Loving The Lord our God and our Neighbors
Eric
Summers
We want people to show an interest in us and to do things for us. We want people to help us when we have problems and to rejoice with us when we have success. We want people to respect us and show to us that we have great value. We want people to spend time with us and to interact with us and to love us.
Our God also wants for us to pay attention to Him and to love, appreciate and respect Him. He wants us to lift up our prayers to Him and He wants to give spiritual gifts to us to show His loving kindness to us. Let's attempt to understand how to apply the following verses to pleasing God by loving Him:
Old Testament Deuteronomy 6:4-5 Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one. And thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength.
New Testament Jesus: Mark 12:29-31 Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is One: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. The second is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Here is my opinion regarding the human attributes mentioned in this verse:
Heart: this is where your life is controlled. It is where your decision making resides and provides the opportunity to communicate with God. It is an interaction between your body, soul and spirit.
Soul: this is the immaterial part of you as a person. It includes your mind and the memories that you have. Your hurts and your successes are somehow stored within your soul.
Mind: this is where you learn, think, reason and remember things. It is an interaction between your soul and your brain.
Strength: This is our physical strength and mental energy. We can show our love for God by keeping our mind and our bodies under control. We should avoid sin by controlling the passions that we sometimes have within our bodies. We should present our body, soul, spirit, mind and heart to God for His service.
God speaks
God wants to speak to you. Learn how to listen to His still small voice: I Kings 19:11-12 And He said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before Jehovah. And, behold, Jehovah passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before Jehovah; but Jehovah was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but Jehovah was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but Jehovah was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small Voice.
Read First Kings to understand the great miracles that Elijah the prophet accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit. God used Elijah to accomplish His will in the earth and for the nation of Israel. In the above verses God shows His power and His sensitivity to Elijah. God wanted a more personal relationship with Elijah and He showed Elijah how He would accomplish it: through a Voice that spoke very gently to him.
I believe that this still small voice is how God wants to interact with us today. He wants to speak lovingly to us and He does this through the Holy Scripture and through the Holy Spirit. We should speak lovingly back to Him through our prayers, praise, and thanksgiving. We should lift up our needs to Him and ask Him for things that will help us be more faithful to Him. God wants us to volunteer to reach out to Him and to love Him.
Here is how to listen: God speaks very softly and gently to us--He does not overpower us. If there is interference, we will not be able to hear what He has to say to us. We must say no to committing sin. We must next open our hearts to Him. We do this by studying the Holy Bible and by prayer and praise for Him and by accomplishing any good works that He prepares for us to accomplish. Do these things and you will be better able to hear His still small voice.
Sin in our lives is like being next to a waterfall. If God speaks softly to us, it will be almost impossible to hear what He is saying -- our sin can overpower the spiritual side of our lives. If we move far from the waterfall, we will have no trouble hearing what He says to us. If we confess our sins to God and distance ourselves from them, we can then hear the gentle voice of God lovingly speak to us.
Our Heavenly Father. I thank You that You allow me to speak to You at this time. I thank You that You have called me to be one of Your servants and I appreciate You opening the door to Heaven to You through the Holy Spirit because of the righteous acts of Jesus suffering, dying on the cross, having His blood cleanse me from all unrighteousness and rising again after three days from Sheol. I thank You for the many blessings that You have bestowed upon me: the Holy Bible and the Holy Spirit, good health, a place to live, food to eat, vehicles for transportation, money to pay my bills and even vacations. I especially thank You for the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life gently directing me to be righteous and the Holy Bible to hear Your voice and to show me how to really live. I thank You for the trials that are placed in my path; You help me to overcome any difficulties that may arise.
I recognize that You are the Creator of everything: of Heaven and Earth. You have placed the trees, bushes, flowers, grass and other things on the earth. You have placed the creatures in the seas and rivers, the birds in the air and the animals in the jungles, mountains and plains. You have created the countless galaxies each with billions of stars and have stretched out the heavens to put them in their proper place; You have named all the stars. How magnificent is Your creation. Your fingerprints are all over creation; blessed is Your name.
I now confess my sins to You. I fail you daily and appreciate Your forgiveness. I also forgive the sins of those people that have wronged me and made me feel bad. I pray that you will help me to be more faithful today and to accomplish whatever good works that You present before me. I can only be successful in being faithful by Your presence in my life.
Looking at my backyard I see the magnificent trees that You have created and put in place for my enjoyment. I see the squirrels that are running up and down the trees and are picking up and storing hickory nuts for future meals. Thank You.
Glorious is Your name. I cannot see you yet, but I know in my heart Your beauty: shining with Your holy glory. I long to see You when I am taken to Heaven. I long to sing songs of praise to You that describe all the great things You have accomplished and are doing and to sing about Your holiness and righteousness. I am looking forward to being completely holy and righteous in my body, soul and spirit. I thank You that You will see to it that my currently sinful nature will be completely removed.
I pray this prayer through Jesus Christ my Lord, Savior and King. Amen.
God talks back to us. I have recently been studying the Book of Luke. The Savior, Jesus, tells us many things that we should do and sins that we should avoid. He shows us how to live a righteous life by His example and His commands and encouragement.
