John 3:16. 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.
Ah my fellow believers, that wonderful day, Sunday – the Lord’s Day, is here again! And you know what that means? Gathering together in His sanctuary to fellowship with each other, to worship, praise, exalt and glorify Him, as well as receive strength and direction to do His will in the upcoming week. And I do hope we are all declaring like Bruh David did: ‘I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.’ (Ps.122:1)
Yeh friends, we can’t be true believers unless we are happy to go into God’s house. I know many of us just go because we think we should go to church since we claim to be Christians, but we’re not really joyful about going. We don’t expect, or look forward to good vibes or joyful feelings or even good relationships happening there.
But that’s not the right attitude my brethren. How can you be a true believer if you are not happy in the Lord’s sanctuary eh? But we won’t belabour the point, we’ll just open the celebrations with the singing of this old but glorious hymn: ‘O God our help in Ages Past.’ So, offering up the sacrifice of praise from our lips, let’s belt it out like there was no tomorrow.
‘O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home: Under the shadow of your throne, your saints have dwelt secure; sufficient is your arm alone, and our defense is sure. Before the hills in order stood or earth received its frame, from everlasting you are God, to endless years the same.
A thousand ages in your sight are like an evening gone, short as the watch that ends the night before the rising sun. Time, like an ever-rolling stream, soon bears us all away; we fly forgotten, as a dream dies at the opening day. O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, still be our guard while troubles last, and our eternal home!’
Yes friends, that was most excellent! And it brings us to our Bit; possibly the most important verse of scripture in God’s Word, that pertains to us, for from it, everything else flows. ‘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.’
Ah mih people, such awesome, exciting and life-giving words! And today I’m just going to continue sharing scripture passages that talk about LOVE and reveal its true nature. Now let’s begin with Jesus as He sets the stage for all that follows.
Listen to Jesus’ response to a tempting question from a lawyer -they haven’t changed, still tempters: (smile) ‘Master (Teacher), which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And second is like unto it, Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ (Matt.22:36-40)
It’s so simple friends. That’s the beauty of Jesus’ teachings; they are very simple and straightforward! And I won’t theorize on why so many of us DON’T LOVE the Lord, but I will do so on why we DON’T LOVE our neighbours? Because we simply DON’T LOVE ourselves. If we did, it would not be so difficult to show kindness and mercy, compassion and understanding to others. And you’ll understand why I say that when you read some of Bruh Paul’s exhortation on ‘The way of LOVE’ to the Corinthians.
‘Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not LOVE, I am become as sounding brass, or tinkling (clanging) cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not LOVE, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not LOVE, it profiteth me nothing. LOVE suffereth long, and is kind;
LOVE envieth not; LOVE vaunteth not (does not brag on) itself, is not puffed up (arrogant), Doth not behave itself unseemly (rudely), seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil (keeps no recounts of evil); Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, endureth all things. LOVE never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail (cease); whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away… And now abideth faith, hope, LOVE, these three; but the greatest of these is LOVE.’ (1 Cor.13:1-8; 13)
Ah mih Christian breddren, what else can we say about LOVE and its awesome power eh? Nothing really, except hope and pray that we will all embrace it even a li’l more in our lives, because it’s such a big substance and emotion, that even a li’l bit goes a long way. (smile)
And we’ll conclude today with this passage from Revelation, where John greets the seven churches. ‘And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten (born) of the dead, and the prince of (ruler over) the kings of the earth. Unto him that LOVED us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.’ (Rev.1:5-6)
Now please, let’s ponder all that we’ve said today my people, because it’s ever so important for us to get the spirit of LOVE joyfully moving and grooving in our hearts, souls, bodies and minds, if we are to achieve any success for Jesus. Much LOVE!
…what the world needs now is…LOVE, LOVE, LOVE…not just for some…but for everyone…
SCRIP-BITS 