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| Photo credit: incolors.club |
"I love YouTube." Quite frankly, It's hard to find anyone who doesn't but many people wouldn't mind uttering these words for entirely different reasons. Were one to say, "I love YouTube", really fast, it would sound as if he/she said, " I love you too." I can't say I have flirted with the idea of using that line, but the YouTube reply would be convenient for somebody not too keen on commitment and comfortable being in the relationship just for the benefits.
I wouldn't be crazy enough to pull this stunt on a lady but on introspection, I did something far worse..... I pulled this stunt on God and not even the thought of being just one of many to do it, offers scant consolation.
God said, "I love you" to us, when he gave his one and only son, Jesus.
The first man, Adam, sinned, leaving a trail of sin, brokenness and fallibility in his wake. It has been a trail we have inevitably followed for years. Judges, Kings, Prophets, Priests could only do so much before eventually man wandered away from God's commands. Man gravitated to sin, the very thing that was displeasing to God.
Despite casting Adam away from the Garden, God still longed to relate with man. He always has. God still pursued man even when man was pursuing what God detested. Sin had created a gap between man and God. It is said that love makes a way, indifference an excuse. Rather, than giving up on us, and citing our sin and our total disregard for him and his holiness, which would have been a valid excuse; God out of love, made a way to bridge that gap.
Enter Jesus Christ, the living atoning sacrifice for the world,(1 John 2:2) who gave himself as a ransom for all men, mediating between God and men to this very day. (1 Timothy 2:5-6) What we lacked in holiness, Jesus compensated for in grace. He died the death that we were to die, so that we may live the life that was always beyond us because of our sin. His sacrifice paid the full penalty of our sins so we owed God nothing.
He was insulted, rejected, battered beyond recognition, nailed to a cross so that in dying on that cross and resurrecting from the dead, we would be reconciled to God, so long as we believed and accepted that we couldn't save ourselves but that only Jesus could. He didn't need to go through all that hardship but he chose to, and in going through it, declared to us unequivocally, "I love you!!!"
That was a massive statement of love, that demands a massive, "I love you too God." Love is one of the hardest things to define, let alone illustrate, more so to God. Thankfully scripture spares us the headache of figuring it all out by ourselves in John 14:21 by saying, "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father and I too will love him and show myself to him."
Thus, to love God is to obey God, it sound's simple enough but it isn't. Well, humans,have never been big on obedience, as Adam and Eve so wonderfully demonstrated . It's made the more difficult when the picture you have of obedience is that of God as a tyrant like Loki in Avengers, perched on his throne,wielding a large scepter, demanding that we kneel or fall prostrate before him in complete reverence. We think he delights in nothing more than taking away our freedom, consigning us to a life of utter boredom and slavery. We think of obedience as merely following a litany of do's and dont's, but it really isn't.
Loving God is more than that and it isn't always the same for everybody. God speaks to us not just as a body of believers but individuals as well, giving us commands for the whole body to follow, but also giving commands to be carried out by a specific individual.
To the body of Christ, he commands us to do many things. Psalms is littered with the command to praise him and worship him in song, therefore we love him by singing to him and declaring our love and adoration for him in song. However, worship is more than just a song, it is a lifestyle of showing reverence to God, and this can be achieved in many ways.