God has given His people the Holy Bible to show us salvation and the discipleship He expects us to accomplish. He does not ever change; He is the same today as He was in the time of Abraham, Moses, Daniel, David, the time Jesus walked the earth and during the time of the early church; He is the same as during the middle ages and today. His message is the same: He loves us and expects us to love Him and the people in our lives and He expects us to avoid sin and obey Him. By studying the Holy Bible, we are interacting with Him and trying to understand what He wants for us. We respect Him and are showing love for Him by studying the Holy Scripture. A life of obeying the Holy Bible demonstrates that we Love God and this study must be in-depth. In my opinion reading a few verses during a weekly Sunday school class is not enough. We should study several chapters of the Holy Bible each day.
Recognize that God is the creator of the Universe and the Creator of Mankind
Revelation 4:11 Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power: for Thou did create all things, and because of Thy will they were created.
We are constantly bombarded from the media with the idea that the sun, the moon, the earth, the planets, all the stars and galaxies of the Universe evolved from a "big bang" from a single point that contained all of the mass of the Universe. The astronomers say that this gigantic explosion took place over 13 billion years ago. They say that the elements such as carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, iron and other elements that are necessary for life came from exploding stars in the vicinity of the solar system. These elements were eventually formed into planets, including the earth. We are even told that the elements in our bodies came from exploding stars and hence our bodies are composed of "star stuff".
The Holy Bible tells us in the early chapters of the Book of Genesis that Almighty God spoke the sun, the moon, the stars and the earth into existence. The Bible tells us that Almighty God spoke and all life in the sea, in the air, on the land, including mankind was created. We should recognize and give thanks to God for such a wonderful creation that within six days He simply spoke everything into existence.
We are constantly told from the media that mankind evolved from apes. Before that the apes evolved from simple life forms. Back to the origins of life: all life evolved from microbial forms of life. Thus, mankind has evolved from a long chain of events back to pond scum.
We should recognize that Almighty God created mankind on the sixth day of creation. We should give thanks to Him for His brilliance and His plan for mankind: through faith in Jesus Christ we can live forever and be with Him to serve Him forever. In my opinion, it takes much more faith to believe in the Big Bang and Evolution than to believe that Almighty God is the Creator of everything.
Find a picture of a beautiful spiral galaxy and enjoy it. Then give thanks to God for His creation of it and how you appreciate it. Let Him know how brilliant that He is in speaking the galaxy into existence and then placing it in deep space for your enjoyment.
Respect for God's Name
Remember the third commandment:
Exodus 20:3 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
This is one of the most violated of the Ten Commandments. You hear the name of our God spoken disrespectfully in movies, in songs, in TV programs, in sports and you sometimes hear it used as a swear word on talk shows and when shopping and even at work.
What we should do regarding the name of God is to lift His name up and bestow the highest honor upon it by only speaking His name with the highest respect. We should remember that His name is a name above all names and that He deserves to have His name remembered and spoken of very reverently.
Enoch
Before the great flood described in Genesis there is little love and faith demonstrated by mankind. Most of the early part of the Book of Genesis just stated "who begat who." When we come to the person of Enoch, the Bible describes a man that would open his life up to God:
Genesis 5:18-24 And Jared lived a hundred sixty and two years, and begat Enoch: and Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: and Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 23 and all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: and Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
We are not told in these verses what this walk between God and Enoch was all about. We are not told the conversation between the two; we are only told that there was something special that happened when God and Enoch had a genuine fellowship and spent time together. This perhaps included a literal walk. God would meet with Enoch and they would have a conversation: this built the relationship between the two. I believe that Enoch loved God because he would slow down and attempt to understand what God was all about because Enoch saw the goodness, holiness and purity of God. Enoch saw that God continued to encourage him to avoid evil and to do good works that perhaps helped other people. God told Enoch that He loved him and Enoch told God that he loved Him and greatly appreciated His presence in his life. After some time having this walk, God decided to take Enoch out of this world. Enoch is one of only two people mentioned in the Holy Bible that did not die; the other is Elijah. I believe that God took Enoch to Heaven to be with Him and to serve Him. We are not told, but perhaps Enoch is the first human to receive an eternal sinless and perfect body.
My walk is to spend time in fellowship with God, and it is part of my daily life. I will be mowing the lawn and I sense the presence of God there. I will just give Him thanks for His presence and then allow thoughts about the great things God has already accomplished to be in my mind. I will sometimes wake up during the night and at those times I will lift up praise to Him and give thanks to Him for His presence in my life.
Lord, thank you for being with me while I am mowing my yard. I praise You because You are holy and pure. I trust You because You are perfectly reliable and always accomplish what You say you will do. My life is lifted up because of Your presence with me. Thank You for being my God.
Lord, in various astronomy books I see pictures of distant galaxies and star clusters in the Milky Way galaxy and I thank You for Your creativity. You have stretched out the Heavens and placed each of the heavenly bodies in the exact place they should be and You have named each star. Thank You for allowing me to see some of Your creation and to appreciate what you have created for me and others. You are the Great Architect of all that exists. Praise be unto Your Name forever, Amen.
What about your Neighbor?
We are commanded by God to love our neighbors:
Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am Jehovah.
Who are your neighbors? I'll give you my opinion: it's the neighbors that live around where you live. It's the people that you work with. It's your relatives: your spouse if married, your children, your grandchildren, your parents, your grandparents, your aunts, uncles and cousins. It's all those people you come in contact with.
Your neighbors are especially those in your church. You may see them in Bible studies, in worship services and while doing some ministry within your church. You may have them over to your house for a dinner and perhaps to spend some time together. You should listen to them when they have problems and you should rejoice with them when they have success. You should regularly pray for them and ask God to help them with their problems and concerns.
