THE AMAZING LOVE OF CHRIST

THE LOVE OF CHRIST by Dr IFEANYI  OKWUOSA

So tell me please; why is it that our love is so subjective? Yes, you heard me; why is our love so subjective? Why is it so dependent on so many things? Why does it not happen because of so many things; how old he is? How old she is not? What job does he do and how much does he make? Is she beautiful? Is she really beautiful? Does he smoke and drink? Is he fat? Does he work out? And on and on. I cannot even begin to tell you about all the reasons we all have for not loving and being committed to each other. The world we live in today has deceived us all into believing that the people we should end up with should be of a certain social class and a “respectable” background and blah! Blah! Blah! No one loves honestly anymore and I am not talking about the butterflies in the stomach and the head spinning pseudo love that Hollywood plays out for us that is so perfect in its making that it just has to have a soundtrack. No! I am so not talking about that. I am talking about the love of Christ in our hearts and minds knowing that the Lord Christ came down and died for me and paid no mind to how pretty I am because I am not. Or how tall, dark and handsome I am because I just saw a tall, dark and handsome guy just now and I could not compare myself to him and I am a guy for your information.
Christ died for me and paid no mind to how much I make or what my educational status is or any of those fleeting and-frankly speaking-unnecessary things that we all seem to pay so much time and attention to. The Lord came and laid His life for me and all my life He has been chasing me and wanting me to give Him just a little attention. He watches me go out with people that He and I know are bad for me and will do nothing but corrupt me and even after I have resisted all His coaxing and nudging to not go with them, when I do, He does not abandon me and stay at home pouting and kicking himself in disappointment. No He does not. Rather, he goes with me and makes sure that even though I went to this dangerous part of town where all these murderers and thieves and all manner of evil people that he cannot stand are, he makes sure that I get home safely and when I get back from all my backsliding and mixing in with the wrong crowd that he talks to me and convicts me of His love that is genuine and honest and true and unbiased and he reminds me that he knew that was how I was but still died for me and he embraces me in his arms and talks about how much he loves me and wants me to be a big part of his kingdom and wants me to be his best and tells me that I am the best and he believes in me like no one else and makes me believe that I am the best and so I become the best and I feel so bad about all that I have done wrong and the Lord encourages me and strengthens never ever leaves me. That is my God, my Jesus; the lover of my soul.
We are so critical and analytical and held back and encumbered by ourselves that we do not even pay any mind to our brothers beside us who are dying and going to hell every single day. We do not feel the need to snatch their souls from the jaws of the enemy. We are so wicked that under the guise of minding our own business, we keep quiet and watch all our friends and brothers die and go to hell and we do absolutely nothing about it and it is so normal and... and... It’s amazing. Some of us have been Christians-or rather should I say: call ourselves and have called ourselves Christians- for so long and have sat and thrived under and enjoyed the love of our lord for years but have never felt the need to rise up and be an example and a help for another- that is just the way we were before He found us-that needs the love of the Lord so badly that we can all see it.
We cannot stop and consider just how many of us are never going to enter in to the rest of our Lord all because we are so selfish that we will not talk to the next person about the Love of the Lord. We cannot show the love of the Lord to a brother who is not tall and handsome or a lady who is not beautiful and sexy and could one day become the girl of our dreams. We will not sow the word into a life where we do not feel that there will be any reward or harvest in return. I mean... I mean what is this?! What is this? We are all backslidden in our love. Even after the Lord has polished us up and has cleaned us up and has made us into blessings to people, we withhold our sword when there is an opportunity to strike and we preserve ourselves. We will never contribute moneys or time or our energy to the lord. Let alone our very lives even though we know for a fact that we owe our very lives to the Lord. We are so full of it. So full of selfishness that we cannot put another before us and they dare not attempt to ask of us or we will rise up and inflate our chests and give 1001 reasons and get infuriated and do anything and everything just to skip out of being a blessing to someone else.
Remember my brother that the lord died for me just the same way and at the same time He died for u and everyone else who has ever walked this planet and remember that the only truth that binds all of us together is love. And if we do not have this, we are liars and thieves and no better than the company that the Lord delivered us from-who, by the way, also need Him.
Dearly beloved, let us not cleave so tight to our lives but let us give freely of our love and our lives knowing that the Lord gave us everything he had. Let us follow the example of our Lord and be a blessing to a lost soul today. God bless you.
The salvation of the world is our responsibility and we must rise up and make it happen.

