"Do you love Me?"

Happy December!

We are now in the very last month of the year 2010. Wow! Time goes by so fast. It reminds me of how short life is, and how little time we have on this earth. We must make it count! We must live each day with our eyes fixed on Christ! We must "seek those things which are above" (Col. 3:1). We must.

John 3:16 is a verse which meets most of us with much familiarity. We know if by heart. We can quote it without thinking. But right now, I urge you to think about it. How does it begin? "For God so loved the world..." Let's stop there a minute. Think about it. What does that really mean? God loved the world. The world? People. Us. You. Me. The teenage boy downtown Roanoke who has given up hope in life. The little girl in Africa wondering if she will get to eat today. The crippled man sitting by the side of the road in India hoping someone will give him a few rupees. 'The world.' The knowledge of God's love is a truly wonderful thing to ponder, but it is impossible for the verse to stop there. We have to know what that Love means. "For God so loved the world, that He gave..." God's love is not stagnant. It doesn't just sit there. This love moved. It GAVE. What did God give? "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son..." Jesus. Because God loved the world (us), He gave His Son, Jesus. But why? Why did this love move God to give His only Son? "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." 

Wow. If God's love had not given, I would be eternally separated from Him. I would be dead, with no possible hope of life. God is love. He laid the foundation for love. He defined it. He showed us what love is. 

Jesus is asking us, "Do you love Me?" Many of us would be very quick to answer, "Yes, Lord! Of course I love You." 

Are we loving with God's measure of love? 

"...As I have loved you, so you must love..." (John 13:34)

As He loved us... That is a love that gives. Gives all. A love that gives its very life. 

I think Amy Carmichael had it right when she said:

"You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving." 

I want to share a video that is powerfully moving. Click on the link below and watch...

Depraved Indifference 

"..Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me." -Jesus (Matt. 25:40)