Your neighbors are also those that may not be very friendly towards you; even those that might insult you. Remember what Jesus said:
Luke 6: 27-35 But I say unto you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you. To him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and from him that taketh away thy cloak withhold not thy coat also. Give to every one that asketh thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. And if ye love them that love you, what thank have ye? For even sinners love those that love them. And if ye do good to them that do good to you, what thank have ye? For even sinners do the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive again as much. But love your enemies, and do them good, and lend, never despairing; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High: for He is kind toward the unthankful and evil.
Kind of difficult to obey these verses, isn't it? However, note that Jesus will be very pleased with you if you love and pray for your enemies.
My Heavenly Father, I was driving to the store to pick up a few items and another driver tailgated my car and was impatient because I drove the speed limit. I pray that you help him and bless him according to Your will. Through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.
Draw near to God
James 4:8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners! And purify your hearts, double minded ones.
The scripture cannot lie. If you confess your sins (I John 1:9) and turn from them, and pray, praise and fellowship with God He will draw close to you and will fellowship with you. You just need to reach up to Him in faith. At this moment, re-read the above verse and then offer a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God.
What about suffering?
It is my opinion that many Christians suffer needlessly. God wants to fellowship with us and we should take the initiative in the relationship. If we avoid prayer and fellowship and then sin, He might just put us on our backs through physical or emotional pain. We will then look up from our bed of affliction and then lift up our prayers to ask Him to relieve our suffering and many times He just does relieve us of our pain. Now God has a plan for each of His servants and pain might be part of that plan. It is my opinion that if we love and fellowship with and serve God I believe that we will have less suffering and less pain in our lives. I believe that instead of pain, this fellowship with God will result in:
Galatians 5:22-23 But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.
Do you blame God for something?
I have heard from some Christians: Why did He let my wife get cancer? Why did He allow all those people in Africa die of hunger because their crops failed? Why did he allow me to lose my job? Why did He allow my daughter to get hooked on drugs?
We are not told the plan that God has for our lives. We don't always understand why there is mental, emotional or physical suffering we might be going through. However, Almighty God is infinitely wise and He knows exactly what events need to take place in our lives.
We should not complain about any kind of suffering we might experience or see happening in the world. During our trial we should lift up prayers to God for His help in overcoming any of our difficulties. During these times we should give thanks for His presence in our lives and praise Him for being so good to us.
God has already designed a plan for each of His followers:
Proverbs 16:9 A man's heart devises his way; But Jehovah directs his steps.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Let's don't complain and blame God for our difficulties. He knows what is best for you. Try to understand each day God's plan for you.
What if
you don't love God and don't love your
neighbor?
There are serious consequences for a Christian that does not love God and does not love his neighbor. The Church at Ephesus of the first century is an example for Christians of today. It sinned greatly because it failed in continuing to love God and its members and its neighbors:
Revelation 2:1-7 To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, He that walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks: I know thy works, and thy toil and patience, and that thou canst not bear evil men, and didst try them that call themselves apostles, and they are not, and didst find them false; and thou hast patience and didst bear for My names sake, and hast not grown weary. But I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love. Remember therefore whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.
Note that the works of the Church in Ephesus were good: they worked faithfully for God and would not allow evil men in their midst and had great patience and did not fail. However, note that they left their first love: this is love of God and love of their fellow Christians and their neighbors. Jesus warns them that they need to return to loving God and their neighbors and members. If they did not do this, He told them that He would remove their candlestick from its place; this means that this church would cease to exist. It is my hope that the members of this church did repent and did listen to and heed what Jesus said to them.
Note that the following verses describe the judgment of the works of Christians:
I Corinthians 1:10-15 According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if any man buildeth on the Foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; each mans work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself shall prove each mans work of what sort it is. If any man's work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire.
Gold, silver, precious stones. They include the fellowship between God and a believer and the fellowship between a Christian and his neighbors and all good works that a faithful Christian will produce in their lives..
Wood. These are the most serious sins that a Christian can commit. In my opinion the worst sin is to not obey the Love Your God and Love your neighbor commandments mentioned earlier. Because of not obeying these verses, a Christian will not have the fruit of the Spirit appear in their lives which include: love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness faithfulness, humility, and self control as mentioned in the Galatians verses above. Here is a warning from the Savior, Jesus about not obeying the two great love commandments:
John 15: 1-6 I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the Vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
Jesus expects for His disciples to bear fruit which is the Fruit of the Spirit as mentioned in Galatians. This fruit comes as a result of loving God and obeying Him and loving your neighbor. The Christian that does not bear fruit as commanded by Jesus is the branch that Jesus removes from His vine. I believe that this is the wood mentioned in the I Corinthians verses given above. At judgment time, the unfaithful Christian will be cast into the Lake of Fire and their "wood" will burn longer than the hay and stubble mentioned in the I Corinthian verses and will make the fire of judgment even hotter.
The unfaithful Christian will also not show an interest in the welfare of the people that they come across during their lifetime. This will include not honoring their father and mother and not forgiving the sins of others that have been committed against them. A Christian that puts anything or anyone ahead of God is also building works of wood. This could include worshiping false gods such as the love of money and acquiring money, power and fame.
