G
gideon3213
Guest
Loving God is a whole lot more than an emotion: it is a displined life style! Please tell me what you think of this short study.
Matt 22:36-40
36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 37 Jesus said to him, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." NKJV
1 Cor 13:4-8
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not (easily) provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. NKJV
So to love God you must:
1. ‘suffer long’. Which means that you are obedient to His commands no matter what the cost to you. Sometimes being obedient to God is extremely difficult. Like when God requires you to forgive and love your enemies. Etc.
2. be ‘kind’. That is you must not be abusive toward God by deliberately disobeying His commands and then expecting Him to forgive you. Even though you have no intention of forsaking the sin. Or getting made at God for chastising you when you are living in unrepentant sin. Etc.
3. Do not envy God. Do not envy the fact that He is all powerful, omniscient, omnipresent, etc. Do not envy any of His attributes that He has that you do not have.
4. Do not "Parade yourself’. Do not get proud and tell others how great a man of God you are when God uses you in some spiritual gift. Remain humble and give all credit and glory to whom it belongs; i.e. God. For God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. And God will not share His glory or praise with no man. The surest way to get chastised by God is to do this.
5. Do not become ‘puffed up’. This means that even though you might not parade yourself you can become proud of what God has done through you. You can start thinking that you are above others because God used you. (This is not to be confused with someone who actually has a position of authority granted to him by Christ knowing that he has been set over the ‘flock of God’.) Then you start looking down your nose at your fellow brothers who also are being used by God according to the gifts that he has given them. Don’t do it. You will be humbled by God!
6. Don’t behave rudely. That is do not be rude to God! If you have the choice of rebuking your brother, or being quit and saying nothing to a brothers sin when God has clearly condemned what he is doing; is to be rude to God. It is to prefer your brother over God. Now that does not mean that we are not to use wisdom. For the brother may truly be blind to the fact that what he is doing is sin. In which case you need to pray for an opportunity to get with the brother and instruct him concerning what God has to say about his sin. But you must not let it continue on and on without sincerely trying to make an effort to educate him.
7. ‘Does not seek its own’. This means that you are to never seek your own will or desires. (II Cor 10:4) Your every thought, action and desire must be brought into submission to God’s will, and for his glory; so that God my be glorified in all that you do.
8. You must not be easily provoked. That is if God does something that you don’t like; (like chastising you; or not doing things the way you would like Him to do them.) You do not take offense; but rather praise God for what he has chosen to do in your life. No matter how negative the circumstance’s may be that you find yourself in. To do other wise is to denounce the soverenty of God, and to say that God does not know what is best for you. It is an act of unbelief because you are saying that God is not in control of your circumstances. And the truth of the matter is that he is in control of every circumstance in your life.
9. Thinks no evil. You love God so much that you do not entertain evil thoughts in your head. And you accuse God of doing nothing wrong to you. Even while you are in the pain of His Chastisement. (or testing. Job 1-2)
10. does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. When you see someone doing something scripturally wrong. You do not endorse it with hand clapping, yelling, or any other form of praise. You only endorse truth and righteousness. (i.e. From Gods perspective. Not yours. Unless you have through many years of study and use of the Word of God come to fully understand what it is that God calls good and evil. Heb 5:14)
11. Bears all things. This means that you patiently endure all trials and tribulations that God brings into your life so that you may become holy and perfect in His eyes.(I Peter 4:1-ff)
12. Believes all things. This means that you believe that what God has commanded and said in His Word concerning you; you believe without question. He said it; that settles it; you do it!
13. Hopes all things. This means that you never give up hope in the promises that God has given to you. You keep on believing no matter what!
14. Endures all things. This means that you endure any and all things that God allows in you life. Without grumbling or complaining. But rather with thanks giving. It means that you endure all forms of persecution that you may be required to endure for the sake of being obedient to God, for preaching the gospel, rebuking a brother, etc. It means that you put the will of God first and your own safety and comfort second.
Deut 6:4-9
4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. NKJV
1 John 5:2-5
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. NKJV
2 John 6
6 This is love,that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. NKJV
According to the above scriptures; loveing God with all of your heart mind, and streangth means that you are obeying His commandments with all of your heart, mind, and streagth!
The true children of God are not a lawless people, but a people that is wholy submitted to obeying Gods moral laws!
