Where is Your Love?
Text: Rom 13:11-12
“And do this, understanding the present time the hour has come for you to
wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we
first believed. The night is nearly over the day is almost here. So let us put
aside he deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light” NIV.
Introduction: Love is the
strong feeling of deep affection for something or somebody. The love we are
talking about here is the love of God. It is this love that can help every
children of God to run away from sin and to do the will of God easily. The
typical example of this love can be found in Gen. 39:9. This love help those
who have it to believe the mystery of the
The lord is now asking you now! That where is your love? I mean the love you
had when you gave your life to Jesus Christ. Can you compare your present love
toward God to the one you had then? Is your love increasing or decreasing? Have
you not substituted it for other things? Is your life still declaring the good
works of your father in heaven? What are those things waxing away your love
toward God? Everyone knew you as a child of God, working for the lord. Do you
know that doesn’t mean anything to God? Remember! God’s ways are not that of
men and his though are not ours (Isa. 55:8). Therefore, do not deceive
your-self because God knows you more than you know yourself. The lord is asking
you now. Where is your love?
Bad character and behaviour is seen in the fold of God today, due to the love
of God waxing cold. What ought not to be seen, is seen due to low level of
God’s love. At this point you need assessing yourself. Do you really love the
lord? Jesus said”
“If you love me, you will obey what I command “ John 14:15.
THINGS WHICH THE
LOVE OF GOD WORKS IN ONE’S LIFE
1.
It
helps one to please God.
2.
It
gives assurance of heaven marking
3.
It
enhances good personal relationship with God.
4.
It
strengthen one’s feet in the lord in the time of suffering and persecution
5.
It
helps one not to yield to sin and temptation.
6.
It
gives one hope and assurance of a glorious future in Christ.
7.
It
comforts and encourages one during the time of problem.
8.
It
guides our step from misbehaving and going astray from the lord.
9.
It
works in one’s life to bear the fruit of the spirit.
10.
It
helps to understand God and know him better.
11.
Love
drives out fear in us and gives confidence I John 4:8
WHAT SHOWS THAT
LOVE IS WAXING COLD
(a) Finding no joy
in working for the lord or working for the lord for one’s personal interest
(b)
Finding
no wrong in committing some sins.
(c)
Doubting
undiluted words of God that is pointing to a particular aspect of your life
rather than pleading for God’s mercy.
(d)
Changing
your mind on things, which you strongly believe to be the will of God.
(e)
When
begins to fall into sin which you had earlier condemned.
(f)
Finding
yourself always acting against the words of God you preach to people.
(g)
Finding
it difficult to fellowship with God in service and in prayer.
(h)
When
things around rather than the words of God always affect your life.
(i)
Justifying
yourself rather than pleading for mercy by the time you sin against God. Adam
and Eve in the Garden of Eden were careless about their restoration by putting
the responsibility of their sin on each other (Gen. 3:12). Saul also did the
some by explaining the reason for his disobedience instead of pleading for
mercy.
(j)
Doubting
the supremacy of God as the God of all possibilities and you start seeking an
alternative means of solving your problems. (James 5:8).
(k)
Loosing
focus on the way of heaven as a result of being carried away by distractions –
When you abandon the original for the non-original e.g. The man of God from
Judah. (2 Tim. 2:4).
(l)
Emphasizing
on the wrong of others and finding no time to assessing yourself whether you
are also in the same category.
(m)
When
you are filled with church activities rather than growing spiritually.
(n)
Paying
attention only to what people called chronic sin such as murder, Adultery,
stealing etc, and not paying attention to besetting sins. Example of besetting
sin are:
(i)
The
sins you are ready to defend.
(ii)
The
sins your thoughts or heart run from time to time.
(iii)
The
sins to which you have an excuse.
(iv)
Sins
that becloud your spirituality.
(v)
The
sins you are unwilling to give up.
(vi)
The
sins you all the time persuade yourself to be an infirmity.
(vii)
The
sins you always want to justify.
(viii) Sins that cause
rival of conscience.
(o)
Refusing
to be identified with Christ or being ashamed to proclaim the Gospel of Christ.
(p)
Seeing
living a holy life as living a miserable life because you can’t do things,
which the people of the world are doing.
(q)
Refusing
to receive any forms of disappointment because of Christ.
