

Loved: Just as I am, for who I am.

Francis E. Umesiri

Copyright 2014 by Francis E. Umesiri

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other – except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the author. Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version (NKJV), all rights reserved: The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

All quotation marked Message are from the Message Bible, all rights reserved: Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Dedication

To Emma, Nwaka, Papa and Mama

You are missed, dearly.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Love is the essence of life

Chapter 2: Love's divine nature

Chapter 3: Free to receive God's love

Chapter 4: Free to love on God

Chapter 5: Seven love habits

Chapter 6: Habit 1: Commitment

Chapter 7: Habit 2: Fellowship

Chapter 8: Habit 3: Giving

Chapter 9: Habit 4: Admiration

Chapter 10: Habit 5: Jealousy?

Chapter 11: Habit 6: Trust

Chapter 12: Habit 7: Obedience

Chapter 13: Free to love, and be loved

Chapter 14: Blessings of walking in love

Chapter 15: Thank you

Chapter 1: Love is the essence of life

"The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves." Victor Hugo

Life will be meaningless without love. Yes, that is a rather profound statement. But stop for a while to think about it, and soon, it becomes clear that the essence of human life is love. Please allow me to explain...

According to the Oxford dictionary (Oxford University Press), essence means 'the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something, especially something abstract that determines its character.' The most important quality of life, human life, is love. At the very core of it, love is what makes life really worth living. The intrinsic nature of life is love. Love is that indispensable quality that makes life, well, livable and enjoyable. Indeed, the person devoid of love is one who has been robbed of the most important part of life. To take away love from a soul is to take the shine out of it. It is fair to say that not much is left for a person whose life does not know the joy of loving and being loved.

The lack of love, true love, is perhaps the chief cause of most evil in this world; and the presence of it is responsible for joy, happiness, peace and comfort wherever these are found in abundance. Some of the world's worst crimes have been committed by folks who were denied real love at some point in their lives. Many people are around us today who have taken to different vices and crimes (think of drug addiction, drunkenness, armed robbery etc.) just to fill a nagging emptiness left open by love denied, lost or rejected. For sure, that does not excuse any untoward behavior or absolve individuals of responsibility, but it is important to acknowledge that underneath the criminal's swagger or the errant youth's bravado may be a soul in desperate need of genuine love. Some individuals have even gone so far as to commit suicide simply because of love denied or withheld. A lot others may have contemplated or attempted suicide too because they feel they can no longer earn or keep the love of some dear person.

Love assuredly is the most important quality of life. The absence thereof breeds hatred, rape, murder, war, divorce; in short, all the evils of our society. But blessed be God, the presence of love is also the main source of joy, power, and life in its fullness.

Almost all achievements of our civilization have been motivated, rightly or wrongly, by love – either love of self, love for a child, a woman, a mom, or selfless love for God and humanity. Abraham Lincoln was once quoted as saying "all that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." The desire to be loved and appreciated is a positive need which has been largely responsible for the success of great men and women worldwide. Yes, when channeled properly, the need to liked, admired or loved can be a strong motivating force towards spectacular good.

There is abundance, fullness, in loving and being loved freely and fully. Have you ever considered the tremendous change and exuberance that comes over a young person truly in love? Oh, the sheer power of love. Love can have such far-reaching effect on a life, any life. Love can free the most timid and inhibited person you ever saw, and infuse such a person with a new glow and power that will truly amaze you. And it is also true that love can surely 'reduce' the strongest and most 'macho' of all men to a weakling, bowed joyfully on the floor of loving grace. A genuine experience of love can literarily release forth the forces of life 'bottled' up within a person. Imagine the level of liberty, creativity and ingenuity associated with children who are brought up in atmosphere of love. Now compare these children with those brought up in atmosphere of hatred, bitterness, malice, and rancor; and you will then appreciate the great power of love.

Why does love have such a profound influence on life, on all of us? The answer is simply that love happens to be the most important quality of life, the very nature of it. I know it sounds rather soft or naive, but when you pause long enough to think about it personally, you tend to realize that love makes living worthwhile. In fact, love may have played a huge role in the origin of human love as we know it today: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

This verse clearly suggests that everlasting life – God's kind of full, rich and prospering life – came to us because of his love for us. That is, there would have been no everlasting redemptive life for us if it weren't for love, God's love. God's kind of life comes through God's kind of love. Life in its fullness is a natural outflow of love. In fact, we were created in the very first instance because God loved humans and wanted our fellowship. Until love is present in abundance, life cannot be lived in abundance. Love is the gateway to life. Please consider these two related statements:

To live is to love.

To love is to live.

These two statements are two sides of the same coin, and in my opinion, express an important truth to which we should pay attention. Take the first part: to live is to love. This simply means that the need to love and be loved is an inescapable demand that life places on anyone who intends to go through its path. To overlook one's love responsibility is to trifle with life itself. You cannot live, freely and exuberantly, and still be able to avoid love. As long as you are alive, you are going to have the need to love and be loved. Why? Again, it is because the most important part or quality of life is love. Indeed, love is the very nature of life itself. Hence, to live is to be designed to love. Perhaps this is why nothing else (work, alcohol, sex etc.) can consistently take the place of true love. The earlier we confront this truth, the better, and certainly, the happier we are. To live is to love.

Yet, it is also true that to love is to live. The fullness of live can be enjoyed as one begins to give out love freely to God and to other human beings. There is a tremendous release of life-force that comes with a genuine experience of love. Do you remember the story of Joseph, with his coat of many colors? His story is told in Genesis chapter 37. I have always wondered why Joseph, of all the sons of Jacob, was the only one to dream such great dreams as he did. Of course, there are many possibilities, including the fact that God's election of grace is central to Joseph's life. But is it also possible that the extravagant love that his father bestowed on him uniquely freed Joseph to dream extravagant dreams? I am tempted to think so. Joseph experienced a special love from his dad. At least, his coat of many colors testified to that. The love of his father freed him and gave him liberty to dream.

Life opens up great possibilities to the person who walks in love. To begin to love is to begin to enjoy the riches and treasure of life. The way of love is the high-way to meaning and fulfillment. "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death" (1 John 3:14). Nothing can be plainer than what this scripture directly implies. To walk in love is to walk in life. Anyone who has not yet begun to take the matter of love seriously is still walking in 'death'. We may ridicule the idea of love, or caricature it as being for the weak and tender, still it seems clear from God's word that the only way we know that we have life, God's kind of life, is by love. Real men and women are not afraid to love and be loved. It is when we live in denial of our need to love and be loved that emptiness, weakness of soul and character creeps in. Until a person learns to give himself away to God and to others in true love, he cannot begin to enjoy fulfillment, contentment and satisfaction in the inner being. Peace within is a product of love within and without. Truly, to love is to live.

If it is true that to live is to love, and to love is to live, what then should be your response? If love is the most important part of life, of your life, what are you doing about this central part of life? Do you overlook it, diminish it and poke fun at it in public but secretly pine away for lack thereof? This book is an attempt to help you embrace your call to love and be loved. It's certainly not the only book out there on the subject, but it does have a few insights that may help you begin to live the love-life freely, fully and extravagantly. Study with humility. Give yourself to the word of God that it reveals. It is my hope that as the following conversation on love enfolds, you will be present to God who loves us richly, and equips us to love others.
Chapter 2: Love's divine nature

"To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love." Thomas A Kempis

"The greatest honor we can give Almighty God is to live gladly because of the knowledge of his love." Blessed Julian of Norwich

Love is not just an idea that originated with us humans. Love is divine both in nature and origin. Love is truly of God. Love is a divine ingredient. In fact, it is an important attribute of God. Love dictates all of God's actions and dealings with all of creation. God is love. Love springs from God: "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loves is born of God, and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love" (1 John 4: 7-8). What a far-reaching revelation this verse brings. Love is of God. To know God is simply to know love. As far as God is concerned, it seems like love has been exalted as perhaps the greatest force in heaven and earth, the most important issue in life.

Judging though by the way we have carried on in the Christian community, you will be tempted to think that love isn't one of the most important issues we have to face. It is thrown in here and there to spice a sermon, but you almost get the impression that it isn't all that important to warrant most of our time and meditation. For sure, we hear a lot about faith, in the various ways it is being taught today. There is an emphasis on faith today that almost bothers on self-aggrandizement. Faith and divine knowledge are important in our Christian walk. But from the way they are being taught today, you may get an impression they are being used to serve human needs rather than glorify God. It seems to me that the very reason the so-called faith movement has become popular is mainly due to our selfishness. I know that may sound a bit harsh, even unorthodox, but let me clarify. The understanding and practice of faith helps us to remove our 'mountains', solve our problems, receive from God, and have our physical, financial or spiritual needs met. That is wonderful, but it borders exclusively on us. It seems like this type of faith deals with our gain here and now, after all, doesn't the scripture say "Now, faith is..." (Hebrews 11:1)? Also, "Now the just shall live by faith..." (Hebrews 10:38). How we love the idea of the 'now faith,' especially in these days of tests and trials.

Is the message of faith all wrong merely because we apply it mostly to meet 'now' problems? By every means, no. We totally need faith in this present challenging world. No one can live a truly godly and blessed life on this earth without exercise of faith. Whatever is done outside of faith cannot please God or satisfy the needy soul. What then is wrong with the 'faith message' as it is being preached now? It is simply that our selfishness, finding an opportunity in the possibilities of faith, has over-emphasized its material dimensions almost to the detriment of other important Christian virtues. This is not an attack on faith message because I happen to believe in the power of faith to transform lives. But the hope is that we may re-capture the primacy of divine love.

"Now abides hope, faith and love but the greatest is love" (1 Corinthians 13: 13). Love is the greatest force on earth. Hope is important. Faith is very important. We certainly need to give the people of God hope and build faith, but we must remember that, of these three, the greatest is love. Love focuses us on the very nature of God himself. God is a God of faith and power, but He is love. God is love. All his actions are governed by love. His dealings with humans are ruled by love.

God's very nature is love. That means that God's greatest tendency is to love. He has an inherent propensity to love. It doesn't matter who we are or what we have done, God loves you particularly and specially. That's just who he is - Love. God's love is rich, free, total, and unconditional. God doesn't have to love you because of where you come from or what you have done or not done. He loves you; well, because he loves you. He is love. He loves you for you. He loves you because it is his nature to love. Loving wholly and unconditionally makes him who he is – God.

'What are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them??' (Psalm 8: 4, New Living Translation). Look at that. God's mind is full of you. The means human beings from every race or background: black, white, Asian, Hispanic, rich, poor, literate, illiterate. That's almost incredible, that God's heart is full of the thought of you. The human family must be so important to God that he has allowed his mind to be full of us. God's mind is occupied with the thought of your good. You must be really something special. God sees you that way. The psalmist couldn't understand what God saw in mere humans that he is pre-occupied with us, with you. The psalmist stands back in amazement, in reverent wonder and exclaims as God's love hits home, 'what is man that you are mindful of us? What are we, mere humans, that you have chosen to view us as so precious before you?' The revelation given to the psalmist is one that God longs to bring to us individually, of his tender care and love towards us.

'The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an ever-lasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you" (Jeremiah 31:3). Isn't that particularly reassuring? God says he loves you with an everlasting love, with love that lasts for eternity. Appropriate this love for you. Don't shift it off to someone else. It's not only for Israel or for some far away person out there. It is also for you. This is God's word for you, 'The Lord has appeared to you saying, Yea, I have loved you with an everlasting love..." Yes, God's love will endure. God's love for you is everlasting, unending.

God's love is unconditional. He loves us at all times and under all conditions and circumstances. Some may protest, "It's easy for you to say that because you don't know me or what I have done. You can't even begin to imagine how badly I have messed up." Sure, no other human being may know all about you, but God does. Yet, He loves us. He loves us even when we have messed up, although He hates our sins with perfect hatred. It is both because of His love for us and His perfect hatred for sin that prompts Him, through the Holy Spirit, to convict us about our need to set things right. It is His love for us that insists that we repent and allow Him into our heart with His rich treasures of salvation, grace and loving kindness. His love for you seeks only your good.

The point is that God loves you in good times and in bad times. He loves you when you feel like He is near; and He loves you when you feel like He should be far away. His love for you isn't premised on how good or bad you are as a person. God hasn't set some pre-conditions you would have to meet before He loves you. No! According to Romans 5: 8, "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." It bears repeating in different translations. "God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners" (NLT). "He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready" (Message). God loved us even as sinners. That's why He sent His only Son. "God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him" (Message). We weren't so great a people to whom God was obligated to rescue. We were sinners, God-haters, God-mockers. Still He loved us in that very state, and reached out to us in love.

Christian or not, God loves you as a person. His love brings about God-initiated salvation. But He loves us first. He sends rain and sunshine freely on all (Matthew 5:45). His banner over humanity is love. His love for humankind isn't conditioned on how good we have been. He has chosen to love us – richly, abundantly, and lavishly. He loves us because it is His very nature to love. Indeed, God is love.

Children of Love

We are children of love. It was God's love that brought us forth. He chose to make a set of beings, humans, on whom to lavish His rich love. Think about the vast immensity of the universe. The earth seems so small compared to all the galaxy of stars out there. Yet, this small planet called earth is very important to God, for the simple reason that it is where he has chosen to locate his love - the human race. It was love that designed it all: this beautiful love nest we live in, and the very personality we enjoy as humans. Have you ever stopped to wonder about that?

I don't know why, but it seems clear from scriptures that God is neck-deep in love with humanity, with you, with me. You probably have heard 'God loves you' so much that it has become nothing but a worn cliché. But there is no gainsaying the fact that our lives could be radically transformed if we truly understood God's love for us individually. It is God's will to have us understand how much the Father's heart loves us. You are precious in his sight.

Notice how Apostle John phrases this fact: "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (I John 4: 10). And here is how the Message Bible paraphrased that verse, "This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God." Again, Brother John reminds us, God is the one who originated this love relationship. He loved us first. He initiated a relationship with you. In the very beginning, he loved us!

So, then, let us step back to that 'beginning' as we explore the origin of this God-human love relationship as revealed in scriptures. As we step out of our time capsule, we hear God declare his heart desire, his intention to make a certain class of beings called humans: "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth" (Genesis 1:26-27). We hold our breath in holy anticipation. There has never been any creature like this human. This new being is all in the creative imagination of God. He has seen something. He wants something. He longs for someone. We hold our breath in wonder, and ask ourselves in awe, why? Why does he want human beings? He has all the angels and heavenly beings to worship him. What will this new human creature offer him that he doesn't have in the angels already? We yearn for a peek into his divine heart. We long to know a bit about what is driving this new God-venture when, all of a sudden, he seems to shed a little light into our soul and we begin to grasp just a tiny little bit of his divine motives.

Then, as we see a little bit into why he is making this new human race, we are floored with reverence and awe. Is it possible? God almighty actually desires the fellowship of this human? He has chosen to love and be loved by the new human race. He wants their friendship, praise, worship. It will mean a lot to him. He doesn't need it, but he has chosen to have it anyway. It's just what he wants. We are dazed. Who can understand it? The one who made the entire universe wants the fellowship of a mere human on a fairly equal basis. It boggles our mind. We stop a while long enough to look into his holy scriptures to see if we can get a confirmation of what we are feeling from His love-heart. Sure enough, we meet Jesus the incarnate God telling us in plain language that the Father is indeed in search of those individuals who are willing to enter a loving worshipful relationship with God. "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24).

Dear reader, pause for a moment to reflect on this: The whole idea of creating this new class of beings called humans was to satisfy God's chosen desire for human fellowship and human worship. No less a person than Jesus himself confirmed to us in the New Testament that, over the years, the Father has been in search of such beings.

But what does Jesus mean that the Father is seeking such to worship him? How about the millions of angelic beings in heaven? Aren't those worshippers of God? Surely, everything we know from scripture tells us in the affirmative that these angels worship God. They are there to worship him and do his bidding (Psalm 103: 20-21). So, then, why is the Father still seeking for "worshippers" and "fellow-shippers"? Why, of all creatures, is he interested in humans as the choice to fulfill this divine goal? We are befuddled by it all, but intrigued. After all, he alone is God. He can do as he pleases. Who can question his choice or teach him wisdom? We can only echo with other saints and prophets this scripture-sanctioned refrain:

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! "For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?" "Or who has first given to Him

And it shall be repaid to him?" For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. (From Romans 11:33-36)

Still, our human mind tries to figure it out somewhat. It stands to reason, we agree, that if he was satisfied with angelic worship, he won't set out to make humans to worship and fellowship with him. Oh perhaps, he wants the fellowship of humans, not in place of angelic worship, but in addition to it. We look at the angels and realize that they are his servants. Apparently, God is interested in more than worship that is dutiful, even sacrificial. There is only so much fellowship you can have with your servant, even if he or she is the best servant in the world. We wonder, perhaps, God wanted fellowship in addition to worship? But it is going to be fellowship from a new set of beings that haven't ever been. Unlike the angels, these new beings will have the freedom to worship or not. They will have a choice. They are going to willingly choose to love and worship Him. It gave him immense pleasure just thinking about it. He is purposeful, intentional about it. This human is going to be a friend of God. This human is a creature of God, yes, but a friend nevertheless. This human will worship him as God, yes, but will also share holy fellowship with God. It's a new relationship heaven hasn't known yet, just like that between a father and a loved son. The Father chuckles to himself, as he thinks about how lavishly he is going to love this being. Thousands of years later, the elders of the faith captured the mood very well in this revelation: "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure" (Ephesians 1:4-5, NLT). It gave him great pleasure deciding to adopt and love on us. We pleasure God, even before we walked on earth.

So, how is he going to go about this? God has chosen to have a friend and a 'fellow-shipper' in the human he is about to make. There is no going back on this. If the human will worship God as well as be in loving relationship with Him as a child, then this must be a being with the same order of life that God has. For sure, this doesn't mean the human is going to be another god. Far from it – he is a being made to worship God. He is a created being; and not the creator. But how can a mere human share fellowship and communion with God unless there is a common life that runs through both? After all, 'fellow-shippers' means fellows in the same ship. Fellow-shippers. The law of life and association demands that only 'fellows in the same ship' can commune and relate. There are different kinds of life. There is plant life. There is animal life. There is human life. It is difficult for a being in one sphere of life to adequately relate to, and fellowship with, a being in another sphere of life. Humans cannot fellowship with a tree, for example. Only beings within the same sphere of life can share any meaningful relationship. Since God wants a new being who will not only worship him, but also be in a loving relationship with him, then this being is going to have the same kind or order of life that God has. It means elevating humans to a realm of life that is hitherto alien to any other creature. It means, as God himself puts it, making human 'in His own likeness and image.' God's way of achieving his goal of making a new being capable of worshipping and sharing loving fellowship with God is to make the new person in the image of God.

What an amazing love God has shown to this human being who is about to appear on the scene. It has nothing to do with what he has done or not done. What elevated position humanity is receiving even before they walked on the new planet. No wonder Apostle John declared that he first loved us. The psalmist sang in holy awe, a song we are apt to chorus with a reverent and thankful heart:

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. Lord, our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8: 3-9, NIV).

Now we wait to see how this 'image of God' is going to be reflected in the human. What kind of life is God going to give this new being? What form is the 'likeness and image' of God going to be revealed in human being? We are eager. We awake early on creation morning, and watch Him go to work in Genesis 1 and 2 making his new love-being with heaven-inspired anticipation. As we look through divine revelation of Genesis 2:7, we get a glimpse into how God is shaping his new friend in His own image: "Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of life, and man became a living being" ( Amplified Bible).

So, from that visually powerful verse, we understand the kind of person this human being is, his very nature and the order of life he was endowed with. First, this human being is a spirit. The 'spirit of life' was infused into him. Though his outer form was made from dust, his inner being is spirit. The essence of his being is spiritual. He shares a good dose of organic matter with other earth creatures, but at his core, he is a spirit being. But then the question we ask is, why did God make him a spirit being? Why, that seems rather clear from John 4:24 – God is a spirit, and so his new worshipping friend needs to a spirit too. God is always looking for those to worship him in the spirit. It is within the spiritual realm that God can commune with humanity. Hence, in order for the new earth being to have the capability to fellowship with the Almighty, he must be made a spirit being.

But perhaps, being a spirit is not all there is to the image and likeness of God. After all, we know that angels are spirit beings. Even Satan and his fallen angels are also spirits. So, we reason that there's got to be more. So, we watch and wait. We observe the Creator at work as he comes close to the fulfillment of the work of his hands – the work of making his new human-friend. We hold our breath as the almighty does something almost unimaginable to all of heaven. He breathes his own breath into this new person, God's own breath, the very spirit of life, the God-kind of life. It boggles our mind. God is choosing to share his very breath with humanity. A holy thrill runs through our spine as we even dare think the unthinkable, that the God of all creation is now purposefully sharing a little bit of himself, his life, with this new creation. God "breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of life, and man became a living being". It was God's breath of life that made human being a 'living being'. He had his form as human being alright after those divine hands sculptured him from dust. But he wasn't yet a 'living being' until the very breath of God was shared with him. The 'spirit of life' implies that this life is spiritual. It's a spirit-life. It is both life and spirit. It is a new kind of life showing up on earth. It is the God-kind of life. Jesus will tell us a lot more about this kind of life later on. But for now, we marvel that God has done an entirely amazing thing, sharing his very breath, the breath that brings life, with human beings. In a very limited but real measure, the very quality of life that makes him God has been shared with mere humans. Some of the divine principle in God, what scripture called 'the breath or spirit of life,' was shared with God's human friend.

