While you spend eternity in heaven, would you like to be able to have closer conversations with God filled with empathy because you are connected by similar experience? Would you like to more fully praise Him for His wonderful qualities and actions? Then, let the Holy Spirit empower you to put into action all of the Togethers in increasingly more difficult applications.
Consider how we like to get togetehr more often with those who have similar experiences, thoughts and feelings. In heaven, will our Lord only spend a little time with us because we have so little in common? Obeying the Togethers of Scripture more and more will produce more and more companionship possibilities with God for all eternity.
It is disastrous to wait until heaven to become more deeply connected to God.
In short, to develop empathy with God, we need to do what He has done. Jesus specifically did the 65 scripturally documented Togethers. They were the very ways he loved his disciples.
So, to achieve greater empathy with God for our personal relationship with Him for all of eternity, we must increasingly practice the Togethers. This will not only instill in each of us the loving essence of Jesus, but it will increase our “understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts and experience of” God Himself.
Let’s use the stomach flu, Colorado tick fever, and the Together “Die for One Another” to clarify how relationship is enhanced through empathy, especially when it comes through experience.
When someone says they have the flu, those who have gone through the unpleasantries of this illness can relate better with the one suffering. This is easy empathy because it is so common and uncomplicated. Similarly, we can all relate to God’s forgiveness of such common sins as forgetting. We have all had people forget to pray about something important to us, and we have easily forgiven them.
Now take Colorado tick fever which has two very painful cycles but is not fatal. (A person can die from Rocky Mountain spotted fever, but one only hopes to die with the pain and suffering of Colorado tick fever.) Colorado tick fever, as my wife and I experienced it, is just absolutely terrible for a couple of days and then a person feels normal and without pain. But, after a day the cycle repeats itself. So, during that one day of feeling good, great dread sets in because the pain is coming back just as bad. And when it is finally over, for months afterward there are intermittent periods of extreme tiredness, muscle cramping and great soreness.
My wife Jean contracted Colorado tick fever on one of our first backpacking trips over 30 years ago. She was miserable. Sometime later, after the two cycles of severe pain and discomfort, Jean was experiencing great muscle soreness. I felt bad for her, but I did not have experiential empathy. Without it, I commented offhandedly, “Are you still moping around?” This, of course, hurt because she wanted me to understand and care more than that. In fact, it hurt so much that she still likes to tell how that day she prayed to the Lord, “Let him feel what this is like!”
God answers prayer! That very day of her prayer I became host to a tick and four days later came down with a far worse case of Colorado tick fever. (That year 14 people in the whole state of Colorado came down with it, and we were two of them. Oh, and I picked up my tick weeks later and 50 miles away from where she got hers.)
Needless to say, after my own super painful experience with a fever above 104 degrees, I knew Jean better and could relate to her at a much deeper level about being sick with Colorado tick fever. In the words of Merriam-Webster, I could understand, be aware of, be sensitive to, and vicariously experience Jean’s feelings, thoughts and experience.
Having gone through this similar experience, Jean and I were more connected and closer. When she or I referred to the misery of Colorado tick fever, we did not just “know about” what the other had gone through, we “knew” what the other had experienced.
This deeper connection, like the one we want with God for all eternity, happens often to people who serve together in the military, play on the same sports team, or face tragedy together. A special bond is made by facing or doing something difficult together.
Can I really relate to God’s forgiveness of horrible sins, sins like abandoning spouse and family for another man or woman, if I have not myself actually forgiven something similarly heart-breaking? I can, as it were, praise God “from afar” for His amazing forgiving nature, but it will be less-appreciative praise because of the lack of any amazing forgiveness on my part.
On the other hand, going to ever greater heights of dying for another person will take a Christian’s relationship with God further. (We define Die for One Another this way: Lay your life on the line for other Christians. Risk reputation, financial security and anything necessary to help. Let go of the idols of safety, comfort and pleasure. John 11:16; John 11:25-26; John 12:23-25; **John 15:13**; Rom 6:1-2; Rom 14:7-8; 2 Cor 5:15; Col 3:1-10)
We all relate to Christ’s death on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and set us free for eternal life. But, if we die for another, we add experiential empathy to our understanding of His sacrifice.
If a person does not mention that he hit two holes-in-one on the golf course this summer in order to not to take away a person’s fifteen minutes of fame when another is excitedly telling of his one hole-in-one, that person dies to self for the good of another. But, such dying to self, while a God-honoring thing to do, will not greatly develop our appreciation for Christ’s death on the cross.
But, if a person builds that spiritual discipline of dying for another and eventually befriends poor people to the chagrin of his or her friends and business associates who now spurn contact, there will be a greater ability to relate to God around Jesus’ great sacrifice.
Remember this ability to have a heart-connected conversation with God about his Son’s death and His great compassion will not grow in heaven after we die. In heaven we cannot experience even a little of what Jesus endured in our sinful, unbelieving world.
This should motivate us to place the 65 Togethers and the Scriptures at top priority. We must stop thinking that we are doing them significantly. We are not! Much work needs to be done on each Together to become more and more like Jesus. And in doing so we make deeper and deeper experiential connections with God, enhancing our relationship with Him for all eternity.
While you spend eternity in heaven, would you like to be able to have closer conversations with God filled with empathy because you are connected by similar experience? Would you like to more fully praise Him for His wonderful qualities and actions? Then, let the Holy Spirit empower you to put into action all of the Togethers in increasingly more difficult applications.
Consider how we like to get togetehr more often with those who have similar experiences, thoughts and feelings. In heaven, will our Lord only spend a little time with us because we have so little in common? Obeying the Togethers of Scripture more and more will produce more and more companionship possibilities with God for all eternity.
It is disastrous to wait until heaven to become more deeply connected to God.