SCRIP-BITS

1 John 4:16.      And we have known and believed the LOVE that God hath to us. God is LOVE; and he that dwelleth in LOVE dwelleth in God, and God in him.
 
Oh Friends, the word for today is LOVE! It is the supreme attribute and characteristic of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Therefore it should also be the supreme characteristic of those who claim to follow Him. And how do we know that LOVE is the major attribute of our God eh? Because His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ told us so. ‘For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ (John 3:16) And Jesus later corroborates that feeling of LOVE by saying: ‘Greater LOVE hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.’ (John 15:13-14) And what did Jesus do shortly after that? He gave His sinless, holy life as a sacrifice on the cross at Calvary for His Friends, those who were doing as He instructed! Wow! What a champion my people! Just think about it nuh Friends, Jesus gave up His good life in heaven to come to earth and die for us, a bunch of unworthy sinners, so that we could be reconciled to The Father, and receive forgiveness of our sins, salvation and eternal life. Now if that isn’t the highest form of selflessness, which in this case denotes absolute LOVE, I don’t know what is. Jesus walked His talk! And so should we. But sadly Friends, our world is desperately lacking in that kind of selflessness. Instead everything begins and ends with ‘Me, My, I and Mine.’ In contrast to that, selflessness talks about ‘You and Yours,’ puts the other person’s welfare first. Can you imagine what our lives would be like if God, then Jesus, had said: ‘Chuh pool! They’re just a bunch of ignorant, disobedient, rebellious, lustful, fleshly, pleasure bound no goods. Leave them be, and let them fend for themselves. They think they know everything anyway. And if they want to follow that fool Lucifer, then let them. They’ll pay the price of death and eternal separation for their stupidity, just like he will.’ But no my brethren, the Lord God Jehovah made every one of us, and just like we LOVE even our most rebellious, disobedient children, He LOVES us the same way too! Please note when our children do wrong and end up in the courts, or prison, we still don’t give up on them, although they may justly deserve their punishment. No, we still pray for them, talk to them, and try to show them the error of their ways, notwithstanding that we’ve been preaching the same sermon to them from their youth. Friends, it’s the same way our great, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God felt, and still feels about us. As John says in our Bit: ‘And we have known and believed the LOVE that God hath to us. God is LOVE; and he that dwelleth (abides) in LOVE dwelleth in God, and God in him.’ Those are powerful words of truth my people! If God could do us such a great favour, we should also be able to do it to our fellow humans. And it doesn’t necessarily mean actually giving up one’s physical life, although in some cases it can, but it refers to more of a selfless attitude towards others, thinking about their well-being above ours, making sure they are well taken care of, helping them in any way we can. Oh my Friends, the basic premise of God’s LOVE is that we don’t only look out for ourselves, but also for others. As John asks earlier on: ‘But whoso hath this world’s good (goods), and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion (heart) from him, how dwelleth the LOVE of God in him?’ (1 John 3:17) It obviously doesn’t, my people! Now listen to Jesus, when Judas Iscariot asked how He would manifest Himself to the disciples and the world. ‘If a man LOVE me, he will keep my words; and my Father will LOVE him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode (home) with him.’ (John 14:23) It’s simple Friends, if we truly LOVE Jesus, we will keep His commandments. As the scholars say: ‘The divine indwelling (of the Holy Spirit) is conditional on LOVE, and obedience to Jesus’ words. The Word of the gospel is primarily (though not exclusively) in view here.’  And John tells it this way: ‘And this is His commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and LOVE one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.’ (1 John 3:23-24) Oh Friends, that’s the gospel truth! Please let’s ponder that scripture today and see how it works in our lives, so that we can better represent Jesus here on earth. More on this tomorrow, provided we’re still breathing. Till then, let’s all try and walk in as much LOVE as possible nuh. Much LOVE!…he who truly walks in LOVE…is a true reflection of Jesus…and truly pleases Him…