May 18, 2023
I learned something, it turns out that the one who has the right and accurately judges whether we have loved God or not is God Himself. Because who knows this heart? It could be that for one reason or another, our hearts have shifted from a heart that loves God to love ourselves, money, and the world.
Jeremiah 17:9-10 (TLB) The heart is the most deceitful thing there is and desperately wicked. No one can really know how bad it is! Only the Lord knows! He searches all hearts and examines deepest motives so he can give to each person his right reward, according to his deeds—how he has lived.
This morning I asked God, do I still love God? Or maybe my heart already loves another? What is my barometer of loving God?
When I search for the written Word about a heart that loves God, there are lots of Scripture verses that can be a barometer, but in my heart, I feel like something hasn’t ‘clicked’ yet. Because it could be seen that I am ‘doing God’s commandments’ as a proof that I love God but it turns out that my heart has drifted away from Him.
But there is one verse that speaks quite strongly in my mind:
Ephesians 5:31-32 (NKJV) “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
In a marriage relationship, there is something beyond the feeling of love that must always be in our hearts, namely ‘Trust’. No matter how annoying our partner is, ‘believe’ that he is someone who really loves us. If we ‘hold that trust’, then no matter what kind of ‘argument’, husband and wife will quickly return to harmony because they are actually one! But when the ‘trust’ in their partner is lost, then that’s when the ‘love for the other’ starts to enter!
The most important commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul and strength. But interestingly what God is looking for on earth is ‘FAITH’, not love. So, we might say that we love God, but if God doesn’t find FAITH then we really don’t love Him.
Now we can check ourselves: Sometimes when we have a fellowship with God, it turns out that it is not necessarily because we BELIEVE, more often it is precisely because we are afraid of not being blessed, afraid of losing the anointing, afraid of losing our wealth or afraid of losing the people we love! Consequently, our relationship with God is based on fear, not FAITH and there are many CONFLICTS in the heart with God! Our lives and fellowship with God become unsettled or we cannot enjoy it.
So, I learned something, love for God needs to be built, which is built with the Word that creates faith.
1. How important it is for us to quietly fellowship with God until we hear Him speak!
2. How important it is for us to read the written Word with hunger and thirst for truth.
3. How important it is for us to involve the Holy Spirit (praying the Scriptures and the Word that we hear from the mouth of God). The Holy Spirit is the One who is skilled at building a heart that loves God! He is the One who will open up the knowledge of God through the Word that we receive so that FAITH appears!
Galatians 2:20 (NKJV) I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
From Christ’s side, we don’t need to doubt His love for us anymore! But from our side we need to build faith and live our days in faith in Him.
So, that it is no longer we who live, but Christ! When Christ is real in us, then our love for Him is no longer a humane love that can disappear and go away, but a love that is eternal or everlasting.
That’s the existence of a God who loves us, He can’t hate us! Because He is love. When our love with Him becomes one (both are eternal or in one frequency), then ourselves and Him become one!
Jeremiah 31:3 (NKJV) The Lord has appeared [a]of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore, with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
It’s time for us to live life with FAITH!! The righteous will live by faith!
Ps. Steven Augustinus
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