Let us all make a new years resolution to love God in this way!
Happy new year!
Matt 22:36-40
36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 37 Jesus said to him, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." NKJV
1 Cor 13:4-8
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not (easily) provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. NKJV
So to love God you must:
1. ‘suffer long’. Which means that you are obedient to His commands no matter what the cost to you. Sometimes being obedient to God is extremely difficult. Like when God requires you to forgive and love your enemies. Etc.
2. be ‘kind’. That is you must not be abusive toward God by deliberately disobeying His commands and then expecting Him to forgive you. Even though you have no intention of forsaking the sin. Or getting made at God for chastising you when you are living in unrepentant sin. Etc.
3. Do not envy God. Do not envy the fact that He is all powerful, omniscient, omnipresent, etc. Do not envy any of His attributes that He has that you do not have.
4. Do not "Parade yourself’. Do not get proud and tell others how great a man of God you are when God uses you in some spiritual gift. Remain humble and give all credit and glory to whom it belongs; i.e. God. For God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. And God will not share His glory or praise with no man. The surest way to get chastised by God is to do this.
5. Do not become ‘puffed up’. This means that even though you might not parade yourself you can become proud of what God has done through you. You can start thinking that you are above others because God used you. (This is not to be confused with someone who actually has a position of authority granted to him by Christ knowing that he has been set over the ‘flock of God’.) Then you start looking down your nose at your fellow brothers who also are being used by God according to the gifts that he has given them. Don’t do it. You will be humbled by God!
6. Don’t behave rudely. That is do not be rude to God! If you have the choice of rebuking your brother, or being quit and saying nothing to a brothers sin when God has clearly condemned what he is doing; is to be rude to God. It is to prefer your brother over God. Now that does not mean that we are not to use wisdom. For the brother may truly be blind to the fact that what he is doing is sin. In which case you need to pray for an opportunity to get with the brother and instruct him concerning what God has to say about his sin. But you must not let it continue on and on without sincerely trying to make an effort to educate him.
7. ‘Does not seek its own’. This means that you are to never seek your own will or desires. (II Cor 10:4) Your every thought, action and desire must be brought into submission to God’s will, and for his glory; so that God my be glorified in all that you do.
8. You must not be easily provoked. That is if God does something that you don’t like; (like chastising you; or not doing things the way you would like Him to do them.) You do not take offense; but rather praise God for what he has chosen to do in your life. No matter how negative the circumstance’s may be that you find yourself in. To do other wise is to denounce the soverenty of God, and to say that God does not know what is best for you. It is an act of unbelief because you are saying that God is not in control of your circumstances. And the truth of the matter is that he is in control of every circumstance in your life.
9. Thinks no evil. You love God so much that you do not entertain evil thoughts in your head. And you accuse God of doing nothing wrong to you. Even while you are in the pain of His Chastisement. (or testing. Job 1-2)
10. does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. When you see someone doing something scripturally wrong. You do not endorse it with hand clapping, yelling, or any other form of praise. You only endorse truth and righteousness. (i.e. From Gods perspective. Not yours. Unless you have through many years of study and use of the Word of God come to fully understand what it is that God calls good and evil. Heb 5:14)
11. Bears all things. This means that you patiently endure all trials and tribulations that God brings into your life so that you may become holy and perfect in His eyes.(I Peter 4:1-ff)
12. Believes all things. This means that you believe that what God has commanded and said in His Word concerning you; you believe without question. He said it; that settles it; you do it!
13. Hopes all things. This means that you never give up hope in the promises that God has given to you. You keep on believing no matter what!
14. Endures all things. This means that you endure any and all things that God allows in you life. Without grumbling or complaining. But rather with thanks giving. It means that you endure all forms of persecution that you may be required to endure for the sake of being obedient to God, for preaching the gospel, rebuking a brother, etc. It means that you put the will of God first and your own safety and comfort second.
Deut 6:4-9
4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. NKJV
1 John 5:2-5
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. NKJV
2 John 6
6 This is love,that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. NKJV
According to the above scriptures; loveing God with all of your heart mind, and streangth means that you are obeying His commandments with all of your heart, mind, and streagth!
The true children of God are not a lawless people, but a people that is wholy submitted to obeying Gods moral laws!
Let us all make a new years resolution to love God in this way!
Happy new year!