Walking in God's Love

The month of February is known as the month of love because of Valentine's Day. Today is the last day of February 2016, in this leap year I am moved to write about love.
The world describes love in so many ways but the love of the world is selfish. "I will love you, if you love me". "I will be kind to you, if you will be kind to me". "I will show you affection, if you show me affection". And the reason why pre-marital sex is rampant is because the world has established that sex is a part of love and waiting for marriage to express it is old-fashioned. Sex indeed is an expression of love but there is a time and season for it. Marriage is the time and season for sex and is fully endorsed by God (Genesis 1:28). Fornication (1 Corinthians 6:18) and adultery (Exodus 20:14) have never been endorsed by God and never will be. Christians are to look to The Word of God for guidance and how to navigate this life we have been given. It is not how the world defines love that should move us but how God defines love and He does this simply and effectively in 1 John 4:8, GOD IS LOVE!!!

There are many characteristics of God's love and Apostle Paul describes them effectively in 1 Corinthians 13. He makes it clear that Christianity without love is fruitless. In order for us to love and understand love, we must look to GOD for guidance for HE IS LOVE. I am focusing on two very crucial characteristics of God's love:

1) God's Love is SACRIFICIAL!

The main characteristic of God's love is, it is sacrificial. It is not selfish but absolutely selfless. It is unconditional because Jesus died for all even those that hated Him and those that reject Him today.

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us (1 John 4:7-12 KJV).

God is waiting for us to return to Him no matter our current state. Loving God and putting Him first in our lives requires sacrifice.

If I ask you if you love God what will your answer be? A resounding yes? Probably that's what you believe. How about if I ask you if you love God more than your spouse? Do you love Him more than your child? Do you love Him more than your career? Do you love Him more than your possessions? What about your next meal? Do you love God more than your next plate of food? Is the answer still yes? If one or all of these is taken from you, will you still love God?

Many of us think we love God, but we don't. God gave us all we have. God gave us life, yet we are focused on living life to the fullest without praising and loving the Giver of life...the Giver of all we have. There are Christians who are dying for their faith in Jesus. Have you ever asked yourself if you are faced with such persecution would you stand up for Jesus? Do you love God more than your life? Are you ready to die for your belief in Him? 

If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:26 KJV).

Christianity is a very serious and heartfelt matter. Too many Christians today are taking their faith lightly instead of getting deep into The Word of God and building a true and intimate relationship with God. It is a journey you may not be ready to commit to right now but ask Him for the strength to commit to Him no matter what because your eternity with Him is at stake. And nothing is more important than making Heaven for that is where real life begins without any sorrow whatsoever.  God empowers you to love Him and commit to Him. This is why He is looking for you to surrender your life to Him. Surrender your will to His will.
 
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment (Mark 12:30 KJV).

Meditate on this verse and ask God for the power to love Him above all else. He is looking for this in His children. If you are indeed a Child of God this is how you should love God and be committed to Him. He will then empower you to:

And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these (Mark 12:31 KJV).

You cannot love your neighbor as yourself without the power of God. And you cannot access the power of God without getting close to God. Building an intimate relationship with God is the key to living a life that is pleasing to Him. 

2) God's Love is EVERLASTING!

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39 KJV).

God loves us deeply and incessantly but we must choose Him. If we do not surrender our lives to Him and live for Him, we will not make Heaven. And anyone who does not make Heaven ends up in hell. Until we die, our Father and Creator constantly calls out to us to choose Him so we end up spending eternity with Him. 

How will you define a romantic? Someone who pursues you passionately?

Someone with loving gestures just to bring a smile to your face?
Someone who loves you so deeply to the point of personal sacrifice?
Someone who lights up your world with their presence?

Hmmm... I have to say that all these sound like God to me. God understands romance for He created it. No human being can ever love you as deeply as God does. He created you with so much love. He never gives up on you but pursues you endlessly to become His. He sends the sun to greet you in the morning and endless fields of green blooming with beautiful flowers in the landscape around you. God's love has no depth...it doesn't stop even when you hurt Him and reject Him. 

The world declares that Valentine’s Day should be celebrated with gifts, candle lit dinners, romantic getaways and lots of sex. Christians should remember that God’s way of loving is pure and it glorifies Him. So as this month draws to a close today, remember the One who truly loves you and gave you all you have. The One who gave you every breath you breathe and determines when your last breath will be. 

The One who sent His Son to die for you that you may be saved if you choose Him as your Lord and Savior so you reside in Heaven with Him when you die. 

The One who pursues you relentlessly even though you disregard or defy Him at every turn. The One who wants you to discover that true love resides in Him and no place else, for He is love! The One who believes in you when you have stopped believing in yourself. The One who rejoices over every prodigal that finds their way back to Him no matter what they have done. 

How can you know you love God? 

Again this has been answered simply and effectively  in John 14:15, If ye love me, keep my commandments.

If we love God, we obey Him in all things. We obey God by, obeying His Word. The Bible is our guide to living a life that pleases God. Everything we do must glorify God. If you are doing anything that you will not do if God decides to come down from Heaven and physically sit next to you, cut it out permanently from your life. 

And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell (Matthew 5:29-30 KJV).

 Repent today and ask for His help.

 It is not about saying we are Christians but surrendering totally to Christ. Submitting our will to His will. So instead of worldly fruit and characteristics coming out of us, it will be Godly fruit and characteristics.

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven (Matthew 7:20-21 KJV).

To say we are children of God we need to love the way God loves and we cannot do it by ourselves. It starts with surrendering our lives to Him and submitting every weakness we have to Him. Making Heaven is a choice and anything that jeopardizes our eternity with Christ we should ask Him continually to remove it from us. We cannot make Heaven if we love by worldly standards.

If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? (1 John 4:7-12, 20 KJV).

In order to make Heaven, we must go to the One who created love, the One who is love to understand how to love. If you are loving in a way that does not glorify God then you are disobeying God. And disobedience leads to destruction. No one can make Heaven without obeying God. If we say we are Christians and we do not honor God with our lives and act accordingly we are deceiving ourselves and others and that is the pathway to hell.

Remember to celebrate God everyday for He is love and He gives us the power to love in a way that glorifies Him which is all that matters for He created us and our lives are about Him and not about us.

 

© 2016 Bella Alex-Nosagie

To surrender your life fully please read the Blog post: Invite Jesus into your Heart. Start a new chapter in your Christian walk today and forever. God loves you and so do I!