(r)
Seeing
following the lord as an hindrance to living a glorious future.
(s)
Telling
stories to discourage others in the work of the lord rather than making history
to challenge other to moving forward in Christ.
(t)
Remaining
adamant with no peculiar sign of growing in the lord.
(u)
When
you life is no longer affect by the words of God.
(v)
When
you discover that your words are merely fact but lifeless – i.e. your words no
longer affect the spiritual life of the people around you.
(w)
Cherishing
your desire rather than the will of God for your life. (Eph. 5:17).
(x)
When
you begin to twist the words of God to satisfy your evil desire.
Friend, consider
all the points listed above are they not found in your life? If the manifest,
it shows you need reconciling with God. You need to get-right with him now. We
all know that the issue of heaven making is not a joking matter.
Paul
said:
“For God’s kingdom is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of the
righteousness, peace and joy which the Holy Spirit gives. (Roman 14:17) GN
Let us go into the bible to examine the life of some people – the level of
their commitments, their love towards God and the things they do for the
purpose of following the lord.
*
PAUL
Paul left everything and decided to work for the lord all the days of his life
after his conversion. In the course of doing this, he refused to get married.
He counted all things gainful to him a lost and suffered as a prisoner for the
sake of the Gospel of Christ. Despite all he did, he said:
“I don’t claim that I have already succeeded or have already become
perfect. I keep striving to win prize for which Christ Jesus has already won me
to himself, of course my brother, I don’t think that I have already won it; the
one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach
what is a head. So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize
which is God’s call through Christ Jesus to the life above” (Philippians
3:12-14) GN. He also added that “I beat my body and make it slave
so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for
the price” (I Cor. 9:27) NIV.
The words of Apostle Paul above shows that, no matter what we’ve done for the
lord in the past cannot guarantee the full assurance of making heaven. There
are many children of God who feel relax in the race of heaven. Many of them
have fallen from grace unknowingly due to the fact that they refuse to move
forward. They keep emphasizing on the work they’re done for the lord in the
past. Therefore, they choose to remain stagnant and begin to tell stories of
what they’re done rather than following the example of apostle Paul. It is when
keep working for the lord with love that can guarantee us reigning with Christ
in the end of age.
Can you compare yourself with Paul? You as a student, lecturer, Doctor, lawyer,
Business man, Civil servant, Banker, an Accountant, Scientist? Can you work out
the ratio of your commitment with that of Paul? Don’t forget you want to go the
same heaven where Paul went; you also want to be rewarded as he. But none of us
want to suffer as he did. Remember! You had your Degree including your MSc, you
are still chasing to have our PhD, you are still planning to get married, and
you still believe God to help you to complete your housing project, to get a
car or change the one you have. These are some of the things we always want the
lord to do for us. Paul also had the grace to do some of these things but he
didn’t cherish them for the purpose of preaching the Gospel. He said to the
Corinthian that:
“… Don’t we have right to take a believing
wife along with us as do the other apostles? … If others have this right of
support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this
right. On contrary we put up with anything rather than hinder the Gospel of
Christ…” (I Cor. 9:1-27) NIV.
“Rather,
as servant of God we commend ourselves in every way: In great endurance; in
troubles, hardships and distresses in beating imprisonments and hunger …(2 Cor.
6:3-13) NIV.
Despite all this
suffering and difficulty, Paul didn’t show any confidence of heaven making; He
rather beat his body so as not to be disqualified. If Paul should beat his body
in addition to the work he had done for Christ. We Christians of today need
beating the beatable and doing our best in working for the lord till the end of
our existence on earth, so as to make heaven at the end.
What helped apostle
Paul to do these? His love toward the lord helped him. Therefore, our love
toward the lord should continually Increasing. Don’t forget that if you stop
moving, two things are likely to happen to you. You ether remains stagnant and
begins to stink spiritually or you begin to move backward.
Just as we all
know that our God is an unchangeable God and anything pertaining him never
change. Despite the fact that the world is changing continually the standard of
heaven making remain the same. This is what should be our focus, we shouldn’t
be influenced by what we see or feel around us because they are placed by the
devil to stop us from moving towards the goal. Stop telling stories, instead!
