Anb36 Love To Please

ANB 36, Love to Please Hello everyone, I am aware that we have talked about love several times over the past few months, but I feel the Holy Ghost saying let's talk about it once again. So, I confidently expect that I will get more revelation in this area as I write this study, and you should expect to get something more out of this too, and you will. Love is something that every Christian MUST get a handle on to walk out their lives for God. See, I’m not in the business about talking about the old Byron, that person is dead, he is so dead and he is not even worth mentioning. But I can remember a time when loving a stranger is not the first idea I would have. But, when you begin living for the Lord, things begin to change. Walking around with a sense of love for everyone doesn’t happen overnight, obviously, but it is something that the Lord wants to develop in you. Seriously, Christians should develop love for every person in the entire world. Be it the waiter, the check out guy, the mechanic, or even your spouse, you must develop love for all. I’m talking about total love consciousness. I love you no matter what you do, frankly I’m far less concerned with how you feel about me, and my greatest prayer is that we are all members of God’s ever-growing family. Before we get to the ‘how to’ section on this, let me explain how I feel. When I got saved (3rd grade) the Holy Spirit poured the love of God into me (Romans 5:5). Now, I largely ignored that love and many might argue I had some sort of supernatural hate within me (by the way, total disregard for another is no different from hate). But when I rededicated my life to the Lord, I began to see the importance of love. So, how important is love? “Fait is powered by love.” (Galatians 5:6, paraphrased). “But without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Hebrews 11:6). Now, let me ask a question. Is faith with zero power any different from no faith at all? It may be slightly different, but this logic cannot be too far amiss. If you have no love, you have no faith. If you have no love, you have no way to please God. (That was my first revelation of the night, by the way). The underlined sentence above is bold and direct (not boldness from Byron, boldness from God’s Word.) That will certainly make you think twice about how you treat the check out girl tomorrow, at least I hope it does. So, you may ask, why is love so important to God? Good question. Answer, God is love. “He that loves not does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:8 paraphrased). God is made of love. God is the embodiment, the very personification of love. Praise God, that means big things for you and I, but tonight we’re looking at our part in the equation. Ah, revelation number 2, praise the Lord. God’s greatest desire is that you know Him and who He is. (Jesus Christ was sent so we could come into fellowship with God and have a true face to face (really even closer) relationship with Him. (See Ephesians 2:16) God is love. Therefore, when you come to understand and practice love, you come to understand and work like God. (Yes, His ways our higher than our ways, but the idea is that through time and study, His ways will become our ways). So, to get back. God wants you to understand love, largely because He wants you to understand and be like Him.

Now a good question might be, ‘who must I show love to?’ Matthew 22:39, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” So you must love your neighbor. O.K., so “who is my neighbor? A certain man was going from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he fell among robbers (who robbed him and left him half-dead). . . But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. . . which of these was neighbor unto him that fell among thieves? And (the lawyer) said, ‘He that showed mercy on him.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘God and do likewise.’” (Luke 10:30-37). This is the parable of the good Samaritan. The man who fell among robbers was a Jew (this is obvious from the other person being a Samaritan). The Samaritans and the Jews were two groups who lived nearby each other for many ages. They had very few dealings with one another if any. Tensions were always hostile between the groups. So, who did Jesus say was your neighbor? A stranger, yes. A person of a different group, yes. A person from a group in opposition, yes. In short, Jesus said EVERYONE is your neighbor. If this man who didn’t know and even was from a different race as the other person was the good neighbor, then everyone we see is our neighbor. Praise God. It’s time to get loving on everyone. Moreover, “But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. THAT YOU MAY BE THE CHILDREN OF YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN. For if you love those who love you, what reward can you have? Do not even the tax collectors (big sinners) do that?” (Matthew 5:4446 (KJV)). Everyone is your neighbor. You must love everyone, as your Heavenly Father does. Now someone might say, ‘I just don’t know if I could ever love like that.’ Remember and never forget, God is love. So what are we? “And God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’” (Genesis 1:26). Please believe, we were created to love. Yes, when Adam sinned our love nature (revelation 3 here) was put aside for a sin nature. But, when I got saved the Holy Spirit poured the love of God into me (Romans 5:5). So in truth, God commands me to love (Matthew 22:37-40). But God didn’t ask me to do it with this sin nature, He poured His love into me. What He says is, ‘you can’t love properly, here, take my love and use it.’ Praise God. You have to begin relying on and trusting in the Love of God in you. When you encounter temptation to not love, just confess ‘I have the love of God.’ Show love to others. Speak love, act lovingly. Do everything you can to love. If you love not, you don’t know God, your faith is powerless and you will never please God. However and Hallelujah, as you do begin to love, you get to know God, your faith gets more powerful and you greatly please God. Praise the Lord. I feel truly blessed tonight. I pray you do too. I LOVE YOU ALL.