Yes, God has his new being fully made. His outer form is organic like all other earth creatures. After all, the earth is going to be his home. He has to be able to live down here on earth planet. But, like God and other heavenly beings, he is spirit. Even more, he has a new kind of life in his veins, the God-kind of life. He is able to relate with God. He has an inherent ability now to be a friend of God. He can commune with God as a friend, a worshipper, a fellow-shipper. We rejoice in God's joy as He looked at his human creation. He dreamed of this new being, and now, He has human person by His side. Genesis 3:8 suggests that God sometimes visited with Adam and Eve, his new friends, in the cool of the evening. These were his friends, his worshippers, his earth-custodians. We don't know what those visits were like, but we speculate that these human beings lavishly engaged in grateful worship – worship to a God who loved them freely, deeply, and gave something of himself to them. We can only imagine that the first humans were lost at God's feet in worshipful contemplation. They loved Him because first loved them. They gave of themselves to the One who gave them life. What reverent and holy moments those God-human visits must have been. Even the mere thought of it causes us to bow our hearts in worshipful awe. What love is this? Human beings have found a special place in the heart, and by the side, of God almighty. Not because they were something special by what they did, but because He chose them. Angels must have stood in holy amazement. What are human beings, oh Lord, that you are mindful of them?

We don't know how long this divine-human relationship lasted in the Garden of Eden, but we are jolted with the tragic events in Genesis chapter 3, to which we shall later return. But we awaken from our faith journey literally dazed by how great he loves us. Is it possible that the maker of heaven and earth has specially chosen us – yes, all of us - to be his friends, his 'fellow-shippers', his worshipers for life. Dare we accept this love freely? What will really happen if we dared receive and submit to his love? A holy chill runs through our spine as we contemplate the possibilities of living abundantly in his love.
Chapter 3: Free to receive God's love

"Gracious acceptance is an art - an art which most never bother to cultivate.... Accepting another person's gift is allowing him to express his feelings for you." Alexander McCall (in Love Over Scotland)

"An infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children. He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives all of Himself as full as if there were no others." A. W. Tozer

With God's heart so filled with love for us, it must be a wonder to angelic beings that we do not revel in this love daily. Angels marvel at this extravagant love, but our heart seems often unmoved by it. Is it possible that all of heaven is baffled that there are many sincere children of God who go to church regularly, perform the duties required of them; and yet are not satisfied in the innermost being with his love, lavishly conceived and lavishly given? They grope through life looking for acceptance and significance, yearning for something deeper. They know there is a life more exciting and deeper than what they have. For many of these people, the Father's heart is bursting with love, longing to embrace and cover them with his love banner. The divine heart seems to be asking, 'will you receive my love'? 'Will you let me love you, just as you are?' Truly receiving the love of God frees up a soul to live and love fully, to experience the true riches of life.

Here is a Scripture that could help us as we embrace God's love: "As we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. We love him because he first loved us" (1 John 4:16, 19).

Do you notice something very significant in those two verses? First, it says that we have known and believed, the love that God has for us. So, then, to know and believe the love that God has for you is the first step to loving God. We shall dwell on this extensively in this section. Our Christian walk will take a new turn when I begin to understand the great love of God has for us. The more we understand his love, the more our long-field fears, insecurities and wrong dispositions melt away.

Notice also that Apostle John concluded that, having understood and believed the love God has for them, they simply loved him. It was that easy. We love him because He first loved us! That is the way it works. No person can understand the love of God for him who will not love God dearly in turn. Love, by its very nature, is reciprocal. You have heard people say that several times, but we have hardly given thought to it. It means that love reciprocates love. Love will give back love. Love gives back what it gets. To love is to be loved in return. Love compels a response. Love demands what it gives, by its very nature and working. Hence, if God wants us to him, all he does is to love us so much that we cannot but respond to him in love. This is the secret there is to loving and being loved. He's got to give us love for us to give it back to him. Do you understand God doesn't ask you to give him something you do not have. He first gives us and then asks us to give Him a bit of it.

Pain and hurt as obstacles to receiving God's love

Dear friend, God loves you dearly. He has already demonstrated His love for you by sending the Lord Jesus Christ to die for your sake. God counts you most valuable. You are so important to God that He had to give His life (through Christ) in order to have you saved. Do you remember the parable that Jesus told of the lost sheep? The sheep owner left the 99 in search of the one missing until he found it and brought it home with great joy (Luke 15:3-7). This is amazing! Jesus is saying that even if you were the only person in the whole world who needed God's care and pardon, God would have still have sent Jesus just for you! This shows how much each of the 'sheep' is greatly valued by the master.

Your life counts with God. Sometimes, it is difficult to believe that because of our past and present trials and difficulties. Sometimes when we have suffered so much deprivation, sickness, lack, disappointment and frustration, it is difficult to imagine that we are still loved my God. But the devil is a liar. The devil's goal is to steal your joy and confidence in God. His tactics is to rob you and blame God. He sets obstacles on your way and turns round to blame God in your heart. "If God really loves you, why is he allowing all these evil to happen to you?" The devil is the one putting such doubtful suggestions into our hearts. His chief goal is to get you to doubt God's love and care for you. Friend, the most important person in this whole world to God is you. He loves you most dearly. He cares affectionately for you, Nothing else matters to God more than human beings - you.

"Casting the whole of your care (all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all) on him, for he cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully" Peter 5:7, Amplified. Hallelujah! God cares for you affectionately and watches over you carefully. Do you notice that word "affectionately"? God is affectionate and passionate about you. God has special feelings of love and liking towards you. You are, indeed loved! Don't you accept any other lie. Trials are no proof that God does not love you. Difficulties, disappointments are no proof that God has abandoned you; these are simply the challenges of life. Since the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden, the world has been invaded by evil. In fact, the bible called the devil the prince of the present evil world (Ephesians 2:2, John 12:31, Matt 4:8-9). Adam's sin was that of treason and betrayal. He handed over the authority God gave him over the earth (Gen 1:26-28) to the devil. So, in a sense, the devil is the under ruler of this present evil world. But the good news is that when we accept Jesus as Lord and savior, we receive redemption, full and free, from the devil (Ephesians 1:7, Col 1:14). So then, we may be in this world, but we are not of the world. "I have given them your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world" (John 17: 13-16).

All the children of God are not of this world, although they live and have their daily existence in this world. They are of God, from God and are going back to God (1John 4:4). They are born of God; they are not under the government of Satan any more. There are presently two governments in the world today, one is government of the devil, that the evil forces that pervades the whole of the unsaved world. Then, there is the government or the Kingdom of God that rules in the hearts of all those who belong to it through faith in Christ. Many people may not realize this, but it is true. One is either under one of these governments or the other. Those who are under the government of Christ are ruled by the word of God, the Holy Spirit and assisted on earth by the church of Christ. Their thinking and manner of living are dictated by this invisible but real kingdom of Christ.

You ask, "If these Christians are no more under the dominion and authority of Satan, why are they still suffering? Why doesn't God shield them from all the sufferings and afflictions in the world?" The point is that "the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world", says Jesus our Lord. Christians have challenges in this world because they are going against the tide. We are not going in the same direction with the rest of the world. As a result, there are conflicts. The world system is simply against the system of Christ. "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). As long as we are still in this world, there are going to be challenges here and there. Of course, the more we learn to listen to the Holy Spirit and obey his word, the less of these tribulations we experience. However, the point is that we live in the midst of a lawless and loveless world, where selfishness is king and greed is prince. So, if we are going to stay in such a world and live a godly life characterized by love, then there are going to be conflicts. The devil is going to oppose us doing that in this world. The exciting news, however, is that each time we hurt God hurts with us! He longs to reach out to us and help. Our problems are his problems too. You may never know how deeply God hurts each time you shed a tear

God is affectionate and passionate about us. He doesn't bring problems, but in the midst of it all, he loves and protects us. "Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And he said, "where have you laid him?" they said to Him, 'Lord come and see' Jesus wept" (John 11:33-35). You remember the story, don't you? It was about Lazarus, Mary and Martha, the friends of Jesus. Lazarus had been ill, the sisters sent to Jesus, "The one whom you love is sick". You would have expected Jesus to hurry down to Lazarus' place and pray for his healing. That's what we all expect God to do in our trials. If God loves us, then, he had better hurry and help us. But God doesn't ever seem to be in a hurry, yet he never comes late. Have you noticed? So, true to his nature, Jesus did not hurry down to heal Lazarus. He lingered until he was dead! Can you imagine what would have been going on in the mind of Mary and Martha? Why did Jesus not answer us when we needed him most? Why would he allow Lazarus to have died when he could have healed him effortlessly? Did Jesus really love Lazarus? If he loved him as He claimed, why did he allow Lazarus to die? Didn't Jesus know how terrible it would have been on us to have allowed our only brother to die? We thought Jesus cared. Are we mistaken? Can we ever trust Jesus again? That is one of the greatest obstacles to our accepting and believing the love of God has for us. Problems create doubts in our hearts. How is it that God who claims to love us so much still allows so much harm to come to us? How can we ever trust such a God? What kind of love do we call that? Hence, many of us stumble. We become offended at God. We tell him accusingly, as Martha did, "Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died". That speaks volumes. We know you have the power, if you had cared enough to come when we called, our brother would have not died. That is what gives us even more problem understanding the ways of God- we know He is all-powerful. He can do all things, so why doesn't he just hurriedly intervene and save us from our heart-aches?

We don't understand, neither can we explain it. So, we conclude that God must be indifferent toward us. Our quiet submission (to ourselves) seem to be that God is big and almighty but doesn't care so much for us as individuals. But is that the truth? In the case of Lazarus, for example, can it be said that Jesus was indifferent to the death of His friend and the grief of his sisters? Jesus was so moved that He wept with them. It was a genuine demonstration of His love. He didn't do it artificially, it came from His heart. It hurt Him so much to see Mary, Martha and the Jews weep so much. Jesus wept! He hurts when we hurt; you may think His delay in intervening is proof of his thoughtlessness toward you. But he thinks differently. You know, sometimes the delay is calculated, as it was in this case, to give more glory to God. At other times, we are the ones hindering God from quickly intervening either by disobedience, carelessness, and disregard of the promptings of the Spirit in us, our inability or unwillingness to yield to him. But what does it matter? We always blame God! After all, he is omnipotent and omniscient. So, why doesn't he just over-rule our sins, mistakes, sins, disobedience, even our will and intervene, since He claims to love us. Whether the delay is deliberate on God's part or as a result of our 'unyieldedness' to him, the point is that God hurts when we hurt. He longs to help us out, if we trust him with a steadfast child-like faith.

We have a high priest who cares about us. "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). God is touched by the feelings of our infirmity. God has been touched by every pain or abuse or neglect that you have suffered till date. You may not have felt like it, but He was there all the same. The tears might have blurred your sight of Him, but he was there nevertheless. You might have kicked against him and blamed Him, but He won't leave you all by yourself. You matter too much to Him to let you alone. "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you" (Isaiah 43:2). God has been faithful to this ageless promise. You may not have sensed his presence, but He is always there by your side. Imagine if God hasn't been with you! You probably won't even be alive today. How could you have survived all those ordeals if it had not been for God who was on your side?

Submit to his love

It is time to drop all the bitterness of years past. Lay down all your suspicion of God today at his feet. Confess your distrust of Him and receive his love. "God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against him and prospered?" (Job 9:4). Come to God now and drop all those bottled up anger and frustration you have held against Him in your heart. It is hindering you from experiencing the fullness of the love He has for you. Job too could not understand why God would allow evil to happen to him, a righteous man. He spoke with anger and frustration against God's ways. But when he repented, God revealed himself (Job 42:1-10). As soon as Job repented and appropriated God's love for him, God restored to him double fold everything he had lost. Look beyond your trials. Look up to the face of him who knows all things. Challenges may come, but if you fully understand that he loves you more than this whole world, then, you will be able to trust him and worship him no matter what happens.

Let us learn to bless the ways of God! His ways are perfect. Our knowledge is limited, our understanding parochial. Only God has the big picture. Don't let problems harden you against God. Be open to him. God loves you much more than you can ever conceive. "Perfect love casts our fear" (1John 4:18). To understand God's love is to drop all fear or suspicion of Him. To know his love in deed is to let go of ourselves in his hands. There is no fear in love! Open up to God and enjoy a rich dose of love you never dreamed possible in your present life. Remove the limits off of God! Drink in His love, no matter the situation.

The feeling of unworthiness is a hindrance

Another reason why it is difficult for many of us to receive and enjoy God's love is the feeling that we are rather too unworthy for such depth of love! Isn't it surprising that we could withdraw from the love of God simply because we don't think God should love one as dirty or as unfit as we think we are? But many times, that is precisely the situation. Many of us refuse God's love because we believe that if only God knew our true selves, he wouldn't love us so dearly. As if God is blind! God knows all the mistakes, failures and secret deals of the past. Yet, he loves us in spite of it all! He loves you so much He died to get you out of such ugly past. Unresolved guilt is a destroyer. Many times, in my role as a minister, I have come across numerous Christians who are plagued by unresolved guilt, usually about some ugly thing they did before they became converted. From time to time, the devil reminds them of those things, and consequently, they shrink away from God's love and from expected answers to prayers. They may jump and clap with everybody else in church, but the heart knows its own pain. They may appear bold and confident in God outwardly, but inside, they withdraw from Him. In fact, many of these nice Christians, unconsciously, are punishing themselves and wishing themselves evil as a compensatory measure.

Unfortunately, sometimes tend to make matters worse by the manner in which we preach restitution and repentance. We must teach repentance and restitution. 'Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,' was the first message Jesus ever preached. Also, true repentance often results in a holy desire to make amends. But restitution must be done in accordance to the leading of the Holy Spirit. However, many times, proper balance is not put to some of these exhortations on repentance and restitution. The result is that we have a whole lot of outwardly committed Christians who are inwardly frustrated, empty, guilty and despairing. We have many Christians in our churches that have grown to see God as an austere judge, such that even when God forgives them for an offense, they think God has gone against himself by forgiving them. Consequently they refuse to accept such forgiveness. They attempt other ways to make 'restitution'. They feel they must pay God back in some ways. They give more, labor more, preach more, but all the while, they are feeling more and more frustrated and exasperated within them.

The answer is to stop struggling and receive God's love! He loves you just for you. He knows our ugly past, yet He loves us. Accept his word about you. He means exactly what he said about your case: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from unrighteousness" (1 John 1:8-9). For some reason which is inexplicable, we seem to like verse 8 better than verse 9. We seem to like to remember our past sins. But he said "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". The moment you truly repent and confess your sins to God and turn from them, God is not holding them against you. If God accepts you, then you had better accept yourself, so that you can enjoy His love. If he forgave you in Christ, then forgive yourself also.

Have you repented and confessed your sin to God in Christ? Then it is blotted out by that Eternal Blood of Jesus. Don't attempt to retrieve it. "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom 8:1). You have been accepted by God in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6). God counts you fit and worthy to relate with him. God sees you worthy to receive the best He can give. Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light (Col 1:12). Hallelujah! God has qualified you! Don't disqualify yourself. God has called you fit in Christ. Don't you dare call yourself unfit to share in the inheritance of the saints. God loves you freely, unconditionally and supremely. Accept yourself the way God has accepted you. You have as much right as any other Christian anywhere to receive the best that God can give. It is not your works that justified you in His sight. It is simply your trust in His love. Your faith in Him is the access you need to the best he has in store. Even if you were a harlot, a murderer, a robber etc., now that you have genuinely accepted Christ as you Lord and Savior, he also has accepted you wholly as His beloved child. When Jesus accepts a person He accepts him wholly.

I said "if He knew, he wouldn't want me. My scars are hidden by the face I wear." But He said, "My child, my scars go deeper, it was love for you that put them there" (Mary Mckee and the Genesis).

The scars that Jesus got on the cross for your sins are deeper than the scars of your past sins. Let the blood of Jesus bury them away for good. You are not only forgiven if you are in Christ, you are actually the very delight of God himself. It gives him pleasure to have you and to love you. God is actually proud to have you as His child. How dare you allow the devil to tell you that what God delights in is unfit, unworthy and useless? God has chosen you as the object of his love. Don't you dare point an accusing finger at his sense of judgment. It is going to be far easier for you love God and his people if only you will accept freely the love that he has for you.

However, this pre-supposes that you are now a child of God. That you have actually faced up to the issue of sin in your life and dealt with them according to the word of God. There is no use pushing anything under the carpet. They will always come out to hunt you. Whatever disturbs you conscience today must be faced and dealt with before you can truly have this assurance of his peace and love. Attempting to experience his love in spite of these 'ghosts' won't work. "For if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God" (1 John 3:20-21). So, you see that God is greater than our heart. We know what is in there. We can never be able to deceive God, so don't cover up your sins or pretend they are no just there. They won't go away just because we hid them away. Only the blood of Jesus can wipe away sins. If your heart condemns you over any issue, no matter how simple or irrelevant others my think it is, go right ahead and bring such matter to the feet of Jesus, and leave it there. Deal with it squarely, and then, leave it forever at the Hands of Jesus. The power of Christ's love is freeing you today.

Don't be defined by other people's opinion

Another factor that could hinder you from receiving the full love of God for you is the opinion of others about you, and your response to that. Many people are handicapped and hindered by what others think and say about them. Often, we forget that what people think about us is just their opinion about us, nothing more than an opinion.

It helps to remember that an opinion is simply "a belief that is not based on proof". Oh yes, whatever others think or say about you is only their opinion - that doesn't make it true or right. Not matter how educated or how popular the opinion is, it is still an opinion. It is simply, at best, an 'educated' and popular belief, not based on proof. So, that people think your eyes or your nose or your lips are too big or too small does not matter. Who determines the parameter of measuring the correct size? Is it your friends or God? What people think about your height is simply their opinion. God love you for you. He is satisfied with you.

Even when those opinions are based on some facts, we must remember that God knows us better than anyone else, and still loves us. He chose us, not because we are already perfected, but because he chose us. He is working on us, so long as we are with him on this journey. The one who began a good work in you isn't done yet. Like the holy writers of old, we must remember and take to heart these sacred words of grace: "Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone ( Ephesians 1:3-12, Message).

You have to accept who God has made you. That is the only time you will be free to love God and others. Stop letting what others think about you rule your life. You are unique in creation. No other creature can be like you exactly. Comparison is futile and foolish. "For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise" (2 Corinthians 10:12). Yes, it is not wise to compare yourself with other people. In the first place, there is no basis for such a comparison, because God made each and every one of us to be uniquely different from others. God made you uniquely. No matter what else somebody may have in common with you, he can never be you. Variety is the spice of life, they say: so God made some tall, others short. He made some black others white, etc.

It is sad to see much talent and resourcefulness buried simply because we allowed the opinion of others to affect us negatively. People may think you are dull and unintelligent but that does not mean that is who you are. You see, until you accept what others say of you, it makes no difference whatsoever in your life. You remember Thomas Edison, that great inventor? He had over 100 inventions to his name before he did. Yet, not one invention could have been possible if Edison did not disregard the opinion of others about him. Thomas Edison had only three months of formal education in his life. His teachers were said to have considered him dull to ever make it in school, and so, recommended that his continued stay in school was not only a waste of public funds but a waste of their 'precious' time. Consequently, Thomas Edison was withdrawn from school after only three months. But his mother believed in him, and he also believed in himself. He knew that what his teachers thought and said about him was only their opinion. Only you know your real potential, ability and creativity. Nobody else will be able to fully understand you. Only you and God know who you really are and what you can do.

Thomas Edison set out to invent the electric lamp first. He failed for at least ten thousand times before he eventually succeeded. And after that, the world could not keep pace with THE rapidity of his inventions. The point is this, what if Edison listened to other people's opinion about him? After several attempts at the electric lamp, he would have been tempted to give in to the popular, even educated opinion about him. He could have stopped trying; he could have sulked and blamed God for creating him a dull fellow. He could have allowed his failures to define him. But thank God he didn't. The world today is a better place partly because Edison did not pay attention to the world's opinion about him. People may have their opinion regarding you; but remember that it is just their own opinion. What God says about you may be vastly different from what others are saying. I don't know if Mr. Edison was a believer or not, but aren't we glad he did not let his failures and failings define him early in life?

