An Ocean of Love
Matthew chapter 22 verses 37-40.
Jesus replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second most important is similar: Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets stem from these two laws and are fulfilled if you obey them. Keep only these and you will find that you are obeying all the others."
When you follow the directions, everything comes together. In order for something to take place there has to be a plan. You may not have thought that you were following a plan but maybe what you are doing has become such a routine that you don't even notice the things you do anymore. For example tying a shoe lace or putting the lights up on the Christmas tree. In order for the perfect outcome you have to follow certain steps.
In 2 Chronicles chapter 20 King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah were facing insurmountable odds. Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon one of them and he spoke these words, "The Lord says, Do not be afraid! Don't be paralyzed by this mighty army! For the battle is not yours, but God's! Tomorrow go down and attack them!
Verse 20 says, "Believe in the Lord your God and you shall have success! Believe His prophets, and everything will be alright!" God did do as He had promised and He can do the same for you. You may think that there is no hope, but there is and by having a little faith in God, you will find Him waiting to help.
God destroyed the armies that wanted to attack King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah, leaving them thankful. Verse 26 says, "And how they praised the Lord!" Our worries and anxieties can attack us and consume our life, leaving us exhausted, overwhelmed and depressed.
1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 30 says "It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God---that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption." My readings this morning talked about wisdom. We can gain wisdom, but is it the wisdom from God? Our wisdom from God is first forgiveness and then love. No matter who the people are. We don't have to physically tell people that we love them but we can pray for them.
In Luke chapter 6 Jesus tells us, "Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for the happiness of those who curse you; implore God's blessings on those who hurt you. Treat others as you want them to treat you." Sometimes it's not easy to live up to these expectations, but once you are aware of Jesus' request and with a reminder from the Holy Spirit, you will try to live a life that is pleasing to God.
And it is in your trying that you see the love of God come through. You are the miracle that Jesus has given life to. Your old ways are past, everything has become new. And it astonishes you to the point of having overwhelming love for God. The thing to remember about God is that His love for you is never failing.
So when things are not going the way you want them to, don't start taking matters into your own hands. Pray to God. Praise Him for who He is and for each day you have with Him. Talk to Him about your troubles and ask Him for His protection. It is in your joy for Him that you stand out as His. Confident and wise in the steps you take, knowing that no matter what happens, you are trusting Him.
Fear can grip us, grabbing our anxieties, and playing havoc with worries. God tells us and shows us through Jesus that no matter how tough the way gets, no matter how hard our suffering is, we are to rely upon Him and never lose sight of His love for us. He is our eternal home!
In 1 Samuel chapters 4 and 5 the Israelites have lost battles to the Philistines and decide to use the Ark of the Lord as a physical encouragement to help the Israelites win their next battle. The Philistines fought all that much harder and because the Israelites had wandered from their trust in God, they lost. God was not with them. The Philistines took the Ark to their temple and God brought plagues upon them. Dagon was the name of the god they worshiped. The people found it destroyed and as the rednecks would say, "Dagonit our god has been destroyed by the God of Israel"
If you have made a home with Jesus and worship God for His love, then never falter. Have patience, and know your home is with Him always. In Isaiah chapter 42 verses 8 and 9 God says through the prophet, "I am the Lord! That is my name, and I will not give My glory to anyone else; I will not share My praise with carved idols. Everything I prophesied came true, and now I will prophesy again. I will tell you the future before it happens."
You may have never thought that God would do anything for you, but He has. And not just once but everyday, all the time, He is with you. You never thought that this was possible but it has happened. You have this overwhelming joy inside you. In John 15, Jesus tells us, "I have told you this so that you will be filled with My joy. Yes, your cup of joy will overflow!"
It will be hard to control your emotions about your love for God. Some will understand and others are where you once were. Instead share your love. In Luke chapter 6 verse 38 Jesus says, "For if you give, you will get! Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. What ever measure you use to give---large or small---will be used to measure what is given back to you."
You are an ocean of love, given to you by God through Jesus and reflected through you by His Holy Spirit. The way you feel shows it and the way you act reflects the love Jesus has brought to you.
Thank You Father for Jesus. Thank You for Your love. I once was lost, but now I am found. 😊
1 Peter chapter 3 verse 15.
Quietly trust yourself to Christ your Lord and if anybody asks why you believe as you do, be ready to tell him, and do it in a gentle and respectful way.
1 Corinthians chapter 13 verses 4-6.
Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly notice when others do it wrong. It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out.
1 John chapter 3 verse 18.
Little children, let us stop just saying we love people; let us really love them and show it by our actions.
Ephesians chapter 3 verses 17-20.
And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in Him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love; and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God's children should, how long, how wide, how deep and how high His love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God Himself. Now glory be to God who by His mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or dream of---infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires thoughts, or hopes. May He be given glory forever and ever through endless ages because of His master plan of salvation for the church through Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 18-21.
All these new things are from God who brought us back to Himself through what Christ Jesus did. And God has given us the privilege of urging everyone to come into His favor and be reconciled to Him. For God was in Christ, restoring the world to Himself, no longer counting men's sins against them but blotting them out. This is the wonderful message He has given us to tell others. We are Christ's ambassadors. God is using us to speak to you; we beg you, as though Christ Himself were here pleading with you, receive the love He offers you---be reconciled to God. For God took the sinless Christ and poured into Him our sins. Then, in exchange, He poured God's goodness into us!
Acts chapter 17 verses 27and 28.
His purpose in all this is that they should seek after God, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him---though He is not far from any one of us. For in Him we live and move and are!
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