BECOME GODS FRIEND

I got this thrilling message and i though i should share it with You because you are so special to me,

 "I have called you friends" - John 15:15 NKJV

Jesus told His disciples, '"No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you."' Notice, Jesus initiated this friendship. With full knowledge of their problems and their possibilities, Jesus said, '... "I have called you friends"... ' Amazing! In royal courts the servants must keep their distance, but the inner circle enjoys close contact, direct access and confidential information. How can you become a friend of God? Through constant conversation. God wants to be included in every activity. You can carry on a conversation with Him throughout your day, talking about whatever you're doing at that moment. Brother Lawrence, a humble cook in a French monastery, writes, 'The key to friendship with God is not changing what you do, but changing your attitude towards what you do. What you normally do for yourself you now begin doing for God, whether it is eating, bathing, relaxing or taking out the rubbish.' Some of us think we must 'get away' in order to experience intimacy with God. That's because we haven't learned to recognise and cultivate His presence in all things. No place is closer to God than where you are right now! In Eden there were no rituals - just a simple relationship between God and those He created. Unhindered by guilt or fear, they delighted in Him and He delighted in them. 'Is such a relationship possible?' you ask. Absolutely. '... Our friendship with God was restored by the death of His son... ' (Romans 5:10 NLT).

In his book The Practice of the Presence of God, a French monk called Brother Lawrence suggests we pray short conversational prayers throughout the day rather than long, complex ones. To maintain our focus and counteract our wandering thoughts, he writes, 'I do not advise you to use a great multitude of words in prayer, since long discourses are often occasions for wandering.' What great insight! In the age of attention deficit disorder (ADD) this centuries-old suggestion to 'keep it simple' still works. Paul writes, '... Pray all the time... ' (1 Thessalonians 5:17 TM). 'But how can I do that?' you ask. One way is to use 'breath prayers', as many of the great saints and writers have done through the ages. You choose a simple phrase that can be repeated in one breath: 'Lord, You are with me'; 'I am depending on You'; 'I want to know You better'; 'Help me to trust You more'. You can also use short phrases of Scripture: 'For me to live is Christ'; 'You will never leave me'; 'You will supply all my needs'. Repeat it until it's rooted deeply in your heart and begins to reflect in your attitude and actions. This is a skill, a habit you can develop. Just as musicians practise their scales every day in order to play well, you can discipline yourself to think about God at different times in your day. 'But sometimes I don't feel God's presence,' you say. If you're seeking an emotion, you've missed the point. Your goal is not a feeling, but a continual awareness that God is always with you

Friendship with God is maintained and strengthened through continual meditation. It's impossible to be God's friend apart from knowing what He says. You can't love God unless you know Him, and that's only possible through the Bible. '... He revealed himself to Samuel through his word' (1 Samuel 3:21 NIV). Now you can't spend all day studying the Bible, but you can think about it throughout the day, recalling verses you've read, mulling over them in your mind. Meditation isn't some mysterious ritual, it's simply focused thinking - a skill anybody can learn. When you think about a problem over and over, that's called worry. When you think about God's Word over and over, that's called meditation. If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate. Just switch your attention from the problem to the solution! The more you meditate on God's Word the less you'll have to worry about. The more time you spend meditating on the Scriptures the more you'll understand their secrets. The Psalmist said, 'The Friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant' (Psalm 25:14 ESV). After Jesus told His disciples, '... "I have called you friends"... ', He went on to say, '... "I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you"' (John 15:16 NKJV). The benefits of friendship with God include abundant living and answered prayer. So if you want to become God's friend, read, digest and meditate in His Word.