Our identity is in God. Accept who God has made you and be free. It is only by knowing our true source and accepting ourselves for who He has made us, can we then be free to love and be loved. "There is a spirit in man and the inspiration of Almighty gives him understanding" (Job 32:8). God is in us! Your worth is on the inside of you. God lives in you. He created you in His own image. He is totally satisfied with who he made you, the way He made you. You are his special delight. He wants to love you like you have never been loved. Open up to him, receive his love for you. To accept ourselves in Christ is to accept the One who made us. To refuse negative opinions about ourselves is to welcome God's verdict on ourselves. To refuse to compare ourselves with others, even to contrast ourselves with others, is to be wise. We look up to God who made us and love him who has made us so wonderfully and fearfully.
Chapter 4: Free to love on God

"God's definition of what matters is pretty straightforward. He measures our lives by how we love." Francis Chan

It is simply a mystery that God, as Almighty and as all glorious as he is, actually wants human love, your love. We have earlier made reference to the only reason God made human beings - He wants to fellowship with, and love on, us. God wants your love and fellowship. He doesn't need our love. He is God. He chooses to have our love. What he has desired from humans right from the beginning till date is our voluntary love, worship and fellowship. God values you enough to want your fellowship. It is the highest honor any of us will ever receive in this life.

"And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD you God, to walk in all his ways and to love him, to serve the LORD your God will all your heart and with all your soul". Deuteronomy 10:12. Do you see that? The only thing God requires from Israel, the church today and in fact from all men everywhere, is to love Him with all our heart and with all our soul. The key word here is require. It means the expectation of God from us. It means God's goal for having us made in the first place. This means that the whole purpose for humans, as we have earlier seen, is to love the LORD our God and to worship him.

However, the important question today is, how much of this love are we giving to God?

All through the scriptures God literally asked us to love him. As you examine the Bible closely, you will suddenly come to the realization that God is a love-God who desires human love. He desires your love, worship and fellowship. How much of that love, worship or fellowship have you given him lately? What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son (earth born) man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than God (or heavenly beings) and you have crowned him with glory and honor (Psalm 8:4-5 Amplified bible.). As we keep studying about it, it beats our wildest fancy how God could have chosen human beings, mere earthborn beings like us, as the object of his love. What is mankind? Yet, one of the very reasons he created mankind in the first place is so we can become his love, and worshipper. Why humans? I don't know. Only divine love can explain that - the love of God for humans is so far-reaching that the heart almost faints when it begins to grasp a little of it.

The love that God has for us is the greatest wonder that our heart has had to gaze upon. God's love for us is real. Do you know why love is the most important need of every human being? It is because we are creatures of Love. We are off-springs of Love. We were made as a result of, and in response to, the love cry of God's heart. It is simply most amazing to us that the greatest self-chosen desire to Divine Heart is true lovers and worshippers, and that human being, of all of God's creations, is His favorite choice. And until we respond to this love cry, there cannot be satisfaction and rest in the inner being. That is simply the way we were made right from the beginning.

Some may ask, "If God loves mankind so much, what has he done, or what is he doing to win over our love? After all, if a man loves a lady so much, he goes all out to court and win her love". To tell you the plainest truth, God has done more than enough. Almost every page of the bible tells of God's great search for lovers and worshippers. "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him" (John 4:23). Indeed, this has been the only search God has been involved in since the creation of the first man, Adam, till date. Your remember when he created Adam, he put him in the best part of all his created earth, the garden of Eden (Gen 2:7-9). Adam lacked nothing, God would come down in the cool of the day and oh, what holy communion God and man enjoyed in those days. God our Father must have been glad, he had his greatest love with him in the garden. Adam was exclusively God's and God was his too, until sin came in and separated them. Sin broke their fellowship and God was left without a human lover and worshipper.

God was hurt, deeply hurt by the loss of his friend. Not because he became any less that he was, but because his heart of love still yearned for his chosen friend. Have you ever lost the love of a most dear person? Have you ever experienced the death of a most beloved spouse? The grief and loneliness you felt when that happened was nothing compared to the grief God felt when he lost Adam due to that original sin. But unlike our grief, God's pain was rooted in his choice of mankind. Yet, God will not give up on humanity; he must find a way to have human beings as lovers again. So, he chose Abraham (Gen 12:1-3). His vision was to raise a different nation of people through Abraham, a people who would be entirely his own. Abraham walked with him faithfully and in the course of time, that nation was born. Israel was the name of this new nation, specifically chosen by God. Israel was to be a nation of God-lovers! A nation of God-worshippers, through whom God would redeem unto himself the church through the birth and resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. 'Now therefore, if you will in deed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people; for all the earth is mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel' (Exodus 1:5-6). Yes, indeed, Israel was God's special delight in all the earth until they too sinned. At that time, the whole world forgot about God. Only Israel loved and worshipped him, and how much God fought for them and protected them. But in Exodus Chapter 32, a very sad incident occurred. All Israel went into sin, chose another god and worshipped it.

You can only imagine the grief in the heart of God as he told Moses, 'Go get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf and worshipped it and sacrificed to it, and said; "this is your God, O Israel that brought you out of the land of Egypt!" (Exodus 32:7-8). Yet, even in the midst of such grief, God's love could not die. He still stretched out his hand through Moses to those who would stay with him as lovers and worshippers. And only the Levites responded. Then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, "whoever is on the Lord's side- come to me!" and all the sons of Levi gathered themselves to him' (Exodus 32:26). That was how from that day, only the tribe of Levi, and not the whole Israel, became God's holy, peculiar people; his lovers, if you like. "Now, I myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every first born who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore, the Levites shall be mine" (Numbers 3:12).

The Levites continued to be the priests of God and the closest to him until, again, in the course of time, most of them dissembled and only the sons of Zadok remained faithful unto the Lord. Hence the search shifted to just a family (sons of Zadok) in the tribe of Levi. Sad, isn't it? "And the Levites who went far from me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from me after idols, they shall bear their iniquity. But the Priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok who kept charge of my Sanctuary when Israel went astray from me, they shall come near me to minister to me, and they shall stand before me, says the Lord God" (Ezekiel 44:10-15).

Have you seen how diligently God has courted and wooed humans to be his love and fellow-shippers? In fact, this search continued until God finally sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to come and die for our sins so that we may ALL receive God's pardon and be reconciled to him as lovers, friends and fellow-shippers for all eternity. "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10). "But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8). Now, he has made it so easy for us to come to him and remain his lovers and worshippers.

Why did God demonstrate so much love toward us by sending his own son to die for us? It is only that he might induce us to love him too. It is all part of the wooing process! What is the use of Jesus dying if God does not succeed in winning your love, attention and devotion to him for all of eternity? Will it be fair to deny God your own love and affection after knowing how much it has cost him to prove his love for you?

The greatest commandment

At one time during the days of Jesus on earth, a learned fellow approached Jesus with a very difficult question. Here is the question and Jesus' answer as it was recorded in Matt. 22:35-40: "Then one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question¸ testing him saying: "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said to him, "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it; "you, shall love your neighbor as yourself". On these two commandments hang all the Law and the prophets".

It is important for us to understand the background to this question so we may appreciate the implication of Jesus' reply. As a lawyer and Bible scholar of the Old Testament, this fellow knew that there were a thousand and one commandments. The law refers to all the requirements of God for his people. Ordinances, rules, regulations and statues as contained in the Old Testament, but especially in the first five books of the Bible as given God through Moses. There were so many commandments and instructions for the Israelite to obey that to remember all of them was almost a much tougher job in itself than obeying them. In fact, Israel resorted to many practices to help them remember many of these rules, such as phylacteries and fringes (Matt. 23:5). Phylacteries are small cases curtaining scripture passages, often worn during prayer on the left arm and forehead. This is just one device to help them remember some of these numerous commandments. Even Moses himself, who was the 'giver' of these commands, know they were so numerous that he had to dedicate a whole book (Deuteronomy) just to remind Israel some of the main issues at stake. So, naturally, there must have been debates about which commandments or statutes were the most important. And I perceive the emphasis changed from generation to generation depending on the disposition and interpretation of the ruling scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and other scholars.

You understand then that when this particular lawyer approached Jesus with the issue of which is "the great commandment in the law", he was almost certain that it would trip him up, or at least, drag him into the prevailing controversies of the time. He made the matter worse, in his own thinking, by asking Jesus to reduce these countless rules and regulations to just one. But the Lord surprised him with the simplicity of his answer. For him, it was clear as noon day. He didn't hesitate. He didn't have to think about the answer for once. It was there all the while in black and white: "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and the greatest commandment. And the second is like it- you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two hang all prophets and the law." Isn't that amazing? This is really all that God wants from us. But like the Israelites of old, we have become rather encumbered by minor details, "nitpicking over commas and semicolons". Jesus was in the beginning with the father (John 1:1-4), so he should know. He knew that all that God ever demanded from humankind is, first, to love God with everything within him, and second, to love other people as much as he loves himself. Every other thing is only a detail added to shed more light on these two; and must be interpreted from the stand-point of these two pillars. "On these two hang all the Law and Prophets."

On another occasion, Jesus directly rebuked the Pharisees when it seemed like they had gotten distracted from love, mercy and grace. And like these Pharisees, too often we have found ourselves distracted from the simple command to love God and love others. Is it possible that today's church has now fallen into the same trap that the Pharisees and the Sadducees of Jesus' time fell into? Hear Jesus himself as he states the case as it was then: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone". Matt. 23:23

Perhaps, only the master who is love himself could have pointed out this great omission. You will notice that the word 'faith' as is used here means fidelity or commitment both to God and to one another. Again you will notice from that verse that justice, mercy (compassion or grace) and commitment are basic components of love.

So, it appears as if Jesus was rebuking these elders for the neglect of love and devotion to God. The third point you will notice in that verse is that Jesus did not condemn these Pharisees for teaching on tithes and giving. To have done that would have amounted to self-contradiction. Is he not the One who taught, "give and it shall be given to you good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you" (Luke 6:38)? His position was, "these you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone".

The third point that came across from that that verse is that Jesus called justice, mercy and commitment "the weightier matters of the law." Faith, giving and motivation messages that encourage the people of God to live fully and freely in this life are important. We need them to live a total, balanced life here on earth and gain the surpassing victory that Jesus intends for all of us on this side of eternity. But Jesus is saying that there are "weightier matters" to consider. And love is the summation of those weightier matters.

The Message in contemporary English by Eugene H. Peterson puts that passage in an interesting manner: "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God's law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment - the absolute basics - you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful book-keeping is commendable, but the basics are required, do you have an idea how silly you look, writing a life story that is wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons?" Matt. 23:23-24

You will observe that Message bible refers to fairness, compassion and commitment as "the meat of God's law" and "the absolute basics." Love is the absolute basic. Nothing else can take its place. It is the real meat of God's word.

Please notice also that in that translation it points out that we are "writing a life story." Our life story is a love story; the story of a life lived loving God and loving people he has placed in our lives. Life is a love story! We are current participants in the story of God – the greatest story of all times - a story in which God has overwhelmingly demonstrated his love towards us and now expects us to reciprocate his love. God invites us to participate in this love story. He has made us actors and actresses in this story. We have no excuse to observe from the sidelines. He calls us to exuberantly live out this God-authored story of love and grace. In a way, this story is about us, about God's pursuit after us in love. Will we let ourselves be found of him, or are we perennially going to play hide and seek with him? Are we going to respond in love to the Prince of Heaven who has given his life a sacrifice just for us? The story is still being written. We are invited to participate, to live in the story that he is writing; to step away from the grandstand of spectatorship into the arena of active engagement in the love story. The individual plots and characters may differ, but we are all in this God-story.

The definition of love: devotion

Here is an incident in Matt. 17:1-8 that illustrates both our present attitude as well as God's desire towards us. Right from Matthew 16:27-28, Jesus had promised his disciples that some of them present then with him would soon see his glory. You know, up till this time, the disciples had not yet fully understood exactly who Jesus was. In that same chapter, Jesus asked them who they thought he was. The Son of God, Peter had answered. So, when Jesus took Peter, James and John, His closest apostles, to the top of the Mountain, it was with the intention of revealing himself to them, one assumes. He hoped for them to see him in all his glory and spender. He hoped to make them see that every other thing was insignificant compared to the supreme task of knowing him for who he is and loving him thus.

So, Jesus got transfigured before their very eyes. Rather than fall before him and soak in the glory and spender of his person, they were attracted instead by the appearance of Moses and Elijah who came to speak with Jesus. Now, we need to understand why they could be easily attracted to Moses and Elijah. First, we recall that Moses represents the Law, and Elijah represents the prophets. In other words, these two men represent, together, the whole revelations and dealings of God with Israel until Jesus came. Second, we remember that for the Jew, Moses was a hero. So in looking at the law, all that Israel sees is that great Moses who brought these wonderful laws. It does not really matter much if there is a God who gave the laws through Moses. The law was really great, so the guy who could receive such a law must be very great in deed.

How about Elijah? He was a great prophet of faith and power. He was steadfast even when almost all the other prophets went astray. He was a prophet of fire! A fellow who could call down fire from heaven at will had be a close friend of God. In fact, Elijah was so great that Israel believed that even the coming of the Messiah would have to be preceded by the coming of Elijah (Matt. 17:10-13, Malachi 4:5-6). He was a no-nonsense prophet and all Israel revered him generations after.

So, we can only imagine the thrill these three apostles of Jesus felt when they saw Moses and Elijah live, in person talking with Jesus. Nothing was greater, no experience higher. This was the peak experience for them. Here they were, seeing these great leaders of Israel, all at once. And boy, they won't let such an opportunity pass them by. Trust Peter - he quickly spoke up. " Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here, if you wish, let us make here three tabernacles; one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." We suspect that Peter mentioned Jesus first as a matter of courtesy, mere politeness. He was after Moses, representative of the Law, and how Peter loved the Law. We remember even in Acts, after many years of God's dealings with him, it was still difficult for Peter to drop the law and its restrictions (Acts 10:10-16). Simply put, Peter was eager to camp with Moses. He preferred Moses. Brother, Jesus can wait for now. It's not every day one gets to meet Moses like this!

What of Elijah? Who would camp with him? Your guess is just as good as mine. If we had to hazard a guess, we would say James. That fellow too was a no-nonsense person. You remember at one time, he asked Jesus permission to call down fire on a village that did not allow them passage. In fact, James was so hot amongst all the 12 apostles that Herod had to kill him first in an attempt to halt the rapid spread of the gospel (Act 12:1-3). So, Elijah was certainly James kind of guy. He would easily identify with Elijah. Hence, you can count on James to have camped with Elijah, I think.

So, where does that leave Jesus? "Poor him." We would guess that he was left with beloved John, the "one who learns on the boson of the master". John will always stick with Jesus. He was the "one who loved Jesus", one whom the master also loved. Is it clearer now? If Peter's proposal has worked, there would have been three camps. And Jesus 'camp' would been just one of many camps.

While Peter was yet making his proposal God answered him. God was so angered that he didn't let Peter finish. Read it yourself: "While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud over shadowed him; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud saying, "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him!" And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said "Arise, and do not be afraid". When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only (Acts 17:5-8).

Do you understand what is happening here? Is it not becoming quit clearer now? Jesus had taken these three to the "mountain of peak experience with God," so that they can see that Moses (the Law) and Elijah (the prophet) all end up in Jesus Christ the Lord. God transfigured him and showed forth his glory so that they could fall and revere him. Instead, they were carried away by the Law (holiness) and the prophet (faith and power and success) as if these were, in themselves anything of glory. To make matters worse, Peter was proposing building three different camps and making Moses and Elijah of equal status, unconsciously, with the master himself. God couldn't take this anymore. So he spoke up. You can only imagine the displeasure in his voice as He said, "This is my beloved Son, in Him I am well pleased. Hear Him - not Elijah, not Moses. Jesus is my focus, the conclusion of all the law and prophets, give your devotion to Jesus." God seemed to have been shouting, "I got you boys up to this mountain to see Moses and Elijah, not so that you will camp with them, but so that you will understand that everything they both represented is fully completed in my son."

No wonder the apostles fell down on their faces, greatly afraid. I think they got the message. In fact, God was so displeased that he quickly withdrew Moses and Elijah, so that when they finally got up, "they saw no one but Jesus only"! Thank God for that. May we also wake up today to see no one but Jesus only. May the church today also wake up to see no message (holiness, faith, success, power, deliverance) as the ultimate, but to see Jesus only. To love God is to be wholly devoted to him- spirit, soul and body. To love God is to focus all our energies, our teachings, our emotion, our followers only on Jesus the Lord.

If we really love God and devote all to him, will it not be easy then to live holy, have faith, receive power and have what the Bible calls 'good success'? "He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Loving God is giving him our attention primarily. To love God is to devote our all to him. To love God is to make Jesus the Lord of all.

Devotion exemplified

In simple terms, to love God is to be devoted to him. One definition of love is 'tender and affectionate devotion to a person or thing.' Please notice that it is "tender and affectionate." Devotion it is not forced, or compelled. Love takes delight in being devoted to its object. But what is devotion? To be devoted to a person or thing is to give up one's time, money, energy, or even oneself for the good or happiness of the thing or person to which one is devoted. This is a most revealing thing. To love God is not merely to say it with my mouth, although I cannot help sometimes but express my love to him verbally. To love God is not just some intense spiritual euphoria at our moments of extreme emotionalism, although there are certainly times that understanding God's love sure provokes the deepest kind of joy and gratitude. In practice, to love God is to give up one's time money, energy or even oneself for God's pleasure and yet, to do it "tenderly and affectionately." This is certainly deep and uncommon love.

Three things are important about this definition. First, it is possible to have "tender" and "affectionate" feelings toward God and still not love God. To love God isn't just the tears or goose bumps. The love of God is not the same thing as emotionalism, although many times one cannot detach certain emotions from true love of God. When we first experienced God's love, when God began to reveal to us the magnitude of his love to us and his desire for mankind's love, tears of joy and worship were almost always in our eyes. It was practically difficult in those days for us to get into God's presence or talk about God's love without those tears of joy and love flowing ceaselessly from my eyes. It was simply over-whelming to think of how much God loves us, and desires us as friends! However, as time passed, we seem to notice that we did not shed those tears as much as we used to. Sometimes, we could even talk about his great love and not shed a tear. I become concerned and wonder if we are not losing much of our "first love". But as we mature in faith, we came to understand the true nature of divine love much better. Love isn't just about emotions, though emotions may be involved. Love is simply commitment to God, emotion or not.

Second thing to note about this definition, as we have already said, is that love is devotion - the giving of our time, money, energy, talent, even our very selves to God for his good pleasure. Love is action. To love God is to commit all to him. Love is giving God all. To give God part of our life, and hold back in some areas is to demonstrate our lack of devotion toward God. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind". Jesus told the rich fellow in Luke 18:22: "Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me." To 'sell all' and follow Jesus is the love of God. It's tough, isn't it? Perhaps, only very few persons have gotten there yet. However, what Jesus is saying here is not for us to sell all our property and come live in the church auditorium. Neither is he calling us all to an austere life like saint Francis of Assisi. He is talking about our attitude to things and to self, as compared to God. What is at stake here is our attachment to things and to self, as compared to our attachment to God. Is there anything right now that you might honestly find difficult to give up for God or to give to God? Then, in that area, it is possible that you do not yet love God enough. If we have not yet been brought to that blessed state where all that we have, all that we are and all we will ever have are laid at the feet of Jesus; then in deed, we love ourselves more than God, at least in some areas.

This God-demanded, God-enabled love life stares in the face of our self-serving, self-indulging culture. It seems that all we ever want from church service these days is to satiate ourselves, to get more and more. That is really great. God loves to give us. In fact, there is much more God wants to give us than we have received yet! But the point is that our calling is to love God, not serving self. We are designed to worship and glorify him, and Church service ought to be a time when we worship together and glorify him as a community. But instead it has become about us – the songs are about us, the prayers are about our needs, the preaching stokes our ego, even the offering is about what we can get out of it too. If it pleased God to love us while we are still in our selfish conniving ways, imagine how much God will bless us if we become truly devoted to him.

The third point to notice about this definition of love is that it is "tender and affectionate devotion". Love is devotion, but it is also "tender and affectionate devotion". It is possible to be devoted to God unacceptably. One can give up all his goods and time and yet not be accepted. Love is giving all to God, but it is also about the way we give of ourselves. "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love. I am nothing" 1 Corinthians 13:3. Did you see that? It is possible to actually be a great giver and yet not be a lover! There is a possibility that one can give but not out of love and in love. For example, we have all given to some charity or the other. Is it possible to have given that money out of sheer pity or a matter of convenience, without any iota of love and affection for the individual recipients of that charity; to not really see them as real persons who have a greater need of love, understanding and affection? Paul seems to suggest that the answer is in the affirmative. "Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love; I am nothing." True love is tender and affectionate. Our devotion to God must be affectionate. We choose to love him because he first loved us. We surrender all to him because we are over-whelmed by his own love towards us. We sing of his greatness because his love has become a song in our hearts. We extol his grace because we have been saved by his grace. We dance in his salvation because he has become our salvation, our joy, our song. We kneel before his throne in intense worship because his love has totally captured our heart; his kindness has mesmerized us.

True example of love

While we at it, let's look at a woman who shows us what it feels like to love him because he first loved; to respond to him wholly because we have been extravagantly loved. Luke recorded the incident in Chapter seven, from verse 36 to 50. But please notice that verses 37 and 38 in particular. 'And behold the woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at his feet behind him weeping; and she began to wash his feet and she kissed his feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil'.