Hay and Stubble. There are other sins covered in the Ten Commandments that a Christian can commit. These other sins will also include pride and being self-centered, gossiping and complaining. All of these sins will be removed from an unfaithful Christian's life during their time spent in the Lake of Fire. These sins could also include watching too much TV and displaying sinful information such as pornography on the Internet. Many of the stories in movies, in DVDs, on the TV and web pages on the Internet are sinful and contain little or no wisdom.
Christians of today should evaluate to see if they are indeed loving God and their neighbors. Are you treating our God with the utmost respect and love and spending time with Him praying to Him? Are you lifting up your needs and concerns to Him, praising Him and giving thanks for His direction in your life? Are you telling Him that you appreciate and love Him? Are you paying attention to and praying for your fellow church members and anyone else that God places in your life? Are you showing love for the lost people you know about in your neighborhood and in your church and in the world?
Love Covers our sin
I Peter 4:7 -97 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto prayer: above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves; for love covereth a multitude of sins: using hospitality one to another without murmuring.
God expects us to be righteous and holy, avoid evil and do good works that glorify Him. This verses does not say that we have a license to sin. It does say that if we love our church members, that this love wipes away our sin. It is my opinion that if we obey the love commandments that we will sin less and thus please our God. When we love our fellow church members our sins will somehow be covered over from being seen by our God. He will remove these sins from our lives.
You can possibly commit other sins spoken of in the Holy Bible. However, not loving God and not loving your neighbor are the worst sins that can be committed. If you love someone, won't you pay attention to them and let them know that they have great value and are appreciated by you? If you love God and pay attention to Him, He will show additional love and kindness to you.
Keeping Christ's Commandments
Because of your love for Jesus, you will keep His commandments:
John 14:15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
These commandments are everything that Jesus spoke that are given in the four Gospels. He expects more of His disciples than obeying the Ten Commandments. He expects us to cut off sin before it even happens. These are sins that originate in our minds:
Matthew 5:27-28 Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I say unto you, that every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
If a man sees a woman that could possibly cause lust in his heart, he should quickly turn away and to ask God to help him refrain from any lust. If he does this, God will help him and God will be pleased with this discipline that he shows.
Leviticus 5:9-10 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them (false gods), nor serve them; for I, Jehovah, thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing loving kindness unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments.
Worshiping false gods is showing disrespect for our God and hence you don't love God if you commit this sin. If you are faithful to God, He will show loving kindness to you. God spoke these verses and He means to fulfill them.
Love is most important
I Corinthians 13:1-13 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known. But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
Paul says that there are three extremely important actions that a follower of Christ can have: faith, hope and love. These are the actions that a Christian must have to please God. We must have all three qualities if we are to counted as Christ's most faithful followers. In my opinion to be counted as a member of the Bride of Christ, a Christian must have love for God the Father: Yahweh, God the Son: Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit of God and for other Christians and those people that come across your path during your lifetime: your neighbors.
Paul tells us that when Jesus Christ returns to the earth, establishes His Kingdom and becomes King of the world and rules over the earth for a thousand years, then things will change. Right now, Christians need faith to believe that whatever Jesus says in the Holy Bible will come true. We believe every word, every phrase, every paragraph, every book of the Holy Bible and we have hope that our faith will prove true during our time on the earth. We have great comfort in believing that Jesus will return and change us from being sinful human beings to becoming perfectly holy and righteous. Through any sufferings in our lives we have faith that Jesus will make all things perfect.
Now the great prize: love triumphs. This is the Godly love that He will give to all of His believers that ask Him. We will then fulfill the two great love commandments given to us in both the Old and New Testaments. We will serve God, praise Him and give thanks to Him forever. This worship is mentioned in:
Revelation 4:2-11 Straightway I was in the Spirit: and behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting upon the throne; and he that sat was to look upon like a jasper stone and a sardius: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, like an emerald to look upon. And round about the throne were four and twenty thrones: and upon the thrones I saw four and twenty elders sitting, arrayed in white garments; and on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceed lightnings and voices and thunders. And there was seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; and before the throne, as it were a sea of glass like a crystal; and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, four living creatures full of eyes before and behind. And the first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face as of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, having each one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and within: and they have no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come. And when the living creatures shall give glory and honor and thanks to him that sitteth on the throne, to him that liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders shall fall down before him that sitteth on the throne, and shall worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and shall cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power: for thou didst create all things, and because of thy will they were, and were created.
We will still have faith and hope, but they will be complete. We will know with certainty that when God says something will happen--it will happen exactly as He says. In eternity, we will be perfect in body, soul and spirit; we will worship and serve Him forever.
What about you?
If you are currently having fellowship with God and loving Him, then He is very pleased with you. If you are not currently having fellowship with Him and loving Him, then I suggest that you begin this fellowship with Him today. First get down on your knees and first confess your sins to Him and ask God to help you to say "no" to any temptations that might occur for you. Next give thanks for His presence in your life. Then praise Him for His many gifts He gives to you: these could include touching your soul with His love for you. Give thanks to Him for the righteous works that Jesus completed during His time on the earth: especially His suffering and dying on the cross and shedding His blood for the forgiveness of your sins and rising from the dead on the third day. Ask Him to direct your life. Show extra kindness to your neighbors and take an interest in them.
Then, continue with this fellowship the rest of your life. Discipleship is not just for one time, one day. It should be present in your life for the rest of your life. Open up your Bible daily and try to understand what God is saying to you. He will be very pleased with you if you obey His holy scripture.
