Matthew 16:24 (Darby)
Then Jesus said to his disciples, If any one desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
God wants to have a relationship with you because He loves you. But to have that relationship with you though, you must first believe that His Son, Jesus Christ died to redeem you from your sin. God proved His love by sending Jesus to die for you. John 3:16-17.
What God wants from us is in the principles of the Christian life:
First. To have a sincere desire to belong to Christ—If any man is willing to be Christ’s disciple.
Secondly. To renounce self-dependence, and selfish pursuits—Let him deny Himself.
Thirdly. To embrace the condition which God has appointed and to bear the troubles and difficulties we may meet with in walking the Christian Road—Let us take up our Cross.
Fourthly. To imitate Jesus and do and suffer all in his spirit—Let us Follow Christ.
God is not interested in perfection, self-righteousness, or human status, it’s not according to your feelings, emotions, and intelligence- it’s about love.
What then does God want from you? Matthew 16:24.
If any man is willing to go after God – if any will be a Christian, it must be on God’s terms above,
1. Deny yourself and take up Christ’s cross.
2. Deny your own will, however pleasing, and do the will of God, however painful.
3. Follow Christ, only through Him can we attain perfection.
For you to have an intimate relationship with the Lord, you will need to follow Luke 10:27.
Your heart needs to be fully offered to God; He wants all of it, not half measures. That means your heart needs to be engaged fully with Him for you to His voice when He speaks, irrespective of who the vessel (messenger) is; 2 Kings 23:25. You will avoid trouble if you hear God and not see the man and hear man.
Your presence is highly recommended, Romans 8:38-39. We live in the age now, where every scriptural instruction can be circumvented and twisted to suit individuals, but if your presence is not in the Lord’s presence, it will be difficult to align with the will of God. Do exactly what the Lord asks of you, take time to seek His presence in prayer, worship, fellowship with God and others (church, prayer meetings, bible study;) Hebrews 10:25. You cannot love the Lord if these are not part of your daily practices and do not allow anyone or anything to deter you from being in God’s presence. Another great benefit of being in God’s presence is the transformation of the heart and restoration of the body.
Love is a huge necessity in Christian life. Jesus gives the greatest commandment as love in Matthew 22:37, you cannot claim to love someone and not want to spend time with them, intimacy in relationships is dependent on love and affection. Love involves time, heart, presence, and commitment to build, deepen and strengthen the relationship. God loves you and is desperate to spend time with you, it breaks His heart when you stray and ignore Him, Luke 15:11-32. God’s arms are always open in love, beckoning for you to come closer.
Father God wants more of you and He’s waiting to deepen His relationship with you because He wants more of you.
Shalom