This has to be one of the most beautiful stories in the whole Bible. You remember it was Simon, a Pharisee, who invited Jesus over for dinner. Normally, Pharisees were not the best friends of Jesus during his earthly walk. He bitterly opposed their insincerity and manipulative tendencies. So, naturally, the Pharisees did not like Jesus very much. So, for this fellow to have invited Jesus over for dinner, he felt he had done Jesus enough kindness already. By custom, when an Israelite is to receive a guest, especially one that is specially invited as Jesus was, a servant is always on hand to wash the guest's feet with cold water. The weather conditions in this arid country are hot, harsh and dusty. Washing the feet both removes the dirt as well as refreshes the guest. Then, specially prepared oil is poured on the person's head to refresh him etc.

However, when Jesus got to Simon's house, none of these things was done for him. Simon had become rather too familiar with Jesus. Familiarity, they say, breeds contempt. Perhaps the omission was a good reflection of the heart of Simon for Jesus. After all, he was a big man of God, a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews - the great people of God. Well, a woman showed up at the dinner and put Brother Simon to shame by her simple, deep and total devotion to Jesus. She came with a very expensive perfume. She went down at the feet of Jesus; her tears were water enough to wash the dirt off his feet. Her own hair, the very glory of a woman, was towel enough to wipe the Master's feet. She poured all the perfume all over him and refreshed the Master. She had been a terrible sinner, maybe a professional harlot we can't say for sure, but now forgiven by Jesus. She didn't know how to thank God enough for her new life, for her God-redeemed, grace-filled, God-sanctified life. Her perfume was not just enough, as costly as it was. She gave her tears and herself. To Simon, Jesus might be another great teacher to invite over and talk with. But to this woman, Jesus is the One who has forgiven her numerous sins. Jesus was her savior, Redeemer, Lover, her all. What else can she give? Nothing else can show how much she loved Jesus but her whole self at the feet of Jesus. There, at Jesus' feet, she gave her all – not just the costly perfume, but her God-reclaimed life.

Simon despised her. In fact, he was nauseated by what he must have called extreme ecclesiastical emotionalism. Too much feminine exhibition. Religious fanaticism. Experience-based religion. Simon called it whatever name justified his prejudice, but Jesus simply reveled in her demonstration of love and devotion. It was rare. He saw beyond her tears. He saw her heart, all given over to him. He saw her spirit, her soul, all yielded wholly at his feet. He wouldn't refuse such love and worship. That is all he ever wanted from humans. He wasn't impressed with Simon's religious knowledge and superfluity of nothingness. He was never impressed by Simon's big robes, big necklaces, high-sounding ecclesiastical theories and degrees etc. But he was impressed by this worship. This simple woman captured his heart, not because she was a woman, but because she let him know that he was her all, her life, her joy, her hope, her salvation. Notice too, that this woman's worship was not just about tears alone. She also met a definite need in Jesus' life at that time by washing his weary feet physically. God is refreshed and satisfied by nothing short of our tender and affectionate devotion to him. He longs for us passionately. God has chosen to receive your love; will you not be glad to give it? God invites you now dear reader to get alone with him and love him. Refuse all the religious fanfare around us. If you must join any camp at all, then join the Jesus camp. Love on God. You are free to do so. Like this woman of Luke's account, we are free to ignore all that distract, all that encumber, all that complicate our love life in Christ. We are free to love God and his Christ. We are free to give him our soul, our all. He welcomes our worship, our devotion, our love. We can give it to him in prayer, in praise, in silent reverent worship, in songs and hymns of adoration; however, wherever, all to his glory.
Chapter 5: Seven love habits

"Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam

"What Is Love? I have met in the streets a very poor young man who was in love. His hat was old, his coat worn, the water passed through his shoes and the stars through his soul" Victor Hugo

Let us pause to reflect on the characteristics of this God-kind of love we've been talking about. These are what I describe as the habits of love. These habits characterize true love, whether it is directed towards God or to other human beings. How can a person recognize this God-kind of love when it is in operation? Are there ways of knowing true love? True love is recognizable!

To say that one loves God does not necessarily translate to loving God in deed and in truth. To feel emotionally high about God from time to time is no proof that a person loves God. "I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others" (2 Corinthians. 8:8). Do you notice that phrase, "testing the sincerity of your love"? Oh yes, our professed love for God and others need to be put to the test of the word of God. It is important to look at our love for God and examine its sincerity and validity. True love for God, as well as for other persons, is verifiable. Love does not hide. In fact, it cannot be hidden. Somehow or another, love is going to show itself even when we don't intend to make it public. In the passage just quoted, the Corinthian Church had shown much zeal and eagerness to assist the Church at Jerusalem in cash and kind, as Paul had requested. That looked like real love. Paul was impressed. But now, one year later, he wrote to this same church to ascertain the sincerity of their earlier professed love. Hear Paul, "And in this I give advice; it is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago, but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have" (2 Corinth. 8:10-11).

There are deeds of love, habits of love. Love acts. Love does not only talk, it acts. Love has its own unique routines and practices. Love's attitudes and dispositions are often very glaring. Here are seven of them...
Chapter 6: Habit 1: Commitment

"Love, above all things, is a commitment to your choice." Rob Liano

"When you make a commitment to a relationship, you invest your attention and energy in it more profoundly because you now experience ownership of that relationship." Barbara de Angelis

Commitment is the very first habit of love. Love, by its meaning and nature, is about commitment, devotion to God and to one another. Commitment is "an engagement or obligation that restricts freedom of action." It also means the state of being dedicated to a cause, person or thing. Hence, to say you love a person is to declare that you are committed, engaged to that person. It means that you have become obligated to this person. Come rain or sunshine, you stick with this fellow. You see that this restricts your freedom to abandon this person at will. To love another is to be bonded to that person, yet it is sweet bond. To love is to be yoked. To give up all to the one loved. Loves 'stick-ability' is the first and most visible evidence of this God-kind of love.

God loved us originally. It was His love for us that made Him create us. When we sinned and betrayed Him, what did He do? He could have wiped out the entire human race and created another kind of human beings that would satisfy His heart desire. He had the power to have done that; he could easily have done it. But He chose not to, because if He did, He would have proven that His love for man was selfish and insincere because it would have put his commitment in question. His would have failed the first test of love – "stick-ability." His is the truest form of love. He is devotion to mankind. Love is commitment. Love is an obligation.

This commitment habit reveals the selfishness that is in what we profess as love. A man marries a woman because he claims to love her. But as soon as he meets with challenges in that marriage, he quits. As soon as one partner defaults, the other quits. That is hardly the kind of love that id defined by commitment. That is selfishness clothed as love. True love sticks it through. I know a Christian sister whose life showed the commitment of love. She and the husband were married as unbelievers. Some years later, she got converted, but the husband wasn't. The man had a drinking problem, which seemed to have gotten worse after the woman become a Christian. Many nights, he would come home late at night thoroughly drunk. On a few occasions, he even manhandled his wife in his drunken delirium.

This continued for a quite some time. People advised her to leave this man, at least, until he sobers up. This seemed the sensible, even safe, thing to do in the situation. But somehow, this lady did not think that was the best line of action for her to take. Instead, she continued to be patient and to pray for her husband's salvation. She felt she loved him too much to abandon him at that time. People thought she must be out of her mind. But somehow, she hung in there in love and faith. Then one day, it happened quite unexpectedly. As usual he got home late that night, vomited all over the place and slept off. By the time he woke up about 5:00 am, he noticed he was all cleaned up and warmly covered. This did it for him, it sobered him up. He got thinking. What could make his wife behave this way to him in spite of his foolish ways? He knew his wife before she got saved; she wouldn't have taken all this nonsense from him. There must be something to this 'Jesus stuff'. So, there and then, he concluded that he needed this Jesus that has so transformed his wife like this. Maybe, Jesus can also change him, he hoped. So, he went to the wife's room, woke her up and with tears in his eyes, asked for her pardon. He also asked her to lead him to Jesus. So there in her bedroom, she had the pleasure of leading her husband to Christ. By the time I met this wonderful couple and learnt of their story, this same man was already a pastor in one of the congregations I visited. I know that not very substance abuse case will end this way. I know that in some cases, the best action to take is to move out of the line of danger. But for this woman, her commitment to her husband would not let her take what she saw as an easy way out. Her deep love for him was displayed by her commitment to him in his most lowly time.

Love is commitment. Time will come that you may not feel much emotions or excitement about the object of your love, but remember that love is simply devotion, commitment, an obligation.

Hence, to love God is to commit all to Him. To love God is to give all to Him. To love God is to be bonded to Him, come what may. Whether the present circumstances are pleasant or not, we simply follow Him through. Our personal comfort is no more than the most important issue. It is his glory and good pleasure that matters now. Our natural inclination may not like some of his directives, yet we follow through on them, not grudgingly but willingly. "For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus; that if one died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should no longer live to themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again" (2 Corinth 5:14-15). Do you see that? The love of Christ compels us. True love compels us to go on even when there is no reason to go on. Love constrains us. It places a restraint on us so that we "should no longer live to ourselves but for Him who died for us and rose again." That is love. To love God, then, is to commit all to God and to seek His pleasure at all times, no matter the cost to the follower. True love is demanding! Only hard-core commitment can carry one through.

"He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 10:37-39). That is the love for God as Jesus taught it. It is tough, really. But we must not be scared. All He is asking from us is to love him will all our heart, with all our soul and with all that we are and with all that we have. Think of how much He first loved you and it won't be difficult to do at all. "We judge thus that if one died for all, then all died, that those who live should no longer live to themselves but to Him who died for them and rose again." That was Paul's motivation. God is committed to me day and night. Will it be too much for me to commit my all to Him, no matter what happens?

From time to time, we may encounter a brother or sister who gives up on God due to hard times. Many new converts have experienced severe trials of faith, and some had gone back. Why? Because they did not understand that to love God is to commit all to him. To stick with Him even through the valley of the shadow of death itself. Sometimes, when it seems that our faith has failed us, only the sheer commitment of love can carry us through. We simply lean our whole personality on Him. We may not understand why all hell seem to be breaking loose around us sometimes, but we know He loves us, and our love for Him shows up in simple wholehearted commitment to His word and integrity. To love is to commit all to a person. To cut down on your freedom by choice because you seek to please another. True love urges us on, compels us and constrains us even when there is obviously nothing more for us to benefit from this person.
Chapter 7: Habit 2: Fellowship

"It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy; -- it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others." Jane Austen

Love is commitment but it is not a love-less kind of commitment. Love is all about fellowship, communion. Love is involvement.

Intimacy. That is what love is all about. True love shows up in intimacy. Mutual sharing is evident amongst all true lovers. I used to know a brother during my undergraduate days. This was a very shy and conservative brother from the Holiness camp. He would not so much as shake a sister's hand. To sit near a sister was anathema. When we talk about Christian courtship and marriage in the campus fellowship group, he would act as if the whole subject was offensive to him. Then, all of a sudden, he fell in love a beautiful lady in the campus group, and they started dating. You needed to have seen the change that came over this brother. Now, he was almost always with his girlfriend. He loved being with her. It was hard to believe that this was the same person we had known. Where had his shyness gone? Why was he no more wary of a sister's presence? It was simply that he had found his true love. Love changed him. Love delights in the company of its object. Love is excited to be with its object. Love is all about sharing and communion.

Three elements are important for effective fellowship. These are presence, time, and sharing. Presence - being there together - is the first component of intimacy. Two persons in love always desire to be with each other. They are not satisfied to love over a distance. They want to see each other, feel each other's presence and touch each other. They have to be together physically in order to do that. That is the way it is with God. Those who love him stay with Him. They are always with Him. They are not satisfied to serve Him from afar. They have to be close. They long for his presence always. God's presence is the passion of those who love Him. When they don't seem to know that glorious presence, all else becomes unimportant. "Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take the Holy Spirit from me" (Psalm 51:11). This is the cry of all God lovers. They are passionate when it comes to seeking His presence:

"O God, you are my God; Early will I seek you; My soul thirsts for you; My flesh longs for you In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water So I have looked for you in the sanctuary, To see Your Power and Glory" (Psalm 63:1-2).

"As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?"(Psalm 42:1-2).

No wonder David was called "a man after God's heart." Can you imagine the passion with which HE sought after God? This is what delights God most. Our 'craze' for Him and His presence tickles Him! It makes Him know He is vitally loved and desired in our lives. We do need him. Friend, have you known God's presence? Once you have been known His glorious presence, even once, you can never again be satisfied with mere activity. It is so deep that words cannot express it. His presence is not taught but only experienced. Only lovers will crave each other's presence. Your proof of love must show in your quest for his presence. Not just to have your needs met, but to seek him, to know him. Just embrace Him. Get into your prayer chamber and wait to meet Him as a lover longs to meet the partner.

The presence of God makes all the difference. To lose it is to lose all. To be denied of His presence is to be denied all. Our pursuit of him delights him. That's all He wants from us. Can you imagine that God used to come down in the cool of the evening to be with Adam, His human lover, until the fall? Every true lover delights in the presence of his love.

The other important factor in fellowship is time. Time is important for lovers in order to develop real intimacy. The more time you spend with your love, the more you know each other, consequently, the more intimate you become. Haven't you noticed that real lovers hardly want to leave each other's presence? Time flies so fast, it seems to them. They will spend hours together. Fellowship with God is deepened by the quality and 'quantity' of time that we spend with God. Oh, that we all may learn to spend more time in His presence. What takes much of our time is actually the test of what we love most. It is painful that we profess our love for God but rarely spend time with him in contemplative prayer, in fellowship. We hardly have time to worship patiently with other believers on Sunday, or read the bible or even a good Christian literature meditatively, unhurried. Fellowship is the proof of love; a sure habit of love. It shows up in the time we allocate to Him, and to one another. Our priority determines our time allocation.

Fellowship is also about sharing, active participation in each other's life and affairs. Fellowship is not just sitting down and gazing admiringly into each other's face. It involves sharing one another's joys and burdens. Sharing is about lending a hand of support, of comfort, of reassurance. It is being there when one is needed. It means listening intently to the other person. It involves holding each other's hand in trial. It includes a comforting hug, laughing with lover. It means lending your shoulder to be cried on in tearful moments. It is helping each other become all that God is calling him or her to become. It is actively participating in helping your lover fulfill their calling, their destiny. In some way, this is also true of our love for God. Fellowship with God involves actively sharing in His work on earth. It means feeling about the church and the world as He feels about them. It means meeting the needs of the earth the way He would want them met. The Lord said to my Lord "Sit at my right hand, Till I make your enemies your footstool." The Lord shall send the rod of your strength Out of Zion. Rule in the midst of your enemies. Your people shall be volunteers in the day of your power. In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of your youth (Psalm 110:1-3). Jesus has conquered the devil, and brought life and immortality to light. Now he is at the right hand of the Father, praying for us and lifting us up. But he expects that we all share with Him in the salvation work that is ongoing and enforcing his kingdom over the nations. It is our love responsibility. To stand idly by is to demonstrate our lack of love for him. The church is the most important thing for Jesus. To love him is to actively participate in the edification and expansion of the Bride of Christ. In the day of his power, his people shall be volunteers. Yes, they will enroll in his work out of love for him and passion for his kingdom. The more of real lovers God we have, the more persons will receive His genuine call to serve. Not just to start new churches, although some will have to do that, but primarily to serve Him and glorify him through our work, our talent, our daily walk.

God has given His church to the rod of authority to rule on His behalf on earth. Let's use it. Go out and cast out devils, preach the gospel, lay hands on the sick. Don't fear. Jesus is with you. You are sharing with Him when you do these. That is what fellowship with Him is all about. "Lo, I am with you always even to the end of the world" (Matt. 28:28). That is the unfailing promise of the Master. It seems like the time we spend in God's presence in deep fellowship and communion, the more we are likely to come away with a sense of his heart desire for a hurting world, a sense of the little bit we could do to participate in the great salvation story he is currently writing. Is it possible to really touch the heart of God and not know what that Heart desires and longs to accomplish? All persons who have met Him have always come out with a knowledge of a particular 'burden' in the mind of God that eventually formed the bedrock of a service for God or service to humanity.

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple...Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and Who will go for us? Then I said, "Here I am! Send me" and He said, "Go, and tell this people..." (Isaiah 6:1-9).

Do you notice that after Isaiah saw the glory of God, he did not go away with a request of a new jet or car he wanted from God? He came out with a mission and a message. This is why it is rather troubling to see the vast majority of today's Christians who are only interested in what they can get out of God. When they give, they do so because that is the way God will multiply it back to them. Is that the love of God? It does seem like every person in Scripture who met God in the place of fellowship, came out sharing in the task and business of his kingdom. Dare our case be different in these end times?
Chapter 8: Habit 3: Giving

"It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving." Mother Teresa

"We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give." Winston S. Churchill

"For it is in giving that we receive." St. Francis of Assisi

By its very meaning, giving is about the most important habit of love. Love gives, and gives again. Giving is probably the most common habit of love.

Love delights in giving to its object. To love is to give. Love is devotion really. And you remember that devotion is the giving of one's time, money, and energy, even oneself for the good of another. That is what love is all about. Giving is the strength of love. The greater the love, the more it gives. The more love gives the more it receives and the stronger it becomes. Love gives to express itself.

A gift is love personified. That is why a gift is a token of love. Love is an intangible force in itself. But it can be seen in a gift. So, the gift may be money, car, house, a tie, whatever, but it is really love in a tangible form. No one can love who never gives. It is not possible to love without giving. Love seeks to express itself, always. Ando one of the best ways that love expresses itself is in giving. The gift says something about the giver. So, the gift's value is not just the market price of the said item, but the depth and quality of the love behind it. To handle a person's gift of love lightly is to disregard the love of the giver. Gifts that come out of love are spiritual for the same reason the love itself that gave it is spiritual.

Yet, it is possible to give without love as we have proven in earlier passages. But it may not be possible to love, really love a person without giving to that person. Talking love talk is good but it does not prove its authenticity. Love's commitment is shown in its gifts. Love gives to show its depth, its genuineness, its delight.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

"In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we should live through Him" (1 John 4:9).

You notice the giving component in those two verses, don't you? God loved us and he gave as a result. He loved us so much that he gave us his greatest gift, Jesus Christ. The more we love, the more we give. God gave us the Best Gift ever because he loves us so much. He gave Jesus Christ as the propitiation for our sins. Hence, the gift is the manifestation, the physical proof (if you like) of Love. The Gift God gave us as a result of his love for us is called the manifestation of His love for us. In the same way, our love to God shows in the gifts we give to him. It can't be different. It is the same love that we received from Him (Rom 5:5). Our gift to God is the proof or manifestation of our love for Him.

Love is in our hearts. But it can be brought out and shown to hers in the form of gifts and acts of kindness. Similarly, God expects our gifts as tokens of our love for Him. To love God and not give to his cause is an aberration. There is no such thing. Great God lovers are great givers to God and His kingdom. "And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary and his mother, and they fell down and worshipped Him. Then opening their treasure bags, they presented gifts to Him god and frankincense and Myrrh" Matt 2:11. Notice the order in which these wise men from the East gave their gifts to the Lord Jesus, even as a babe in Bethlehem. First, "they fell down and worshipped him." Then, they opened their treasure bags and gave their gifts to him. Their gifts came out of worship and love for him. It was the worship of him that prompted the gifts. The gifts were in themselves acts of worship shown toward his name. It is important to note that our gifts to him are acts of worship. We worship him with our gifts. We had better not trifle with the gifts. They are holy unto the Lord. Just like we may express our worship through songs and prayer, so we may worship Him with our gifts. Giving is not only a way to receive from God, giving is an act of worship; an act of reverence to the Lord, a way to give back to the giver of all things.

Many times, over-whelmed by his love and his presence, we among us hasn't searched desperately for something of real value to give him – Just to show him that we appreciate his love so much? To love the Lord is to give to him. It is a blessing to see every act of giving as on act of worship to God. It is first and foremost because we love him. Remember the woman in Luke 7:36-40? I like her example. Her worship was much more overwhelming than the gift itself. She came with a costly gift of perfume. But she did not just spray it on the Master and walk away. She proved that the gift was only on outflow of the love in her heart. The gift was only a token. She washed Jesus feet with her tears and wiped them clean with her hair, before giving her gift! That is the true order of giving to God. God will not accept anything less. He is not in need of gifts. It is simply the love expressed by the gifts that moves God.

There are four key elements about giving. These factors are quality, sacrifice, cheerfulness and affordability.

Quality of the Gift

The quality of the gift may be a reflection of the quality of the love of the giver. You may not have thought about it in this light but it is true. We have noted severally that gifts are tangible representations of our love. Your love, many times, is measured by the quality of your gift. You may sincerely have more love in your heart for this person than your gift tends to show. But how can the object of your love know the intensity of your love except by the deeds (especially gifts) of your love? So, as much as lies in you, make your gifts of love as qualitative as your love.

