Religion seeks to control us by manipulating our shame and our fear of God. The work Jesus, however, invited us into a relationship of intimacy and growing trust just like a child in the safety of her father’s arms. Our transformation flows out of love and endearment not fear and obligation.
It took me forty-two years before I discovered this trajectory on my journey. Up until then, I thought myself a radical follower of Jesus, trying my hardest to be a committed disciple. I only found out later that was mostly an illusion to satisfy my need for significance, rather than a response to his amazing love and work on my behalf. It began with hearing a different view of the cross than that God was punishing Jesus to satisfy his need for justice.Jesus didn’t die to satisfy the Father; he died to satisfy what was broken in us. He took our place in the surgery that cut sin and shame out of the human race. When that sunk home, everything changed for me—most importantly, my view of the Father.
That’s where my path diverged from the religious performance I’d been raised in, to a growing friendship with Jesus that has changed everything. That’s why I talk about “living loved”, because as you are learning how to embrace his love, you’ll live differently in the world. Living loved does not result from wrapping our heads around a new set of principles, but by experiencing his love in a growing relationship with the Father. This is the only place transformation happens. You’ll find yourself living more fully in him as a result of learning to rest in his love than you ever did out of fear or obligation.
These resources can help you discover how he is revealing his love to you and how you might respond to him on a new journey that will change the course of your life—
Wayne’s Books
- He Loves Me: Learning to Live in the Father’s Affection
- The Shack (Wayne co-wrote and published this best-selling novel with Wm Paul Young)
- In Season: Embracing the Father’s Process of Fruitfulness
Key Articles at Lifestream
Wayne’s Podcasts
- It’s Living Love that’s Most Important,
- How Deeply Loved by God You Are
- What Really Happened on the Cross
- Why Won’t He Love Me?
Wayne’s Audio/Video –
- Transitions – more than nine hours of free audio about how our view of the cross can move from religious thinking to relational living
- Engage – 5-7 minutes coaching videos to help you explore your own friendship with Jesus
- If you want to understand Wayne’s personal story better, listen to the two-part video series Wayne’s Journey to Living Loved – Part 1 and Part 2
For a Deeper Dive
Nothing is more important than that each of us to discover the reality of living loved. The following course of study can help you provide an environment in which God can make his love known to you. Take the next six months to a year to move slowly through these elements in this order, all the while looking for how God is making himself known to you and inviting you into an affection-based relationship with him. (Include links below)
- Read He Loves Me.
- Listen to Transitions, especially if you come from a religious performance background and discover how to transition from an appeasement-based journey to an affection based one.
- Watch Engage videos as you discover how to connect with the work God is doing in you.
- Watch The Jesus Lens, a nine-hour video series to sort through the wonder of Scripture and how it can be a daily cairn to help you on your journey.
- Listen to Embracing His Glory to see how his work of transformation can unfold in you.
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