Word of God (Bible study)

A WORD ON THE LOVE OF GOD AND WHAT IT MEANS TO LOVE HIM

John 14:23
"Jesus answered and said to him, 'IF anyone LOVES ME, he WILL keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."

John 15:7-11
"IF you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you: abide in My Love. IF you keep My commandments, you will abide in My Love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His Love."

A small yet very telling word is found in these scriptures. That small yet crucial word is the word "IF".... "IF anyone loves Me".. "IF you abide in Me"... "IF you keep My commandments"... Love is so much more than a FEELING, love is a CHOICE, love is an ACTION. God didnt just SAY He loved us, He showed it, He proved it. "For God SO LOVED the world  He GAVE" (John 3:16)  one of many other verses that comes to mind is Romans 5:8 "but God DEMONSTRATES His own love for us in this: while we were STILL sinners, Christ died for us."

And this goes with any type of relationship. For example: how can I say I love you if I don't take your feelings into consideration or even care about what you say? Another example: Have you ever loved someone so much or thought so highly of them that you always did what you could to not disappoint them and honor their wishes? Maybe a grandparent, your mom or your dad? It's the same thing with God, but on a deeper level, if we can wrap our heads around that. The love we claim to have for God, as scripture points out here, is something that we show and prove with our actions, not just with our words.

"These people honor Me with their lips but their hearts are far from Me." (Matthew 15:8) Words and statements not supported by actions amd just empty words. Like the old saying, "actions speak louder than words." The genuine relationship we have with God leads to a heart change, and from that Born-Again heart comes a change to the things we desire. It goes from an "I can't do certain things because I'm not allowed to" to a "I no longer desire to do those things." The desire of our hearts is now to please God, and not our own flesh.

That's also what "you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. By THIS My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit." God is glorified by the change of heart in us. Thats one of the fruits that is talked about. Scripture says in Ezekiel 36:26 "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." Empty religion and church rules of "do's and don'ts" wont produce this change. Only a genuine personal relationship and encounter with Jesus Christ does that. It's not just FEAR that MAKES US stop doing certain things, its LOVE, OUR LOVE FOR GOD, that takes away the desire to do the things we shouldn't do  and replaces it with the desire to do what pleases God. And that LOVE produces reverence for a Holy God.

Let US TALK ABOUT His love and let us WALK ABOUT in His love, so that others may see what God's Love and a LOVE FOR GOD can do, so that our Father in Heaven may be glorified.

God bless you and keep you always!!
BE BLESSED,  BE ENCOURAGED, BE CHANGED!!