However, quality does not necessarily mean quantity, although both are closely related in some cases. Yet, a gift can be of very high quality without necessarily being of a large quantity. Quality means worth, excellence, high value. We must be careful here not to mix this up. God expects us to give bountifully. How much we give does determine how much we receive from Him. "But this I say: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully" (2 Corinthians. 9:6). God delights in our generous giving. Our life is rich and bountiful because we live and give freely. The only way to receive is to give and give again. Jesus advised us to give bountifully because the same measure we give with shall be measured back to us (Luke 6:38). Thus, David gave to the house of the Lord over and above what he should have given. He loved the Lord much, so he gave so much. It cannot be otherwise. The bigger our love for God, the bigger the offerings, the sacrifices, we bring to Him. Furthermore king David said to all the assembly: "My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced; and the work is great, because the temple is not for man but for the Lord God. Now for the houses of my god I have prepared with all my might; gold for things made of god, silver for things made of silver, bronze for things of bronze, iron for things of iron...Moreover because I have set my affection on the house of my God, I have given o the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, my own special treasure of gold and silver" (1 Chron. 29:1-3 emphasis added).

It is amazing! Do you notice David's appropriation of God as "my God," the "house of my God"? That is how much he loved God. In fact, he said "because I have set my affection on the house of my God, I have given over and above all that I have..." All giving to God must be borne out of affection for Him. But the point to note here specifically is that David loved much, so he gave much. It was quality gift – He gave gold. It was also quantitative – He gave over and above what was normally required. He went further into his own personal treasury to give to God and His house. This is the way gifts must be given to our God.

Quantity and quality.

But not all of us are able to give the kind of quantitative gift David gave to God. You see, God sees beyond the quantity. He looks at the quality of the gift. Quality talks of degree of excellence, high standard. It is possible for your gift to be of very high quality, to have excellence of the highest type; yet not amount to much in terms of quantity. But when this happens, it is only a shift in the realm of recognized quantity. That is to say, in physical measurable terms, the gift may not amount to much, but because it is of such a high standard, in the spirit, it is worth so much.

You remember the popular story of the widow's mite (Mark 12:41-44)? Jesus sat by the Treasury one day and watched people as they cast in their offerings. A lot of people gave a lot of money, but here came a woman who gave two mites (let's say an equivalent of about 2 dollars today). Jesus got up from there and told his disciples that the woman gave more than all the others. Some fellows probably gave 2 million dollars that day, but Jesus concluded that a woman who gave $2 gave more than them all. How was that possible? Jesus again answered that question: "because the others gave out of their abundance, but this woman cast in all her living." That widow's mite was all she had left, both at home and in the bank; and she gave it all. As far as Jesus was concerned, she "gave all her living." This is qualitative giving! In the spirit realm, it was also quantitative giving because it was "all her living."

That woman may not have been as rich as David was but her giving was of as much quality as David's giving. Many times, stingy fellows use the figurative "widows mite" as a justification for not giving abundantly. But if you understand the story and the lesson it teaches, you will know that to give your widow's mite means to "give all your living," all at once to God! It is the highest quality of giving recorded in the scripture amongst human beings, and it is open both to the rich and the poor.

Some people can give God some thousands or even some millions of dollars and brag about how much they are giving to God. That is great, but quality giving is determined by how much you have left after you have given and by the love behind the gift, and not necessarily by how much you have actually given. "To whom much is given, much is expected." If God has given you much, He expects much from you.

Sacrifice in Giving

That brings us to the second point in giving. And that is sacrifice. Any gift that does not cost us something is not much of a gift to God. The cost may be in money value, time or our pride. The greater the price, the better the gift. Giving doesn't always have to be convenient. That is precisely what that woman with two mites did. The cost of her giving was not the value of the two mites, but in having to live without it, not knowing how her next livelihood would come. That is what God rewarded! It is okay to give God out of our overflowing abundance. But sometimes, we ought also to give God something that costs us so much more to release.

It could be that cherished car. You may have many other cars, but for some personal reason, you are specifically attached to that particular car. But you decide to give it out anyway, because you are being prompted to do. It may even bring tears to your eyes. God is well pleased with such sacrifices. The value of that car isn't just the market value in God's sight; it is the pain of detachment, the tears that came to your eyes.

"Then King David said to Ornan, 'No, but I will surely buy it for the full price, for I will not take what is yours for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings with that which costs me nothing" (1 Chronicles 21:24).

God is well pleased by our sacrifices of love. He remembers it and accepts it wholly (Psalm 20:3). God never forgets our sacrifice and labor of love. David said, "I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord with that which costs me nothing." God is thrilled by our costly demonstration of love to him. This incident in 1 Chronicles chapter 21 and 2 Samuel chapter 24, reveals not only David's attitude to giving to God, but also God's response to our gifts made to Him in utter sacrifice. You remember the story, don't you? David just woke up one day and commanded that all Israel be numbered. God was greatly displeased with this act. The reason was not just the numbering of Israel, but perhaps because of the pride of the heart in David that motivated it; as if he had become the great king of such a great people all by his doing. God didn't like it one bit, so he sent a prophet to David to choose one of three deadly options – seven years of famine, three months of military occupation of the land and torture by hostile army, or thirdly a plague from the Lord himself.

David reasoned that it was always better to fall into the hands of God, after all, God could have mercy but you can never trust a man to show mercy. So, a plague broke out in the land of Israel, enforced by a single angel who killed 70,000 people in one day. That was how angry God was with David. But as soon as the Angel got to a particular spot in the land, he stopped. He could not go anymore. "And when the angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it,

the Lord relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, "It is enough; now restrain your hand." And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite" (2 Sam. 24:16).

What got my attention so deeply is it about this threshing floor of Araunah (or Ornan) that made God quickly relent on this destruction and immediately halted such terrible massacre of the people? In fact, to prove that it was not just by chance, the angel commanded Gad to send for David to offer immediately a burnt offering on that same spot so that God's wrath could be averted. The angel only stopped destruction momentarily, and waited until David made the burnt offering before He finally left.

Studying the scripture, I suddenly came upon an interesting discovery. That threshing floor of Ornan was the exact spot that Abraham, the friend of God, "offered" up his precious son Isaac to God without question. Interestingly, it was also on the same spot that the great Temple of God was built by Solomon! "Now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jubusite." (2 Chronicles 3:1). This passage shows us clearly that the exact location of threshing floor of Ornan was on Mount Moriah. Compare this with Genesis 22:2: "Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, Whom you love and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." Is that clear now? The general place that the angel got to in his destruction and received an immediate instruction from God to stop was the same general location where several years earlier, Abraham had 'sacrificed' the son of his love. God never forgot. No matter how angry he got, He couldn't forget that Abraham, the progenitor of this nation that had now hurt him, made a great sacrifice of love for Him on that same mountain. Do you get the picture? Several years after, his descendants continued to enjoy the benefits of his costly obedience to God. It seemed as though God was so impressed with Abraham's willingness to offer his child at Moriah that he commanded that the Temple be built on that mount Moriah as a memorial to that sacrificial giving.

The place meant much to God because the gift that was offered to him there much meant much to the giver. Isaac was Abraham's only child at the time, Ishmael and his mother having been sent packing. Isaac was the beloved son. All the promises of God for him depended on the survival of this son. Yet, God required him to kill this same child with his own hands. We shudder even at the mere thought of it. What kind of God would ask such a thing of his followers? It seemed too cruel to be coming from our God. Is that really what God wants, the murder of this innocent child? We hesitate. We analyze. We debate. But not Abraham. If he hesitated, we are not told. He has learned to trust and obey. God must know better, after all, his ways are past finding out. He lifted his hands to kill his only son in sacrificial obedience to God. But it turns out, it was only a test. We heave a sigh of relieve. God wasn't going to let him kill his only son. But the fact he was committed enough to God to obey even that kind of command impressed God deeply, so much that he swore to bless Abraham perpetually. "And he said, do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld you son from me. By myself I have sworn, says the lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, in blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven" (Genesis 22:12-17).

"For now I know that you God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." That was God's conclusion. That is, Abraham had proven the depth of his love for God beyond any shadow of doubt. How? By the gift of Isaac given with the greatest sense of pain and sacrifice. Yes, he didn't actually kill Isaac, but as far as God was concerned, he had already done it, in as much as he was fully willing to do it. To sacrifice something means to surrender what is valuable for the sake of something more important or worthy. Abraham had just shown that God was more important to him than any other treasure. It is not enough to give; we are called to sometimes give sacrificially – surrendering something of value to us for the sake of God and his kingdom. God has great respect for gifts sacrificially given.

Affordability of the gift

The necessity for quality and sacrifice does not imply that we should go beyond ourselves to give. God does not expect us to give what we don't have. This is why the issue of affordability is very important. Your giving should be out of what you have or what you expect to have. You may not have money to give at any given moment, but you can give your time for example. You may not have billions of dollars' worth of gold and silver that David gave but you may have your two mites to give all away like that widow. You may give your "Isaac' like Abraham did, or you may give your costly perfume like that woman in Luke 7:34 did. Whichever way, give from what you have. "For if there is first a willing mind, it is acceptable according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have" (2 Corinth 8:12). Give out of what you presently have. Don't steal from Peter to give to Christ. Don't rob John to pay Paul. Remember your gift is an expression of your love. It is all about love and worship. Don't go against God's will just to give to God. It is senseless to do that. Don't cheat at the work place so that you can give a larger sum of money at Church. It is better to give out of what you have, even if it means giving the very last thing you have on you.

Give Cheerfully

Finally, give cheerfully. God actually loves a cheerful giver. Imagine if Abraham had complained, argued and quarreled with God before he was finally subdued into 'giving' his son. God would never have been as delighted as he was. The joy was in the fact that Abraham offered to God cheerfully and willingly. "So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Always remember that your gift in itself is not important to God. It is the love He sees at the back of that gift that maters to Him. To give your gift cheerlessly to God is to suggest compulsion. To give grudgingly is to give 'lovelessly'. No such gift is acceptable to God. He loves a cheerful Giver! Oh yes, the giver is more important than the gift. Do you understand that? You may give one billion dollars to God through your church and still not delight God, if such a gift is given without your love, joy, willingness. Don't give out of necessity. Be fully persuaded. Your gift is a physical monument of your love. To give without love and excitement is to show your hypocrisy at the time. Gift should be a token of love, but every gift given without love becomes a token of insincerity and falsehood.
Chapter 9: Habit 4: Admiration

"To love is to admire with the heart; to admire is to love with the mind." Theophile Gautier

"The only things one can admire at length are those one admires without knowing why." Jean Rostand

Admiration is a basic habit of love. The law of admiration simply states that you admire the object of your love. We all do. Admiration is "a feeling of pleasure, wonder and approval." Hence to admire a person is to regard such a person with pleasurable contemplation and approval. To admire your lover is to be pleased by her, to be stand in wonder of his or her love, to enjoy and approve this person.

I want you to notice first that admiration is a feeling, an attitude. It is not words, although it may often be expressed through words. It is a state of wonder. You couldn't have possibly married your spouse if you did not admire him or her in some ways. There is a certain feeling of wonder and respect you have for the object of your love. You are simply pleased with this fellow. When you say you love someone, it implies that you have this feeling of pleasurable respect and wonder for him. You approve of him or her no matter what other people think.

Sometimes, it is really difficult to put admiration into words. You know you are awed by this person in a good sense. The feeling is often indescribable. Others may complain about how rough this person is, but you are pleased with him nevertheless. You can't explain it, but you admire him all the same. It may even be something as small as her manner of dressing or physiology or hairstyle that becomes a point of expression. But the truth is that the dress or hairstyle isn't the real admiration. The real admiration is a feeling that is in your heart but which seeks expression through some form of verbalization or another. Another point we need to note is that admiration is a feeling of pleasurable and often surprised respect and approval. It is pleasurable. You like the feeling. You enjoy knowing and having such a person around you. You respect this person, yet it is not a forced mechanical respect. It is respect borne out of pleasurable approval.

In the same way, God wants us to admire him. That is partly what worship is all about. He wants us to tell him of our wonder and pleasurable respect for him. But remember that he is looking beyond our words. Admiration is far deeper than words. The heart is so full of love and wonder at his person that we break out on doxology, eulogizing his greatness.

Notice also that admiration is not thanksgiving; it is the expression of our wonder, our amazement, our surprise, our joyful approval of him and all his ways. Admiration is different from thanksgiving. To thank a person is to acknowledge a favor or kindness done to you. Thanksgiving is joyful recognition of a good deed. It is important; and we are enjoined to thank God for all his benefits toward us. But to admire God is to look beyond his gifts and gaze at him. To admire God is to stand in pleasurable awe of him. It is to approve of him and all his ways. To admire God is to admit that his love and his ways overwhelm us in a good way.

A form of praise and worship

To show our admiration of God is to praise him. Admiration may be a feeling alright, but it hardly can contain itself. Love admires, and does so freely. True lovers admire each other. To admire God, then, is also to praise. A gift may be the materials expression of our love, but praise is the verbal expression of our love and wonder of him. Both are important. Imagine a man who loves his wife and buys her all the gifts that money can buy, but never tells her he loves her, never looks at her that unique loves look at each other, that look of pleasurable respect and wonder. We will admit that there is something lacking about that kind of love. We like it when we are admired by the one we love. It pleases us when they tell us exactly specific things about us that they admire so much. In some ways, God is like that too. He wants us to praise him. To praise God is to declare God's wonder, his love, his majesty. After all, praise simply means to express warm approval or admiration of something or someone. The psalms are filled with many such declarations of admiration and warm approval of God, like this on in Psalms 8: 1-3: " O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth, who have set your glory above the heavens! Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants, you have ordained strength, because of your enemies, that you may silence the enemy and avenger." Can you picture the awe, the wonder, the rupture in the soul of the psalmist as he declares, "O Lord, our Lord, how excellent your name is in all the earth"? May we also learn to worship him, to express our pleasurable and surprised respect and approval of him. Unfortunately, many of our songs are becoming more and more about us. Let's talk about him. Let's sing of him. We sing too much about ourselves: our needs, our requests, our faith, our strength, even our weakness. It is okay to talk about us from time to time, especially as it turns our focus on him. But let's make worship about him. Let's stand together to eulogize him, to express our wonder at his love.

Accepting the Ways of God

It is easier to worship or admire the Lord when we accept His ways. It is not enough to worship God; we must also admire His ways. When we love the lord, it becomes clear that all the ways of the Lord are pure and right. He does nothing out of evil motive. To know God is to understand His ways. To love God is to also embrace his ways. We admire him when he moves in awesome wonder in our favor, but we also admire him when we don't understand or see clearly what He is working to achieve. Many times, we are perplexed as Christians at the ways of God. We don't always understand why he allows certain things to happen or why he hasn't answered our prayers yet. But to love God is to accept all His ways as just, pure and right. Our God is a good God without injustice.

To express our admiration in good times and also to bow our heads before him in admiration and loving surrender when we don't understand, that is the true love of God. That is what it means to admire God at all times. It shows we have come to trust him, accept his ways and love his ways, no matter how it seems to affect us for the moment. That is true admiration of God. "He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the children of Israel" (Psalm 103:7). Moses knew the ways of God. God's acts were known to Israel, but Moses understood the ways of God. He could see and read beyond the obvious. He knew that God's ways are all in love and justice. To have a self-righteous and self-vindictive attitude against God is to insinuate that God is unjust. That cannot be called admiration. To view God with suspicion and probably view him as a little too reckless to trust wholly is certainly not pleasurable respect and approval of God. 'And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation." So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped' (Exodus 34:6-8).

This is one of those passages that shows that Moses clearly understood, and accepted the ways of God. Israel had sinned, made a molten calf to worship. God was angry. Moses too was angry, and in the process, broke the tablet with the Ten Commandments which he had just received from the Lord. Later on, God asked him to hewn out another stone into a tablet and come up for rewriting of the law. As Moses got to the mountain, God showed up, still greatly displeased with Israel. His proclamation was fearful "by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation." This meant trouble for Israel. But did Moses make haste to plead for the grace of God, for mercy for Israel? No, instead, he made haste to worship God first. Why? Because he understood the ways of God. Israel had sinned terribly against God. If he punished them, it was right and proper. If he disciplined them, it was the good Lord's way. So, Moses quickly fell down and worshipped Him. He acknowledged the way of God in this matter, as brother Watchmen Nee pointed out in his "Twelve Baskets Full." By worshipping God even when the outcome appeared to be against Israel, Moses was simply expressing his approval and respect and love for God's ways. God was both pleased and touched by Moses' surrender. No wonder He quickly pardoned Israel as soon as Moses pleaded with him. God is love. But He won't have us taking him for granted. We must not presume endlessly on his grace. We must learn to bow to his ways and declare both in word and attitude that all his ways with us are pure and right and pleasurable to us.
Chapter 10: Habit 5: Jealousy?

"Jealousy is always born with love, but does not always die with it" Duc de la Rochefoucauld

This may come as a surprise to some, but the fact is that true love is characterized by a tint of jealousy. When you really love a person, you tend to be protective of that person's love. I know jealousy gets a bad rap, for good reason. Jealousy is a complex emotion that can go from fear of abandonment to rage, which may result in terrible repercussion. In this sense, jealousy is evil and a mark of insecurity and selfishness.

But what is often left out is the fact that there is another meaning of jealousy that is compatible with true love, is in fact a common habit of love. That is jealousy as the quality of being vigilant in guarding something. This is the healthy aspect of jealousy that is characteristic of all true love stories. This aspect of jealousy says, "I love enough you to fight for you." I am vigilant enough to guard and protect what we have because I love you enough. You mean that much to me. This kind of jealousy is a signal to an adversary that you are committed enough to your love not to give up easily.

Jealousy is different from envy. While jealousy seeks to protect and guard what it has, envy seeks to get what his neighbor has. Jealousy doesn't want to be deprived of what it already has, but envy thinks it ought to have had that which another person possesses. No matter how much we may pretend about it, if you truly love someone who are going to be rather hostile against anything or anyone that deliberately seeks to deprive you of that person's live, in your face kind of way. It means that you are not likely to just watch idly as the object of your love is taken from you without protestation. On the other hand, you are most likely to feel something inside you when your love is being taken from you. That thing in you that stays vigilant about protecting the love you share and 'fighting' to preserve it threatened, is what we call jealousy.

If you don't feel apprehensive whatsoever at the prospect of losing the affection of the one you claim to love, then you certainly do not love that person any more. Jealousy is simply a measure of your reluctance to let go of the affection of the one you love to another person or thing. Jealousy then is, in some ways at least, a measure of your zeal towards the person you love.

The problem is not in jealousy in itself. What is wrong is the excessed we choose to indulge in jealousy is provoked. Jealousy is an inherent feeling that helps us protect the object of our love. Think about this for a moment. Jealousy may be a negative emotion like hunger. But hunger can be a good thing, even though it is inherently a negative emotion. When you are hungry, you are reminded that your body needs food, its fuel for effective function. It is aimed at protecting your body. It is your action when hunger pain comes up that is important. Jealousy is also like anger in some ways. Anger may be a negative emotion and prone to a lot of abuse, but it can also be a gift from God. It is not wrong in itself. Anger is the admittance of dissatisfaction. Without this feeling of dissatisfaction with wrong or evil, we are probably not able to improve. We certainly ought to be angry against evil. Jesus was. To be angry is not sin itself. What may be sin is what we do when we are angry. We may go off the boundary and be reckless in speech or action. Hence, the Bible urges us to "be angry and sin not, do not let the sun go down on your wrath" (Eph. 4:26).

In the same way, jealousy is the clear indication, in fact, a warning that you are not willing to entertain rivals to your love. Like anger, however, jealousy is prone to abuse. You talk of abuse if and when a thing is used for a different purpose other than that for which it was originally intended. When jealousy goes beyond a desire to protect your love, and goes instead on to seek the destruction of the rival to your love; then jealousy has been abused. Jealousy is for the protection of the object of your love, not for the destruction of the perceived rival in love. It is clearly immaturity and insecurity that drives one to rage and violence over love lost or denied.

Let us illustrate this point further. Suppose that one man discovers that another man is interested in his wife. Naturally, he will be jealous. That means he is quickly on red alert about this threat to his love. If he loves her spouse so much, his jealousy and feeling of apprehension toward this rival will be great. That is what jealousy does. But the aim is to help him safe-guard his wife from such rival. For example, he may realize that he has not been as intimate with his wife for some time now as he should have been. He may then choose to spend more time with her. Sometimes, it is possible to take people we love for granted until the possibility of loss is real. Now, suppose this man refused to take any such actions that would have helped him protect the love of his wife. What if he chose, instead, to see it that this other man is killed? He could argue that to eliminate that other man will invariably mean the restoration of his wife. But it does not follow. Elimination or vindictive treatment of the other person does not necessarily protect his love. Therein lays the difference in jealousy as an instrument of protection and jealousy as a reason for destruction.

Let us take another example. Here is an employer of labor who loves one of his dedicated and loyal employees. All of a sudden, another employer of labor somewhere is showing interest in hiring this same trusted employee. And the painful thing is that this particular employee is beginning to consider it favorably. What should this first employer do? Naturally he will be jealous at the prospect of another employer taking away his loyal staff. He will surely feel certain degree of apprehension towards this rival of his. Now, he has two options open to him. Either to protect his employee and look for ways of wooing him to stay on, or he may choose to destroy the other employer in such a way that this loyal staff of his will have no choice but to stay. He can achieve this by resorting to all sorts of lying and defamation of character against that other employer. He can even run down their business if it is in his power to do so. All these are negative and costly ways of using jealousy. That is the abuse of jealousy. It would have been a lot easier to seek to protect his employee, the object of his love, by raising his pay, for example. Or he could simply have found out what it was about the competitor that is attractive to him, and consider the possibility of making some needed changes. That would have been his wisdom. He would have protected his interest that way. Jealousy is necessary to spur us on to action, but not the negative kind of action. Jealousy awakens us from our slumber and rekindles our dying love. True love is jealous. Jealousy is needful to keep the flame of love alive.

