“. . . the love of the LORD . . .” Hosea 3:1 NKJV
Believer, look back through all your experiences and think of the ways in which the Lord your God led you in your wilderness, as He led His people in the days of the Exodus—how He fed and clothed you every day, how He bore with your rudeness, how He put up with all your complaining and your longing for the meats of Egypt, how He opened the rock to supply you and fed you with manna that came down from heaven. Think of how His grace has been sufficient for you in all your troubles, how His blood has meant pardon to you in all your sins, how His rod and His staff have comforted you. After you have looked back on the “love of the LORD” in this way, let your faith look ahead to His love in the future—remember that Christ’s covenant and blood have more in them than the past. He who has loved and pardoned you will never stop loving and pardoning. He is Alpha, and he will be Omega; he is first, and he will be last. So think—when you have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death, you don’t need to fear evil, for He is with you. When you stand in the cold flood of the Jordan, you don’t need to fear, for death cannot separate you from His love. When you come into the mysteries of eternity, you don’t need to tremble, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38–39 ESV). Now, Christian, isn’t your love refreshed? Doesn’t this make you love Jesus? Doesn’t a flight through the unlimited skies of love inflame your heart and compel you to delight yourself in the Lord your God? Surely as we meditate on “the love of the LORD,” our hearts will burn within us—and we will long to love Him more. - C.H. Spurgeon Morning and Evening
The question to ask yourself, an even more important question than are you trying to obey Christ, is can you proclaim with your lips that you love Jesus?
Can you say it outloud? Have you, do you, utter the words "I love you Jesus"? If you claim to be a Christian, you SHOULD be able to do this freely and willingly. Eagerly even.
I read that devotional this morning, was reading in Exodus, reading in Matthew. Between the two, Moses remaking the two stone tablets, the reactions of the people while he had been away with Jesus a second time for 40 days, compared to Pharisees and Sadducees in Matthew. The people between the first set of tablets and the second set were very subdued and reverent. A few thousand years later, they were stiff necked and blinded by sin. Stubbornly refusing to believe by faith.
What does it say of people in the last days? The love of most will grow cold.
What is said of one of the Churches in Revelation? They had apparent zeal and fervor yet what was it that Jesus accused them of? Forgetting their first love.
So ask yourself, are you becoming a Bible bookworm, just memorizing what is read, or are you asking for more? I can't memorize like I would love to be able to do. If I am jealous of other people's abilities those who can do that, well that's a big one for me. I read an try to understand what I am reading in my daily time in my Bible. Going to Bible studies n classes but doing nothing with it is like going to college to be a Chef yet upon graduation you become a Secretary who eats tv dinners all the time.
When was the last time you honestly stopped and told Jesus "I love you"?
All the lessons of the Gospels START with that. Your stewardship, your service, your giving, your family life, your personal life, your public life all MUST start with "I love you Jesus!" Nothing about life matters until you can honestly say "I love you" to Jesus and mean it. He forgave your sin. It's punishment ended at the cross for you. Read Exodus. Punishment for sin could go on for generations. Not for the Christian. Your slate was wiped clean and the words "Paid in full" appear over the bill we owed for our sin. Isn't that a reason to say "I love you!" to Jesus?
Your problems may abound each day, but His love never fails. Reminding yourself that you love Jesus is an anchor to the rock of hope.
It's the beginning of honesty between you and Jesus.
Every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
There's only two kinds of people in that moment. Those who gladly go to the knee in love for their Savior, and those who are forced to do so. The first out of love, the second out of compliance.
Do you love Jesus or is it for show? Is salvation real in your life or are you, have you, been fooling yourself?
When the pains of life hit are you crawling into a hole or are you crying out to the one who loves you?
If you love Jesus if Salvation is true of you. You SHOULD be able to tell Him that you love Him.
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