Do You Truly Love Me?

If ye love Me, keep My commandments. - John 14:15 KJV

In the book of John, chapter 14, it can be concluded, that love, and obedience goes hand in hand. I would like to highlight, that love for God leads to obedience to God.  Throughout the gospels, Jesus would say, ‘if you love me, keep my commandments’. It’s not just speaking words, but your love for God must be demonstrated through obedience.

Jesus never seek to bring glory to Himself. He always seek to please the Father. He told the disciples, what I am saying, what I am doing, I do not say or do anything on my own. I say and do what the Father say to me. In verse 10, Jesus said; ‘the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works’. Verse 31 says, ‘but that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do’. Jesus submitted Himself to the Father, so that the Father’s will be done, even to death on a cross.

Jesus lived an exemplified life for the disciples to follow. In verse 21, Jesus said ‘He that hath my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him’. The same is required of us. If we say we love Jesus, we are to keep His commandments. When we keep His commandments, we are not only loved by Jesus but also by the Father. One benefit of loving and obeying the commandments is, Jesus will manifest Himself to us, and both Him and the Father will come and live with us.

You may ask the question; how does Jesus and the Father live with us or live in us? They live in us through the Holy Spirit whom the Father sent in Jesus’ name. The Holy Spirit comes as a representative of the Father and Son. He was sent to teach us all things and to bring all things to our remembrance, the things Jesus have spoken to us.

My question to us today is, do we really love Jesus? Then, we are to obey His commandments!

God Created You To Thrive

“And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth and multiply in it.” Genesis 9:7

The miracle of multiplication is never dependent on outside factors. Remember how God created all living things: “The seed is in itself” (Genesis 1). God reaches inside His people and begins multiplying and blessing their lives. Some businesses were started because God decided to place creative thought inside a person, and then they grew it into a thriving company. As they used what He had given them, He breathed on the seed and multiplied it. God pours out His blessing when you pour out what He has placed inside you. He “blesses the work of your hands,” but there has to be work. There has to be motion.

On the day of Pentecost, 120 people entered the room and were filled with the Holy Spirit. They could have kept the knowledge to themselves but the moment they spilled out of that little room and began to pour out the good news, the multiplication blessing hit. Three thousand were saved in one day! You may feel insignificant but the God that you serve is magnificent and He lives inside of you. Whatever He puts in you, He will always pull it out greater if you will allow Him to.

God saw David shepherding sheep well but that was just the seed. It was just the starting point. David didn’t know it at the time, but God had plans to pull out of him a great kingdom that would go down in history. Psalms 78:72 says of David- “He cared for them with a true heart and led them with skillful hands.” God placed a seed of love and goodness in David’s heart long before he acquired the skills to lead a nation.

Live a poured out life. Give it everything you’ve got. Keep reaching higher and never stop growing because God created you to thrive not just survive. The seed is already in you.

Don’t You Know There’s Consequences?

“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.” - Proverbs 10:9 NIV

The test of integrity is that your public life and your private life match…what’s in your heart and what’s in your life are the same thing. You ask yourself, “Would I want everyone to know about this decision that I’m making?”

The Bible says, “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out”.

The truth is, when it comes to integrity, even if you can fool everyone else, you can’t fool yourself and you can’t fool God. And when you violate your biblical values, you’ll pay for it with unwelcome consequences and broken relationships.  

Sometimes we know we’re about to do the wrong thing. We know we shouldn’t do it, but this thought comes to mind: “I know I’m doing the wrong thing, but I’m going to go ahead and do it because I know God will forgive me.”

Do you think you can do something that God says is wrong and not have consequences in your life? God knows there are consequences to every decision…and that’s why He doesn’t want you to make the wrong decision. He knows that every bad decision leaves scars in your life. And He wants better for you.

Does this mean that God does not forgive you for the wrong things you do? Of course, He forgives you. He’s a forgiving and gracious God. But that forgiveness does not free you from the pain and the consequences that come from making decisions that go against His will. You can be forgiven and still have regrets. You can be forgiven and still face pain. You can be forgiven and still have a broken relationship.

God created you, and He knows what’s necessary for you to live a full and purposeful life. Trust God’s Word and watch how He guides your steps.