I Love Jesus/Yeshua!!! Shalom Brothers and Sisters, around the world no matter where, just mention the name Jesus/Yeshua and everyone knows His name. When you ask people no mater where they may be in the world; How do you feel about Jesus/Yeshua? They will answer; I love Jesus/Yeshua! But today how many saying this, truly mean it? I mean, how many truly love Jesus/Yeshua that they are prepared to die for Him? Because it so easy to say, but to mean it is another thing... In the message today we will look into the meaning behind when you say: I Love Jesus/Yeshua!!! The passage from the Word of God/Yahweh for today is from three Scriptures describing love from the Word of God/Yahweh: Exodus 22:21-27 reads; Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt. Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless. If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest. If you take your neighbour’s cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset, because that cloak is the only covering your neighbour has. What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate. Then in 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10 we read; Because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. And finally in Matthew 22:34-40 it reads; Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Example): An Englishman called Leigh Hunt, about a man called Abou Ben Adhem, wrote A poem. Abou Ben Adhem woke from his sleep one night and saw in his room an angel writing in a book of gold, the names of those who love God/Yahweh. And is mine one? inquired Abou. No, it is not, replied the angel. I pray that you, said Abou, write me as one who loves his fellow men. The following night the angel came again and displayed the names of those who love God/Yahweh and Abou Ben Adhems name was top of the list... This poem makes the point here that true love of God/Yahweh and true love of our fellow human beings, are like two sides of the same coin... One cannot exist apart from the other!!! That is what we find in todays gospel. Jesus/Yeshua is asked about the greatest commandment in the law... The Word of God/Yahweh write the answer as of course that, it is love of God/Yahweh. But Jesus/Yeshua does not stop there. He goes on to give a more practical answer... How? He gives the other side of the coin as well, which is love of our neighbours. You see true love of God/Yahweh and true love of our neighbours are practically one and the same thing!!! As Jesus/Yeshua said in the passage in Matthew today; Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Jesus/Yeshua is here reacting against a one-dimensional understanding of love. For Jesus/Yeshua, true love must express itself in three dimensions... Here are these three dimensions: (a) Love of God/Yahweh... (b) Love of our neighbours... And (c) Love of oneself!!! The first two are positively commanded; the last one is not commanded, but must be presumed to be the basis of all loving. The commandment to love your neighbour as yourself presumes that you love yourself... Even though Jesus/Yeshuas answer touched on all three dimensions of love...What is the emphasis, or the point that Jesus/Yeshua is trying to make? When you ask a question that demands a straightforward answer, and then the person answers your question but goes on to add another thing that you did not actually ask for... It is most likely that the person is trying to get your attention on the second element of the answer... When Jesus/Yeshua was asked about paying taxes to Caesar. Jesus/Yeshua answered; Give back to Caesars what is Caesars, and then went on to add; and to God what is Gods. You see here the emphasis of Jesus/Yeshua is not on Caesars rights, which are apparently obvious, but on God/Yahwehs rights, which they were ignoring!!! In the same way, the emphasis in todays question about the greatest commandment, is not on the obvious love of God/Yahweh, but on the love of our neighbours, which they were trampling upon... Remember that the persecution of Jesus/Yeshua and His followers was campaigned by well-meaning religious people, motivated by what they believed to be zeal and a love for God/Yahweh. The same people asking about the first commandment are the ones trying to entrap and kill Jesus/Yeshua. They are so conscious about the love of God/Yahweh... Why then are they so insensitive when it comes to the love of our neighbours? Saul, who later became Paul, is a good example of this kind of skewed way of thinking. Jesus/Yeshua prophesied in John 16:2 that; They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. We can see that the error of the Pharisees is still here with us today. There are still many Believers who try to separate the love of fellow human beings, from the love of God/Yahweh. Their commitment to faith does not include commitment to human rights, to justice and peace issues... We shall do well to heed the message of Jesus/Yeshua in todays passage: That the true love of God/Yahweh and the true love of our neighbours, are the two sides of the same coin... Any attempt to separate them is a falsification of the message of Christ/Yeshua. 1 John 4:20 tells us; Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. Brothers and Sisters, we can see that only when you live both sides of the coin, by loving God/Yahweh and also at the same time loving our neighbours. Then and only then can you truly say: I Love Jesus/Yeshua!!! Be Blessed in the name and the shed blood of Jesus/Yeshua and remember that love in not one sided if you truly love Jesus/Yeshua…Hallelujah, Amen!!! PastorJeff Walker
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 08:45:09 +0000
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