Do We Love God?
Jesus teaches that we should love God; in fact He states that it is the first
commandment in (Matthew 22:35-39) “then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked
Him a question, tempting Him, and saying. Master, which is the great commandment
in the law? Jesus said to him, you shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great
commandment. And the second is like to it, you shall love your neighbor as
yourself”.
When you consider how much God loved us, Jesus tells us in John 3:16-17 “for God
so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in
Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the
world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved”. God’s
plan for redemption, meant that He had to put His Son on the cross to pay for the
sins of the world. He gave up His Son to save us. Jesus showed us His love by
agreeing to carry out God’s plan of redemption (John 15:13-14) “greater love has
no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends, if
you do whatsoever I command you”. This should give us the desire to love Him; the
apostle Paul writes in I John :9-10,19 “in this was manifested the love of God toward
us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live
through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent
His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. We love Him, because He first loved us”.
Many people use the word “love” usually, saying it but not really meaning it; God
Himself says in Isaiah 29:13 “wherefore the Lord said, forasmuch as this people
draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor Me, but have removed
their heart far from Me, and their reverence toward Me is taught by the precept of
men”. Jesus tells the Pharisees and scribes in Mark 7:6-13 “He answered and said
to them, well has Isaiah prophesied of you, hypocrites, as it is written. This people
honor Me with their lips, but their hear is far from Me. However in vain do they
worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the
commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and
cups, and many other such like things you do. And He said to them, full well you
reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition. For Moses
said, honor your father and your mother, and, whoso curses father or mother, let
him die the death. But you say, if a man shall say to his father or mother, it is
corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever you might be profited by me, he shall be
free. And you permit him no more to do anything for his father or his mother.
Making the word of God, of none effect through your tradition, which you have
delivered; and many such like things do you”.
We have to ask ourselves, what constitutes our love for God? psalms 97:10 says
“you that love the Lord Yahweh, hate evil; He preserve the souls of His saints; He
delivers them out of the hand of the wicked”.
We read in James 4:7-8,10 “submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil,
and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse
your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded. Humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up”. Submit yourself to God
means, agree to do things His way. Remember He is Lord over your lives. It then
says resist the devil, which means disagree with his ways, and he will flee from you.
The essentials is if you love God and are keeping His commandments, you are
walking in His ways and have turned away from evil.
Jesus gives us the way we can know how to determine if we love God (John 14:21-
24) “he that has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves Me, and he
that loves Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself
to him. Judas said to Him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself
to us, and not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him, if a man love Me; he
will keep My words, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make,
Our abode with him. He that loves Me not keeps not My sayings; and the word
which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s which sent Me”. Jesus continues in
John 15:9-10 to say “as the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you, continue you
in My love. If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love, even as I
have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love”.
Jesus also says in Luke 6:46-49 “and why call you Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the
things which I say? Whosoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings, and does
them, I will show you to whom he is like. He is like a man which built an house, and
dig deep, and laid the foundation on a rock; and when the flood arose; the stream
beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it; for it was founded upon a
rock. But he that hears, and does not, is like a man that without a foundation built a
house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and
immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great”.
In the book of Revelation, to the angel of the church of Ephesus it is written that
“nevertheless I have somewhat against you, because you have left your first love.
Remember therefore from where you are fallen, and repent, and do the first works;
or else I will come to you quickly, and will remove your candlestick out of its place,
except you repent”.
The apostle John also tells us how to know (I John 2:3-6) “and hereby we do know
that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that says, I know Him, and
keeps not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keeps
His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected; hereby know we that we are in
Him. He that says he abides in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He
walked”. In chapter 3:1-3,6-10 he continues to say “behold, what manner of love the
Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore
the world knows us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of
God and it does not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall
appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that has
this hope in Him, purifies himself, even as He is pure. Whosoever abides in Him sins
not; whosoever sins has not seen Him, neither known Him. Little children, let no man
deceive you; he that does righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. He
that commits sin is of the devil, for the devil sinned from the beginning, for this
purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the
devil. Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for His seed remains in him;
and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are
manifest, and the children of the devil; whosoever does not righteousness is not of
God, neither he that loves not his brother”.
The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8:28 which a lot of people quote “and we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to His purpose”. Like I said before, many people quote this scripture, but
the key element is “to them that love God”.
So let us examine ourselves, and began to love God in the manner that fitting to Him
(Hebrews 12:25-29) “see that you refuse not Him, that speaks. For is they escaped
not who refused Him that spoke on the earth, much more shall not we escape, if we
turn away from Him, that speaks from heaven. Whose voice then shook the earth;
but now He has promised, saying, yet once more shake not the earth only, but also
heaven. And this word, yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that
are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken
may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us
have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
For our God is a consuming fire”.
