"Those Who Love Me"
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December 11, 2016 |
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 Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
"I love those who love me; and those who diligently seek me will find me" (Proverbs 8:17).
With unchanging and eternal love, God loves His children in endurance, patience, hope, and waiting. In this message I'd like to delve into the people who love God in three aspects: faithfulness, sanctification and love for the souls.
Firstly, those who love God are faithful.
1 Corinthians 4:2 says, "Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful" (NKJV). To accomplish the kingdom of God, there must be dedication of the workers. For this reason, God is searching throughout the whole earth to find those who will fulfill His plan understanding His heart. Also, if any worker fulfills the desires of the Father through faithful work, He will reward them with glory and blessings.
But John 6:63 first part says, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing." So, our faithfulness must not be a fleshly one but a spiritual one. In order to have spiritual faithfulness we must first circumcise our hearts by struggling against sins to the point of shedding blood. If you are leaders of the church and still disgrace God or make others stumble due to your temper, hard-feelings, arrogance, and greed, then how can you be recognized as being really faithful?
Also, those who are spiritually faithful perform their duties for the Lord and the souls and not for their own glory or benefit. Those who are faithful in fleshly ways are aware of the eyes of others more than those of the Lord. They seek their own honor and benefit rather than that of the church and souls. Such people might seem to be very faithful for some time, but usually they change their minds over a period of time.
For those who love God, even though their work is not recognized, they are satisfied if it is just the Lord alone who recognizes them. They are happy if they can just pay back the grace of the Lord even just a little bit. When God searches all throughout the earth to find His true workers, I hope He will be happy with you saying, "That child will fulfill this duty with My heart!"
Secondly, those who love God try to become sanctified.
If you love somebody, you are very interested in that person. You want to find out what food they like, what color they like, what kinds of gifts would make them happy, and actually make them happy.
It's the same with those who love God. They always try to understand God's heart and will thinking, "How can I please God?" "What does the Father want me to do now?" What is it that God desires of us the most and that makes Him the happiest? It's our holiness.
1 Thessalonians 4:3 first part says, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification." 3 John 1:4 says, "I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth." In addition to these verses there are many parts of the Bible that advise us to be holy and sanctified.
While I was reading the Bible when I was a new-believer, I wrote down all the commands that tell us the specific things to do, not do, to keep, or cast away. I prayed about those things and crossed out the points that I achieved. I lived with prayers and fasting to uproot the sinful nature itself from my heart. Then I received a calling to become a pastor and came to perform with so many powerful works and established a mega church with 11,000 branch churches, but I never stopped thinking that it was enough. I looked back on myself constantly and tried to achieve perfection thinking, "Is this perfect in the sight of God? What would the Lord do in this situation?"
Until the Lord comes back our fervor for holiness must not cool down. We should run towards sanctification with joy and thankfulness. We should resemble God and recover the lost image of God with joy and gratefulness.
You should not stand still thinking you work harder and more faithfully than before, but you should spend more time on the works of God. Although you are on the rock of faith, even achieved spirit and whole spirit, you should continue to try hard to be blameless. You should check if you really fight against sins to the point of shedding blood. Do you really try to abstain from every form of evil, consider others better than you, seek others' benefits, and do whatever you do for the glory of God? Do you show virtuous generosity in your words and deeds to others? You should check with these.
Thirdly, those who love God love the souls.
What God cares about the most during the human cultivation is the souls themselves. In the church, there are some souls who have accepted the Lord in good faith and try hard, while other souls do not think they have the strength to pray or the strength to practice the Word. Some of them are suffering in the midst of tests and trials. In this world, there are so many souls who are going the way of death.
Those who understand the heart of God cannot turn their faces away from these people. They will diligently preach the gospel, counsel the souls, and help those in need. They give strength to and comfort the weak and care for them so they can live by God's Word. When they see the souls who commit sins, they lament in intercession.
At the time of the Exodus the sons of Israel experienced so many wondrous things including the Ten Plagues, but they complained every time they had a difficulty during the exodus. They even tried to stone Moses. What would you do if you were Moses? Would you give up on them thinking, "I tried my best but they are helpless. I cannot change them with my own strength?"
Moses put his own life up for them. Exodus 32:32 says, "But now, if You will, forgive their sin and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!"
Apostle Paul suffered from hardships that men cannot bear and he went through so many life-threatening situations, but he did not care for himself. He just focused on spreading the gospel of the Lord so just one more soul could be saved. Your heart should be filled with such love.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I hope that you will keep on trying to change and reach the full measure of faith. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will achieve the heart of the Lord who shed His tears for weak and dying souls and try hard to lead them to the way of salvation.
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