Make history that will challenge others to follow the lord as we had been
reading about Paul and the things he did. Don’t see living a holy life as
living a miserable life, but always look forward to seeing the future glory
(the
“I
consider that what we suffer at this time cannot be compared at all with the
glory that is going to be revealed to us” (Rom 8:18) GN.
No matter what you
are passing through for the purpose of Christ don’t forget that it is just for
a while and always remember that:
“…In
all things, God works for good with those who love him, who had been called
according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28) GN
You have to
determine to follow the lord with all sincerity and whole-heartedly and forget
about all your problems. Let your soul cling to loving the lord. He is always
there for you, he have wonderful plans for you. What you need doing is to sing
together with Paul that:
“Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or
prosecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword” (Rom 8:35) NIV
At the end of
Paul’s journey on earth, He told Timothy
that:
“As for me the hour has come for me to be sacrificed; the time is here for
me to leave this life. I have done my best in the race. I have run the full
distance and I have kept the faith. And now there is waiting for me the prize
of victory awarded for a righteous life… and not only to me but also to all
those who wait with love for him to appear’. (2 Tim. 4:6-8) GN
What a good
ending! What will be the end of your existence in this earth? Will you also
wait with love till the end of your journey on earth? Or let ask you, are you
waiting for the lord with love? Haven’t you substituted your love for anything
else? Remember! If you turn away from the love of God, the love you had in the
time past will be valueless. Note that, before now, your heart is filled with
the coming of Christ which helps in increasing your love toward God, but the
issue of the coming of Christ has now become a forgotten issue in your life. You
are now totally occupied with your circular work, academic pursuit, your
project and many other things rather than the coming of Christ. But always
remember that these are signs of end time Jesus said:
“Many will give up their faith at that time; such will be spread of evil that
many people’s love will grow cold. But whoever holds out to the end will be
saved” (Matt 24:10sa, 12-13) GN.
Therefore
“… The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our
salvation is nearer now than we first believed” (Romans 13:11) NIV.
*
THE TEN VIRGINS
The parable of the
ten virgins absolutely represents the Christian of these days. The ten virgins
in (Matt. 25:1-13) made preparations for the purpose of meeting the bridegroom.
But the bible tells us that:
“The
bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell a
sleep (Matt. 25:5) NIV.
There are some
things, which are very interesting about these virgins.
(i)
They
believe in the coming of the bridegroom and expected him that’s why they waited
for him.
(ii)
They
separated themselves from the society concerning the coming of the bridegroom
and longed for his return.
(iii)
They
knew him as lord and made some preparation to meet him.
(iv)
They
waited and not return despite the delay.
(v)
They
desire to meet him at all cost.
But the silent
fact about these virgins was that five of them were foolish and the other five
were wise. Despite the fact that they all waited, only five of them were able
to go with the bridegroom. The other five were unable to go due to their
carelessness towards their preparation.
This is the
typical example of this present day believer. We are all anticipating for the
coming of the lord. But not all those that are waiting will go with lord except
those who upon the lord with love. If there is no full guarantee for the people
anticipating for the coming of the lord, what then will now happen to those,
who do not always have in mind that the lord will come in an unknown day and
hour?
Many would say in
their mind that, it is this the same lord that Paul and many other apostles
after him waited for till they end up their journey on earth, will he surely
come? Jesus said in Rev. 22:7.
“Behold
I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of this prophecy in this
book”.
The love of many
Christians today is cold due to the fact that the lord was a long time in
coming i.e. they kept waiting but yet he hadn’t come or was a long time in
granting them their request. Are you not also in the same category? Don’t allow
anything to take away the love of God in your life. Don’t forget – that, you’ve
started well with the lord and you mustn’t end your life to the hands of the
devil. If you had deviated from the love of Christ you need coming back to him,
because he is coming soon. You have to make up your mind to follow the lord
with love till the end of your journey on earth.
Remember all
you’ve lost for the reason of the love you had in the past. You’ve refused to
enjoy what the people of the world enjoyed, what they do, their ways of life,
dressing, those benefits which come your way in an unrighteous way you’ve
rejected them all. You’ve laboured and suffered some things due to the fact of
following the lord. After all this should you miss the reward by missing the
*
JOSEPH
Joseph was righteous right from his childhood and this resulted to love from
his father and hatred from his brothers. (Gen 37:2-4). The lord reveal to him,
his purpose for his life.
