Living & Enjoying My R.E.A.L. Life – Lesson 5 – Loving God And His Gifts

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Thesis   How I treat God’s gifts reflects my love for God — as I cherish, steward, and enjoy what He gives me each gift reminds me of His love and draws my heart back to Him in devotion as I live my R.E.A.L. life.

Series Affirmation My R.E.A.L. life is both spiritual and practical as I receive, enjoy, abound in, and love God and His gifts. R — Receiving God’s gifts E — Enjoying God’s gifts A — Abounding in God’s gifts L — Loving God & His gifts

 

Review and Introduction

 

This is Lesson Five in our series — Living & Enjoying My R.E.A.L. Life.

Series Goal: To free Christians from the false belief that their spiritual life and their real life are divided, and to help them live and enjoy their R.E.A.L life in fellowship with God.

 

In Lesson Four — Abounding in God’s Gifts — we learned:

• Abounding means exceedingly, beyond measure, considerably more than what one would expect.
• As we receive and enjoy God’s gifts we begin to thrive — finding purpose in our work, fulfillment in our relationships, and peace even in hard seasons of life.
• Every gift God gives us — salvation, life, work, family, friends, and church — becomes a place where we abound when we include God in it.

 

In Lesson Five we focus on the L — Loving God and His gifts.

We have learned to receive God’s gifts, enjoy them with Him, and abound through them. Now we discover something beautiful — a life lived that way is itself an expression of love for God. In this lesson we learn that loving God is not confined to a devotional schedule. It flows naturally through everyday moments that receive, enjoy, and abound in God’s gifts.

The Devotional Myth

 

When you hear the word devotions what comes to mind? For most Christians a specific picture forms — a quiet spot, an open Bible, a journal, a set amount of time, a structured prayer list. And with that picture come questions many Christians silently deal with:

What is the right way to do devotions? How many chapters am I supposed to read? How long should I pray? What is the right attitude to be in before I start? Am I doing enough?

 

A 2022 Lifeway Research study of over 1,000 Protestant churchgoers found that while most intended to spend daily time with God only 39% actually read the Bible or a devotional regularly. Of those who prayed daily nearly half did so for less than five minutes. Most people sitting in a Sunday school class right now are living with a gap between what they think devotional life should look like and what it actually looks like.

 

Kevin DeYoung — a pastor and author – describes this issue: He writes that the unstated assumption in many churches is that Christianity is only for people who get up before dawn, read their chapters, pray their prayers, and check every box every day. He says spiritual disciplines are great when the goal is to know God better — but they become crushing when the goal is simply checking a box.

That pressure has produced a quiet persistent guilt in the lives of many Christians. Not the kind of guilt that comes from sin — but the kind that whispers — I am not doing enough. I am not devoted enough. I do not love God the way I should.

 

Consider This: Reading the Bible and praying are valuable steps in walking with God, but we want to address the myth that suggests genuine devotion to God can only happen in a scheduled “devotional” time, and that those who struggle to maintain that schedule are failing God. That is the myth this lesson is going to challenge.

The Devotional Model

 

Did you know the Bible does not prescribe or command us to read a specific portion of scripture each day? It does teach us to read God’s word and hide it in our hearts — but there are no specific rules about how much, how long, or what time of day.

Psalm 119:11 – “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

 

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 – “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

 

Notice what God is describing in Deuteronomy — His word woven through every moment of the day. Sitting, walking, lying down, rising up. Not a prescribed reading plan but a life saturated with His word through every ordinary moment.

 

The absence of a specific prescription can feel like both an obstacle and a freedom. Some of us need structure and rules to follow — and there is nothing wrong with that. But the absence of a prescribed daily reading amount or prayer time is actually an invitation to something bigger than a schedule. It is an invitation to a life.

 

That is what living our R.E.A.L. life is about. We are not learning to walk with God for a dedicated time each day. We are learning to walk with God through each day — talking to Him, receiving His word, and loving Him through every gift He gives us.

