“After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.'” Matthew 3:16–17

Jesus began His ministry knowing that His Father loves Him and is proud of Him even before He started doing miracles and healings because He is the Beloved Son of God. Everything about Jesus is about the Father. Everything He did is motivated by the Father’s love. Jesus was able to do the things He did because He knew the Father’s heart and He was acquainted with all of His ways.

This relationship is beautifully illustrated in John 5:

“For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.'” —John 5:18–20

Every individual has a driving force within. It could be a goal or a desire for power,money, status, or position. What about Jesus? What do you think was the driving force behind all that He did amidst the persecutions, unbelief and evil? It was the love of the Father. The passion of Jesus, more than anything, was the Father and everything that is about Him. He lived to please Him. Love was the motivation for everything that He did. This love strengthened and empowered Him from within allowing Him to face every challenge and persecution with such assurance and confidence. It is this love that enabled Him to release forgiveness to the worst of sinners, and to be-come the author of salvation through His death on the cross.

Like Jesus, there could be no greater motivation in all that we do for God but love.Knowing that the Father loves us completely and we are accepted in Him 100% is the driving force to know Him even more and be with Him constantly. He is the kindest person we could ever be with. He is the highest, the greatest, the Almighty, yet He is the nearest to us and He loves us completely because He is our Father.

What spurs you to pray or to stay a little bit longer in His presence?

If it’s to try to do well, or perform harder to earn “points” of favor, then you will miss the point.Performance or religion will choke the life out of our times with God. In everything that we do, may this be the core motivation…my Father loves me and I love Him.The devil may come to intimidate and tempt us or undermine our authority as God’s children. But we will remain under God’s authority because we are His sons and daughters and He loves us. All schemes of the enemy are automatically out of the picture whenever we remain in the love of the Father. Jesus overcame every single obstacle He faced with love.

Love, not the law, compels us to know Him deeper. Our hearts respond to the love that He gives. The more we taste of His goodness and nearness, the deeper we desire to be with Him. Remember, we have been created to be intimate with our Father. By the Holy Spirit, we have the ac-cess and the ability to know Him deeper. Our job is to be loved because we are His beloved sons and daughters.

God loves us. In the Old Testament, that love was evident. In Psalm 8, we see David being overwhelmed by the greatness and majesty of God. He talked of His marvelous heavens and how He set the stars in their rightful places. Moreover, he was just as amazed to know that God cares for mankind, that He crowned them with glory and honor and put them in the place of dominion above all things. This particular psalm gives us a glimpse of one of the secrets of David, which was meditating upon the Lord and allowing His bigness to overwhelm him.

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him and the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.” —Psalm 8:3–6

Reflect: Take a few moments today to ask yourself: Am I living from a place of love or performance?

Respond: Spend time in prayer or worship today not asking for anything, but simply sitting in His presence, letting His love overwhelm you.

Engage: Journal about a time when you felt most aware of God’s love. What did it do to your heart? How did it change your actions?

Pray: “Father, thank You for loving me completely. Help me live each day not trying to earn Your love, but simply receiving it, and responding to it. Amen.”

A portion of this blog is an excerpt from Leif Hetland and Paul Yadao’s manual, Soaking in God’s Presence, download today!