LOVE, Period.

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

ARE YOU SEEKING?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Why do we do it?

Obligation?

Fear of consequence? Habit?

We know it is the right “thing” to do?

Why be obedient to God? What is your driving force?

Parents did? Because that “pastor fella” told you it was the way to go?

Go ahead. Ask yourself.

Then I want you to look at what Jesus considers to be “proper motivation” for our dedication.

John: 14:15, 21, 23, 24; 15:10

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments…He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me…If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word…He who does not love Me does not keep My words…If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.

By George there it is!

Commitment to God is the natural expression of our love for Him! Any other reason just won’t do.

As you read over that little combo passage above, you’d almost get the impression that Jesus thought we were a little daft. I mean take a look how many times he drives this “love me” point home. But He knows how easily we miss it! He knows how easily we will “warp our walk”with other motivators and "obligators"; stressing over rules and succumbing to fear.

He wants it simple. Love me. Just love me. The rest will fall into place when you do.

Mark 12:30

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart

You see I view this little excerpt from John as one of those great “reset” passages, a place to reboot the brain or refocus our walk. It is the passage to turn to when our “desire”to be obedient is waning or our walk with Him is floundering. It is the place to go when we are worn out from "doing Christian".

For when we are struggling with our obedience or losing our focus we should not look for the solution in our willpower but rather rediscover it in our love-relationship with Jesus. The whole point of our Christian life is walking close to Jesus, not straining to meet a standard, or following Christian rules, or abstaining from certain things. Those issues matter, but they are not the heart of the Christian life.

The core of Christianity is for us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength period.

Matthew 22:37 (AMP)

37 And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect).

When that happens, obedience and commitment will not be something we have to force out; they will overflow as the natural result of our love.

So what do you say, let's love Him today.

Have a blessed day!

I love you all.

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney