Our love for God is grounded in His love for us.
Elisha was ‘the man of God’ (2 Kings 6:6, 9, 15). This was the
important thing about him. More than anything else, he was ‘the man of
God’. We find the same phrase in 1 Timothy 6:11 - ‘But as for you, man
of God,… aim at righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness,
gentleness’. We are to be people who put first things first. There is
nothing more important than this: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your
mind’. Does this seem too heavenly-minded? Jesus also says, ‘Love your
neighbour as you love yourself’ (Luke 10:27). We are not to be
super-spiritual. We are to be spiritually natural and naturally
spiritual. Let there be no conflict between loving God and loving our
neighbour. Christ is our Lord. We serve others for His sake (2
Corinthians 4:5).
‘Praise the Lord’ (Psalm 103:1-2, 20-22). Let’s
praise Him for His ‘steadfast love’. He is ‘abounding in steadfast love’
(Psalm 103:8). How are we to respond to His ‘steadfast love’? Are we to
say, ‘God loves me. I can do what I like’? No! We must not think like
this. We’re not to say, ‘I’ll keep on sinning. God will keep on
forgiving’ (Romans 6:1-2). God’s Word tells us something very different.
Loved by God, we learn to love Him. When God’s ‘steadfast love’has
really touched our hearts, it changes our lives. This is the great
change which the Psalmist has in mind when he writes, ‘As the heavens
are high above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those
who fear Him... The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to
everlasting upon those who fear Him’ (Psalm 103:11, 17). Let’s thank God
for His love - and live to please Him!
Listening to the Word of God and obeying the Word of God
In Genesis 3:1, we read of ‘the serpent’. Here he is again - ‘that
ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan’. He is a powerful enemy. He
‘leads the whole world astray’. He is a determined enemy. ‘Day and
night’, he is busy, accusing God’s children. He is a defeated enemy.
‘They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb...’ This is not only
Christ’s victory over Satan. This is our victory in Christ, the victory
Christ has won for us. Why is Satan so busy? It’s because ‘he knows his
time is short’ (Revelation 12:9-12). How are we to take our stand
against Satan? We must listen to the Word of God: ‘He who has an ear,
let him hear’. We must obey the Word of God: ‘This calls for patient
endurance and faithfulness...’ (Revelation 13:9). Christ has won the
victory for us. Let us claim His victory by faith.
Let there be love shared among us.
From Jesus’ reply to the question: ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven?’ (Matthew 18:1), we learn much about the valued place
children are to have among us. Our attitude to children is to be marked
by humility, respect, responsibility and - above all - love. (a)
humility: We teach the children. We can learn from them (Matthew
18:2-4). (b) respect: Physically, we may look down on them. Spiritually,
we must ‘not look down’on them (Matthew 18:10). They are to be highly
valued. (c) responsibility: What kind of influence do we have on the
children? - This is a question of the greatest importance (Matthew
18:6). (d) love: Our ‘Father in heaven’loves the children (Matthew
18:14). The kind of welcome we give to children shows the kind of
welcome we give to ‘Jesus’ who ‘loves the little children’ (Matthew
18:5). May God help us not to fail the rising generation.
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