God's Love

 1 Corinth 13:13
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Valentine’s Day is a special day when love is expressed to someone special in your life. It is a day to celebrate the commitment to a shared relationship, or desire for one. This is love that is based on human emotions and feelings toward someone. It is an affection that is sought by all human beings, because everyone desires to find this kind of love in life. But such love is not everlasting and is known to turn into hate given the right circumstances. This is not the kind of love that is spoken here in scripture. This charity (love) comes from above and sent from God and is sealed in the hearts of Christians who have totally given their lives to Christ. “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.” (John 15:10). The manifestation of this love is made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit, which makes His home in the heart of the believer. The list of what this looks like is found here in 1 Corinthian 13, but is also demonstrated through the fruits of the Spirit and Christians living out their walk before the world and other believers. We live in a world of sin and living for self. Self is grounded not in love for others, but in self-gratification, desire and preeminence over all others. Let love rule in your heart, to live in the vine, to allow God to be in you and work through you to accomplish His love to the world that others may come to love and serve Him.

Put On

 Col 3:12,14
 Put on therefore…mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
Putting something on is an intentional action. It is a knowing act of choice. It is not governed by feeling or intimidation. We may put on a front to impress or deceive, and this also is done by choice. We often “Put on” because it is the right thing to do, and not necessarily the most expedient or convenient thing to do. Showing kindness and giving mercy is done with purpose. Patience and longsuffering is normally not an innate response when confronted with trials and difficult situations. We make a deliberate decision to be what God wants us to be. With the choice of doing what is good and kind, asking the Holy Spirit to empower you and work through you to be more like Jesus. Putting on is not acting or pretending, it is choosing to imitate what Christ would do. “What would Jesus Do?” is still a good question to ask before we act or react.

Without Love

1 Corinth 13:2b “though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, but have not charity, I am nothing.”- 

Without faith it is impossible to please God, and without love it is impossible to see God. Love, the greatest passion known to man. It will win over hate every time if it comes from God. Without love, our life has no purpose and it will end without hope. Every day we are given a chance to show love to God and to others. Having God’s love in our life and letting it work in our life should be the purpose we live. Our faith at times may be weak and we sometime may falter in our trust. Satan can bring discouragement and we faint in well doing, but love is a choice. We wake up each day and make the choice to love God and show our love to those we will encounter that day. Love must come from the heart and flow from a love for God. There are many people who show acts of kindness, but it does not flow from a heart that loves God. Paul even says, that a person could even be willing to die for someone else, but if done without divine love, it is of no worth. “May today bring me new opportunities to manifest the love of God to a hurting world, may His love flow through me so that others may say, ‘ I see Jesus’”.

Perfect Love

1 John 4:7-19
October 28th, 2007

The Love of God how measureless, that I, a sinner should be loved by God who is Holy and Just. How is it possible for man to be filled with such love? It is only through the propitiation of Christ that we are able to have this love dwell within us. Man in his sinful condition, is not capable of manifesting such love to God or to one another. Therefore, If we desire to love as God wants us to love, we must allow Christ to dwell in His fullness in our hearts. “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost that is given unto us” May divine love rule and reign in our hearts and show it’s fruits in ours lives.

Love that is Mutual (let us love one another)
• How do we show love one to another?
• Evidence of being born of God- “Behold how they love…”
• If God loved us, we ought to love one another.
Love that Matters ((born of God)
• Divine Love only comes from God
• If you know God, then you will show love
Love that is Manifest (In this was manifested the love of God)
• God’s Love toward man is
• God’s Love is shown through the giving of His Son
• Christ is "the propitiation," because by His becoming our substitute and assuming our obligations He expiated our guilt, covered it, by the vicarious punishment which he endured
Loves Mysteries Unfold (Herby know we)
• Seeing God is only seen through someone who loves God
• The dwelling of God can only abide in a heart of love
• It begin with confessing Jesus as Savior
Love Made Perfect (Herein is our love made perfect)
• Then face to face…then shall I know and be known
• There is no fear (of judgment) to them that abide in perfect love
• We cannot properly love without His love dwelling in us.