Even God Himself is jealous over us with perfect jealousy. He loves us so much that He is hurt when we give our love to other mundane things, rather than to him. It pains Him to see us shift our love from him and give it to his biggest rival – mammon (money, fame and material wealth). "You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God..." (Exod. 20:5). "Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God (Deut. 4:23-24, emphasis added). Imagine that, if jealousy is not an inherent quality of love, God won't describe himself as jealous over his people. And don't tell me that, somehow, we are holier than God.

God is jealous over you! Yes, He loves you so much that He is reluctant to lose you. He loves you so much that He would have to fight to keep your love, if that became necessary. What a God of love He is! Imagine how utterly precious and dear you are to God that He is jealous over you. When we hear that our God is a jealous God, it ought not to frighten us. It is the greatest news said in a slightly different tune. It does mean that God will go to any length to protect your love for Him, because He loves you so much and He will hurt badly if He should lose you to an idol, money, alcoholism, or to Satan.

God's jealousy is proof of his love for you

God is zealous over human beings, especially all those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and savior of their lives. They have become the bone of His bone, the flesh of His flesh. "For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the Church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church" (Eph. 5:29-32.) This is a mystery, that Christ and His Church are one. That is a holy mystery that keeps humbled in wonder. "He that is joined with the Lord is one Spirit with Him" (1 Corinth. 6:17). The Church is him and he is the Church. He is vitally one with the Church in exactly the same way that Jesus is vitally one with the Father (John 17:21-23). Oh, we may never fully understand how much each believer means to Jesus until we get to Heaven. Every child of God, washed in the Blood of the Lamb, is most important to Jesus. That weak, struggling sister, if she is really born again, is as much "the fullness of Him who fills all in all" (Eph. 1:22) as that other powerful, greatly anointed woman of God. Both mean the same to Jesus. The Church is his greatest joy, his pride, his completeness. The saved souls are the proof and consolation that He has for 33 ½ years of humanity on earth and 3 days of horrendous suffering at the hands of hell's occupants.

To suppose then that Jesus Christ will stand by and watch the devil or any other thing for that matter, rob Him of this church is preposterous. If you can't stand by and watch another man make advances at your wife in your very presence, why do you ever imagine that Christ, who suffered such unimaginable contraction of sinners and devils, will watch the enemy steal the Church from His hands? To lose the Church is to lose a great part of himself. The Church is his flesh and his bones. The two are one. God will fight to keep you! Jesus is not about to let go of you. Say it in another way if you like, he is extremely jealous over you. If that is what jealousy is about, then count me in.

When we yield to the lure of the devil and our love for him is waning, he is always sad. You can't imagine how many times we have grieved his loving heart. Each time he watches us give in to the temptation of the devil, and give our love and affection to things that are temporary and mundane, his heart groans with jealousy – not hatred. He loves us too much to ignore our idolatry, our spiritual adultery. That is why he always does something to have us back. Often, the first thing he does is to convict us by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit inside your heart begins to tell you that you are on the wrong path. Or maybe, you are simply giving too much time and attention to the things of this world, rather than to God. In fact, we must be truly grateful to the Holy Spirit for this work of convicting us of sin, of righteousness or of coming judgment. Without this, we would have been lost from him.

Disciplined by Love

Yet, many times, we are heedless of His warning and conviction in our heart. We keep going in that same wrong path that we have chosen for ourselves. How his heart grieves. He can't afford to lose us. He doesn't want to. How is it that they don't seem to appreciate how much I love them and want them, he often wonders? So, he is left with a painful option in order to bring us back to him. What does he do? He uses circumstances, sometime painful circumstances, to get our attention. He won't force us to love him. He desires for us to pursue him willingly and joyfully. But often, we are too stubborn to respond to his prompting. Hence, circumstances become a tool in his hands. Here and there he permits things to happen to us that, he hopes, could force us to inquire at His hands. He was hoping, by using such occasional trials, to get us to seek him. And in doing so, he desires to reveal our failing and win back our love for him and then, be able to love us as freely as he longs to do.

But many times, we will have none of that. We resist. We struggle more. And how much more frustrations we experience. All the while, his loving heart hurts deeply and longs for us passionately. He longs to let us know that when he permits the enemy to occasionally get a seeming advantage over us, it is not for lack of hiss love, but for the abundance of his love. Oh, if only we all will learn to submit more to him. Oh, that we may learn to discern his ways. May God help us to love and submit to his ways. God is zealous over us. He is protective of his love for us.

Friend, God is jealous over you. You may not think that you are worth much as a person. But God places so much value and love on you that he will fight to keep you. You are dear to him. Can you remember how many times God allowed the enemies of Israel in bible times defeat them? Each time Israel went away from him, he would send prophets to warn them and woo them back to Him. When Israel persisted in their rebellious ways, He would send an enemy to come and take them captive. Why? So that they could repent and return to him. He did not always rejoice in that. His heart hurt until they returned to him. That is the jealousy of God at work. That is still the same way he deals with us today. My we learn to recognize when He is the One standing on our way, so that we can fall before him and acknowledge his love and jealousy over us.

Protect your love for God

Love is jealous. God loves you and he is jealous over you. So, you love God, you will also be jealous over God. Jealousy simply means zeal with which you protect the affection of the one you love. When a person loves God, he is not going to stand by and allow love of money rob him of the love of the Father, for example. The love of our God is the greatest treasure we have got. We had better treasure it. We need to be watchful against the things that have a potential to rob us of the love of God. To be jealous over God means you won't tolerate anything that is capable of robbing you of his love. "Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life" (Jude 21).

The love of our God is a banner over us in these days of diverse doctrines and seducing spirits. We must all keep ourselves in the love of God. To be outside the love of God is to be outside His banner and protection. Whatever can take us out of His love is our greatest enemy, and must be abhorred. "Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain every form of evil" (1 Thess. 5:21-22). We must test all things. There are many antichrists in the world already (1 John 4:3). The end time is here upon us already. We had better beware. Satan has entered the church with all manner of deceivableness. However, we must not fear, or be overly cautious. No, that is not the answer. The answer is to keep ourselves in the love of God. "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love" (1 Jn. 4:18). We need not fear, in fact must not fear (1 Jn. 4:4). The love of our Father is our greatest shield in these last days. Preserve this love. Protect it. Guard it with all diligence. In other words, be jealous over this love.

One way to do it is to guard against the love of the world. It is the greatest threat to the love of the Father. Our father in Heaven will not tolerate a rival. He hates the love of the world because it is always antagonistic to his love for us, and in us. "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the father but is of the world And the world is passing away and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever." Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Anti-Christ is coming, even now many antichrist have come, by which we know that it is the last hour (1 John 2:15-18). Brothers and sisters, this is a solemn thought. We are in the last days. What was the Holy Spirit's proof that we are now in the last day according to the passage? "...Even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour" (Verse 18b). There are many antichrists already in our world and in our churches. The world is waiting for the Antichrist. But the Holy Spirit warns that already, many antichrists have crept in. An antichrist is anything that is against Christ, not only directly, but also indirectly. Anything that robs you of the love of Christ is an antichrist. These are different from the Antichrist, who is the man of evil that will rule the world by the power of Satan in the end time.

These antichrists are the love of the world manifested as the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Many of these things appear harmless, but they are extremely dangerous. "If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him." There is no middle ground. To be devoted to this world with all its glamour is to forfeit the love of the Father. The two can never co-exist.

Do you value the love of the Father enough? Then protect it. Be jealous over it. Don't give the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life one chance in a million. At first, it may seem difficult to do, but the more you submit to God in sincerity, the easier it becomes. We must do it, there is no other option open to us. The love of the Father is the greatest treasure we have left. To lose it, is to lose all.

In conclusion, there is another aspect of being jealous over our love for God that we must mention. If you really love God you will find out that you won't be comfortable amongst people who hate your God and make fun of him all the time. You will be pained within – you can't take in their ungodliness and pretend nothing is wrong. To remain in an environment of ungodliness or entertain God-haters is clear proof that our love for God is waning. Love is jealous. No one who loves God will take pleasure in acts or words aimed against the God he loves so much. The love for God cannot endure that. Hence, you expect that such a person will be quickly gone from the midst of such people. The one who loves God won't stay. His heart will grieve to the extreme.

But a word of caution is also proper at this point. Our jealousy for God does not permit us to fight for God, kill or destroy the supposed haters of God. God can take care of himself. He doesn't need our help in this regard. Our jealousy, instead, should move us to protect our love for God from such haters of God. We should protect our love for God from their corrupting influences, not kill those with corrupting influence.
Chapter 11: Habit 6: Trust

"(Love) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things..." (1 Corinth. 13:7).

If we really want to be full and generous in spirit, we have no choice but to trust at some level. Rita Dove

Love is trusting. Love is believing. The reason we say that "love is blind" may be due to the fact that true love, when it is found, is totally trusting. Love is so full of faith and quiet confidence in its object that the world, not having any other explanation for such depth of trust, calls it blindness.

Love believes all things. The God-kind of love does not have much room for fear or suspicion. It is resting in absolute confidence. Love is simple and trusting, in deed, so much that the worldly-wise calls is naïve. Much of what we call love may well be selfishness disguised in sweet talk and manipulative social psychology. We know what we want, we scheme and plan; and then go for it with all our heart and with all kinds of sweet talk. But true love is not scheming, and certainly does not live in fear or suspicion. It is trusting. It gives itself wholly, freely and unquestioningly. The selfish 'love,' on the other hand, suspects, examines and evaluates every word and action. Today, it seems, if we say that we love someone, it is because we have done our homework well, and are satisfied that our self-interest can be best served by such a person. So, we go after such a person with all our strength and give it all it takes just to get what we want. By-standers marvel at such 'great love' that we show for that person. But deep down, we know that self-interest is predominant in our pursuit. We are able to give, even sacrifice as long as the original self-interest is being served. We master the art of the game, the game of love. But as soon as we suspect that our interests are no longer being met, we are ready to bolt away. Such love, while it lasts, cannot be trusting and wholly believing. It is a love that is worldly-wise. It is sophisticated, draws much from worldly experience, and sadly, is rather rampant among us.

But the God-kind of love gives of itself totally, and trusts so freely. It trusts so much that, if its objects were to fail it, then it is utterly broken. That is genuine love. When you love cautiously, you do not love fully. When you love in such a way that, were the object of your love to fail you, it will not mean much to you; then you do not actually love that person. Love throws all of itself in it. It believes every word and hopes for the best. It endures. It believes in a better future and disregards past weaknesses and failures.

God believes in you

Yes, to love another person is to believe in that person wholly, otherwise it is not real love. God loves us, so He believes in us. That is good news. God believes in you. No wonder, he endures our present failings and hopes for a time when we shall be all he wants us to be. Meantime, He believes in us. Others may look at us and see very weak Christian. Others may see lots of faults in us. But God sees our potentials. He sees our future. Yet, he is not blind to your present faults. It is just that his love for us is so much more that he believes in us – that he can make us what he wants us to be.

Think of it. God would have long given up on us if He does not love us the way He does. It is a wonder that he accepts us with all our faults and mistakes. Sometimes, we have been rather too stubborn to heed his ways, yet, he has always loved us. God's love for us is simply amazing. Why doesn't he just give up on us and be done with it? It is because he believes in us. He knows one day the weak today might become a mighty warrior. He knows that, very soon, that sinning Christian today might become a victorious saint. God believes in us way more than we even believe in one another. We are quick to write off one another. But God is ever patient, ever hopeful. He believes in us, because he knows he can change us one day, if we let Him.

The life of Jacob illustrates this point very well. Jacob was a supplanter, a cheat, a wheeling and dealing street-smart businessman, but God loved him anyway. That makes all the difference. God chose Jacob not because he was a supplanter, but because God loved him and knew he would one day become the Israel of God.

"Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" says the Lord. "Yet. Jacob I have loved; But Esau I have hated" (Malachi 1:2).

The word translated "hated" means "not preferred." It is not that God hated Esau but that he preferred Jacob, he loved Jacob. Why did he choose Jacob, even though he was the younger? That is the election of grace. He loved Jacob, full stop. You don't explain love; you don't explain divine election. But this Jacob he had chosen was a cheat, a supplanter. A man who started scheming his way right from the womb. He was born with his hands holding on to the heels of his brother who happened to come out first. In fact, that was why he was called Jacob – supplanter. All through his life, Jacob was always calculating and scheming.

Didn't God know that Jacob will be that bad before He chose him? You bet he did. God knows all things and sees the end from the beginning. The reason He chose Jacob in spite of who he was, was because God believed in Jacob. And that belief was a result of his love for Jacob. God knows that "love never fails" (1 Corinth. 13:8). While others saw Jacob as a supplanter, God saw Jacob the Israel of God. It was the person Jacob would become that God chose not who he was. He could bear with Jacob because he knew, one day, Israel, the prince with God, would come forth. In Gen. 32:28, God finally had his prince, the Israel of God. And this was after several years of patient dealings with a man he loved. God's love for us is trusting and believing.

If you love a person, it means you believe in that person. You trust such a fellow. He or she may be struggling financially today, but you still believe in a better future. He may have one or two obvious faults, but you still believe in him, that one day he could be better. You trust each other. If one says B, the other reads no meaning into it. B is simply all he said and that is what is believed. Until love shows its true habit of faith and total trust, it will not know rest and fulfillment. Love abandons itself at the hands of its object, because it trusts confidently.

Love and faith

This is the secret of true faith in God. Wouldn't you like to know how your faith may become richer, fuller? Then listen to this: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love" (Gal 5:6). Faith works by love. There is no other way for our faith to work than through the love of God and love for one another. This is the secret of rest in faith. Love is full of faith. Faith is natural with love. Love believes. It believes all things. True love is so trusting that it becomes gullible.

You want to grow in faith? Then love the Lord more. It is so easy to believe God when you love Him from your heart. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans. 10:17). Which word? The word of love! We believe him because we have understood his great love for us. Understanding God's love for us releases our faith more. It frees us from fear and doubt. "There is no fear in love because perfect love casts out fear" (1 Jn. 4:18-19). Our love for God expresses itself in our faith in Him. Why should we fear a God who loved us so much that he gave his life for us? Your own personal faith will not be effectual until you enter love relationship with the Father. Take time to study the Bible and discover for yourself the treasures of his love. Doubt can't stand the power of love. Love freezes fear and releases faith. "There is no fear in love" is not a slogan, but a divine conclusion on the way to faith. Love births faith. The answer to the great struggle of faith by many is to discover the love of God. "Now abides hope, faith and love, but the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinth 13:13). The reason love is the greatest of all three is because hope and faith have their origin and working in love. God is love. It is love that gives birth to faith. Faith works by love. True faith does not work without love. Faith is only one of the qualities of love. Love is the mother of hope and faith. To chase after faith without love is like chasing after shadow in place of the real substance.

Therefore, to give God as an act of faith (or seed faith) without the express love of God in our heart is not the acceptable thing to do. Our giving and service to God may require faith, but if they are not coming out of love for God and his people, they will not please his heart. Seed faith may work, but we must know that the reason it works is because it is sown into the fertile land of love. To neglect the garden of love, fertile and prepared, is to sow our seeds to the wild winds, or to cast them on the highways for the birds of the air. We must sow more into the kingdom, but let it be done because of our love for him. Not as "a money doubling" venture.

Does this also apply to our meeting the needs of one another, such as praying for the sick? By all means, yes. Consider a situation where you want to pray for a brother or lay hands on the sick. With all the faith, not much may be accomplished until love and compassion are stirred up in your heart for that suffering person. You see, in the same way that love ensured a release of life (Jesus) from the Father to us (John 3:16), even so, love in our hearts for people ensures a release of life-force that sets the captives free. Indeed, faith works by love. Most of the miracles of Jesus took place when He was moved by love or compassion for the suffering people. "And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed the sick (Matt. 14:14). That is rule 14:14 in doing the works of faith. Love for the people will release faith and power to meet their needs. Most of the Master's great miracles followed this rule. He saw the people as real, hurting people. He did not see them as a means to an end, some statistic, some money-contributing machine. He saw them as an end in itself. Loving, healing, saving them is the end goal. He did not see them as people to help him get popularity and big world-wide ministry. He saw these people as real persons who are in need of his love and personal touch. No wonder such great things happened at his hands. May God help us to allow our faith to work by love. It is important we pay attention to this point because it seems possible according to 1 Corinth 13:2 to have great faith that can move mountain and yet, not have love for the person whose mountains we have helped remove. "And though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." That calls for our sober reflection.
Chapter 12: Habit 7: Obedience

"It is not hard to obey when we love the one whom we obey." Saint Ignatius

"No man commands safely unless he has learned well how to obey." Imitation of Christ

A final habit of love that we shall examine in this medium is obedience. Love is obedient. Haven't you noticed? When you love a person, you obey them to the letter. Love is dutiful and compliant. Love if deferential. To love a person is to be obedient to the desires of the one you love, to prefer them, to actively seek their welfare. Love obeys not because it considers itself inferior, but rather it considers itself blessed to serve. In carrying out the wishes of the object of his love, a person simply affirms that he seeks the good one the one he loves.

Love is obedient for two reasons. One, love obeys because it is already irrevocably committed. Once love has devoted itself to a person, it obeys all the way. Obedience is a natural outflow of devotion. Obedience is easy and simple once there is utter dedication to please and edify one another. In that case, obedience simply becomes one means of achieving that aim. Love first devotes itself and all its resources for the good of its object, and then obeys the commands of the one it loves.

The second reason love is obedient is because love is trusting. Love believes in the person and so, obeys. There is no fear, no suspicion whatsoever. It rests on the one so loved. There is the under lying understanding that all the commands and instructions are coming out of love and for the good of the one obeying them. The two have come to love each other so well that each other's instructions or declared requirements are complied with without an iota of fear. If you know that a person loves you so much, will you be afraid to do what the person asks you to do? Why not? Because, right in your heart, you know that this person means well for you. You know, without doubt, that she can't ask you to do something that will harm you. In fact, you know that many instructions she might give you, are borne out of her desire to help you. Hence, whether you understand or not, you will obey, simply because you believe in the love of that individual. That is the way love works. If you love your husband or wife, you will obey one another. If you love your pastor, you will obey him. He won't seek your hurt – he loves you too much to want to do that intentionally. If you love your parents, you will obey them. They love you too much to want to mislead you knowingly. Love is obedient because it is trusting.

But what is obedience? Obedience means a ready compliance with the expectations or requirements that others have of you. You will notice that by this definition that three points are glaring. First, obedience is ready, eager and willing compliance with basic requirements expected from you. Obedience is sweet when it is not forced. It is obedience, when you give it freely, voluntarily. Love obeys by choice. Love is not threatened into obedience. Love is not coerced to obey, either is it intimidated into subservience.

The second point is that obedience is compliance with expected requirements. This implies dutifulness. It involves commitment. It also implies clearly defined requirements, instructions, or expectations. Don't expect people to satisfy expectations that they do not know about. Very often, partners quarrel because one expected the other to have fulfilled roles that were never clarified. "You should have known" is not always a wise way to express your expectations. We ought always to define the boundaries, and clarify expectations. Many times, intending couples are carried away by their new-found love. As a result, some useful discussions and agreements that needed to have been entered into are neglected or left to chance. But all too often, friction begins to show up a short while after they have been together. Love is obedient, but it wants to know what to obey. This applies, not only to intending couples, but also to friends, co-workers, etc. We ought to let one another know what we expect. Let us not leave too much to chance and presumption. Useful and frank discussion is always important.

However, there is a third point that we must also note about obedience. To wait until you are told all that the object of your love requires before you do them is to clearly prove that you are not devoted. Dedication to your love means that you will notice the needs and desires of the one you love and go all out to meet them before they are even expressed. That is the joy and beauty of loving obedience. To anticipate the needs, requirements and instructions of the one you love and meet them ahead of time, is the climax of loving obedience. You have heard the saying before, "You wish is my command." That is how the love habit of obedience works. Love anticipates the needs, makes them its own commands, and goes ahead to obey them, just to please the one so loved. May be, that is why that "you should have known" sometimes rings so true, and is often laden with much disappointment or pain.

Our love for God should be no different too. These three basic ingredients must be evident in our obedience toward God.

