//  LOVE  \\

What is the love of God?  What does God say to us concerning our love walk?

Gen 1:27 So God created man in His own image in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (NKJ);

John 3:16  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (NKJ)

First God made man in his image and that he loves us.  How wonderful.

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DO WE LOVE GOD

AS MUCH AS HE LOVES US?

THE PSALMIST EXPRESSED HIS LOVE FOR GOD TO THIS EXTENT  .....

Ps 119:97 Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.

98 You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me.

99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation.

100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Your precepts.

101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your word.

102 I have not departed from Your judgments, for You Yourself have taught me.

103 How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

104 Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.

105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (NKJ)

Ps 119:113  I hate the double-minded, but I love Your law. (NKJ)

114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.

Ps 119:119 You put away all the wicked of the earth like dross; therefore I love Your testimonies. (NKJ)

Ps 119:125 I am Your servant; give me understanding, that I may know Your testimonies. (NKJ)

Ps 119:127 Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold! (NKJ) 

Ps 119:140 Your word is very pure; therefore Your servant loves it. (NKJ)

Ps 119:159 Consider how I love Your precepts; revive me, O LORD, according to Your lovingkindness. (NKJ)

Ps 119:165 Great [[peace]] have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble.

Ps 119:166 LORD, I hope for Your salvation, and I do Your commandments.

Ps 119:167  My soul keeps Your testimonies, and I love them exceedingly.  (NKJ)

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JESUS.....

Matt 22:37 Jesus said to him," 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'

38 "This is the first and great commandment.

39 "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

40 "On these two commandments] hang all the Law and the Prophets."

ACCORDING TO JESUS THESE ARE THE FIRST TWO COMMANDMENTS  :::  LOVE GOD & YOUR NEIGHBOR 

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WITHOUT LOVE PAUL WRITING TO THE CORINTHIANS SAID IN CHAPTER 13 REFERRED TO AS THE LOVE CHAPTER ----

1 Cor 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

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1 Cor 14:1 Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. (NKJ) 

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WHEN WE ACCEPT JESUS IN OUT HEART AND PUT OUR TRUST IN HIM

Gal 5:6 THE LIVING BIBLE PUTS IT THIS WAY...........

6 For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, it makes no difference to God whether we are circumcised or not circumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love. (NLT)                                          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

YOU WILL EXPRESS YOUR LOVE TO HIM .........

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1Thes 5:8 But let us who are of the day be sober, [[ putting on the breastplate of faith and love,]] and as a helmet the hope of salvation. (NKJ) 

THE BIBLE SAYS THAT WE ARE TO CLOTHE OURSELVES WITH LOVE 

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HAVING ANY PROBLEM WITH FEAR IN YOUR LIFE?

I John 4:18  There is no fear in love; but [[perfect love casts out fear,]] because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. (NKJ)

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I John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

9 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.

10 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.

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.

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What are some of the things God’s word says and also commands us concerning love?

Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.  (NKJ)

Zeph 3:17   The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." (NIV)

Matt 19:19    Honor thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself.  

Matt 22:37    Jesus said unto him, Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38   This is the first and great commandment.

39   And the second is like unto it, Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. (KJV)

Luke 6:27   But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,

28   Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. (KJV)

John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. (KJV)

Rom 5:5   And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (NLT)

Rom 12:9  Don't just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. (NLT)

1 Cor 8:3    But the person who loves God is the one God knows and cares for. (NLT)

2 Cor 13:14   The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. (KJV)

Gal 5:13   For you have been called to live in freedom-- not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love. (NLT)

1Thes 4:9   But I don't need to write to you about the Christian love that should be shown among God's people. For God himself has taught you to love one another. (NLT)

Titus 2:4   That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, (KJV)

1 Pet 1:22   Now you can have sincere love for each other as brothers and sisters because you were cleansed from your sins when you accepted the truth of the Good News. So see to it that you really do love each other intensely with all your hearts. (NLT)

I John 4:7    {Loving One Another--} Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (NLT)

I Jn 4:16   We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. (NLT)

I Jn 4:20  If a man say, I love God, and hate his brother, he is a liar: for he that love not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

Jude 1:2     Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.   (KJV)

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OTHER SCRIPTURE mentioning love.