 

Although the Bible does not hand us a schedule or set of rules about doing devotions, it does provide us many examples of people who walked with God throughout each day and cultivated a relationship with Him in the everyday moments of life.

The Example of Enoch

 

Genesis 5:22-24 “And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”

 

Hebrews 11:5 “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

 

Genesis chapter five is a record of the family line from Adam forward. Name after name follows the same pattern — born, lived hundreds of years, raised families, and died. But when it gets to Enoch something changes. Twice in four verses Scripture stops and says the same thing about this man — he walked with God. And unlike every other name in that genealogy Enoch never died. God simply took him into His presence.

 

What made Enoch different was not that he lived longer or accomplished more. It was that he walked with God through his everyday life — raising his family, living in a difficult generation — and that walk was so genuine and continuous that it set him apart from everyone around him.

 

Scholars describe walking with God as metaphorical language for a lifestyle of communion and intimacy with God. The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary describes it as the close and constant communion of true believers with God. James Smith in Handfuls on Purpose describes it as living in God’s presence — a life regulated by His will, inspired by His Spirit, and devoted to His purpose.

 

Writing in Bibliotheca Sacra — one of the oldest theological journals in America — scholar Timothy Cole explains that Enoch walked with God because he was God’s friend who enjoyed His company, moved in the same direction as God, and desired nothing except what lay in God’s path. Cole adds that walking with God occurs when God naturally comes to mind through all our thoughts — because God becomes the reference point through which everything else is understood.

 

Enoch was a father raising children, living his everyday life in a difficult generation. And through all of it God was woven so naturally into how he saw and experienced life that walking with Him was simply who Enoch was. His testimony in Hebrews is that he pleased God — and that walk carried him all the way into God’s presence.

That is the life this lesson is pointing us toward. And Paul describes the same kind of life in three simple words.

The Example of Paul

 

1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.”

 

When most people read those three words they picture someone on their knees all day. But that is not what Paul meant. John MacArthur explains that praying without ceasing is not about nonstop talking — it is a continual attitude of prayer that becomes your way of life. David Ewert adds that if Paul meant formal prayer all day the command would be impossible for anyone to keep. Richard Baxter — a pastor who lived in the 1600s — put it simply — prayer is to the soul what breathing is to the body. It is constant and natural, not forced or scheduled.

 

Think about what Paul’s life actually looked like. He was shipwrecked, beaten, imprisoned, and constantly on the move. He was not spending hours each day in a prayer closet. He was talking to God through everything that happened to him — in the middle of a storm, in a prison cell, on a missionary journey. God was woven into every moment of his life.

Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

 

Ephesians 6:18  “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”

 

Colossians 4:2 “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.”

 

In everything. Always. Continue. Paul was describing the same life Enoch lived — God as the constant reference point for everything. And that same life is what we see in the man whose everyday moments produced some of the most beloved expressions of love for God ever written.

The Example of David

 

Acts 13:22 “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.”

 

We have seen that Enoch walked with God through everyday life. Paul carried on a continuous conversation with God through everything he experienced. And now we will look at David, whom God described as a man after Mine own heart.

 

All three men shared the same characteristic — God was the constant reference point through which they saw and experienced everything. That is what made them stand out. And that is what made David a man after God’s own heart —

 

God was the center of his everyday life, not just a scheduled part of it.

Here are ways David cultivated his relationship with God, expressed his love for God, and turned everyday moments into a life of worship.

 

He Talked to God from Morning to Night

 

Psalm 5:3 “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.”

 

David started each day talking to God. He recognized each new day as a gift and his first response was to direct his voice toward God. Have you ever simply said — Good morning God? That is what David is describing.

 

Think about this — who are the first people you talk to each day? Have you ever woken up and wanted to call or text the person you were dating, or your spouse? How about your kids? If you are away from home do you reach out to your family in the morning? Why? Because you love them and want to connect with them.

 

David wakes up and wants to talk to God. Not necessarily on his knees in a long formal prayer — but doing exactly what Paul described as praying without ceasing and what Enoch lived out every day — walking with God, starting the conversation, and carrying it through the day.

Psalm 63:6-8 “When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.”

