Quick question for you, Do you LOVE God?
Now for those who are brothers in sisters in Christ,
I'm sure you are thinking "Sure do!", even unbelievers
might even say "Sure, why not". This might, at first glance,
seem like an easy question, HOWEVER, if this question
is so easy and if every self professing brother and sister in
Christ would answer "Yes, I sure do" without hesitation,
Then why may I ask do we not ACT like it?
Maybe we don't know what LOVE really is? Just maybe
we have a inadequate view of the meaning of LOVE?
Perhaps we have a "World View" of what love is.
Now if we want to know what true Love is, the easiest place to look
is Jesus Christ. John 15:13 says:
"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's
life for his friends."
Jesus Christ took the wrath we deserved, loving what didn't deserve to be loved, forgiving what didn't deserved to be forgiven.
I think this is, as it says, a stumbling block for most…because you see a lot of us don't think we are underserving,( some of us do
and that also can create a problem of not accepting what Christ's
has done. ) A lot of people treat God as if
He has some obligation to love us, as if He had to forgive our sins.
So they miss the big picture, and they don't see how evil they are,
and they don't truly see God's LOVE because they just blow it off
like He is required to.
We tend to look at love like "What's in it for us" but that's not love at all. Love is a surrendering of SELF, of doing something
for someone else not out of requirement or to GET something in
return. I'm going to type that out again:
Love…IS…NOT doing something for someone else out of requirement! Are we not saved by THE GRACE of God?
God didn't have to create the human race…wasn't required too..
God didn't have to forgive our WICKEDNESS…wasn't required too
But God did create the human race and He did forgive our sins!
AMEN! glory be to Him alone!
Now this brings me to this overall point, Why don't
we LIVE and Act like we LOVE God? sin is conquered,
let it go MOVE FORWARD in Christ! Jesus says in John
14:15
"If you love me, keep My commandments."
Then why is it many claim to Love Christ, but yet not want to listen
to what He said? I'm not talking about works, I'm not talking about people falling in sin as it will always(while on earth) be
something we have to continually make war against, DAILY
we have to Die to our Flesh! Many say they love Christ,
but refuse to die daily! many say they love Christ and say
they have no need for His commandments or at least they act
like they don't need to be changed by Him.
The fact of the matter is, if you TRULY and honestly LOVE Christ
then you will surrender yourself. AND AGAIN Love is not doing something out of requirement, if you love Christ you wouldn't want to do anything else but FOLLOW and hang on His every word.
"For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to
silence the ignorance of foolish men- as free, yet not
using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God."
1 Peter 2:15-16
This my brothers and sisters goes hand in hand! We see Gods
grace His overwhelming mercy and forgiveness and how we
are free from sin,(NOT Free to sin…Free FROM sin)
but we don't take our freedom lightly…
we know how evil we are without Christ and we know the price!
we don't use our freedom as a means to sin MORE..NO!
we see our freedom and we hold it tightly we see our forgiveness
and we see how undeserving we are of it, we see Gods power and love and we surrender as servants looking for Him to work through
US! looking to please God and follow His commands not for
our Glory…but HIS GLORY the only place Glory can be placed!
Blessed [is] the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
The ungodly [are] not so, But [are] like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Psalms 1:1-6
I want to share something with you, ready? I'm not the best
example of a follower of Christ, each day I must remember
to die to this selfish-flesh of mine. I seek to be that shinning light,
not for my glory but Gods, and I know He needs to shine through
me, it's not me working for God and me taking credit, it's
God working through me and giving Him all glory for it.
There's no good in me, I can't create good, I can't save myself..
if I rely on me i'll only disappoint. God's love is amazing the more we realize how undeserving we are of it, His love should bring us to the point of surrender, it should bring peace and faithfulness.
Sometimes we lose sight of what's important, and we claim
we love God but our actions say otherwise…we must
be convicted of our weakness and we must give it to GOD,
because only He can bring the change needed.
What we can not do is get to a point where we think change
can not come, that the new creation that we are suppose to be
can not come. We can't say we love God and then live a life
of blatant contradiction. It's like saying you love your wife
but then you continue to sleep with someone else on the side.
Listen, I know we all struggle in certain areas of our walk,
and we fall down BUT
1. we can't stay down
2. we can't expect to change if we rely on ourselves to
do the changing.
Here's the overall point i'm getting at; We will be tempted,
but it's what we do in times of temptation that matter.
If you think that you can stay strong, if you think that you
can ever change you, then you are going to end up in a never
ending cycle of failing yourself. The only way you will ever change
is through Jesus Christ, giving up and surrendering to Him
is the only way change can come. Are all things possible with God?
Then look to Him not yourself! the only thing possible with you is
FAILURE
Be thankful that God doesn't give up on you, that you are
indeed forgiven and through HIM you can be remade new.
If we love God, then we must surrender to Him, we must
repent and ask Him to bring the change we can't bring ourselves..
the more you try to save you with your own power the more
you will fail.
This doesn't mean a life of surrendering to our sinfulness,
This is about living like we truly love God and surrendering
to Him to save us from ourselves, it's the only way we can be saved.
Don't say "Oh well, this is who I am…I'm a sinner..I cant change
who I am" that's actually true, but that should drive
you to Christ not into stagnation.
I write this to all those who read, but not just to you, but to myself…
for I know I am no better and need to place all hope for change
in Christ not myself, and I need this change of living a life of sin
to living a life of Holiness. I need to surrender who I am, surrender
this body and let the Holy spirit guide and work through me…
there is no other way.
I pray God would work in you, reveal Himself and renew you..
that when temptations come whatever it may be that you
would run from temptations to Christ and rest in His Holiness.
That He wold bring the change that needs to come,
Ezekiel 36:27 says:
"I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them."
This is what I ask for, and this is what God can and WILL do!
take our lusts our pride our selfishness our hard hearts and
change them to do YOUR will oh God! too walk in your statutes..
to love you as we claim we do! We don't need to defend
ourselves or attack others back who physically or verbally assault
us, you will vindicate us LORD, our strength lies not in our flesh
but in you God!
1 Peter 2:19-21 says;
"For this [is] commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.
For what credit [is it] if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this [is] commendable before God.
| For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: Amen.. |