Prov 15:17 Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted calf with hatred. (NKJ)

 

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Paul speaking to the Corinthians tells them what love is and what love isn't.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7  4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (NKJ)

Donald Pickerill, B.th., B.A., M.A. Professor Life Bible College San Dimas, CA Comments about chapter 13: verses 6&7 Love suffers long having patience with imperfect people.  Love is kind active in doing good.  Love does not envy since it is nonpossessive  and noncompetitive it actually wants other people to get ahead.  Hence it does not parade itself.  Love has a self-effacing quality; it is not ostentatious.  Love is not puffed up, treating others arrogantly; it does not behave rudely, but displays good manners and courtesy.  Love does not seek its own insisting on its own rights and demanding precedence; rather, it is unselfish.  Love is not provoked; it is not irritable or touchy, rough or hostile, but is graceful under pressure.   Love thinks no evil; it does not keep an account of wrongs done to it; instead, it erases resentments.  Love does not rejoice in iniquity, finding satisfaction in the shortcomings of others and spreading an evil report, rather, it rejoices in the truth, aggressively advertising the good.  Love bears all things, defending and holding other people up.  Love believes the best about others, credits them with good intentions, and is not suspicious.  Love hopes all things never giving up on people, but affirming their future.  Love never giving up on people, but affirming their future.  Love endures all things, persevering and remaining loyal to the end.  

Paul summed it up in the last verse of chapter thirteen

13:13  But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (NAS)

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Brotherly Love

David asks a question in psalm fifteen

Ps 15:1-4
1 LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill?

God gives him an answer

verse 2 He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart;
3 He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;
4 In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the LORD; he who swears to his own hurt and does not change;  (NKJ)

Demos Shakarian comments about verse 3 To get closer to God, Love others

Brotherly Love in Ps. 15, David is asking God the necessary qualifications to abide in God's tabernacle v. 1 Gods reply emphasizes that to abide in God's presence and purpose first requires a will to exhibit a strong relationship with God, determine to conduct life in right relationship with others!  God tells David to speak kindly of his neighbors; never to gossip or say anything to destroy another's reputation: to do nothing to hurt another person in any way: his neighbor. Finally, God warns David not to reproach his neighbor.  

Reproach (hebrew cherpah] means blame, discredit, disgrace, or shame.

He further comments If the OT teaches that one desiring to get closer to God must prioritize love toward others, the NT commandments Love your neighbor as yourself Romans 13:9 is surely vital to out relationship with the heavenly Father today.


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On 2-26-17 the pm church service @ RMMI the Holy Spirit shared this:

For my love began before the foundations of the earth, before anything was created I loved you, I desired that love for my family and my family as they walk by my side grows, they grow, they grow, they grow.  Oh there are many fakes, there are many false ones who their mouth says they love me, but that is not so, but you are pressing in, you are pressing in far more, you are getting much closer to me and I hear those love words as you talk with me and I have answered, I have answered and I have answered.  So let not your heart grow cold, let not your heart become bitter, for there is no coldness in me and there is no bitterness in me, I am a God of love and I act in love and I walk in love and I desire that you do the same, that you put away envy and strife and bitterness and walk in love, walk in love.  For that is the greatest thing and as you walk in love those of the world know that you are of my church that you belong to me, walk in love, walk in love.  The one thing that you cannot stop me from doing is loving you.  You can stop my blessings and you do it all the time, you can stop me from healing you, from setting you free, but you can’t stop my love.  For even when you were a sinner I loved you, my love is for everlasting and my love has always been there for you even if you haven’t been able to feel it, the love was always there, I have always loved you.  It was not an after thought like many people do, it was the first thought, the first thought.  My greatest commandment was seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these other things shall be added to you.  Let me see your love, let me see you demonstrate that love, be one with me in love that I can be one with you.

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Love is not something you strive to get it is something you strive to give.  Mildred Drake @ WDFB Danville, KY

You may look at the stars and see his glory.  You may look at the ocean and see his power.  You may look at the ocean and see his power.  You may look at the flowers and see his beauty.  You may look at the earth and see his wisdom.  You may look at the birds and hear his music.  You may look at the rainbow and see his colors.  But when you look at Calvary you see the uncovering of the heart of God.    Quote taken from the WDFB newsletter March/April 2012

"Kindness is a language the deaf can hear and the blind can see." Mark Twain

Love, not time, heals all wounds.

