The definition of God’s love (Part 1)
Verse of the day: 1 John 4: 12: “No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us"
Some Christians pray to fix their problems and others are concerned about the presence of God in their lives. Without the presence of God, it's almost impossible to build a stable life of prayer because it is the presence of God that casts out fear.
It may happen that when you start praying, you feel some fatigue or discomfort without knowing why ... some even fall asleep in the middle of prayer. All this is due to lack of God’s presence and the big question is how to get there?
Some say that in order to enter in God's presence, they must spend time in meditation of the word, others say they have to sing hymns ... all this can work, but it is not always easy because I know those who sing and fall asleep on the second hymn and others read four chapters without any revelation from the Lord.
If there is God’s presence in us, it means that he abides in us. The verse of the day (1 John 4: 12) begins by saying that no one has ever seen God, but we find the condition for Him to abide in us: It is said that "if we love one another, God abides in us".
By this, we discover the easiest way for God to abide in us which is the neighbor’s love. In other words, we can summarize this by saying that God lives where love is. Like a fish cannot remain in a pool without water, so God cannot dwell in a heart without love.
The question that follows is what kind of love is John talking? Every time we show an act of love, one can be sure that God is there because we just learned that He remains where love resides. The revelation that is in the verse of the day is that God does not require us to be too spiritual in order to dwell in us but he just wants to find love in us. Helping a brother or a sister who is in need opens a door to God’s presence because any act of love attracts His presence. If you never care about other people’s problems, if you do not pay any attention to the poor, you chase out God’s presence from your life.
Your act of love will only be considered by heaven if you are born again which means you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
In the second part, we will see what the Bible means by "love." It's easy to tell someone that you love him but it is not always easy to prove it.
Chris Ndikumana
The definition of God’s love (Part 2)
Verse of the day: 1 John 3: 18: “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth”
Today we define the kind of love required by God's Word. The definition is in the verse of the day: The Word forbids us to love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
The Church of Jesus Christ is invaded by a spirit of lack of love. It is rather like "God for all and every one for himself". Paradoxically, churches are filled with hundreds and thousands of Christians of all ranks of the country. During Sunday services, churches are packed with cars of all brands while inside these same churches there are a significant number of hungry Christians but they are not noticed because we are busy looking for the presence of God in praise and worship. The apostle James says that if a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and we wish him peace and all good things without giving them what is necessary to the body, it is useless (James 2: 15-16).
A Christian told me that we should not care for widows because it is the work of the church and I told him that he is the church; I told him that the church does not mean the four walls but it is the body of Christ. It is true that the church should be organized to help widows in it but still every Christian has the duty to manifest the love of God on his own level.
By "love", many interpret the emotional feelings based on the relationship, the appearance and the importance of the person you love but I believe that when the Bible talks about God's love, it’s more than sentimental; it’s rather the love like God’s i.e. the love to love everyone, good and bad people.
If we are created in God's image, we have in us the love of God i.e. the love to love everybody, good and bad.
In the third part, we will see how God's love can be helpful to us when it comes to deal with those who are used by the devil.
Chris Ndikumana
The definition of God’s love (Part 3)
Verse of the day: Mathew 5:44: “ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you”
The verse of the day can give the impression of being in a fiction movie, far away from the reality. I have heard many sermons on this passage but I was hardly convinced because I did not understand how to love an enemy, and especially praying for those who persecute me. I wondered why I should pray for him and finally I tried to understand what kind of love Jesus spoke?
Jesus equipped the disciples with a series of tips on the behavior and attitude they had to have the day he would be gone. At the end of the verse, he speaks of those who would persecute them, i.e. those who would abuse them because of the name of Jesus or because they are his disciples.
We all know that God does not love sin but He loves the sinner and on the following verse (Matthew 5: 48), He asked the disciples to be like their Father (God) i.e. thinking and seeing things as God. If God loves sinners, we must love them also; If He wants everyone to be saved (2 Peter 3: 9), I should not wish hell to anyone.
