Sunday, February 27, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Love, How Much Does It Cost?
It cost everything. One poet wrote, How Do I Love Thee, Let Me Count the Ways. Have you ever considered the cost of love? The scripture is true in John 3:16 that says . . . .(Amplified Bible) For God so greatly loved {and} dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.
God was willing to give up His only begotten son to have not only one, but many sons. Those sons would have come forth to Him through His first created son, Adam. Adam lost his place in the garden of Eden because he disobeyed God's instruction and sinned. God required his total obedience to keep his commandment. Genesis 2:15 - 17 - And the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and guard {and} keep it.
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil {and} blessing and calamity you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
When Adam lost his place in the garden he lost his place in love. In God’s sight obedience is love. He said if you love me, keep my commandments. Love, how much does it cost? Obedience and surrender to YOUR WILL.
We have a picture in the Old Testament of Abram taking his only son up to Mount Moriah to sacrifice him. Genesis 22:2 - God said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I will tell you. This was a special son, a son that was promised to Abram because God wanted to use him to cause many nations to be blessed by his seed. Abram waited twenty five years for his son to come forth out of his loins. When his son was born he named him Isaac , meaning laughter.
God tested Abram’s love for Him by requiring Abram to give up his only son. Abram trusted God and without hesitation and did what was asked of him. In that request he found it to be a test, to see if he would walk in obedience or hold on to the blessing of his firstborn. Genesis 22:4 - 14 - So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and then began the trip to the place of which God had told him.
On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.
And Abraham said to his servants, Settle down {and} stay here with the donkey, and I and the young man will go yonder and worship and come again to you.
Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on [the shoulders of] Isaac his son, and he took the fire (the firepot) in his own hand, and a knife; and the two of them went on together.
And Isaac said to Abraham, My father! And he said, Here I am, my son. [Isaac] said, See, here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt sacrifice?
Abraham said, My son, God Himself will provide a lamb for the burnt offering. So the two went on together.
When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there; then he laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar on the wood.
And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took hold of the knife to slay his son.
But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham! He answered, Here I am.
And He said, Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear {and} revere God, since you have not held back from Me {or} begrudged giving Me your son, your only son.
Then Abraham looked up {and} glanced around, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering {and} an ascending sacrifice instead of his son!
So Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide. And it is said to this day, On the mount of the Lord it will be provided.
God told him (Genesis 22:16 - 18) . . . . . I have sworn by Myself, says the Lord, that since you have done this and have not withheld [from Me] {or} begrudged [giving Me] your son, your only son,
In blessing I will bless you and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore. And your Seed (Heir) will possess the gate of His enemies,
And in your Seed [Christ] shall all the nations of the earth be blessed {and} [by Him] bless themselves, because you have heard {and} obeyed My voice.
Love,how much does it cost? EVERYTHING. What is your definition of love? Have you considered it. Love is not always an emotion, love is a choice. God’s love is self-less, Agape love.
1 Corinthians 13:4 - 8 a - Love endures long {and} is patient and kind; love never is envious {nor} boils over with jealousy, is not boastful {or} vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.
It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) {and} does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights {or} its own way, {for} it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy {or} fretful {or} resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].
It does not rejoice at injustice {and} unrighteousness, but rejoices when right {and} truth prevail.
Love bears up under anything {and} everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].
Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end].
Love, how much does it cost? It cost everything but God always rewards obedience. His reward comes through blessings and multiplied blessings. When we give to God He always bless us beyond what we ask or think.
In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus loved His father so much. He prayed three times concerning the cross. Each time he prayed I believe he knew in his heart the answer. On the third time Jesus finally said, Father not MY will but YOURS be done. Willing to obey his fathers instruction. That’s why God often said of him, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
So many times we are asked to give up things in our lives that we hold dear to. We may have to go to God in prayer, but if He required it of you, just surrender in obedience and watch the blessings that will follow. Love, how much does it cost? A YES LORD and AMEN.
1 John 4:7 - 10 - Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
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