We want people to show an interest in us and to do things for us. We want people to help us when we have problems and to rejoice with us when we have success. We want people to respect us and show to us that we have great value. We want people to spend time with us and to interact with us and to love us.
Our God also wants for us to pay attention to Him and to love, appreciate and respect Him. He wants us to lift up our prayers to Him and He wants to give spiritual gifts to us to show His loving kindness to us. Let's attempt to understand how to apply the following verses to pleasing God by loving Him:
Old Testament Deuteronomy 6:4-5 Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one. And thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength.
New Testament Jesus: Mark 12:29-31 Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is One: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. The second is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Here is my opinion regarding the human attributes mentioned in this verse:
Heart: this is where your life is controlled. It is where your decision making resides and provides the opportunity to communicate with God. It is an interaction between your body, soul and spirit.
Soul: this is the immaterial part of you as a person. It includes your mind and the memories that you have. Your hurts and your successes are somehow stored within your soul.
Mind: this is where you learn, think, reason and remember things. It is an interaction between your soul and your brain.
Strength: This is our physical strength and mental energy. We can show our love for God by keeping our mind and our bodies under control. We should avoid sin by controlling the passions that we sometimes have within our bodies. We should present our body, soul, spirit, mind and heart to God for His service.
God speaks
God wants to speak to you. Learn how to listen to His still small voice: I Kings 19:11-12 And He said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before Jehovah. And, behold, Jehovah passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before Jehovah; but Jehovah was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but Jehovah was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but Jehovah was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small Voice.
Read First Kings to understand the great miracles that Elijah the prophet accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit. God used Elijah to accomplish His will in the earth and for the nation of Israel. In the above verses God shows His power and His sensitivity to Elijah. God wanted a more personal relationship with Elijah and He showed Elijah how He would accomplish it: through a Voice that spoke very gently to him.
I believe that this still small voice is how God wants to interact with us today. He wants to speak lovingly to us and He does this through the Holy Scripture and through the Holy Spirit. We should speak lovingly back to Him through our prayers, praise, and thanksgiving. We should lift up our needs to Him and ask Him for things that will help us be more faithful to Him. God wants us to volunteer to reach out to Him and to love Him.
Here is how to listen: God speaks very softly and gently to us--He does not overpower us. If there is interference, we will not be able to hear what He has to say to us. We must say no to committing sin. We must next open our hearts to Him. We do this by studying the Holy Bible and by prayer and praise for Him and by accomplishing any good works that He prepares for us to accomplish. Do these things and you will be better able to hear His still small voice.
Sin in our lives is like being next to a waterfall. If God speaks softly to us, it will be almost impossible to hear what He is saying -- our sin can overpower the spiritual side of our lives. If we move far from the waterfall, we will have no trouble hearing what He says to us. If we confess our sins to God and distance ourselves from them, we can then hear the gentle voice of God lovingly speak to us.
Our Heavenly Father. I thank You that You allow me to speak to You at this time. I thank You that You have called me to be one of Your servants and I appreciate You opening the door to Heaven to You through the Holy Spirit because of the righteous acts of Jesus suffering, dying on the cross, having His blood cleanse me from all unrighteousness and rising again after three days from Sheol. I thank You for the many blessings that You have bestowed upon me: the Holy Bible and the Holy Spirit, good health, a place to live, food to eat, vehicles for transportation, money to pay my bills and even vacations. I especially thank You for the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life gently directing me to be righteous and the Holy Bible to hear Your voice and to show me how to really live. I thank You for the trials that are placed in my path; You help me to overcome any difficulties that may arise.
I recognize that You are the Creator of everything: of Heaven and Earth. You have placed the trees, bushes, flowers, grass and other things on the earth. You have placed the creatures in the seas and rivers, the birds in the air and the animals in the jungles, mountains and plains. You have created the countless galaxies each with billions of stars and have stretched out the heavens to put them in their proper place; You have named all the stars. How magnificent is Your creation. Your fingerprints are all over creation; blessed is Your name.
I now confess my sins to You. I fail you daily and appreciate Your forgiveness. I also forgive the sins of those people that have wronged me and made me feel bad. I pray that you will help me to be more faithful today and to accomplish whatever good works that You present before me. I can only be successful in being faithful by Your presence in my life.
Looking at my backyard I see the magnificent trees that You have created and put in place for my enjoyment. I see the squirrels that are running up and down the trees and are picking up and storing hickory nuts for future meals. Thank You.
Glorious is Your name. I cannot see you yet, but I know in my heart Your beauty: shining with Your holy glory. I long to see You when I am taken to Heaven. I long to sing songs of praise to You that describe all the great things You have accomplished and are doing and to sing about Your holiness and righteousness. I am looking forward to being completely holy and righteous in my body, soul and spirit. I thank You that You will see to it that my currently sinful nature will be completely removed.
I pray this prayer through Jesus Christ my Lord, Savior and King. Amen.
God talks back to us. I have recently been studying the Book of Luke. The Savior, Jesus, tells us many things that we should do and sins that we should avoid. He shows us how to live a righteous life by His example and His commands and encouragement.
