DSCF0105aThere are times when I feel so overwhelmed when I think about the millions of people who need to hear about Jesus.  A message as simple as: “God SO loved world (you) that He gave His one and ONLY son (for you!) that whoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life”. (John 3:16)

People need to hear that!  Guess what else they need to hear.  “God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world (you!) but that through him the world would be saved.” (John 3:17)
This takes less than a minute to say that. How hard is that?
I know that God loves mankind dearly!  No one gives their son to be tortured and killed for people that ignore, hate, and don’t even believe you exist.  What kind of love is this?!  To top it all, God does not need mankind.  He wants mankind!!!!  Think about that for awhile. 12182534_886663228074705_7895324420716513038_o
I ran across this scripture in the Book of John, chapter 13.
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
Stunning!  By this ALL will know that we are his disciples!  Stop!
Wouldn’t that be a great starting point?  That world needs to know who are the Jesus followers.  To be honest, it is hard for people to know due to the way we bash one another for being in the wrong denomination or holding a point of doctrine that we don’t agree with. It’s a challenge to find a Christian group that actually loves one another – I mean that truly loves each other.
What is the measuring rod for this type of love?  1 Corinthians 13 answers this question.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails. (v 4-8)

Romans 5 states that God’s love is spread abroad in heart by the Holy Spirit.  Whoa!!!  We have God’s love in our hearts!  We just have to allow it to be unleashed.

My heart’s cry is to have us start with Jesus’ commandment. We can’t just love one another like we want to. We have to love one another as Jesus loved us.That’s an entirely different level of love.

How do we begin?  Jesus made a powerful statement to the Pharisees when the prostitute busted up their meeting with her ointment and tears.  He said “He who is forgiven much, loves much.”

We begin by considering how much we have been forgiven.  My first question for you is this: Do you really believe that you are really forgiven by God? If yes, does it make you extremely happy or are you
still feeling guilty?

My second question for you is this: Do you believe that you really needed to be forgiven? Some of us believe that we need to be forgiven because God says so.  But deep down we really think that ‘that murderer’ needs more forgiveness than we do. We are okay compared to the murderer.

Oh, the deceit of comparison Christianity. I am convinced that we have to believe that our sin, no matter how minor it may seem in our mind, caused Jesus to be tormented, beaten, crushed, ridiculed, crucified and separated from his Father!

And we can’t stop there.  We must realize that it was so worth it for Jesus to go through ALL of this to get to us.  God no longer has to love us from a distance.  He can love us up close.  He wants to forgive us ALL the time so that we will feel close.  The truth is, because of the Cross of Jesus Christ, he is close whether we like it or not.

Romans 8:38-39 (NKJV)IMG_4724

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

I believe if we understand, receive for ourselves and bask in the depth of his love through his forgiveness, we will love much.

When we love much, and I mean truly love, then the world will know who we are, and more importantly, find out who he is.