 

Research shows that bedtime is when our minds naturally slow down and begin to process the day. Studies on pre-sleep thinking consistently find that people tend to replay the day — replaying what happened, what was said, what is coming tomorrow. What we choose to think about in those moments shapes our mood and how we approach the next day.

 

Think about falling in love with someone. After a great day together you lie down and your mind goes right back to it — the conversations, the laughter, the moments that made you smile, some way they helped you or listened. Replaying it deepens the connection and makes you look forward to another day with them.

 

David did something similar with God. He lay down and his mind went to how God had helped him through the day — His protection, His provision, His faithfulness, His gifts of love. And instead of laying there anxious about tomorrow he fell asleep in peace because he had God.

 

Now look at the picture that is forming. David started his day talking to God. He lived his day with God — working, facing challenges, seeing God’s hand in the gifts around him. And at night God was the last person on his mind and the last person he was talking to. So when David opened his eyes the next morning it was natural to continue talking with God. Good morning God!

 

That is what a life of loving God looks like. A continuous relationship woven through every moment of every day.

 

He Turned Everyday Moments into Worship

 

David consistently took the everyday things of life and turned them into worship. And every gift we have talked about in this series shows up in his Psalms.

 

 

Psalm 29 — Creation  “The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.” A storm rolled in. Thunder shook the ground and lightning split the sky. David stopped and looked up. He saw God’s power on display and responded with worship. Creation became a worship moment. The next time a storm rolls through — stop. Look at it. Talk to God about it.

 

Psalm 23 — Work, Provision, and Protection “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” David drew from his experience as a shepherd — green pastures, still waters, dark valleys. When he thought about how God cared for him he reached for the language of his own everyday work. His provision, his rest, his protection — all gifts from the ordinary rhythms of life — drew worship from him. The work God gave you, the provision that came through it, the protection you have experienced — these are your Psalm 23 moments.

 

Psalm 50:10 — Daily Provision  “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.” David stopped and thought about where everything came from. The food on the table, the land that produced it — all of it belonged to God. When you sit down to a meal today — stop and think about where it came from. That is what David did and it became worship.

 

Psalm 128:1-3 — Family  “Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.” David looked at his table — the food, his wife, his children gathered around him — and saw God in all of it. Every family meal is a Psalm 128 moment waiting to happen.

 

Psalm 144:1 — Abilities and Work “Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.” David reflected on his abilities — the skill, the strength, the capacity to do what he was called to do — and recognized God as the source. Whatever your hands do today — your work, your craft, your service — God gave you the ability to do it. David stopped and acknowledged that. So can you.

 

The pattern across every Psalm is the same. David was not sitting in a prayer closet scheduling worship time. He was living his life — watching storms, tending sheep, eating meals, going to battle, sitting with his family — and in those everyday moments he stopped, saw God, and responded with love and worship. That is what we have been learning to do in this series. Receive the gift. Enjoy it. Abound through it. And love God in the middle of it.

That is your R.E.A.L. life that God wants you to enjoy.

Conclusion

 

Remember the myth we started with — the idea that loving God and growing with God only happens in a scheduled quiet time? David challenges that completely. He was a king, a warrior, a shepherd, a father, and a man with real enemies and real failures. But God called him a man after His own heart because God was woven into everything David did — the storms he watched, the sheep he tended, the meals he ate, the battles he fought, the family he sat with, the nights he lay awake.

 

David received the gifts God gave him. He enjoyed them. He abounded through them. And he loved God in the middle of every one of them. By the time his head hit the pillow each night he had not chosen between his spiritual life and his everyday life. He had lived one life — fully and completely with God.

That is the life available to you. Every gift God has placed in your hands is an opportunity to love Him back. Every morning is a chance to start the conversation. Every meal, every workday, every moment with family and friends, every storm that rolls through — all of it is an invitation to do what David did. Stop. See God in it. Talk to Him about it. And let that become your worship.

 

That is your R.E.A.L. Life.

And the competition between your spiritual life and your everyday life is over — because they were never meant to be two separate things.