Do you know what makes somebody stand out before God? Some think it’s money, some intellect, some power, etc. But none of these are what God primarily notices in us—it’s our heart He’s looking at. Every one of us starts out as a lost sinner, yet God still loves us. But we can’t make it to heaven simply by His love alone. He has a purpose for every soul He has created. And He continues to be faithful to every soul who sincerely trusts in Him. Even the most miserable and depressed He’ll pick up and carry in His arms. Therefore, once we begin to believe in Christ, we’re able to come to the One Who loves us to receive Him into our life.
He stripped Himself of everything—but love. What does He want us to do in return? Simply to permit Him to come into our heart and soul.
So how can it be that we’re so full of indifference and don’t respond to Him, since we can reach out for His love so easily? Aren’t we aware that the Lord really is close by and full of love? Right this minute, He’s here, waiting to lead us by His Spirit into realizing how much He loves us. Why don’t we train ourselves to keep consistently still before God? Then His love would have a chance to come up inside of us. Christ prepared Himself to meet each soul on its own level. He stripped Himself of everything—but love. What does He want us to do in return? Simply to permit Him to come into our heart and soul. Then our soul can be brought back to love, while love can be brought back to our soul.
God’s concern is to alter our heart. We should therefore look for Him with our whole heart. We should open our heart to Him, and talk to Him differently from the way we talk to others. He’ll reveal Himself to those who love Him, and then direct them to His Word by His Spirit. Learning His Word will bring changes in our heart and life which will make us want to praise Him! The heart He can reach is the one that seeks Him by His Word. Jesus was the only person Who perfectly loved and followed God’s law. He loved God’s righteous Word because He is righteous.
Everyone who loves God should love His Word enough to want to meditate on it twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
The only book that can address men’s hearts in a way no other book can is the Bible. Yet it’ll be the same as a closed book to us until God’s Spirit opens our heart and mind and makes it come alive to us. God isn’t hiding it from us—He goes to great lengths to reveal the Bible, along with His Son and His Holy Spirit to us. Therefore, if we want to live a full and godly life, then reading, loving and being obedient to the Bible is essential. Everyone who loves God should love His Word enough to want to meditate on it twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. But the only way He can really make His love known to others is through the lives of His people.
Once we hear and know of Christ, and then begin to conform to His will, hope and faith start coming alive in our heart. Our obedience to Him proves that we love and are devoted to Him. The ultimate source of every godly thing flowing out of God’s feelings is love. It makes us able to willingly obey Him, and not to merely respond from an impersonal sense of obligation. His followers are therefore known for how willing and obedient to Him they are. Only Christ can perfectly love, obey, believe and worship God, which we fail to do.
The Lord will never let down nor forsake any heart loyal to Him that tries to follow the way of faith.
All love needs is an obedient heart submitted to God. Then, as our faith in God grows, love starts overflowing. No child of God would dare to say that the Lord isn’t able to also keep us in the path of obedience to His Word, as long as his faith in God keeps him dependent in the paths of righteousness! The Lord will never let down nor forsake any heart loyal to Him that tries to follow the way of faith.
A lack of love for God could be what most of our spiritual troubles can be traced to. But it’s by His great love that God will welcome us, nevertheless, into His own rest. Then He’ll come and dwell with us (see Hebrews 4). The Spirit that dwells in the believer’s heart is the Spirit of God’s love. We need to allow Him to work in our heart and life to change us. If He thought we weren’t worth it, do we think He’d go to all this bother and effort with us?
The standard of perfection is established by love, which we should continually be reaching for. The only overcoming and mighty manifestation of God that we’re able to see in His Son is love. And it’s in Him that all of Christ’s glories and perfections become ours. If we’ll continue to keep love for Christ blazing in our heart, we’ll be able to serve Him as He desires.
If you’re searching for perfect love, you’ll only find it in Christ.
Christ proclaimed His ultimate love when He gave His life on the Cross for guilty sinners like us. Have you given your heart and life to Him? If you’re searching for perfect love, you’ll only find it in Christ. Accept the perfect love He openly declared for you by hanging on the Cross. He’ll take all your fears away. Then your anxiety of mind and body will vanish, and your heart will be able to understand and declare that He “…loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
For more on knowing God and accepting Christ into your heart please visit our page on The Way to God.
[Additional image credits: Featured image (when applicable) by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay; Opening photo (modified by author) by Rob Curran on Unsplash]