God has given His people the Holy Bible to show us salvation and the discipleship He expects us to accomplish. He does not ever change; He is the same today as He was in the time of Abraham, Moses, Daniel, David, the time Jesus walked the earth and during the time of the early church; He is the same as during the middle ages and today. His message is the same: He loves us and expects us to love Him and the people in our lives and He expects us to avoid sin and obey Him. By studying the Holy Bible, we are interacting with Him and trying to understand what He wants for us. We respect Him and are showing love for Him by studying the Holy Scripture. A life of obeying the Holy Bible demonstrates that we Love God and this study must be in-depth. In my opinion reading a few verses during a weekly Sunday school class is not enough. We should study several chapters of the Holy Bible each day.
Recognize that God is the creator of the Universe and the Creator of Mankind
Revelation 4:11 Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power: for Thou did create all things, and because of Thy will they were created.
We are constantly bombarded from the media with the idea that the sun, the moon, the earth, the planets, all the stars and galaxies of the Universe evolved from a "big bang" from a single point that contained all of the mass of the Universe. The astronomers say that this gigantic explosion took place over 13 billion years ago. They say that the elements such as carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, iron and other elements that are necessary for life came from exploding stars in the vicinity of the solar system. These elements were eventually formed into planets, including the earth. We are even told that the elements in our bodies came from exploding stars and hence our bodies are composed of "star stuff".
The Holy Bible tells us in the early chapters of the Book of Genesis that Almighty God spoke the sun, the moon, the stars and the earth into existence. The Bible tells us that Almighty God spoke and all life in the sea, in the air, on the land, including mankind was created. We should recognize and give thanks to God for such a wonderful creation that within six days He simply spoke everything into existence.
We are constantly told from the media that mankind evolved from apes. Before that the apes evolved from simple life forms. Back to the origins of life: all life evolved from microbial forms of life. Thus, mankind has evolved from a long chain of events back to pond scum.
We should recognize that Almighty God created mankind on the sixth day of creation. We should give thanks to Him for His brilliance and His plan for mankind: through faith in Jesus Christ we can live forever and be with Him to serve Him forever. In my opinion, it takes much more faith to believe in the Big Bang and Evolution than to believe that Almighty God is the Creator of everything.
Find a picture of a beautiful spiral galaxy and enjoy it. Then give thanks to God for His creation of it and how you appreciate it. Let Him know how brilliant that He is in speaking the galaxy into existence and then placing it in deep space for your enjoyment.
Respect for God's Name
Remember the third commandment:
Exodus 20:3 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
This is one of the most violated of the Ten Commandments. You hear the name of our God spoken disrespectfully in movies, in songs, in TV programs, in sports and you sometimes hear it used as a swear word on talk shows and when shopping and even at work.
What we should do regarding the name of God is to lift His name up and bestow the highest honor upon it by only speaking His name with the highest respect. We should remember that His name is a name above all names and that He deserves to have His name remembered and spoken of very reverently.
Enoch
Before the great flood described in Genesis there is little love and faith demonstrated by mankind. Most of the early part of the Book of Genesis just stated "who begat who." When we come to the person of Enoch, the Bible describes a man that would open his life up to God:
Genesis 5:18-24 And Jared lived a hundred sixty and two years, and begat Enoch: and Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: and Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 23 and all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: and Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
We are not told in these verses what this walk between God and Enoch was all about. We are not told the conversation between the two; we are only told that there was something special that happened when God and Enoch had a genuine fellowship and spent time together. This perhaps included a literal walk. God would meet with Enoch and they would have a conversation: this built the relationship between the two. I believe that Enoch loved God because he would slow down and attempt to understand what God was all about because Enoch saw the goodness, holiness and purity of God. Enoch saw that God continued to encourage him to avoid evil and to do good works that perhaps helped other people. God told Enoch that He loved him and Enoch told God that he loved Him and greatly appreciated His presence in his life. After some time having this walk, God decided to take Enoch out of this world. Enoch is one of only two people mentioned in the Holy Bible that did not die; the other is Elijah. I believe that God took Enoch to Heaven to be with Him and to serve Him. We are not told, but perhaps Enoch is the first human to receive an eternal sinless and perfect body.
My walk is to spend time in fellowship with God, and it is part of my daily life. I will be mowing the lawn and I sense the presence of God there. I will just give Him thanks for His presence and then allow thoughts about the great things God has already accomplished to be in my mind. I will sometimes wake up during the night and at those times I will lift up praise to Him and give thanks to Him for His presence in my life.
Lord, thank you for being with me while I am mowing my yard. I praise You because You are holy and pure. I trust You because You are perfectly reliable and always accomplish what You say you will do. My life is lifted up because of Your presence with me. Thank You for being my God.
Lord, in various astronomy books I see pictures of distant galaxies and star clusters in the Milky Way galaxy and I thank You for Your creativity. You have stretched out the Heavens and placed each of the heavenly bodies in the exact place they should be and You have named each star. Thank You for allowing me to see some of Your creation and to appreciate what you have created for me and others. You are the Great Architect of all that exists. Praise be unto Your Name forever, Amen.
What about your Neighbor?
We are commanded by God to love our neighbors:
Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am Jehovah.
Who are your neighbors? I'll give you my opinion: it's the neighbors that live around where you live. It's the people that you work with. It's your relatives: your spouse if married, your children, your grandchildren, your parents, your grandparents, your aunts, uncles and cousins. It's all those people you come in contact with.
Your neighbors are especially those in your church. You may see them in Bible studies, in worship services and while doing some ministry within your church. You may have them over to your house for a dinner and perhaps to spend some time together. You should listen to them when they have problems and you should rejoice with them when they have success. You should regularly pray for them and ask God to help them with their problems and concerns.
