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Oh, How He Loves! Today is Valentine’s Day! I am, as you might expect, going to talk about love. Two particular times in the gospels, Jesus quoted from Deut. 6, a particular passage of Scripture. In Matthew 22, Jesus had just silenced the Sadducees who had tried to trap with a question concerning a woman who had been married to seven brothers who had all died. They didn’t believe in the resurrection from the dead or any after life. (That is probably why they were sad u see! Anyway, the question was, who’s would she be in the resurrection. Jesus set them straight and by explaining that “29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they got together and commissioned one of their smartest lawyers to try to trip Him up with a question. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus answered the question: 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Heart: Greek- kardia- the heart is the central organ of the body. And although it is invisible to the eyes, it is vital to life. Paul uses the word kardia or heart to let us know that the human spirit is very similar to the natural heart. The human spirit is invisible to the eyes. James 2:26 TPT- says, …a body without a spirit is a dead corpse… Peter speaks of the “hidden man of the heart…” 1 Pet 3:4. We to love the Lord with all of our HEART (Kardia: hidden man of the heart), SOUL: Greek -psuche: Mind, will, and emotions, or center of life. and with all of our MIND: Dianoia: dee-an-oy-ya- deep thought, the faculty (mind or disposition), MIND, i.e. mode of thinking. Love: agapao- deep affection, delight in, to LOVE, regard with strong affection. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus poses the question to a religious scholar (Scribe). Luke 10:25-28 TPT …a religious scholar stood before Jesus in order to test his doctrines. He posed this question: “Teacher, what requirement must I fulfill if I want to live forever in heaven?” 26 Jesus replied, “What does Moses teach us? What do you read in the Law?” 27 The religious scholar answered, “It states, ‘You must love the Lord God with all your heart, all your passion, all your energy, and your every thought. And you must love your neighbor as well as you love yourself.’” 28 Jesus said, “That is correct. Now go and do exactly that and you will live.” Like most religious people do the Scribe wanted to justify himself, so he asked a very poignant question, “What do you mean by ‘my neighbor?’” 30 Jesus replied, “Listen and I will tell you. There was once a Jewish man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho when bandits robbed him along the way. They beat him severely, stripped him naked, and left him half dead. 31 “Soon, a Jewish priest walking down the same road came upon the wounded man. Seeing him from a distance, the priest crossed to the other side of the road and walked right past him, not turning to help him one bit. 32 “Later, a religious man, a Levite, came walking down the same road and likewise crossed to the other side to pass by the wounded man without stopping to help him. 33 “Finally, another man, a Samaritan, came upon the bleeding man and was moved with tender compassion for him. 34 He stooped down and gave him first aid, pouring olive oil on his wounds, disinfecting them with wine, and bandaging them to stop the bleeding. Lifting him up, he placed him on his own donkey and brought him to an inn. Then he took him from his donkey and carried him to a room for the night. 35 The next morning he took his own money from his wallet and gave it to the innkeeper with these words: ‘Take care of him until I come back from my journey. If it costs more than this, I will repay you when I return.’ 36 So, now, tell me, which one of the three men who saw the wounded man proved to be the true neighbor?” 37 The religious scholar responded, “The one who demonstrated kindness and mercy.” Jesus said, “You must go and do the same as he.” Loving God is exemplified by the way we love our neighbor! 1 John 4:16-21 TPT We have come into an intimate experience with God’s love, and we trust in the love he has for us. God is love! Those who are living in love are living in God, and God lives through them. 17 By living in God, love has been brought to its full expression in us so that we may fearlessly face the day of judgment, because all that Jesus now is, so are we in this world. 18 Love never brings fear, for fear is always related to punishment. But love’s perfection drives the fear of punishment far from our hearts. Whoever walks constantly afraid of punishment has not reached love’s perfection. 19 Our love for others is our grateful response to the love God first demonstrated to us. 20 Anyone can say, “I love God,” yet have hatred toward another believer. This makes him a phony, because if you don’t love a brother or sister, whom you can see, how can you truly love God, whom you can’t see? 21 For he has given us this command: whoever loves God must also demonstrate love to others. John was probably the youngest of Jesus’ disciples and he loved Jesus dearly as is exemplified in the life he led. He was the one who was leaning on Jesus chest at the Last Supper. He was the only disciple who is recorded to be present at the cross when Jesus was crucified. He was the one that Jesus entrusted the care of his mother to. John wrote about the subject of love more than anyone else. He sums up how love is demonstrated in 1 John 5. 1Jn 5:1-5 TPT- Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah is God’s spiritual child and has been fathered by God himself. And everyone who loves Father God loves his children as well. 2 This is how we can be sure that we love the children of God: by having a passionate love for God and by obedience to his commands. 3 True love for God means obeying his commands, and his commands don’t weigh us down as heavy burdens. 4 You see, every child of God overcomes the world, for our faith is the victorious power that triumphs over the world. 5 So who are the world conquerors, defeating its power? Those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. The identifying mark of a true believer is LOVE! A passionate love for God (heart, mind, soul, strength) and a corresponding obedience to the Father’s commands resulting loving the things He loves (PEOPLE). We live in an upside-down world where our value system has become so unbalanced. Where the creation is worshiped more than the Creator and human life has been devalued to the point that we can abort innocent babies without remorse all for the sake of convenience. Jesus said concerning those who He knows and recognizes as His own, “…You will know them by their fruits.” Matt. 7:16 John 13:34-35 TPT …I give you a new commandment: Love each other JUST AS MUCH AS I HAVE LOVED YOU. 35 For when you demonstrate the same love I have for you, by loving one another, EVERYONE WILL KNOW THAT YOU ARE MY TRUE FOLLOWERS. It is not easy to love one another the way Christ loves us. But through Him it is possible. That is why Paul said in Colossians 1:27 KJV- …Christ in you the hope of glory. Christ: Greek christos: Anointing, or anointed one. Messiah! 1 John 2;20 …the Holy One has anointed you and you all know the truth. Paul stated that if we have say we have a relationship with God devoid of love for others, it is a HOLLOW RELATIONSHIP! 1 Cor. 13:1-8a TPT… 13 If I were to speak with eloquence in earth’s many languages, and in the heavenly tongues of angels, yet I didn’t express myself with love,[b] my words would be reduced to the hollow sound of nothing more than a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I were to have the gift of prophecy with a profound understanding of God’s hidden secrets, and if I possessed unending supernatural knowledge, and if I had the greatest gift of faith that could move mountains, but have never learned to love, then I am nothing.3 And if I were to be so generous as to give away everything I owned to feed the poor, and to offer my body to be burned as a martyr, without the pure motive of love, I would gain nothing of value. 4 Love is large and incredibly patient. Love is gentle and consistently kind to all. It refuses to be jealous when blessing comes to someone else. Love does not brag about one’s achievements nor inflate its own importance. 5 Love does not traffic in shame and disrespect, nor selfishly seek its own honor. Love is not easily irritated or quick to take offense. 6 Love joyfully celebrates honesty and finds no delight in what is wrong. 7 Love is a safe place of shelter, for it never stops believing the best for others. Love never takes failure as defeat, for it never gives up. 8 Love never stops loving… In praying for a REVIVAL move I am convinced that praying for souls out of a sense of love and compassion for the lost is the key to God moving on His behalf and on behalf of the church. Love is the key! Loving the things that God loves! For God SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE… INVITATION: GOD LOVES YOU! HAVE YOUR RESPONDED TO HIS INIVITATION? He is reaching out to you in love. He has a gift for you, eternal life! Have you accepted His offer?