Unity. Love. Intimacy.

How many days have I read John 14? And today, I’m beginning to see that everything in Jesus’ mission is deeply rooted in the intimacy he experienced with the Father. Day after day, the Father poured out his love, his will, and his words on Jesus. When Jesus said, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” I believe he was referring to the unwavering experience of God’s presence with him all the time. To feel the love and power of God with you at all times would dispel all loneliness, make people-pleasing seem ridiculous, and give enormous self-confidence.

It’s that same unity of heart and purpose that Jesus came to offer me. His whole mission was reconciliation to the point that “My father will love them and we will come to them and we make our home with them.” I know Jesus wants that relationship and intimacy with his followers because he says, “I will come back and take you to be with me that where I am you may be also.” That’s what Jesus is all about. Total union: his heart to my heart. Intertwined for eternity in an open channel of affection and worship.

Knowing the connectedness Jesus must have felt with the Father sheds light on his experience of the cross. In a single moment, the Presence was gone as the “Lamb of God” took on the evil and ugliness of sin. Being holy, God turned his back to Jesus for a single moment and the feeling of total isolation rushed into Jesus for the first time in his life. The soul-crushing power of that aloneness prompted him to cry out in agreement with the psalmist, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?”

If we could experience God’s love and presence each day, I think life would be a lot better for us. Suddenly it wouldn’t feel so bad to be single, poor, unattractive, sick, disabled or whatever state of being we may be stuck in. The power of That intimacy flowing into our hearts as love and out of our hearts as worship would cause all things temporal to pale in comparison.

The only thing that can block the free exchange of love is sin. Disobedience. Disbelief. Self-reliance. That’s why Jesus said, “If you love me, keep [listen to, apply, obey] my commands.” Because disobedience and disbelief are like umbrellas deflecting the love of God. I may desire to feel the love and presence of God, but as long as I cling to an orphan heart that insists on caring for myself, living in fear, and disobeying Jesus, I’ll only experience His grace as a temporary phenomena. I’ll see everyone else getting soaked and wonder why the rain is falling off the edge of my umbrella.

As for me, I choose to let my guard down… To invite the presence and love of God to pervade me and reject the accusing, judgmental, skeptical heart that blocks the constant outpouring of God’s daddy-love. I want that experience to bleed through every layer of my daily experience. From mornings on the porch, I want to start experiencing him everywhere and all day. I’m starting to believe that may actually be possible.