"If you love me, keep my commandments" He who has my commandments and keeps them, It is he who loves me. If anyone loves me, he will keep My word..." (John 14:15, 21, 23)

To love God is to obey Him. In fact, for God this is the greatest test. Keeping his commandments is the proof that we love God. There is no way to escape it. Love obeys God. The person that has known the love of God obeys God freely without fear. "We love Him because He first loved us" can mean exactly the same as "we obey him because he first loved us." Our love for Him must be deep enough that it makes us obey Him, knowing that all His instructions are given out of love. In fact, his instructions are love's way of safe-guarding us. Hence, our obedience needs to be willing, ready and eager. It shouldn't be forced, or cajoled. It ought not to be motivated by merely the desire to escape punishment. It has to be because we love and trust him. There is a whole lot of difference between the two. Some Christians obey God out of fear of hell fire or discovery. That is certainly one way to go about it. Obey God, not because you fear discovery or hell, but because you love him who gave himself for you.

Our obedience toward God must also be dutiful. He has specified in the Bible what he expects from us. It is our duty to find out what He has commanded and obey them. But how can we obey instructions that we do not know about? We have a responsibility to both know what God requires from us in the Bible, and to do them. It is a duty of love we must fulfill. There is no way of evading this. "If you love me, keep my commandments" is a very simple but profound rule that we must follow. We do not have any excuse not to obey him. To flagrantly disobey God and live to ourselves, and yet come to church and sing how much we love Him is to mock God. And the bible says that God cannot be mocked (Gal. 6:7).

Finally, our obedience toward God must be anticipatory, proactive. True lovers know what will grieve the other, and void it. Similarly, a person who loves another also seeks for those things that will please the one loved, and goes ahead to do them before they are given as clear instructions. "And whatever we ask we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight" (1 John 3:22). Lovers of God do more that keep expressed commandments; they "do those things that are pleasing in His sight" in addition. Test your love by this key. Do you love God enough not only to obey his written commandments but to go ahead and anticipate those things that will please Him and do them? As Christians, we sometimes use the Bible as an excuse to do things that satisfy our personal inclinations. We argue, and rightly too, that the bible is silent on many matters. True. But could it be that perhaps one that the reason God is silent about certain issues, is so that He may prove our heart and our love for Him. And how easily we fail in this. Unless there are rules and regulations, we misbehave and go wide. So, some of our preachers really hand these rules over to us. "The heart of man is deceitful," they claim, "so stringent rules must be given to prevent the depravity in us from taking over." As a result, many human traditions have been given the authority and seal of God by force. If you don't comply with them, then you are not likely to be a child of God in good standing, at least not in that given assembly. But I do not think this is the will of God. You can treat servants that way, because you do not trust them. However, it is different for true lovers. Hallelujah! Lovers trust themselves and anticipate the needs of one another. Lovers seek to out-do each other in well doing and good works. "No longer do I call your servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from my Father I have made known to you" (John 15:15). This is rule 15:15. To obey God not as fearful servants, but as loving friends of the Master. It's different. To do all in our power to obey him, not only in the areas commanded (it is servants that are paid to obey instructions and commands) but also in the areas that are dearest to his heart – so dear to him that they can't be said in words to just anybody.
Chapter 13: Free to love, and be loved

"...And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:36-40)

"Love is the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the gods." Plato

Love is relationship. And relationship is what life is all about. We cannot escape life, neither can we escape love. To live is to be involved- both with God and with human beings. You love for God is personal; just between you and God. That cannot be said of your love for people. Whether we like it or not, our daily life intersects with other people. We are always, unavoidably, in one relationship or another. It is impossible to go through life alone. God, the author of life, made it in such a way that you cannot live all alone. You will always need others, and other people will invariably need you, somehow. Think of it, you need your father and mother to have had a relationship that resulted in you formation. You needed your mother to bring you into the world. All through infancy and early childhood, you depended almost entirely on your mother. Even in the womb, you had a thriving relationship with someone- your mother, through the umbilical cord and the placenta.

Living is essentially relationship building and sustenance. At school, no matter the level, you are forced into a relationship; both with your teachers and classmates. You are in a relationship with your boss and co-workers at the office. At home, you are in a relationship with your spouse, children, and relatives. At the church, you have to relate with a pastor, and other parishioners. On the street, you are forced to relate with people. You may not want to, but the demands of life forces it on us. You have to share the same road with other pedestrians or drivers. If you go by public transportation, you have share the same subway or bus with other passengers. That brings you, at least in that brief moment, into a relationship with the driver or other passengers. Think about it, life is all about relationship; from birth till death do us part.

Therefore, your success in life depends on the relationships you build and sustain. And there are only two kinds of relationship that you must face in your life time; that is your relationship with God or deity, and your relationship with other human beings. Jesus said clearly in the above message, "on these two... hang all the law and the prophets". Everything God has ever done with us is to help us recognize these two cardinal pillars in life. The whole Bible and all the laws, rules and regulations it contains are meant only to help us build these two relationships successfully.

Our relationship with God is internal, intrinsic, spiritual and personal. So even if we fail fail and gloss over it, nobody else knows the true state of things, except the individual and God himself. But our relationship with other people is just too visible to be glossed over. The people we mistreat become living reminders of our failure. We have more heart-aches due to our relationship with one another. Whether big or small, young or old, rich or poor, most of the problems we have in this life are relationship problems. The greatest question in the heart of the greater part of humanity is often, "how may I live at peace with others and build a successful relationship with the most important people in my life?" Perhaps, the the most pressing need in your life today may not be money, it may be relationship problem. It may be problem with your spouse, your kids, your in-laws, your boss or an employee.

Fortunately, God has shown us clearly how to solve this relationship problem; how to experience freedom to love and be loved. We can actually be persons who enjoy loving others and being loved. It is possible to celebrate our relationships. The people around us are not meant to be a problem, but a blessing to us. Apart from Christ and His Holy Spirit, I do believe that the greatest gift God has given us is the people in our lives. They are God's instrument to bless and enrich us. In the same way, God's goal in bringing us into other people's life is so that we may be a blessing to them. People are a gift to us! You have to change your mind-set right now about the people in your life. Rather than complain and dwell on the negatives, begin to thank God for bringing them into your life. God meant for your life to be richer by the introduction of these people into your sphere of existence, not the other way around.

So, how do we live as to ensure that our relationship with other people is successful and exciting? The Master himself has given us the answer, "Love our neighbor as yourself." It seems so simple. But it may be the key we have mostly neglected. It may be the answer to most human relationship difficulties. Notice it does not say to demand that others love us as we love ourselves. That is not what Jesus said. He said, "you love your neighbor as you love yourself." It is in loving others that we are loved. You are accepted and appreciated as you accept and appreciate others. "Love your neighbor as yourself is the key. Love is the answer.

There may be a thousand and one rules in the whole Bible, but the summary of all the laws that concern us as human beings is to "love your neighbor as yourself." Psychologists and sociologists may give you many tips on successful human relationship, yet the only answer remains "love your neighbor as yourself." This is the easiest and surest route the heart of humanity. 'Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, "you shall not commit adultery", "you shall not murder," "you shall not steal," "you shall not bear false witness," "you shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely "you shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law' (Rom. 13:8-10).

This is seems rather straight forward. Heaven seems more interested in one question, "do you love your neighbor as yourself?" It is not the rules and regulations that are important to God. It is the rule of love. It is not the letters of the law that interests God; it is the spirit of the law - love. To love our neighbor as we love our self is the only duty we owe to all. When we love people we won't steal from then. When an employee loves his employer, he won't steal from him. Conversely, when an employer loves his staff members, he won't just use and abuse them.

Ponder on it a while. If husband and wife loved each other this was, there will be less divorce and custody battles than we have today. If a friend or colleague loves his friend or colleague as much as he loves himself, there will hardly be any quarrel or bitter fights. People are not always that difficult to please. The problem is that we mostly think in terms of what we can get out of the other fellow, and not what we can give the other person. We want others to respect us, show care and thoughtfulness in their dealings with us, but we hardly go all out to show the same respect, care and thoughtfulness in dealing with them ourselves. The bane of our society is selfishness and that is also the undoing of many a life and home.

Love is the fulfillment of the law. To go to church regularly or even be actively involved in church work is good and commendable. But to do that and still hate, quarrel and malign others around you, is proof of poor Christianity in deed. Is it possible that the reason our evangelism is so defective is because our love for others is equally as defective? Could it be that we cheapen the gospel by our loveless lives. All too often, we have robbed the gospel of its credibility before the same people we claim to want to serve. Our attitude to loving the other person as we love ourselves is the proof of genuine Christianity.

Unfortunately, many people today will rather talk about something else than love. We seem uncomfortable about this Golden Rule, perhaps because it reveals our selfishness and brings to light our true nature in the sight of God. We had rather somebody talk about faith, hope and other such things that really appeal to our fancy. But this is the last days. We must begin to focus on our nature – who we really are before God.

What is the Scriptural evidence that a person is a real child of God, born again and filled with the Holy Spirit? Is it tongue-talking? Speaking in tongues is not proof of a life filled with the Holy Spirit – love is the only evidence that a person is filled with the Spirit of Christ. Speaking in tongue is a gift from God, Acts 2:1-8. The only evidence that the Holy Spirit is in the control of your life is love. I used to know a sister a number of years back. She was a very bold and outgoing sister. Unfortunately, she did not know one thing about getting along with other people in love. She would literally quarrel and fight with her non-Christian roommates in college. Yet, a minute later she would go off speaking in tongues, and would always make a show of it. One of the roommates confessed to me later that she couldn't understand how in the world a Christian could fight the way she fought and still talk in tongues the way she did! It hardened the unbelieving mates of hers. For years, they couldn't even entertain the thought of accepting Jesus Christ as Savior. All too often, we have hardened our 'unchurched' friends by our loveless words and conduct. "Though I speak with the tongue of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or clanging symbal" (1 Corinthians 13:1). There is nothing wrong with speaking in tongues if God has given you the gift, but there is something wrong with a loveless life which hinders Christian witness.

The people around us are looking for the love of Christ in our words and deeds. Our popular badges are good and have their proper place in bold confession. But the only badge both God and your neighbor will prefer to see is your love boldly exhibited in the minor, uneventful details of daily living and interaction. "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death." (1 John 3:14). In other words, we are now free to love and be loved. The way we know that we have passed from spiritual death to eternal life in Christ Jesus is "because we love the brethren," because we now have the freedom to love and be loved fully and freely. "Brethren" here does not only mean those who attend the same church assembly with you. It means, first, all Christians everywhere; and then, second, it means the people around you. That fellow that you have to deal with next is your brother, your neighbor. You have been freed from the tyranny of hatred by the life of Christ. Now live the new life, love in Jesus name, in Jesus way. You are free to love that person, as evidence of your faith in Christ. Let us stop playing church. Enough of this 'churchianity'. Many spouses dancing and shouting praises at church do not talk to each other at home. You may not believe it, but it is true. A number of Christians you see with radiant smiles at church are raging inside with bitterness and unforgiveness towards their parents or some other person who has abused them one way or another. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such there is no law" (Gal. 5:22-23). The way we carry on today, you would have thought that Gal. 5:22-23 is no more in the Bible. This scripture has given grammar experts some head-scratching to do. Since nine items were listed, the passage ought to here read, "but the fruits of the spirit are..." That passage actually reads, "But the fruit of the spirit is love.." In other words, the message of that verse is that the fruit of the recreated human spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit is love, and love produces, or manifests, in gentleness, joy, peace, and self-control.

The love nature of God is been imparted into our spirit when became born anew in Christ. Our recreated spirit is therefore a spirit of love in nature and truth, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit of love who keeps pouring more and more love into our heart (Rom. 5:5). Yes, we are free to love. In his book, the Hidden Man, Brother Kenyon notes, "The first manifestation of the Divine Nature is the new kind of love. You see, when two new creation people, love filled, begin to practice Agape, the very atmosphere of Heaven is in that home. Love's slogan is, "I am not seeking my own, but your happiness...Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could have classes that would take up the study of Agape. There has never been a chair of "love" in any of our colleges or universities, and yet is the most important thing in life."

A new commandment

All Christians today have only one commandment from Christ, who is the author and finisher of our faith. To concentrate on all other things and neglect this new commandment is evidence that we have lost sight of the Captain of our salvation. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another" John 13:34.

The ways of God are simple, so simple that everyone who chooses can walk in them. We have become unnecessarily complicated and sophisticated. People may teach different things today, the emphasis way dwell on many realms of knowledge, but Jesus said, "A new commandment I give to you...you may have many commandments and rules and regulations from your church leaders, but as for Me, only one new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another just as I have loved you." What Jesus is saying is this, if we can only obey this particular rule all the time, we shall be okay. New teachings and clever Church inventions will come and go, but one commandment will remain ever unchanged, "this is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you" (John 15:12). All we need to do is to keep this rule. Only one rule. You are free to do it, free to love from the heart, intentionally.

Keeping this one command makes it easier to fulfill other commands. That actually makes this faith walk somewhat easy and exciting. It shows that Jesus never intended to get us complicated, chasing the latest 'revelations' in town in order to be celebrated Christians in the kingdom of God. There is hope for ll – at least we can "love one another as I have loved you." That will be enough to win the Master's favor and commendation. I am glad that the Jesus way is simple, not simplistic. Free to love God and my fellow human being in Christ Jesus name. Nothing more, nothing less. Theological knowledge is important but Christianity is not about the wealth of knowledge we have gathered. It is about following the one supreme commandment by which we should live and behave.

As I have loved you

We need to notice this phrase Jesus used, "as I have loved you." I think that is important. Jesus is focusing down to particular kind of love. It is not just the kind of love the world has for itself. He said we should love one another "as I have loved you." What does this mean?

First, it means no one can obey this particular Love Rule unless he also has received it from Jesus. This implies a union with the Master himself. Without him, we can do nothing (John 15:1-14). No one can walk in love who is not in vital union with Christ. Man is selfish by nature. Only a union with Love Himself ensures that we have love enough in our being to radiate out. There are two great forces at work in our world: this God-kind of life and selfishness. "Spiritual death gives birth to selfishness. Selfishness has dominated the human race. A person is spiritually dead until he receives the nature of God. To think, therefore, of this God-kind of love outside a vital union with Jess Christ is difficult. You want to fulfill this all-important commandment of Jesus? Then get connected with him. Not only to get saved, but to fellowship with Him closely and daily. The day we neglect fellowship with him, our life becomes empty, frustrating, and irritable. The answer to walking in love daily is to fellowship with Love himself daily. In such fellowship comes the freedom to love and be loved. We may fellowship with God in the Word (Bible), prayer, praise, church attendance and evangelism. Stay deeply connected to the Vine; the branch can do nothing without being closely joined to the tree.

Second, there is another meaning implied in this guide, "as I have loved you." It means you are first loved. That is, you have been loved and you know it. In other words, you have accepted his love. It is accepting the love of Christ for you and accepting yourself for who you are. His love has freed you from pain, hurt, abuse, neglect, and shame of yesteryears. Now you are free to share his love from a healed heart, a free soul. You can't love others if you don't love yourself and if you are not at ease with who you are. Loving yourself means accepting God's love that has forgiven you and freed you. When you can really love God for who he has made you, you will see that it is so easier to love others too for who they are. Additionally, loving others as Christ loved them also means we can now take care of our self ( our spiritual, emotional and physical wellbeing) with the aim of glorifying him and taking care of others. You prepare yourself that you may be better fitted to prepare others. Marshal Field was a farmer boy who later became a very successful merchant prince in US several years back. He was once asked he thought was the greatest good a man can do? Mr. Field's reply was most revealing: "The greatest good he can do is to cultivate himself in order that he may be of greater use to humanity." Ponder through this statement. That is partly what it means to love yourself so that you may love your neighbor as yourself, to cultivate yourself in order that you may be of greater good to humanity. It is not to cultivate your selfish needs, but to cultivate yourself for the sake of those you love.

Suppose, for example, that you really love the sick and want to help relieve their suffering. You may choose, as a result, to study diligently, attend university, and qualify as a medical doctor. What is the aim? So that you could earn a lot of money? Probably not, but so that you could serve the sick. You see, all the years of preparation were spent largely in cultivating yourself. You ate healthy so that you may stay alive and healthy enough to attend to the sick later. If this were our attitude, most prayers would have long been answered. "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures" (James 4:30. Think about it.

Then, thirdly, "as I have loved you" means that we should love others with the same measure of love that we have received of him. We share the same kind of freedom he shared with us – freedom to be loved. We should not love our neighbor with a love that is less than the exact type Jesus has shown us. As new creatures, the love inside us is agape, the same Jesus kind of love. It won't be difficult to do since we have "put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness" (Eph. 5:24). Remember that "we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10). Hence, the question is not, "can we love others as he has loved us?" We have his freedom. We have been loved, and we know it. The question rather should be, "how did Jesus love us?"

How he loved us

First, Jesus loved us initially: "for when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly...God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Rm. 5:6-8). This is it. Christ first loved us even when we did not care one bit about Him. He initiated this love we enjoy today. He took the first initiative. We all want to be loved, but we are not willing to go out and give it first. We want to sit back and recline in our comfortable selves, and expect love to come looking for us. Break the ice. Reach out first to someone and very soon, love will reach out to you. You are free to love. Then do it. Lots of people are so lonely in the midst of company. Why? They want everybody else to greet them first, visit them first, reach out to them. We all have a certain kind of inertia that makes us unwilling to reach out to strangers, or unfamiliar persons. But if you are going to get love, then we will have to learn to give first occasionally. Jesus loved us for a long time before we even began to realize his love for us. So, don't be discouraged if your first few attempts are rebuffed. Some fellows can be so naturally snobbish and slow to love! But the good thing is, there is hardly any sane person who does not respond to genuine love. After a time, you will reap a harvest of love that will surprise you.

Second, Jesus loved sincerely: "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which his evil and cleave to what is good" (Rom. 12:9). Jesus loved us with one goal in view – to redeem us from sin and Satan. He loved us for our own good. He knows what we can never find fulfillment until we return to God. What is the motive of your love? Is it to gain something and then be gone or is it to seek to serve and bless others in addition to whatever good may accrue to you. We must define our motive. Our motivation must be pure and godly.

Third, Jesus loved unconditionally: "For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (Romans 5:10). "For He Himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:56). Think about it. Jesus did not set any conditions before loving us. He didn't say, "I won't love you until you have changed – if he did, we would never have had the opportunity to change. He loved us while we were still sinners and enemies of God. Human beings around us, just like you and me, have their faults. To wait until a person is faultless before you love him is to wait indefinitely. True love is to love people even with their faults. We must learn to love unconditionally. Don't be a fair whether kind of person who loves only when things are rosy. Jesus loves us both in good times and in bad. He loves us when we are doing well and when we are doing badly. He loves us when we are rich and we are poor. His love is constant, not dependent on conditions and circumstances. But you know that although Jesus loved us in spite of our sins, his love for us eventually demands and insists that we leave off our sinful ways. True love will love unconditionally, but it will not rest until it has improved wrong conditions.

Fourth, Jesus loved us in words: "For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from God" (John 16:27). Jesus always made it clear he loves us by the word he spoke. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son" (John 3:16). It was Jesus that said those beautiful words. Let's use our words to create love. Say love words and you create love moods. Our words are not the very best way to show our love, but it is a good way to begin. Say it if you love someone. "Open rebuke is better than secret love." Secret love does no one any good. Say exactly what you mean. Don't be afraid of being misunderstood. If you are sincere and say exactly how you truly feel, there is no law against you. You are free to love. Step out in love. Live the love life, and say love words.

Fifth, Jesus loved us in deed: Jesus loved in practice. It wasn't just love words love. His was love lived and practiced. He lived his human life serving the needs of mankind. His was the labor of love all through. "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him" (Acts 10:38). Love is not just what we say, but also much more, what we do. We ought to love in deed, in kindness, in action. Little gifts, timely assistance, unsolicited help, a genuine smile etc. That is what love is all about. "My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but indeed and in truth" (1 John 3:18). Love in deed is love indeed.

Sixth, Jesus loved supremely: He loved so much it cost his life. "By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (1 John 3:16). God's kind of love demands that we be willing to lay down our lives for one another, if need be. It is rather frightening in some ways, but that is the way of love. Still, God is not calling us to martyrdom just to show how much we love others. What he is expecting is that our love should be so supreme, so deep, and so free that you are willing to go to any length possible to live it.
Chapter 14: Blessings of walking in love

"Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul on another." George Eliot

"Love cures people—both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it." Karl Menninger

Walking in love is extremely rewarding. Love may make great demands on us, but its rewards and benefits are even greater. Love is worth all the trouble, if there be any trouble at all. "But as it is written Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, things which God has prepared for those who love Him" 1 Corinthians 2:9.

The rewards of love are really mind-boggling. They are beyond anything we have seen or heard. God longs to do much more than our eyes can see or our ears can hear, or our hearts can perceive – for those who love Him. Hallelujah. God's best is reserved for those who love him.

This is an exciting thought. That God goes to the limit to acknowledge love for him where and when he sees it. It should encourage every heart. Think about it. If faith holds so great a reward as we have seen all around us today, and love is greater than faith, then imagine what great rewards love may bring. "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthian 13:13). This is an important rule you shouldn't forget – Rule 13:13 - Love holds far greater promise than hope and faith have given us yet.