We love him, by learning to do right, by seeking justice,by encouraging the oppressed, defending the cause of the fatherless and pleading the case of the widow. (Isaiah 1:17)
We love him by acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God. (Micah 6:8) We love him by seeking him while he may be found, calling on him when he is near.(Isaiah 55:6) We love him by not only reading but meditating on his word, day and night(Joshua 1:7-8) and also praying(Philippians 4:6-7), and by committing not to give up meeting each other in fellowship but to encourage one another, spurring one another on towards love and good deeds(Hebrews 10:24-25)
We love him by giving him honor, honoring him with our money, by spending it not only on ourselves but the less fortunate as well, by cheerfully giving our tithe not robbing him. (Malachi 3:8, 2 Corinthians 9:7-12). By not loving money and viewing the acquisition of it as an end, instead viewing it as a means with which to serve God(Matthew 6:24)
We love him by honoring him with our body, by being mindful of how we dress and dance, by not giving in to bodily urges of sex or sexual perversions like lust, masturbation, bondage domination masochism as a result of remembering that our bodies are not our own, that we can do anything we want with them, they are temples for Christ(1 Corinthians 6:12-20)
We love him, by trusting him with all our heart, not leaning on our own understanding and acknowledging him in all our ways and he will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). Trusting him even when the situation looks bleak and opting not to take the easy way out of compromising on our integrity by bribing, cheating, gambling, canvassing, having sex for a good grade or promotion, a kickback for a service but by trusting God to make a way even where there seems to be none. We love him by seeking first his kingdom and righteousness, and trusting God will provide for our needs instead of worrying about tomorrow, when each day has enough trouble on its own.(Matthew 6:33-34)
We love him by choosing not to be friends of this world (James 4;4), by not conforming to it and its ways of doing things but being transformed by the renewal of our minds(Romans 12:1-2). We love him by not being of the world and yet not isolating ourselves from it but being in it to influence it for Christ(John 17:14-15)
We love him by not being drunk on wine,(Ephesians 5:18) and being intentional about not causing our brother/sister to stumble by drinking, eating or anything that might encourage them to sin but opting to do that which leads to mutual edification (Romans 14:1-21, 1 Corinthians 8:9-12)
We love him by using the talents, abilities, spiritual gifts he gave us not primarily for our glory but for his glory by serving others in church, by seeking to be used by him whether he calls us to the corporate world, entrepreneurship or the mission field.(Matthew 25:14-30, 1 Corinthians 12:7, 1 Corinthians 14:12)
We love him, by loving other members of the body of Christ, loving them just the way he loved us,(John 13:34) bearing with one another in love and forgiving the grievances we may have against one another, as Christ forgave us (Colossians 3:13-16) and thus fulfilling his very important prayer request that we may be one.(John 17;20-23)
Most important, we love him by accepting his free gift of salvation and then considering everything as of little importance than knowing God and becoming like him,(Philippians 3:7-11) which makes us tell others about him, his love for us, and striving to help people become like him, following his commands and thus make disciples for it's what he commanded us to do.(Matthew 28:18-20)
Arms outstretched on a cross, giving his life for us,Jesus was essentially telling us, "I love you this much that I will die for you." The very least we can do is love him back through obedience, both general and individual. Love him with all your heart, your mind and your unique being as only you can. Ditch, the I love YouTube in favor of, "I love you too."
I wouldn't be crazy enough to pull this stunt on a lady but on introspection, I did something far worse..... I pulled this stunt on God and not even the thought of being just one of many to do it, offers scant consolation.
God said, "I love you" to us, when he gave his one and only son, Jesus.
The first man, Adam, sinned, leaving a trail of sin, brokenness and fallibility in his wake. It has been a trail we have inevitably followed for years. Judges, Kings, Prophets, Priests could only do so much before eventually man wandered away from God's commands. Man gravitated to sin, the very thing that was displeasing to God.
Despite casting Adam away from the Garden, God still longed to relate with man. He always has. God still pursued man even when man was pursuing what God detested. Sin had created a gap between man and God. It is said that love makes a way, indifference an excuse. Rather, than giving up on us, and citing our sin and our total disregard for him and his holiness, which would have been a valid excuse; God out of love, made a way to bridge that gap.
Enter Jesus Christ, the living atoning sacrifice for the world,(1 John 2:2) who gave himself as a ransom for all men, mediating between God and men to this very day. (1 Timothy 2:5-6) What we lacked in holiness, Jesus compensated for in grace. He died the death that we were to die, so that we may live the life that was always beyond us because of our sin. His sacrifice paid the full penalty of our sins so we owed God nothing.
He was insulted, rejected, battered beyond recognition, nailed to a cross so that in dying on that cross and resurrecting from the dead, we would be reconciled to God, so long as we believed and accepted that we couldn't save ourselves but that only Jesus could. He didn't need to go through all that hardship but he chose to, and in going through it, declared to us unequivocally, "I love you!!!"
That was a massive statement of love, that demands a massive, "I love you too God." Love is one of the hardest things to define, let alone illustrate, more so to God. Thankfully scripture spares us the headache of figuring it all out by ourselves in John 14:21 by saying, "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father and I too will love him and show myself to him."