Your neighbors are also those that may not be very friendly towards you; even those that might insult you. Remember what Jesus said:
Luke 6: 27-35 But I say unto you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you. To him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and from him that taketh away thy cloak withhold not thy coat also. Give to every one that asketh thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. And if ye love them that love you, what thank have ye? For even sinners love those that love them. And if ye do good to them that do good to you, what thank have ye? For even sinners do the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive again as much. But love your enemies, and do them good, and lend, never despairing; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High: for He is kind toward the unthankful and evil.
Kind of difficult to obey these verses, isn't it? However, note that Jesus will be very pleased with you if you love and pray for your enemies.
My Heavenly Father, I was driving to the store to pick up a few items and another driver tailgated my car and was impatient because I drove the speed limit. I pray that you help him and bless him according to Your will. Through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.
Draw near to God
James 4:8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners! And purify your hearts, double minded ones.
The scripture cannot lie. If you confess your sins (I John 1:9) and turn from them, and pray, praise and fellowship with God He will draw close to you and will fellowship with you. You just need to reach up to Him in faith. At this moment, re-read the above verse and then offer a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God.
What about suffering?
It is my opinion that many Christians suffer needlessly. God wants to fellowship with us and we should take the initiative in the relationship. If we avoid prayer and fellowship and then sin, He might just put us on our backs through physical or emotional pain. We will then look up from our bed of affliction and then lift up our prayers to ask Him to relieve our suffering and many times He just does relieve us of our pain. Now God has a plan for each of His servants and pain might be part of that plan. It is my opinion that if we love and fellowship with and serve God I believe that we will have less suffering and less pain in our lives. I believe that instead of pain, this fellowship with God will result in:
Galatians 5:22-23 But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.
Do you blame God for something?
I have heard from some Christians: Why did He let my wife get cancer? Why did He allow all those people in Africa die of hunger because their crops failed? Why did he allow me to lose my job? Why did He allow my daughter to get hooked on drugs?
We are not told the plan that God has for our lives. We don't always understand why there is mental, emotional or physical suffering we might be going through. However, Almighty God is infinitely wise and He knows exactly what events need to take place in our lives.
We should not complain about any kind of suffering we might experience or see happening in the world. During our trial we should lift up prayers to God for His help in overcoming any of our difficulties. During these times we should give thanks for His presence in our lives and praise Him for being so good to us.
God has already designed a plan for each of His followers:
Proverbs 16:9 A man's heart devises his way; But Jehovah directs his steps.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Let's don't complain and blame God for our difficulties. He knows what is best for you. Try to understand each day God's plan for you.
There are serious consequences for a Christian that does not love God and does not love his neighbor. The Church at Ephesus of the first century is an example for Christians of today. It sinned greatly because it failed in continuing to love God and its members and its neighbors:
Revelation 2:1-7 To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, He that walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks: I know thy works, and thy toil and patience, and that thou canst not bear evil men, and didst try them that call themselves apostles, and they are not, and didst find them false; and thou hast patience and didst bear for My names sake, and hast not grown weary. But I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love. Remember therefore whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.
Note that the works of the Church in Ephesus were good: they worked faithfully for God and would not allow evil men in their midst and had great patience and did not fail. However, note that they left their first love: this is love of God and love of their fellow Christians and their neighbors. Jesus warns them that they need to return to loving God and their neighbors and members. If they did not do this, He told them that He would remove their candlestick from its place; this means that this church would cease to exist. It is my hope that the members of this church did repent and did listen to and heed what Jesus said to them.
Note that the following verses describe the judgment of the works of Christians:
I Corinthians 1:10-15 According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if any man buildeth on the Foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; each mans work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself shall prove each mans work of what sort it is. If any man's work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire.
Gold, silver, precious stones. They include the fellowship between God and a believer and the fellowship between a Christian and his neighbors and all good works that a faithful Christian will produce in their lives..
Wood. These are the most serious sins that a Christian can commit. In my opinion the worst sin is to not obey the Love Your God and Love your neighbor commandments mentioned earlier. Because of not obeying these verses, a Christian will not have the fruit of the Spirit appear in their lives which include: love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness faithfulness, humility, and self control as mentioned in the Galatians verses above. Here is a warning from the Savior, Jesus about not obeying the two great love commandments:
John 15: 1-6 I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the Vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
Jesus expects for His disciples to bear fruit which is the Fruit of the Spirit as mentioned in Galatians. This fruit comes as a result of loving God and obeying Him and loving your neighbor. The Christian that does not bear fruit as commanded by Jesus is the branch that Jesus removes from His vine. I believe that this is the wood mentioned in the I Corinthians verses given above. At judgment time, the unfaithful Christian will be cast into the Lake of Fire and their "wood" will burn longer than the hay and stubble mentioned in the I Corinthian verses and will make the fire of judgment even hotter.
The unfaithful Christian will also not show an interest in the welfare of the people that they come across during their lifetime. This will include not honoring their father and mother and not forgiving the sins of others that have been committed against them. A Christian that puts anything or anyone ahead of God is also building works of wood. This could include worshiping false gods such as the love of money and acquiring money, power and fame.
