The Lord teaches us in His Word how to love and reverence Him.
(John 14:21 ESV) "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”'
Scripture Thought:
Jesus made it very plain in scripture of how He defines love towards Him in scripture. If you keep my commandments and act out on them, then you actually love me. Wow, God is not looking just for your confession of faith because He wants you to act in obedience to His word. Not a difficult concept to understand, especially for those of us who are parents or leaders who are guiding others. The Lord wants His people to be doers of the Word, not just listeners. In the Book of (James 1:22-24 ESV) "22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like." To be a hearer of the Word of God only is deceiving yourself to think you are doing something, but in reality, you are wasting your time. You cannot follow the Lord being a hearer only.
If you read through the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), you will find that many people were around Jesus because of the miracles and food He provided. But NOT many people followed Him. Jesus used to even tell people who were following Him for the wrong reasons to seek what was real and what would not perish. In (John 6:25-27 ESV) '25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” The Lord wanted us to seek Him for eternal blessings, not just because of what He could do for us here on Earth.
In today's times, we see similarities in the practice of a lot of people. They seek what they can get from the Lord rather than seeking the Lord Himself. None of us want to be treated like this; you have a friend who only wants to be your friend because of what you can give to them. Truthfully, that's no friend at all. A real friendship requires a relationship, and that is what our Lord wants from us as Christians. As sons and daughters of the Lord, He asked us to follow and live by His Word because this is how we show our love for Him.
My Thoughts:
True love toward God is based on obedience to Him, which requires sacrifice on our part. In general, people must change their lives to line up with the Word of God. Even though the sacrifice is difficult, you will find out soon enough that it is more than worth it. It is difficult to describe the freedom that comes from following the Lord and His Word. But when you start to become free of the things that are keeping you in bondage, you will understand the Love and deliverance the Lord has provided to you through His love and power.
Challenge:
Challenge yourself to pray and read God's Word on a daily basis. As you start to understand it, start acting out on what it says. Then you will truly see the blessing of the Word of God in your life.
Prayer:
Ask your Heavenly Father to help you to understand His Word and give you the wisdom and understanding needed to act upon it.
Action:
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Take Care Family,
Pastor Charles
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