REAL LOVE

Time with Jesus - Sunday, 20 January 2013

Hi all,

What do you and I know of real love? Probably it’s very little! Deuteronomy states, ⁵ and you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. Deut. 6:5 NLT I’ve no fight with the statement. But how do I know I’m doing it? Jesus told us how. In John’s Gospel it states; ¹⁰ When you obey My commandments, you remain in My love, just as I obey My Father's commandments and remain in His love. John 15:10 NLT

The simple answer is to say we know we love God when we do what He says! It’s not complicated and it doesn’t require great genius. Today we meditate on real love!

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Sunday, 20 January 2013			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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INTRODUCTION			DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	Real Love
In the Book of Deuteronomy, God indicates that “Israel” belongs to Him and “Jacob” is His special possession. In the context in which this is written, Jacob and Israel are the same. It’s a classic piece of Hebrew writing in which the same thing is stated twice. We can say God is expressing His love for His people. Special possession is an interesting term. The best illustration I’ve heard was by Malcolm Smith in 1984. He said that from God’s perspective, Israel is my “pocket money”. The entire world belongs to Him. In a sense, if the entire world past, present and future could be expressed in terms of Rand and cents or dollars and cents; no matter how great the total might be, it was all His. He is free to dispose of it or keep it, as He wills. No one can interfere in any way. It’s all His1 We get a better understanding of the term “pocket money” from a small illustration. You and I earn a wage or a salary; so much per week or month. Whatever! Now we have certain commitments that must be paid. These are essential expenses we can’t avoid. For instance, we have to buy food, clothes, family needs, rentals etc. Although all the money is ours, we are compelled to spend it in a particular way. But every one of us likes to have something to spend on whatever he/she wants. We call it our pocket money. For you and me, it’s special. It’s mine for me to spend as I want. No strings attached, it’s mine. As children, most of us received something from our parents to spend somewhere. That was my pocket money. My parents might have asked me where I spent it, but didn’t interfere unless they thought it was wasted on something silly. Now think of it on a Divine Scale. God loves us all. We are all His people. Every man and woman on this earth is His. We are all His possession. But, like us, God has a special possession. Special in the sense that the pleasure we get with our pocket money, is how He sees His people. His people are His pocket money! The implications of this are staggering. Suddenly the Song of Songs starts to make sense. God is the King. In the book, He is the groom. Then He begins to describe His love for you and me; we are His bride; His special possession. He shares His passion with and for us. We respond in the way a bride responds to her groom. It’s breath-taking! You are His special possession. You are His pocket money. You are His beloved. How can such a love be described? It’s supernatural; It’s that unique love of God that gives itself away. The Greek word somewhat Anglicised is “agape’” What’s it like? Some years, ago I was listening to one of our better known SA speakers. He asked much the same question. How much does God love us? By way of answer he spread out his arms as far as he could. He added that it’s exactly, what Jesus did – then Jesus died. He can go no further, because there is nothing any further. That’s agape’! No limits and no end. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			9"For the people of Israel belong to the LORD; Jacob is His special possession. Deut. 32:9 NLT 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. 1 Cor. 3:23 NLT 10 I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me. SoS 7:10 TNIV 16 "My love belongs to me, and I belong to him. Like an antelope, he eats among the lilies. SoS 2:16 NIrV 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Gal 2:20 ESV 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1 Cor. 6:19-20 ESV 20 But you--GOD took you right out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to become the people of his inheritance--and that's what you are this very day. Deut. 4:20 MSG 9 For we are both God's workers. And you are God's field. You are God's building. 1 Cor. 3:9 NLT 6 But Christ is a faithful son in charge of God's household. We are his household if we continue to have courage and to be proud of the confidence we have. Heb. 3:6 GW 5 You come to him as living stones, a spiritual house that is being built into a holy priesthood. So offer spiritual sacrifices that God accepts through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5 GW 17 "They will be My people," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. "On the day when I act in judgment, they will be My own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child. Mal 3:17 NLT 10 All who are Mine belong to You, and You have given them to Me, so they bring Me glory. John 17:10 NLT 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, Eph. 1:18 ESV	There’s little understanding of the love of God Most High, For guilt-infested sinners, the like of you and I. We don’t know why He bothers. Why should He even look, At people who don’t care for Him, or what is in His Book. It seems we’ve been inoculated, so we cannot tell, If we are bound for heaven, or have been condemned to hell. We know it’s done by Satan. We know about his hate. Any person that is born – they have to share his fate. And so he does his very best, in order to ensure, That not a person in the world could any way be pure. But thank God, Jesus knows it. He knows of Satan’s trap. And just because He loves us, He died to fill the gap, That Father had erected the instant of the fall. And He came here to close it. He died to save us all. We mostly find His love for us is more than we have seen. It stretches to eternity, where we have never been. This world is full of “eros” which usually is lust. Do the things you want to do! There’s no one you can trust. So if your “love” is glandular then grab it double quick. The value of virginity, That makes me feel so sick. Mankind are only animals, so you can copulate With anyone or everyone. Who needs a marriage mate? We find it all around us. This is normality? If that is now your attitude, it’s crass stupidity. The fact is, you don’t understand what Christ has really done. He didn’t die upon the cross to stop you having fun. He died because He loved you. There was no trace of lust. He didn’t have to do it for the children of the dust. He didn’t love for my sake, but because it had to be. He didn’t get emotional and concentrate on me. He saw a dying people, who had been led astray. A lost and mad humanity who didn’t have a way, To come and meet His Father. Compassion then arose, And filled Him with a longing to go and rescue those, Who truly would receive Him and love Him for His sake. A love that gives itself away and cannot bear to take! A love that says, “Whoever, no matter where you’ve been, I’ll freely give My life away so that you can be clean. No matter what they do to Me, my focus is on you. My love for you is limitless. I’ll do what I must do. If you will just believe me, I’ll teach you how to love. Then you can also give your life for God who reigns above”. Jim Strickland Written 20th January 2012.