This message today comes from the past year of trials, joys, and expectation of God having His way in the lives of His people. I am have read many books: The Gospels; The Epistles; The Peacemaker by Ken Sande; Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness by Jerry Cook; Crazy Love by Francis Chan; Agape Leadership by Peterson & Strauch. Through all of this, God has always drawn me back to His profound mercy, grace, and love through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of His Son Christ Jesus. There is no greater joy in life than knowing Christ Jesus, there is no greater joy then serving Jesus and the joy of the Lord is more present today as you and I have grown in our love relationship with God in heaven and with each other. I have learned that loving others is the easiest thing to do, because I have final found how easy it is to accept who God says I am. As we grow in and through God’s wonderful life bringing Word; I would like to pose a question John Piper posed in His book “God Is the Gospel.”
“If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw. All the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied in heaven, if Jesus was not there.” The two main scriptures for the message this morning is: Mark 12:29-31 29 Jesus replied, "The most important commandment is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.' 31 The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these." Galatians 5:13-14 13 For you have been called to live in freedom — not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Our greatest freedom in this life is the freedom God gives us through Jesus by the power of His Holy Spirit to Love Him and to love others as we love ourselves. The Scriptural love I am referring to throughout this message is “agape.” There is so much joy in living life with love as the guiding principle. When love is the major focus of our lives, we are compelled to freedom which brings more love, which bring greater freedom … what a “Crazy Love” cycle life becomes. The greatest love in life is Jesus, and when His love fills our lives there is no greater joy in living to love other. Paul also write in Galatians 5:6 For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, it makes no difference to God whether we are circumcised or not circumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love. Love is the greatest action Christians are called too. Through love there is never a burden of serving, there is only a burden for serving that is serving God first and foremost as we learn more about God’s perspective on life. Like King David expressed in Psalms 63:1-5 1 O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. 2 I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory. 3 Your unfailing love is better to me than life itself; how I praise you! 4 I will honor you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. 5 You satisfy me more than the richest of foods. I will praise you with songs of joy. Freedom, in Christ Jesus, does not bring to our lives the pressure to love but the joy and the peace to love. This has given new light to the Scriptures found in James James 2:17 So you see, it isn't enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn't show itself by good deeds is no faith at all — it is dead and useless. Perhaps the greatest deed of all is our purposeful love for Christ, and others; that is our “agape.” Always remember that the life we live is not our life it belongs to Christ who paid for it through his body and blood given on the cross at Calvary. When we find ourselves lacking in love, we are not to try harder to love as Francis Chan points out we are to let Jesus in Revelation 3:20 "Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends. James also pointed out after his admonishing us to actively live out our faith James 4:8a Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you…. Jesus came to save us from Hell and He also came that our lives might be full today John 10:10 The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness. Life today is to be full and the fact is we all need God to help us love God and others. Leaning on Jesus, living in Christ is how agape is manifested in our lives. Agape brings into our lives praise and worship of the one who loved us first. Psalm 28:7The LORD is my strength, my shield from every danger. I trust in him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. Psalm 16:11 You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. “If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw. All the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied in heaven, if Jesus was not there.” There is no greater joy in life than experiencing the love God has for us through His Son and the forever presence of His Holy Spirit. I am not interested in painting a lop-sided picture just as the Psalms proclaim life to its fullest, so they proclaim a life of struggles and trials as well. Psalm 39:12 Hear my prayer, O LORD! Listen to my cries for help! Don't ignore my tears. For I am your guest – a traveler passing through, as my ancestors were before me. Jesus even told us how life was going to be with Him John 16:33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." Life is not perfect; then when people are introduced into the mix life gets really complicated. Loving others is difficult and yet Jesus tells us He has overcome the world. This gives us great joy, to take heart, keep on, fight the good fight, pray without ceasing, and never grow weary. What does this look like in our lives? Loving God as Jesus commanded is always remembering who God is, those names He gave us of Himself: Abba Father; Everlasting; your Creator; our Life; the Light; Love; Most High; Most Holy…. Loving God as Jesus commanded is obediently living as He shows us where He is working. Loving God as Jesus commanded is praising and worshipping Him in all things. When we continually recognize who God is; be obedient to His working, and praise and worship Him, He then is given the proper place in our lives FIRSTNESS, because nothing else will matter. Like Jesus said Luke 9:23-24 23 Then he said to the crowd, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me. 24 If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. Loving others is different; we become the givers, regardless of what we receive. There are many examples given to us describing what loving others looks like. Here is one example in the Scriptures that shows what it looks like to love others Philippians 2:1-4 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and sympathetic? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one heart and purpose. 3 Don't be selfish; don't live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. 4 Don't think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing. Throughout the past several years, peacemaking has become foundational in promoting healthy relationship with others. One of the concepts of Peacemaking is that conflict is an opportunity to see God glorified. When we are loving others, that is being peacemakers not peace-breakers or even peace-fakers is when we are the most like Christ Jesus our Lord. Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. There is nothing better than giving up everything and stepping into a passionate love relationship with Christ Jesus. Jesus is the one who made the universe, all that is seen, you and me. Through His living in us, loving us; that is when we are able to love others and then build relationships that will bring glory to God in heaven. There is no greater life of joy than loving God, and loving others.
1 Comment
Danielle
4/1/2020 07:41:40 am
I could not have all those things if Jesus was not there. For in him I have all those things in me but without him I do not know how to have those things.
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AuthorDean Walker; Pastor Archives
January 2023
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