Do we love Him?

I read an article, and im inspired by it so much. Here's the summary :)

Agape "Love" is :

1. love is greater than faith and hope
2. it shows whether we're His children or not.
3. is long suffering and compassionate
4. forget about itself
5. hates evil and delights in the truth that's Christ
6. love that never ends.

Jesus asked Peter 3 times, "Do you love Me?"

This qs gets right to the heart of the matter. It's central issue between us and God. This qs is more important than any other, we get this one right and everything else falls into place.

Love is not just some comforting word, it shows my deepest part of my being. What happens when we answer: "Yes. Yes, God, I love You." Jesus says to Peter: "Follow me!"

I can follow Jesus only when I love Him. I can be His disciple only when I love Him. I can deny myself, take up my cross, and follow Him only when I love Him. I can profess Him and join His church only when I love Him. I can love others sincerely only when I love Him.

Have you ever wondered how fans can stand in line for hours to buy tickets to a rock concert or a football game? It is because they love the band or the football team. Love makes sacrifice a privilege, service an honor, suffering a joy. And He wants our love.

But how do I know if I love Him?

Although love is an invisible entity, its fruits are clearly seen. If we truly love the Lord, we
will show this by obeying His Word.

1. We're not ashamed of the gospel, and not ashamed to confess Him before men. There's no such things as radical Jesus followers and moderate ones. We all are called to deny ourselves, take our cross, and live for Him.
2. Keep His commandments.

"If you love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15).

Many times, we think God is like our grandfather.

"Ok God, You're cool. You're good, I get it and I love You, but You dont understand. This is 21st century. You're so old fashioned.".

No wonder, sometimes we feel dissapointed, it's because we're creating God in our own image. When He says, "I never leave you, nor forsake you", it's 100% true and guaranteed :)

It's not what we say, but what we do!

He isnt finished with me yet

It's quite a challenge for making commitment to open our heart up to God every single moment. That's why many people said that daily prayer is the hardest form of prayer. There are days when I feel moved, and there are days when I feel nothing. That's why I need to remind myself again and again : who am I, and what I'm living for.

“You will never know how much you believe something until it is a matter of life
and death.” “If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our
happiness, you find it quite intolerable: think of it as a place of training and
correction and it’s not so bad.” – C.S Lewis

I’m still in process, being wounded, healed, wounded again, and experiencing deeper healing… because, I’m not done yet! He isnt finished with me yet! and He isnt finished with you too :)

It's funny, for when I'm weak, then I'm strong. For God helps those who cant even help themselves. Through the storms in life, He wants me not to depend on myself, friends, even my family, but only depends on Him.

I love this quote:

"Life is a series of pulls back and forth... A tension of opposites, like a
pull on a rubber band. Most of us live somewhere in the middle. A wrestling
match...Which side win? Love wins. Love always wins" ~ Mitch Albom

Sometimes we just like in the middle of wrestling match. Sometimes we're going through setbacks. And actually, setbacks arent always bad, three steps forward and two setbacks is still a step forward :)

~your fellow wrestling Jesus-lover.

unmasking the hypocrite

“I am not going to have anything to do with church because it is full of hypocrites, they're a bunch of hypocrites."

Have u ever heard people made that kinda statements? Well, somehow this is true, but not all true. To be honest, I was one of them, one of the hypocrites. I thought I was good enough, and knew enough. Until I realized, I knew nothing.

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today, is Christians who
acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny him by their
lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." ~ DC
Talk

Jesus isnt like "a Genie in the bottle", where we can easily call and then put Him back in bottle. And yet many times, we often treat Him like that.

Lets do something more, something radical. Saying we love Jesus, going to church and bible study, doing ministry, wearing "I love God" t-shirt, having "Jesus loves me" sticker in car's bumper clearly arent enough at all.

Lets do something more.

Lets live our life for something worth living for, and die for something worth dying for. Lets live for Jesus.