Hay and Stubble. There are other sins covered in the Ten Commandments that a Christian can commit. These other sins will also include pride and being self-centered, gossiping and complaining. All of these sins will be removed from an unfaithful Christian's life during their time spent in the Lake of Fire. These sins could also include watching too much TV and displaying sinful information such as pornography on the Internet. Many of the stories in movies, in DVDs, on the TV and web pages on the Internet are sinful and contain little or no wisdom.
Christians of today should evaluate to see if they are indeed loving God and their neighbors. Are you treating our God with the utmost respect and love and spending time with Him praying to Him? Are you lifting up your needs and concerns to Him, praising Him and giving thanks for His direction in your life? Are you telling Him that you appreciate and love Him? Are you paying attention to and praying for your fellow church members and anyone else that God places in your life? Are you showing love for the lost people you know about in your neighborhood and in your church and in the world?
Love Covers our sin
I Peter 4:7 -97 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto prayer: above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves; for love covereth a multitude of sins: using hospitality one to another without murmuring.
God expects us to be righteous and holy, avoid evil and do good works that glorify Him. This verses does not say that we have a license to sin. It does say that if we love our church members, that this love wipes away our sin. It is my opinion that if we obey the love commandments that we will sin less and thus please our God. When we love our fellow church members our sins will somehow be covered over from being seen by our God. He will remove these sins from our lives.
You can possibly commit other sins spoken of in the Holy Bible. However, not loving God and not loving your neighbor are the worst sins that can be committed. If you love someone, won't you pay attention to them and let them know that they have great value and are appreciated by you? If you love God and pay attention to Him, He will show additional love and kindness to you.
Keeping Christ's Commandments
Because of your love for Jesus, you will keep His commandments:
John 14:15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
These commandments are everything that Jesus spoke that are given in the four Gospels. He expects more of His disciples than obeying the Ten Commandments. He expects us to cut off sin before it even happens. These are sins that originate in our minds:
Matthew 5:27-28 Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I say unto you, that every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
If a man sees a woman that could possibly cause lust in his heart, he should quickly turn away and to ask God to help him refrain from any lust. If he does this, God will help him and God will be pleased with this discipline that he shows.
Leviticus 5:9-10 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them (false gods), nor serve them; for I, Jehovah, thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing loving kindness unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments.
Worshiping false gods is showing disrespect for our God and hence you don't love God if you commit this sin. If you are faithful to God, He will show loving kindness to you. God spoke these verses and He means to fulfill them.
Love is most important
I Corinthians 13:1-13 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known. But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
Paul says that there are three extremely important actions that a follower of Christ can have: faith, hope and love. These are the actions that a Christian must have to please God. We must have all three qualities if we are to counted as Christ's most faithful followers. In my opinion to be counted as a member of the Bride of Christ, a Christian must have love for God the Father: Yahweh, God the Son: Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit of God and for other Christians and those people that come across your path during your lifetime: your neighbors.
Paul tells us that when Jesus Christ returns to the earth, establishes His Kingdom and becomes King of the world and rules over the earth for a thousand years, then things will change. Right now, Christians need faith to believe that whatever Jesus says in the Holy Bible will come true. We believe every word, every phrase, every paragraph, every book of the Holy Bible and we have hope that our faith will prove true during our time on the earth. We have great comfort in believing that Jesus will return and change us from being sinful human beings to becoming perfectly holy and righteous. Through any sufferings in our lives we have faith that Jesus will make all things perfect.
Now the great prize: love triumphs. This is the Godly love that He will give to all of His believers that ask Him. We will then fulfill the two great love commandments given to us in both the Old and New Testaments. We will serve God, praise Him and give thanks to Him forever. This worship is mentioned in:
Revelation 4:2-11 Straightway I was in the Spirit: and behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting upon the throne; and he that sat was to look upon like a jasper stone and a sardius: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, like an emerald to look upon. And round about the throne were four and twenty thrones: and upon the thrones I saw four and twenty elders sitting, arrayed in white garments; and on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceed lightnings and voices and thunders. And there was seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; and before the throne, as it were a sea of glass like a crystal; and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, four living creatures full of eyes before and behind. And the first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face as of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, having each one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and within: and they have no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come. And when the living creatures shall give glory and honor and thanks to him that sitteth on the throne, to him that liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders shall fall down before him that sitteth on the throne, and shall worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and shall cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power: for thou didst create all things, and because of thy will they were, and were created.
We will still have faith and hope, but they will be complete. We will know with certainty that when God says something will happen--it will happen exactly as He says. In eternity, we will be perfect in body, soul and spirit; we will worship and serve Him forever.
What about you?
If you are currently having fellowship with God and loving Him, then He is very pleased with you. If you are not currently having fellowship with Him and loving Him, then I suggest that you begin this fellowship with Him today. First get down on your knees and first confess your sins to Him and ask God to help you to say "no" to any temptations that might occur for you. Next give thanks for His presence in your life. Then praise Him for His many gifts He gives to you: these could include touching your soul with His love for you. Give thanks to Him for the righteous works that Jesus completed during His time on the earth: especially His suffering and dying on the cross and shedding His blood for the forgiveness of your sins and rising from the dead on the third day. Ask Him to direct your life. Show extra kindness to your neighbors and take an interest in them.
Then, continue with this fellowship the rest of your life. Discipleship is not just for one time, one day. It should be present in your life for the rest of your life. Open up your Bible daily and try to understand what God is saying to you. He will be very pleased with you if you obey His holy scripture.