LOVE OF CHRIST

Romans 8:35 – Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution , or famine , or nakedness, or peril , or sword ?

God is love – 1 John 4:8. Out of His love, He gave His only begotten son – Jesus as a sin offering to die on the cross. Out of the same love, Jesus decided to offer His life on the cross – John 10:18. No one can love you the way Christ loved you. Not even your children, husbands or wives, not your friends or families .John 15:13 says greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Jesus did not love us because we were perfect or saints. He loved us because He is love just as the father is. Romans 5:8 says God demonstrated His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Out of love, Jesus allowed Himself to be beaten and hung on a cross like a criminal so that by the stripes sustained from the beating, we will be healed in all areas of our lives. Today He is calling drug addicts , the forgotten ,the cast away and forgotten , the helpless and downtrodden to come to Him so that He might give them life and life in abundance. Out of this same love, He said “whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son -John 14:13.”

1 John 4:19 says we love Him because He first loved us. Because of Christ's  love to us, we are expected to reciprocate this love back to Him. We should not be a summer friends to Him – friends when everything is rosy, jolly and nice. We are expected to love Him when we are under pressure, in great anxiety and distress of mind, in danger, when we are persecuted even when our lives are in danger. What happens when we love Jesus during challenges and trials  is that He loves us more. In Daniel 3:1-30, the love of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego for God were tested .Nebuchadnezzar gave them the option of bowing down to an idol and living or refusing and be thrown in a burning furnace. These three men remembered how God out of love had promoted them from slaves to become administrators in a foreign land. They decided to reciprocate their love to Him by choosing not bow to any idol and be thrown into the burning furnace. God was so moved by their love for Him that He left His throne in heaven  to come and fellowship with these boys in the furnace. By the end of that day, God had so much glorified Himself in their lives , Nebuchadnezzar had no other option than to promote them. Whatever it is you are going through, please do not forsake God. Do not seize serving him. In that present challenge, do not seize to give him praises and show your love to Him. As you proof your love to Him in difficult situations, He will come through and glorify Himself in your life.

PRAYER POINT – Father, help me to love you regardless of what i may be going through.