Thus, to love God is to obey God, it sound's simple enough but it isn't. Well, humans,have never been big on obedience, as Adam and Eve so wonderfully demonstrated . It's made the more difficult when the picture you have of obedience is that of God as a tyrant like Loki in Avengers, perched on his throne,wielding a large scepter, demanding that we kneel or fall prostrate before him in complete reverence. We think he delights in nothing more than taking away our freedom, consigning us to a life of utter boredom and slavery. We think of obedience as merely following a litany of do's and dont's, but it really isn't.
Loving God is more than that and it isn't always the same for everybody. God speaks to us not just as a body of believers but individuals as well, giving us commands for the whole body to follow, but also giving commands to be carried out by a specific individual.
To the body of Christ, he commands us to do many things. Psalms is littered with the command to praise him and worship him in song, therefore we love him by singing to him and declaring our love and adoration for him in song. However, worship is more than just a song, it is a lifestyle of showing reverence to God, and this can be achieved in many ways.
We love him, by learning to do right, by seeking justice,by encouraging the oppressed, defending the cause of the fatherless and pleading the case of the widow. (Isaiah 1:17)
We love him by acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God. (Micah 6:8) We love him by seeking him while he may be found, calling on him when he is near.(Isaiah 55:6) We love him by not only reading but meditating on his word, day and night(Joshua 1:7-8) and also praying(Philippians 4:6-7), and by committing not to give up meeting each other in fellowship but to encourage one another, spurring one another on towards love and good deeds(Hebrews 10:24-25)
We love him by giving him honor, honoring him with our money, by spending it not only on ourselves but the less fortunate as well, by cheerfully giving our tithe not robbing him. (Malachi 3:8, 2 Corinthians 9:7-12). By not loving money and viewing the acquisition of it as an end, instead viewing it as a means with which to serve God(Matthew 6:24)
We love him by honoring him with our body, by being mindful of how we dress and dance, by not giving in to bodily urges of sex or sexual perversions like lust, masturbation, bondage domination masochism as a result of remembering that our bodies are not our own, that we can do anything we want with them, they are temples for Christ(1 Corinthians 6:12-20)
We love him, by trusting him with all our heart, not leaning on our own understanding and acknowledging him in all our ways and he will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). Trusting him even when the situation looks bleak and opting not to take the easy way out of compromising on our integrity by bribing, cheating, gambling, canvassing, having sex for a good grade or promotion, a kickback for a service but by trusting God to make a way even where there seems to be none. We love him by seeking first his kingdom and righteousness, and trusting God will provide for our needs instead of worrying about tomorrow, when each day has enough trouble on its own.(Matthew 6:33-34)
We love him by choosing not to be friends of this world (James 4;4), by not conforming to it and its ways of doing things but being transformed by the renewal of our minds(Romans 12:1-2). We love him by not being of the world and yet not isolating ourselves from it but being in it to influence it for Christ(John 17:14-15)
We love him by not being drunk on wine,(Ephesians 5:18) and being intentional about not causing our brother/sister to stumble by drinking, eating or anything that might encourage them to sin but opting to do that which leads to mutual edification (Romans 14:1-21, 1 Corinthians 8:9-12)
We love him by using the talents, abilities, spiritual gifts he gave us not primarily for our glory but for his glory by serving others in church, by seeking to be used by him whether he calls us to the corporate world, entrepreneurship or the mission field.(Matthew 25:14-30, 1 Corinthians 12:7, 1 Corinthians 14:12)
We love him, by loving other members of the body of Christ, loving them just the way he loved us,(John 13:34) bearing with one another in love and forgiving the grievances we may have against one another, as Christ forgave us (Colossians 3:13-16) and thus fulfilling his very important prayer request that we may be one.(John 17;20-23)
Most important, we love him by accepting his free gift of salvation and then considering everything as of little importance than knowing God and becoming like him,(Philippians 3:7-11) which makes us tell others about him, his love for us, and striving to help people become like him, following his commands and thus make disciples for it's what he commanded us to do.(Matthew 28:18-20)
Arms outstretched on a cross, giving his life for us,Jesus was essentially telling us, "I love you this much that I will die for you." The very least we can do is love him back through obedience, both general and individual. Love him with all your heart, your mind and your unique being as only you can. Ditch, the I love YouTube in favor of, "I love you too."
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