Despite all the sufferings and difficult that he experienced, he refuses to
compromise his faith. In the face of some things, which seem beneficial to him,
he decides to lose for the reason of the love he had for the lord. He said in
Gen. 39:9b.
“How
then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against
God?”
He endures all
hardship and eventually fulfils his God’s given purpose in life.
There are many
devoted and committed children of God today, who had been carrying their cross
right from the outset of following the lord. They never live to enjoy any good
and blessing that life offers. Their lives are filled with troubles and
problem. Things go contrary to them as if heaven is shut against them. But as
times goes on they fell off the tract of the way of heaven. They compromise
their faith in the lord due to the fact that they can no longer endure what
they are facing.
Are you also in
the same category? Despite the fact that you have prayed to the lord concerning
the same issue several times and yet receive no answer, you shouldn’t because
of that compromise your faith.
“You
too, be patient and stand firm, because the lord’s coming is near” (James 5:8)
Do not allow anything to take away the love of God from your life. If you had
suffered, Joseph also suffered more than you do. But note this, if Joseph had
remain in the
Joseph would have been unable to do this if he had compromise his faith when he
was tempted. He didn’t allow anything to take away the love of God from his
life despite his suffering. Therefore, anything hat happen to you is for a
particular reason known to God and which will be know to you when it is over
(Rom 8:18) God does not have the plan to harm you or make you to suffer in
vain, he is only interested in what you will do in the time you are suffering,
whether your love in him will increase or decrease. Now, are you not thinking
of finding an alternative means of solving your problems? Are you not seeing
following the lord as an hindrance to living a glorious future? Remember! God
is the one controlling everything concerning you; therefore, you can’t outrun
him. Let your love in him continue to increase because he is the one who sees
and know what you don’t see or know. Endure all hardship the lord will surely
see you through. The words of the Lord say.
“In this world you will have trouble but take heart! I have overcome the
earth” (Jh 16:33b)
“His anger lasts only a moment, but his favour last a lifetime; weeping
pay remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning (Ps. 3:9-5).
Therefore, in whatever situation you find yourself; hold on to his love of God
for the hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our
salvation is nearer now then when we first believed.
*
THE MAN OF GOD FROM
God gave this man a special assignment, which was to deliver the words of the
lord in bethel. He was given some instruction to carrying his duty that:
(i)
He
must not eat bread or drink water
(ii)
He
must not return by the way he came (King 13:9).
This
man hold on to these instructions given to him by God and this made him to
reject the offer of king Jeroboam. But He compromise along the way by yielding
to the word of the old prophet. As a result of this, a lion killed him. Do not
forget that God himself gave this man an instruction to follow but he left the
original words of God, which he himself heard directly from God, for the
non-original- i.e. the words of the old prophet. Have you not also abandon some
of the words of God in which you strongly believe to be the will of God in the
time past. Are you not like this man? Despite the fact that he was deceived,
God sees him as a disobedient child. God will never pardon you even though you
are deceived by false prophet of these days, because he had given you the bible
to be your mirror. Is your love not decreasing as a result of being carried
away by distraction of the words of Devil’s agent on earth? The lord had given
you the bible in which your need meditating everyday so at to guide you from
being polluted by false prophet of our time (Ps 119:105).
The
lord has perfected his plan and requirement for any individual to get to
heaven, which cannot be change by anyone. The Devil also has his own vessel
that is using to put any child of God who is careless out of the track of the
way of heaven. False prophets who claim to be that of God have deceived many
children of God who are very strong in the lord in the past. The word of God
tells us that:
“Those having a form of godliness but denying his power, have nothing to
do with them” 2 Tim 3:5
The issue of false prophet is rampant these days because we are in the end
time. Therefore you as a child of God need examine every words of God with the
bible whether it is in line with the bible or not.
As I have earlier explained that the lord had given us his will, which we need,
following to get to heaven, therefore the Lord is telling us that;
“I am
coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your
crown”(Rev. 3:11) NIV.
