Point Of Hope - Issue26 - February 2016 February 2016 | Page 22

TO FIRST LOVE GOD

God does
NOT
change
H is
mind
with
reference
to H is
call.
22
February 2016
Point of Hope Magazine

When we FIRST love God, we spend time with Him
and let His Presence saturate our innermost being ?
this is LOVE, for GOD IS LOVE. As we start our New
Year, I recommend spending time with God. Sitting
in His Presence, thanking Him for all He has done
for us! Thank Him for Who He is! Then? sit without
speaking ? just listen? let His Word speak to you.
He will speak to us in that still (sweet), small voice
bringing Truth from His Word. When we discipline
ourselves to do this, we become an extension of His
love to others! We literally begin to see the
?potential?in others, not their ?faults.?We see them
as ?loved by God.?
Perhaps this is what Jesus meant in John 13:34
(NIV): ?? Love one another. As I have loved you...? He
calls it a ?new? command. He knows the Old
Testament Ten Commandments cannot be obeyed
until we love God FIRST and are empowered by His
Spirit to carry out those commands! Rules and
regulations cannot set anyone free! LOVE can!
God?s unconditional, pure LOVE has the power to
break down the barriers of prejudice and hate. We
are exhorted to keep ourselves ?? in God?s love? ?
(Jude 21, NIV) This is our ?call to persevere!? To
remain in love takes great perseverance! The power
of God?s love can hold us, keeping us in Him, when
we love Him first. We cannot achieve this any other
way.
OUR TEST
Here?s our test: How are we showing God?s love to
others? Are we allowing judgments to stop God?s
pure love from flowing through us?
To help answer these questions, we must ask: ?To
what (or Whom) am I called?? We are called to God
? to love God FIRST above all else. YES! We are to
love Him more than our spouses and even our
children. We are called to love God above any
position we yearn after? to love God above any