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The Battle Of Man

by Hal Lindsey

In 1972, I released a book called, Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth. That was a year after William Peter Blatty’s novel called The Exorcist, and a year before the film version of that book. Satan is Alive and Well sold more than 8 million copies. The Exorcist film, adjusted for inflation, is the 9th highest grossing movie of all time. In those years, interest in Satan was at a peak — partly because of a smalltime hoodlum, turned cult leader, turned mass killer named Charles Manson. With Manson, the world caught a real glimpse of the face of evil. People realized that his ability to turn young people into monsters was something more than crime as usual. Since then, interest in Satan has ebbed and flowed many times. Now, it’s building again. Fictional versions of him regular appear in films, television shows, music, and video games. For a society that can’t get enough of anti-heroes, the devil is the ultimate bad boy. But he’s also the ultimate loser. Think of his position. He’s locked in a battle with the omnipotent Creator of all things. What strategy can he possibly employ in such a battle? How can he who is merely mighty have any hope against the Almighty? God’s power knows no limits. Revelation 19:6 says, “For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!” Limited power cannot defeat infinite power. But the devil is not stupid. He has a strategy. He has chosen to do what any military commander would — find a point of vulnerability and exploit it. You might think it impossible to find vulnerability in the all-powerful Lord of the universe. But you would be wrong. Love and Vulnerability Every romance novel, every teenager-in-love pop song, every he-done-me-wrong country ballad, every romantic film, every good old-fashioned love story… carries an underlying point. Love makes you vulnerable. Love, in all its forms, opens us up to the possibility of pain. The dearest friend can be a source of anguish. You feel the hurt as you read the words of King David. “Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.” (Psalms 41:9) The greater and more intense the love, the more painful the betrayal. No one can break a parent’s heart quite like that parent’s son or daughter. At the same time, there’s no other pain quite like what a child feels when betrayed by parents. Romantic love almost guarantees sorrow and grief somewhere down the line. Maybe there will be a breakup, and that will hurt. But even if the couple stays together, and they marry for life, “Till death do us part” hangs over them. Husband and wife rarely die together. In almost all cases — one will go, one will stay, and there will be heartbreak. Although love makes us vulnerable to pain, it’s worth it. The most miserable people of all are those whose past pain makes them fearful of love. They build walls around their hearts. They put up guard towers to keep watch. They’re wrong to do that. But we can all understand it. Satan looked at God, searching for a point of vulnerability, and there it was. Love. God is love. God loves human beings in greater, deeper ways than we can even imagine. But what really made God’s love a point of vulnerability was that He also gave humans the ability to love. By definition, that includes the power of choice. Automatons cannot love because real love requires a choice. Humans can love… or not. That’s why Satan chose mankind as the battlefield in his war with God. Knowing that God is completely pure and utterly holy, he thought he had won the Battle of Man when he persuaded Adam and Eve to sin. Their action unleashed the virus of sin into the world, infecting all of humanity from that time until now. Ephesians 5:5 says, “No immoral or impure person… has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” With Satan’s victory in the Garden of Eden, every human being would be impure. How vulnerable did God’s love make Him? Picture Jesus hanging on a cross, receiving in Himself God’s justice for our sin. Consider the pain — physical and spiritual. It’s hard to imagine a more vulnerable figure. What held Him there? Soldiers? Nails? Those things couldn’t hold Him to the cross in a billion years! Love held Him there. Love for you, and love for me. Love made Him that vulnerable. Maybe your heart is broken. Maybe your love for a child, parent, friend, or spouse, made you vulnerable to a deeper hurt than you know how to express. I have a suggestion for you. Don’t go through it alone. In Philippians 3:10, the Apostle Paul put his deepest heart cry into words. “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.” “The fellowship of His sufferings” is not an easy place. But you will find Him there in richer, deeper more beautiful ways than you ever thought possible. C. S. Lewis asked, “Why love, if losing hurts so much?” The Christian can answer by citing no less of an authority than Jesus Himself. We are to love God and to love each other. Love is the greatest commandment, (Matthew 22:36-40), our highest purpose, and the mark of a Christian. (John 13:35) God also chose love. He chose to love us and be vulnerable to the pain of our rejection. And in that love, He never wavered. Satan saw it as a point of attack. But God used the love and resulting pain to defeat Satan, and redeem mankind. That is our example.

http://www.hallindsey.com/ww-6-2-2016/ 

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