These words are telling us that there is 100% possibility of taking away what
you have. The Devil that is on earth to steal, kill and destroy (Jn 10:10) is
all the time ready to pull out anyone who is careless out of the track of the
way of heaven. No wonder why many Christians today no longer take some things,
which matter to them in the past but now become something that doesn’t, matters
these days. This is because the Devil had stolen away what the lord gave them
to lead them to heaven. Therefore, we ought to be sensitive to the spirit of
the lord by not yielding to the words of the devil. Do not play with what the
lord had given you so that it won’t be taken from you.
After, the Old prophet had deceived this man of God. The man of God to himself
would be thinking that he was following the lord in total obedience, whereas
not knowing that he was on the way of perdition. Likewise, many Christian that
had been carried away from the way of heaven will still be having false
confidence that they are still in Christ due to the fact that the gift of God
is still manifesting in their lives. Are you not also in the same category? You
know how to preach and teach people very well, you also have they gift of the
spirit manifesting in your life. Check your life, is your love waxing stronger
or becoming cold? You know yourself, the level of your spirituality. Though you
are a Deacon, pastor and whatsoever post or responsibility you have, don’t
forget it is not what people will say about you is important a what they see
you to be, but the matter is that: what record is heaven keeping about your
life? Is the lord not seeing you as one who is working for the lord for your
own personal interest or working for the lord to please the people around you?
Have you not start accepting what you’ve refrain in the past? In fact, are you
a genuine child of God? You alone understand who you are! Despite the fact
that, you are still coming to the presence of God and partaking in church
activities, are you not going down spiritually? What would you say concerning
your besetting sing? Yes, I mean those sins that no one know except you and
God. We always set our mind on sin which people call chronic sin such as
Adultery, murder stealing, drinking alcohol and many other sin. Have you not go
estrange from the lord. You need coming back to the lord in total repentance to
re-establish the love of God that had died in your life. It is as a result of
the loves of God that had died in the life of some Christian that make them to
keep malice, backbite. This is what is hindering some Christians from bearing
the fruit of the spirit. Despite the fact that you know that Jesus is coming
back, you don’t always have in mind that he is coming in the time you don’t
know. This is because your love toward God is cooled and this makes you not to
be in state of been prepared for the lord.
The
lord is coming back soon. Therefore prepare to meet him at any time. Try your
best to be at peace with him every moment because the hour has come for you to
wake up from your slumber because our salvation is nearer now than when we
first believed.
Finally
brethren in the lord, It is time to walk with the lord with all sincerely (Heb.
10:22) and in totality of love. God has given the standard, which cannot be
altered. Therefore, we can only meet up with God’s requirement for heaven when
we remain in God’s love. Just as it was written that:
“Love the lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with
all your strength”(Deut. 6:5).
God is telling you here, to love Him with everything you have i.e. the love of
God should be first and others things, which are his, will, to follow. No
matter what you are passing thorough or the problem you have. Let your love
continue to increase in him and do not forget that every problem wants to touch
your salvation and turn you away from God.
Have you been working for the lord and seem you haven’t be rewarded? The words
of the lord are telling you now that:
“Do
not lose your courage, then, because it brings with it a great reward” (Heb.
10:35) GN
“Therefore
my dear brothers, stand firm, let nothing more you. Always give yourself fully
to the work of the lord because you know that your labour in the lord is not in
vain” (I Cor. 15:58) NIV
“Watch out
that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded
fully” (2 John vs. 8) NIV.
Therefore,
let us continue in God’s love so as to receive the reward of following the lord
and perhaps the coming of the lord is near!
“So
then, dear friend, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to
be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our
lord’s patience means salvation” (2 Peter 3:14-15b) NIV
“But
you, dear friend build yourself up in most holy faith and pray in the Holy
Spirit. Keep yourself in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our lord Jesus
Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt snatch
other from the fire and save them… (Jude vs. 20 – 23a)
CONCLUSION
The
clear picture of God’s mind had been revealed to your, that your love should
continually increase in him. But whether your love increase or not, the fact
still remains that:
“The
axe is already at the root of the trees and every tree that does not produce
good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” Matt. 3:10
Check your life; do you still love the lord? Have you ever experience loving
the lord? Therefore make every effort to be in the love of God, because the
hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber because our salvation is
nearer now than when we first believed.
Shalom!
Written by
Bro Jonathan Oguntoye,
For more
information
contact
Gospel Faith Mission Int’l,
Caretaker,
Ogbomoso.
Tel: 08035282237.