Here one must be careful and not believe that all the mess is permitted in the name of God's love. Paul was clear when he wrote to the Corinthian church because he had learned that there is sexual immorality as is not even named among the gentiles, that a man has his father’s wife (1 Corinthians 5:1).
Regarding those who brought disorder in the church, look at what Paul recommended: "But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person"(1 Corinthians 5: 11).
Paul has strictly forbidden any contact with such a person but as he knew that Jesus died for him, he asked that he should be delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 5: 5).
You see that despite the anger and the disappointment of Paul, he was still worried about the spirit of this man because Jesus died for him and God's will is that he would be saved.
To be continued in Part Four
Chris Ndikumana
The definition of God’s love (Part 4)
Verse of the day: 1 Corinthians 13:3: “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing”
There was a time when the verse of the day scared me and for a long time I had difficulty understanding how someone can distribute all his goods to feed the poor or give his body to be burned to save his neighbor without love!
The only explanation for such case is that God is more interested by the motivation than the act. It is not what we do that impress God, but rather how we do it. Notice that the verse of the day is talking about someone who distributes all his goods i.e. he remains with empty hands and gives everything he has to the poor. To the world’s eyes, such person deserves a lot of admiration but the verse of the day says that it is useless if there is no love in it!
Regarding the money we give to God, we must understand that He is not interested in what we give but how we give. The amount impresses men but God is interested by the quality. If you regularly give an offering at church, remember that God tests your heart to see with which motivation you do it. You can do it to be in harmony with your Pastor or to sustain your job or simply to enforce the law of God in order to avoid any kind of curse, but the perfect will of God is that you do it for love . The offerings must be given by love and not by interest or speculation.
It is easy to obey someone you love and whom you trust. Very often before healing the sick, the Bible says that Jesus manifested a sense of compassion when he saw the sick and the disabled. Every child of God is supposed to have compassion for the poor, orphans and widows. If you do not feel anything for this kind of people, I advise you to pray that God puts some compassion in your heart for without compassion Jesus cannot remain in your heart.
Jesus is identified by love and we cannot claim to be his disciples without love. A good Christian is not justified by the "speaking in tongues" but by the neighbor’s love. You cannot look like your Father (God) if you hate your brother or sister.
To be followed in the fifth part
Chris Ndikumana
The definition of God’s love (Part 5)
Verse of the day: Psalm 136:1: “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For his mercy endures forever”
Today we finish this teaching but I want all those who read it since the beginning to understand the true nature of our God. It is difficult to love God if we do not understand His nature and character. Many Christians have a false image of God. They believe that God is hard, ruthless and uncompromising. If you read the entire Bible, you will discover as indicated by the verse of the day (Psalm 136: 1) that the Lord is good and his mercy endures forever. If his mercy endures forever, it means that He is always ready to forgive and give us a second chance. He is very patient and loves us like a parent loves his favorite child.
You may wonder why there are those who will go to hell or under the power of Satan as God is able to deliver them in a second. The answer is very simple: God gave us the power to choose. We have the right to accept or reject his goodness. One who submits under his authority will benefit from his kindness but whoever decides to depart from his presence will face the consequences.
It is very important that the children of God know that the Bible does not only talk about the goodness of God because we must also consider His severity. It is written in Romans 11: 22 " Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off"
The devil always tries to bind the children of God in guilt by making them believe that God is still angry against them. In my ministry, I meet women who always feel guilty about having an abortion when they were young girls and continue to believe that God is always angry. I always try to make them understand that once we sincerely confess our sins, God forgives us right away and considers us as a new creature regardless the time of ignorance (Acts 17: 30). Even a criminal who repents becomes a new creature, a saint in the eyes of God and He treats him as if he has done nothing because he is born again.
Therefore, do not allow Satan to keep you in the prison of your past. Be like Paul by saying: " Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3: 13-14).
Finally, I would like to say something about prophecies. While testing prophecies, you must take into account the character of God. Any prophecy that shows you a wicked and ruthless God is a false prophecy. A prophet who will tell you that you do not even need to pray because God is so angry that He cannot forgive and recover, give him the verse of the day: "Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For his mercy endures forever "(Psalm 136: 1)
God bless you
Chris Ndikumana