Marks of Love

The one who has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. And the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father. I also will love him and will reveal Myself to him.”

John 14:21 (HCSB)

 Our love for God is demonstrated in our obedience.  Henry Blackaby writes, "(some claim) I love God, but I'm having difficulty obeying Him in some areas of my life.  That is a spiritual impossibility."  If we love God we will obey Him.  Genuine love will produce obedience.

The question for every Christ follower is do I really love God?  Is it demonstrated in my actions.

Satisfied

God, You are my God; I eagerly seek You. I thirst for You; my body faints for You in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.
2So I gaze on You in the sanctuary to see Your strength and Your glory.

Psalms 63:1-2 (HCSB)

Are you satisfied with Jesus? The Psalmist describes God as the one he seeks, who satisfies and nourishes him. He is like the water that springs up in a dry and desolate land and He is the only supply of water. When we are thirsty we seek something to quench the thirst. Jesus quenches are spiritual thirst. Many are searching for the well of refreshing. They are looking for something to satisfy the longings of their heart. There are things only God can satisfy.

Fortunately, for us we have seen Jesus. We have gazed into the sanctuary to see Him in His strength and glory. We recognize Him for who He is and we have accepted the gift of His salvation. Isn't it wonderful to have the one that satisfies the longing of our hearts. Jesus does satisfy!

Love God

He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important commandment. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

Matt 22:37-39 (HCSB)

If Jesus said it, is there any doubt? No not really. Jesus said love the Lord but He qualified that love. If asked we would say, "Oh absolutely, I love the Lord!" But do we really love Him the way Jesus instructs. We sometimes think that love for God means we try to "be good" or we go to church. We make every effort to "not cuss or chew or go with girls who do!" But is that really the measure of our love? No, Jesus says the measure is our hearts, soul and mind. Basically it is this do we put all that we are into loving Him? Do we hold some things back? Is there some of us that we keep in reserve? Jesus says, "give it all." Hold nothing back and love God with all your being. Then you are really loving God.

Who do you really love?

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.

1 John 2:15 (NLT)

Who do you love? No really, who do you love? Not who do you say you love but who does the evidence say you love? See we say we love God but the actions of our life sometimes tell a different story. The old adage that actions speak louder than words really is true. When we love the world or the things the world offers more than we love Jesus we have shown the heart of the matter. Sure we love God but sometimes the world slides into that 1st place slot in our lives. We need to be careful that God remains our passion because the world and all it has to offer sometimes can be pretty alluring.