Sunday, August 21, 2016

LOVING GOD

Scripture: 1 John4:19
 
It is the pride of man to believe that we can love God on our own. This is the teaching of the Bible (1 John 4:19). We love God because God loved God. Meaning, the only reason we can love God is that Jesus came and loved His Father. Now, do not think that all we need to do is ask WWJD (What Would Jesus Do). No, we need to be regenerated and saved by Jesus Christ in order to love God. When we are saved, “God-love” is stamped or engraved into our hearts, souls, minds, and wills. In order to be saved, God’s righteousness (Christ) must be imputed to us. If this is true with salvation, then it is true with loving God. God-love must be imputed. If God did not love us, we could not love Him. We take our human (contaminated) love and project that toward God. We cannot love God the way we love people. We must love people the way we love God. God’s love is not human. The way we love has to reflect God or it is not love. 

We, as children of God, cannot know how to love our Father if our Father does not show us how to love Him. If the cross (Christ) is not seen and understood we cannot love God and cannot understand God-love. If we love what God has done for us, but not love God for being God, then we really do not love Him. Love is more than devotion; it is also about affection. We have been trained that love must focus on “me.” Yet, love leads and focuses on the one that makes us eternally happy: God. Love must start in a deeper place: delighting in God. The way you know if you truly love God is by being satisfied in Him. He must be your all, not His stuff. The only hope you have to loving God fully and forever is by God loving God through you by the Holy Spirit. Loving God starts and ends with God.


Daily Prayer:

O God, I desire to be satisfied in You. Help me love You the way You love, not the way I have trained by sin to love. Help me delight in, You being God, not in your stuff. Help my love for You. Help my love for others. In Jesus Name. Amen. 


Daily Challenge:

·       Today read 1 John 4

·       Ask yourself all day: Am I satisfied in God being God?

·       Repent where you need to.


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