SACRIFICIAL LIVING BY THE LOVE OF GOD
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God...
We have to graduate in our walk with God to where He is number one; Where He is the reason for everything that we do and means more than anything else.
Nothing; activity or relationship should ever carry anymore weight than Jesus. Let Him be the Alpha and initiator of whatever we are engaged in because if it doesn't begin with Him, no matter how good or spiritual it looks, it will leave you empty.
Genesis 22: 1-2 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
When God wanted to shift the way He related with Abraham, He asked for Isaac. That was the test that would prove whether Abraham loved God or the things He had blessed him with had taken His place.
Many of us claim we love God until He touches what matters most to us. That is when we know whether our love for Him is genuine or conditional.
Before God lifts us to a degree of fellowship we have never known before, He puts us to a test.
Romans 5:5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Among the many reasons the Holy Spirit lives in us, is to flood our hearts with the unconditional love of God that never fails.
This love endures all things, triumphs amidst adversity, and puts the enemy of the cross to shame. ( 1 cor 13:4-8)
The cross is the ultimate manifestation of love: Christ endured it all because He loved us; it is that love that held Him to the cross, not the nails.
If we are going to have a deeper walk with God, that is the kind of love that should flood our hearts because God expects us to love Him the same way He loved Jesus. (John 17:23,26)
That is the love that looked at the people that nailed, abused, persecuted, and spat on Him and said: 'Father forgive them.' ( Luke 23:24)
Human love cannot do that but Stephen proved to us that we too can walk in this divine kind of love. (Acts 7:60)
However, some believers' walk with God is circumstantial; today they are present, tomorrow they are not. Such cannot be depended on for kingdom leadership because their love is feeling-based. Living by the love of God is sacrificial.
Genesis 22:3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
Though Abraham had patiently waited to have Isaac and loved Him so much, he couldn't let him take the place of God. He was still willing to sacrifice Him in obedience to God no matter what. May the Holy Spirit take us there.
It is not easy but God is calling on a new breed of believers who have laid it all down at His feet. This is possible; that's why we are asked to pattern our lives after Abraham. (Isaiah 51:2)
Further Study
Genesis 22
Genesis 18:16-33 - We govern over things when we pass the test.
Exodus 19:4 - God called you to Himself, don't be lost in activities, things or even ministry.
STAY BLESSED AND HIGHLY FAVORED, WE LOVE YOU. PASTOR BEN OCHOLA!