Study by: Harriet Bond
Date: May 10, 2011
Jesus teaches that we should love God; in fact He states that it is the first
commandment in (Matthew 22:35-39) “then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked
Him a question, tempting Him, and saying. Master, which is the great commandment
in the law? Jesus said to him, you shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great
commandment. And the second is like to it, you shall love your neighbor as
yourself”.
When you consider how much God loved us, Jesus tells us in John 3:16-17 “for God
so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in
Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the
world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved”. God’s
plan for redemption, meant that He had to put His Son on the cross to pay for the
sins of the world. He gave up His Son to save us. Jesus showed us His love by
agreeing to carry out God’s plan of redemption (John 15:13-14) “greater love has
no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends, if
you do whatsoever I command you”. This should give us the desire to love Him; the
apostle Paul writes in I John :9-10,19 “in this was manifested the love of God toward
us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live
through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent
His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. We love Him, because He first loved us”.
Many people use the word “love” usually, saying it but not really meaning it; God
Himself says in Isaiah 29:13 “wherefore the Lord said, forasmuch as this people
draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor Me, but have removed
their heart far from Me, and their reverence toward Me is taught by the precept of
men”. Jesus tells the Pharisees and scribes in Mark 7:6-13 “He answered and said
to them, well has Isaiah prophesied of you, hypocrites, as it is written. This people
honor Me with their lips, but their hear is far from Me. However in vain do they
worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the
commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and
cups, and many other such like things you do. And He said to them, full well you
reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition. For Moses
said, honor your father and your mother, and, whoso curses father or mother, let
him die the death. But you say, if a man shall say to his father or mother, it is
corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever you might be profited by me, he shall be
free. And you permit him no more to do anything for his father or his mother.
Making the word of God, of none effect through your tradition, which you have
delivered; and many such like things do you”.
We have to ask ourselves, what constitutes our love for God? psalms 97:10 says
“you that love the Lord Yahweh, hate evil; He preserve the souls of His saints; He
delivers them out of the hand of the wicked”.
We read in James 4:7-8,10 “submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil,
and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse
your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded. Humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up”. Submit yourself to God
means, agree to do things His way. Remember He is Lord over your lives. It then
says resist the devil, which means disagree with his ways, and he will flee from you.
The essentials is if you love God and are keeping His commandments, you are
walking in His ways and have turned away from evil.
Jesus gives us the way we can know how to determine if we love God (John 14:21-
24) “he that has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves Me, and he
that loves Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself
to him. Judas said to Him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself
to us, and not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him, if a man love Me; he
will keep My words, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make,
Our abode with him. He that loves Me not keeps not My sayings; and the word
which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s which sent Me”. Jesus continues in
John 15:9-10 to say “as the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you, continue you
in My love. If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love, even as I
have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love”.
Jesus also says in Luke 6:46-49 “and why call you Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the
things which I say? Whosoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings, and does
them, I will show you to whom he is like. He is like a man which built an house, and
dig deep, and laid the foundation on a rock; and when the flood arose; the stream
beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it; for it was founded upon a
rock. But he that hears, and does not, is like a man that without a foundation built a
house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and
immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great”.
In the book of Revelation, to the angel of the church of Ephesus it is written that
“nevertheless I have somewhat against you, because you have left your first love.
Remember therefore from where you are fallen, and repent, and do the first works;
or else I will come to you quickly, and will remove your candlestick out of its place,
except you repent”.
The apostle John also tells us how to know (I John 2:3-6) “and hereby we do know
that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that says, I know Him, and
keeps not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keeps
His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected; hereby know we that we are in
Him. He that says he abides in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He
walked”. In chapter 3:1-3,6-10 he continues to say “behold, what manner of love the
Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore
the world knows us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of
God and it does not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall
appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that has
this hope in Him, purifies himself, even as He is pure. Whosoever abides in Him sins
not; whosoever sins has not seen Him, neither known Him. Little children, let no man
deceive you; he that does righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. He
that commits sin is of the devil, for the devil sinned from the beginning, for this
purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the
devil. Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for His seed remains in him;
and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are
manifest, and the children of the devil; whosoever does not righteousness is not of
God, neither he that loves not his brother”.
The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8:28 which a lot of people quote “and we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to His purpose”. Like I said before, many people quote this scripture, but
the key element is “to them that love God”.
So let us examine ourselves, and began to love God in the manner that fitting to Him
(Hebrews 12:25-29) “see that you refuse not Him, that speaks. For is they escaped
not who refused Him that spoke on the earth, much more shall not we escape, if we
turn away from Him, that speaks from heaven. Whose voice then shook the earth;
but now He has promised, saying, yet once more shake not the earth only, but also
heaven. And this word, yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that
are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken
may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us
have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
For our God is a consuming fire”.
Study by: Harriet Bond
Date: May 10, 2011