The elders of faith in the bible were people who loved God so much that God blessed them, both in physical and spiritual blessings. Our father Abraham had this testimony, "Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things' (Gen. 24:1). What was Abraham's secret? He loved God so much and was so whole-heartedly devoted to him that he was called the friend of God. David was so passionate after the presence of God that he was called "a man after God's heart." Was it surprising that David died a blessed man? Solomon, in his early days, loved God so much that he offered to God a thousand offerings of worship and prayer in a single day. No wonder God responded the same day and gave him wisdom and wealth such as was not known in his generation. Moses loved God so much in his time that he forsook Pharaoh's palace with all its glamour and prospects, for a lowly life in the wilderness. Is it any wonder that God gave him such great honor and the privilege of coming in person to encourage Jesus for the great work of redemption (Matt. 17:1-10)? Paul was a well-educated person and enjoyed an enviable popularity at the hands of the ruling authorities of his time. Yet he left it all because of the love of Christ (Phil. 3:3-10). Do wonder then that God responded to Paul with wisdom and revelation such as he exhibited in the Gospels regarding the redemption plan? Paul may not have died with a swollen bank account, but he died knowing "the unsearchable riches of Christ" that no money or fame could bring.

It seems, today, we want the same blessings and riches these elders had without having the same love they knew for God. We want the blessings of Abraham, but not the love and obedience of Abraham to God. It was said of Abraham, "the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things." Today, we get blessed alright, but how many of those blessings can we honestly attribute to the Lord himself? Abraham and the elders loved much and also enjoyed such depth of blessings as could make the richest men today envious. It appears as though we are no longer ready to seek blessings through the way of loving the Lord. It seems rather too long and uncertain for many. So, we cheat, bribe, or cut corners.

God is a rewarder. But his greatest and best rewards are for those who love and follow him, "The blessings of the Lord make rich, and He adds no sorrow to it." He doesn't give us what will ensnare us. His blessings make rich. True riches of God include money but they are much more than money. 1 Timothy 6:17 talks about trusting in the living God, "who gives us richly all things to enjoy." Paul was not a pauper in his time, but he also did not compete with the Bill Gates of his time. Yet, you can't honestly say that Paul was not richer than all the Bill Gates of his time to put together! There is something like true riches from God. James wrote in chapter 2 verse 5: "Listen my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this would to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who love Him."

More than gold

Let's quit judging blessing in terms of materials and money only. There must be more to God and his divine treasure than money. We need money in this sphere of life. It used to be said of Christians that they were so heavenly minded that they were of little earthly use. Today, we have become too fond of materialism that we are really of little heavenly use. Either way, we are on the wrong side of the approved line. This kind of talk any trouble our conscience, but it is good for us. The love of God holds far greater reward than mere physical gain. Yet, as we shall see, physical gain is sometimes a part of divine blessing. However, such material gain should not be our main pursuit. We ought to learn to follow the Lord wholly in love and allow Him to bless us "richly in all things." As Jacobson has noted, "God's work in us doesn't renounce material blessing as evil – just insignificant compared to his splendor. He has offered us heavenly reassures that are not only far more valuable than the wealth of our surrounding and the health of our bodies but indestructible and unstealable." Let us now examine some of these rewards that God gives to his lovers and to all those who truly walk in love.

God is our reward

The first and greatest reward that God has promised to all those who love him is, surprisingly, himself! It is almost unbelievable, but it is true. God gives Himself to those who love Him. 'Jesus answered and said to him, "if anyone loves Me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him" (John 14:23). That is the greatest reward of love. It was love that gave us Jesus in the first place. "God so loved the world that he gave his begotten Son (John 3:16). All who receive him are saved. But there is much more. All who receive Christ and love him supremely and obey him have something that other may not know about. Jesus said, for such a person, God the father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit will come and make their home in him. That is the richest life ever. Can you imagine what it will mean for the Father to come and take residence in your life? All heaven will be let loose in your life all at once.

The living presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is a great blessing, life in full. "You will show me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand and are pleasures forever more" (Psalm 16:11). The fullness of joy is in his presence. There is enjoyment of untold pleasure in God's presence. You become lost in God and God in you. A state of blessed oneness with Divinity. That is Divine Romance so holy that words cannot utter it. That is life, the richest and most satisfying of all lives. "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John 17:3). We may start to enjoy eternal life right here and now, through knowing the Lord intimately. To 'know' God as is used in this sense means to become progressively more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him. This is how Apostle Paul phrased it in Ephesians 3:19: "That you may really come to know (practically, through experience for yourselves) the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge (without experience); that you may be filled (through all your being) into all the fullness of God (may have the richest measure of the divine presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself!" (Amplified Bible). Can your mind take this in? You and I can and should, be filled through all our beings with all the fullness of God and having the richest measure of his divine presence; having our lives wholly filled and flooded with God himself! There is no higher promise. It comes only by a practical experience of love. Loving God and enjoying His love.

This is the greatest delight of God as well as His greatest reward. God is waiting for us to 'discover' Him. He longs to be discovered. He first loved, so that we may freely love him. And when we love him wholly, he gives all of himself to us as a result. It is not difficult to 'find' God. "So that they should seek the Lord: in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us: for in Him we live and move and have our being..." (acts 17:27-28). God is "not far from each one of us." In him we live and move and have our being. Yet we don't seem to know his wonderful presence. Why? Perhaps because we have not sought for him with all our heart and with all our mind. "Then you will seek Me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you, said the Lord" (Jeremiah 29:13-14). Or, perhaps we have become distracted from our first love by the cares of this life.

Either way, God wants to be found! Not only do we find life in his presence, he also finds great delight and joy in us finding him. To search for Him with all our heart simply means to love him with a simple, sincere, wholehearted devotion which results in obedient to him. If we haven't found him, it may be because we haven't yet made out time to seek him. Or it may be we are seeking him for the wrong reasons. Or it may be that we have neglected to confess and forsake known sins in our hearts. God will not take up residence in a heart filled with unresolved guilt and unconfessed sins. The blood of Jesus will cleanse us, but we must first repent. God longs to come in, but until the internal environment is right, he will only say, "behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me' (Rev. 3:10). The fullness of the Godhead longs to dine with you every day of your life. Are you willing? Then listen to this, when his presence and his joy are lacking in us, it may be largely for the reason that we have left our first love for him. "Nevertheless I have this against you that you have left your first love" (Rev. 2:4). But this is what to do: "Therefore be zealous and repent" (Rev. 3:19). There is a surpassing treasure of divine presence, joy, love and rest that you and I could enjoy daily.

Love gives meaning to life

There is meaning and fulfillment in love, in Gods kind of love. It is only in Jesus Christ, the embodiment of love, that our life finds meaning. Life does not make sense if all there is to it is selfish grab for more. Life takes on interesting meaning when we receive God's love and learn also to walk in love towards others. As Kenyon puts it: "As long as we are loved, and as long as we can love there is a reason for being in the world, but when we cease to love and cease to be the object of love, then reason for being ends."

"Why do you spend money for what is not bread? And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully, come, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to me. Hear, and your soul shall live" (Isaiah 55:2-3) That is the Holy Spirit speaking to us. Why labor for things that don't satisfy? God invites us into his love house. Come and "eat what is good" and be satisfied. Come into God's love garden and "let your souls delight itself in abundance." This is how Jesus states it in John 7:37-38. "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living waters." Aren't you thirsty for something real? Are you not fed up with living a hollow and shallow life? Haven't we seen that this breathless pursuit after money and worldly pleasures has not satisfied the deep longing of our soul? There are many of us who go to church regularly and still have this nagging feeling of emptiness and frustration within. Some go from one party to another, making merry and appearing so thoroughly happy; but are truly wretched within them as soon as they are sober enough to reflect.

Meaning, fulfillment and satisfaction do not come from external possessions; they come from inside. "For one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses (Luke 12:15). We can only find meaning and satisfaction as we receive from Jesus the love of God. That is when our lives become so rich and so satisfying that "rivers of living waters" flow from us. Only those who have lost themselves will find who they really are. "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his live for my sake will find it" (Matt. 11:39). There is no other way to finding yourself except to give yourself to God; to love and serve him and humanity with all your heart and with all your soul. To seek meaning or fulfillment any other way is to be sure to meet with frustration at the end. This is more than just joining a church and getting busy, as good as that may be. There are many church goers who do not have any meaning to their lives. The key is to give our self to God in total devotion and then serve others with love. Then, we may find true joy and rest in his presence.

Blessing of divine revelation

Who would you rather share your deep secrets with, a close trusted friend or a stranger? Of course, we share things that are private to us either with our spouse or a trusted friend. That is the way it is with God. God reveals secrets to those who love him. "Eyes have not seen, eyes have not heard, neither has it entered the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love him. But God has revealed them to us through the Holy Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him. Even so, no one knows the things of God except the spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God" (1 Corinthians 2:9-12).

There is so much God wants to reveal to us about himself, his kingdom. But he will reveal them only to those who love Him. God is not a talkative, neither is he flippant and careless with divine relations. Do you want to find it easy hearing from God and receiving insight and revelation from his word? The way is to love the Lord. In fact, one of the greatest rewards God gives a person who loves him, is to commit his word and revelation to such a person. It is a sacred responsibly that shows divine trust. "What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God" (Romans 3:1-2). The Jew or circumcision here, we will use figuratively to mean those who are deeply and openly devoted to God with all their heart, soul and body. Those who are committed to pleasing God. Unto these ones, God gives many rewards, but "chiefly because to these were committed the oracles of God." The revelations of God, the mind of God are made known in every generation in and through those vessels who have loved the lord extraordinarily.

A quick check through the Old and New testaments reveals this truth glaringly. Moses was the dominant writer in the Old Testament. The Law was given through him. In fact, John said of him, "for the Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). That is almost the same thing as summing up the whole of the Old Testament in Moses, as much as the New Testament is summed up in Christ. God entrusted Moses with such deep revelations that Moses gave a detailed account of the creation of the heavens and earth, something that happened several thousands of years perhaps before the first man was made. How did Moses come into such level of trust before God? It came by the way of total love and devotion to God. It was said of Moses: "By faith Moses when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, while esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward" (Acts 11:24-26). He looked for a greater treasure that the silver, gold and position that Egypt could offer him. He got his reward – the holy oracles of God were committed to Him. Brothers and sisters, one of the greatest marks of divine approval and blessings is how easily Heaven is willing to commit the holy oracles of God into our hands.

What of Paul in the New Testament? He is probably the most prominent Apostle of the New Testament. In fact, it is the revelation of the 'mystery' of the gospel which God gave him that revolutionized Christianity – that God can live in the gentiles as much as he can live in the Jews. Of all the 27 books and epistles in the New Testament, he alone wrote 14; yet he never met Jesus physically as the other Apostles did. The epistles of Paul may have done more to shed light on the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus. That is greater honor than money or fame came give. That is by far a greater reward than he could have gotten from his law practice. In fact, he recognized the greatness of this reward of love. This is how he said it in Ephesians 3:8, "To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace (gift of love) was given, that I should preach among the gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Again, in 1 Thessalonians 2:4, he wrote, "But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts."

How did Paul come to be trusted by God to such a degree that a bulk of the New Testament revelations was handed over to him? The answer, I think, is in Philippians 3. He tells us in his own words the secret to this gift: "If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and counted them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness which is from God by faith that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death." That is the highest level of devotion possible on this other side of heaven. Paul gave up more his prestige and academic degree maybe, but he gave up his very roots and personality. He had to abandon his "Jewishness" with all its distinctiveness. He gave up that to embrace the love of Christ. All the other apostles loved Jesus, but this one point proved too much for most of them. It meant losing themselves completely. But Paul gladly gave up all his Jewish pride and culture to live and preach among the gentiles. That was love and sacrifice. No wonder, God responded to Paul with such level of revelation.

As we conclude this point, it is important for us to examine our hearts again. How easy is it for us to receive from Heaven? How exciting and thrilling is your bible study and prayer time? Is it dry and rather boring, lacking any intimacy with God? That means Heaven is not revealing anything new. And it could mean that somewhere, along the line, we have lost our love for him. What to do? Let's repent and seek his face with zeal and sincerity.

Blessing of divine guidance

Closely related to divine revelation is divine guidance. God intends to show us the path to take in the midst of conflicting interests. It is God's will for us to hear his voice regularly saying, "this is the way, walk you in it." Guidance means God leading the way in our choices and decisions. Sensitivity, then, to the Holy Spirit at all times is important. That is one major reason God gave us the Holy Spirit to save us the agony and frustration of wrong moves and choices. We desperately need the daily voice of God in guiding our path. "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak and He will tell you things to come" (John 16:12-13).

There is probably fresh guidance that God longs to provide us regarding our business, home life, ministry etc. But only those who are close enough to him will hear. Those who are committed to him will be led by him. How can He tell us what to do when we do not have time to stay with Him and enquire from Him? "Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall he teach in the way he chooses. He himself shall dwell in prosperity and his descendants shall inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear him, and he will show them to his covenant" (Psalm 25:12-14). There is a way God has chosen for you. It is as you fellowship with him in love and devotion that he guides you. If you must walk in divine guidance and direction, then you must learn to walk in love. For people who love God, his voice is sweet and easily contacted. They don't have to always fast seven days before they hear him. They have a thriving relationship with the Lord that compels conversation with the Lord regularly.

Blessing of divine assignment

If you have a most important task to be done that is vital to the success of your business, who would you rather send, a reliable and dedicated staff or the dubious, inconsistent worker? Of course, you will go for your most trusted staff. That is precisely how God behaves too. He has many of us as children. But certainly not all of us are equally faithful and devoted to him. We may all be His children, but when it comes to important kingdom business, he would rather go for those whose love and devotion to him is deep and entire. So, need we wonder again why God uses some people more than others? God is not partial. Surely, he who commands us, "not to hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory with partiality" (James 2:1), knows better than to do the same. "There is no partiality with God" (Romans 2:11).

But in a very real sense, we determine whether God can commit important kingdom affairs into our hands or not. The depth and intensity of our love and commitment to God determines a lot, coupled with the election of grace. The story of Mary Magdalene on the Resurrection Morning as recorded by John in chapter 20 illustrates this point very well. After Jesus was crucified, the apostles including Peter, James and John hid themselves away in a room. But Mary got up early that morning and went to the grave to anoint the dead body of Jesus. Imagine the love that drove her. Even in death, Mary still loved him. All hope of him being a great king was now gone. He was not only dead but buried. Yet Mary loved him. Anyway, by the time she got there, she found out that the body of Jesus was no more there. Confused, she ran back to tell the apostles, "They have taken away the lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid Him."

Peter and John ran back to the tomb with her and confirmed that his body was no more in there. Remember they haven't known yet that he had been raised, yet Peter and John could afford to go back home and sleep. What if it was in deed true that "they had taken away the lord out of the tomb?" That was how shallow their love was at that time. Thank God for Mary. It was said of her, "but Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb again. This was probably the third time she was stooping and looking into that tomb. (She first looked and saw that the body was gone. She then told the apostles who looked in with her a second time. And now she was looking in again). That was love deeper than words could convey. She saw an angel but it wasn't an angel that she sought. She was looking for the Master, the lover of her soul. Suddenly, the Master appeared and she became the very first human to see the resurrected lord. Love has great rewards. But is not even the point here. The point is that Mary loved so much that the Master found her trustworthy for the very task and message of the glorious resurrection news. "...Go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascended to my Father and to our Father and to my God and to your God." Mary had a message to deliver, an errand to run for the Master because she loved so much. Go and tell the 'mighty' Peter and John. God is no respecter of persons. In every nation, everyone that loves and serves the Lord is acceptable to him; and such persons he will send on important assignments.

Blessing of divine provisions

The God we serve is a rewarder. He blesses the faithful with divine provisions as well as spiritual blessing. He is not only interested in our spiritual lives, he is also interested in meeting our material needs. We have seen earlier that all the elders of the faith – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and others all had their material needs met through their life journey. "Blessed is the man that fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments; His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in his house, and righteousness endures forever" (Psalm 112:1-3).

The word 'fear' in the first verse means love, worship and reverence. In order words, "blessed is the man that loves the Lord who delights greatly In his commandments. Wealth and riches will be in his house." God's will is to bless us and provide abundantly for our needs. But how will this come? Through the love of God - such love and devotion as Abraham or Paul had for him. Wealth and riches are not sinful in themselves. If God first captures our heart, no amount of wealth can derail us. Again, we must reiterate in the words of Jacobsen, "God's work in us doesn't renounce materialism as evil - just insignificant compared to his splendor. He has offered us heavenly treasures that are not only far more valuable than the wealth of our surroundings and the health of our bodies, but also indestructible and unstealable." I think it is rather pretentious to carry on as if we don't need financial and material blessings from God. He knows that we need finances and materials to make it through this life. All he asks is that we first seek him and his kingdom. God doesn't want our lives to be about materialism. Instead, he wants us to be about his kingdom. "If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met" (Matthew 6: 30-33).

Blessed future

Those who love the Lord can rest assured that no matter what happens, their future is a glorious one. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans. 8:28). Are lovers of God exempt from trials and pressures of normal existence? Not necessarily. But they can be sure of one thing – no matter what happens, no matter the trials they go through all things will work together for their good at the end of the day. Why? Because the Lord whom they love and serve has promised them a future and a hope. He is the one in control of their lives. They may not feel him sometimes, but he is working beyond the scene, always. He loves them too much to leave their lives to chance, or even to the devil's control. But what gives us concern is why does God allow certain unpalatable things to happen to us? We can't seem to understand his way. But it is comforting to know that God has an end in view for your life. Come rain or sunshine, he will get you to that expected end if you continue to love and follow him. But it may take a quite process to get there. It may even take going through the waters or fire to get to that glorious end, but he will surely take you there. "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11).

God has a great future in stock for you. If you really love the Lord, you can be absolutely sure that whatever he able to carry you through whatever he allows to come your way. If you love God, be assured that God also loves you too much to forget you. Love is reciprocal. God doesn't owe anyone. He will ensure that at the end of the day, your love for him is blessed. So stop fretting and panicking. You have a glorious future guaranteed in the hands of Love.

Blessing of divine protection and deliverance

You like to ensure the safety of those who are dear to you - your wife, children, right? God is also the protector and deliverer of his true lovers. He protects those who are dear to him. Psalm 91 is a very beautiful promise of protection and deliverance for those who love the Lord habitually, not just those who run to God only in times of emergency.

Because he has set his love upon Me, Therefore I will deliver him; I will set him On high, because he has known my name, He shall call upon Me, and I will Answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor Him (Psalm 91:14-15).

Loving the Lord has great rewards in deed. God is capable of protecting His own. Don't tell me that if we who are humans take so much pain to ensure the protection and safety of our loved ones, that God cannot do as much for those who are dear to him. God will defend and protect you when you set your love on him day and night.

The hope of Heaven

It is only natural for lovers to want to be together. No wonder, that Jesus is longing to come back and take those who love him to be where he is, in Heaven! Heaven is our destination. Heaven is the eternal abode of eternal lovers!

"In my Father's house are many mansions; If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for You and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; That where I am there you may be also (John 14:2-3).

You and I may never know how much Jesus longs to have us together with him forever, until we finally get to Heaven. Living with Him eternally is the greatest reward that God gives to his lovers. Today, some preachers even make fun of the hope of heaven. But say what anyone may wish, heaven is the eternal home of all true children of God. "That where I am, there you maybe also" is the heart-cry and longing of Jesus. He may bless us here on earth, but there is no blessing here that compares with the glories and treasures of Heaven. "Eyes have not seen, nor ears heard, neither has it entered the hearts of man what God has prepared for those who love Him." This certainly refers to the unspeakable riches and glories of Heaven.

When John the beloved apostle saw a vision of Jesus and the glories of Heaven, his response was a spontaneous cry that Jesus should come. Listen to him, "He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Revelation. 22:20). The world is beautiful and there is so much we can continue to do for God, yet, it is true that the deepest longing of all true lovers of Jesus is, "even so, come, Lord Jesus!" Paul himself said he was in a strait whether to go and be with the Lord or stay back on earth and continue to help the brethren (Philippians. 21:24). Why? After being 'caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it was not lawful for man to utter" (2 Corinth. 12:4), Paul could no longer be content just to carry on in this world without passionately longing to go into glory. The desire for Heaven is not always an escapist tendency by those who are feeling frustrated. Sometimes, it is the genuinely longing of the truly blessed who have seen a taste of awaits us up there.

Jesus is longing to have us with him in Heaven. But he is coming for those who love his appearing. Heaven is an eternal home for lovers. "To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation" (Hebrews. 9:29). We should look forward to joining Jesus (our Master lover) in Heaven with joyful anticipation. The idea of Rapture or the second coming of Christ should not frighten us. If we are walking in love, then we should have boldness before Him. We look forward to the judgment, not with apprehension, but with joyful anticipation. He is our lover coming to be reunited with his bride. No wonder John said, "Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment; because as he is, so are we in the world (1 John 4:17).
Chapter 15: Thank you

Thank you for reading Loved. If you have been blessed by this book, we hope that you will consider leaving us a constructive review to help others get access to this material. Word of mouth is still the best form of advertising we can hope for. Thank you in advance!

Francis is also available as a ministry resource, and may be reached through fumesiri@gmail.com.