Another step in developing your friendship with God is choosing to be honest with Him! God doesn't expect you to be perfect, but He does expect you to be honest. If perfection was a requirement not one of us would qualify. In the Bible, God's friends were honest about their feelings - sometimes even complaining and arguing with Him - yet He didn't seem to mind. In fact, He encouraged it. God listened patiently to David's accusations of unfairness, betrayal and abandonment. He didn't zap Jeremiah for claiming God had tricked him. Job was allowed to vent his bitterness and God actually defended him for being honest. On the other hand, He rebuked Job's friends for faking it: '... "You haven't been honest either with me or about me - not the way my friend Job has... My friend Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer"' (Job 42:7 TM). To be God's friend you must share your true feelings with Him, not what you think you ought to feel or say. Until you understand that God uses everything for good in our lives, you'll harbour resentment towards Him over your looks, your nationality, your economic background, your unanswered prayers, your past hurts, and the things you'd change if you were God. Actually, revealing your feelings and releasing your resentments to Him are the first steps to becoming spiritually whole. Isn't it encouraging to know that God's closest friends felt just like we do, but instead of masking their feelings in pious clichés they voiced them openly? Why? Because expressing them leads to healing and a deeper level of intimacy with Him.

If you're serious about becoming God's friend you must choose to obey Him! Jesus said, '"If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love"... ' (v. 10 NKJV). You say, 'But if I fail, does that mean God won't love me?' No, it means you won't feel His love, or have confidence when you approach Him in prayer. We normally think of obedience as a characteristic of our relationship to a parent, a boss or a superior officer, not a friend. But Jesus said, '"You are My friends if you do whatever I command you"' (v. 14 NKJV). True friendship isn't passive, it acts. When Jesus asks us to love people, help the needy, give our finances, live clean lives, extend forgiveness and bring others to Him - our love should motivate us to obey immediately! Great opportunities usually come once or twice in a lifetime, but small ones come every day. Through simple acts of obedience we bring a smile to God's face. '... "What pleases the Lord more... sacrifices or obedience... It is better to obey"... ' (1 Samuel 15:22 NCV). At the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, God announced, '... "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."' (Matthew 3:17 NKJV). So, what had Jesus been doing for 30 years that pleased God? The Bible says nothing except that He lived at home with His parents and '... was obedient to them' (Luke 2:51 NLT). Thirty years of pleasing God were summed up in two words: 'lived obediently'! And the relationship Jesus had with His Father is an example of the one He wants you to have with Him.

David desired to know God above all else. He used words like longing, yearning, thirsting and hungering. 'I ask only one thing of the Lord. This is what I want: Let me live in the Lord's house all my life.' (Psalm 27:4 NCV). Again he said, 'Your love means more than life to me... ' (Psalm 63:3 CEV). Jacob's desire was so intense that he wrestled with God all night, saying, '... "I will not let you go unless you bless me"' (Genesis 32:26 NIV). And the amazing thing is, God, who is all powerful, let Jacob win. Why? Because wrestling requires personal contact; it brings us close to Him. Paul was another man who was passionate about his friendship with God. '... [My determined purpose is]... [that I may... become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him]... ' (Philippians 3:10 AMP). You say, 'I'd like to have a closer relationship with God, but I'm so busy.' The truth is, you are as close to God as you desire and discipline yourself to be! Friendship with God must become your passion. You must intentionally seek it. That means answering questions like, 'Do I value it more than anything else? Is it worth giving up other things for? Is it worth developing the habits and skills required? Am I willing to say, 'Lord, more than anything else, I want to know You'?' God's answer to that prayer has always been: '... "When you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed"' (Jeremiah 29:13-14 TM).

God bless you for reading...