Going to Jesus

Daily Thoughts

 Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:

• Collection

  Thoughts for the Morning Thoughts for the Evening Random Thoughts

• Month

  January February March April May June July August September October November December

• Day

  11-01 The Secret Place, Part 1 Staying In The Shadow 11-02 The Secret Place, Part 2 No Regret 11-03 The Secret Place, Part 3 The Amen 11-04 Being A Sacrifice 11-05 What Is Not Christian, Part 1 Walking in the Spirit 11-06 What Is Not Christian, Part 2 Having Faith 11-07 What Is Not Christian, Part 3 The Love of God 11-08 What Is Not Christian, Part 4 The Love of God, Response 11-09 What Is Not Christian, Part 5 Anything Pure and Good 11-10 What Is Not Christian, Part 6 Response from Brother Damien 11-11 What Is Not Christian, Part 7 Reply from Brother Gary to Brother Damien. 11-12 What Is Not Christian, Part 8 Response from Brother Brad. 11-13 What Is Not Christian, Part 9 Escaping Damnation 11-14 What Is Not Christian, Part 10 Walking in the Light Together, or “Fellowship” 11-15 In A Book Store 11-16 Loving God’s Way 11-17 Choosing Wisdom Over Logic 11-18 The Goodness of Light 11-19 Heart Seeking 11-20 February 20, 2001, Part 1 Lou’s Testimony 11-21 February 20, 2001, Part 2 Sandy’s Testimony 11-22 What Is “Written Again” 11-23 “Since” 11-24 Learning the Bible 11-25 Faith in the Old Testament 11-26 Helping 11-27 Blessed 11-28 God’s Wonderful Works 11-29 Night Music, 2 11-30 Stay In The Spirit

 

Thought for the Morning
11-07

What Is Not Christian, Part 3
The Love of God

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and the great commandment.”
Jesus, quoting Moses, in Matthew 22:37

The love of God is the love of God. It is not a love for religion, per se. The love of God is the love of what God is, the love of what He does, what He says, and what He thinks.

If God speaks, then a person who loves God loves what has been said. Jesus told a group of Israel’s elders one day, “You have not the love of God in you!” (Jn. 5:42). How did he know that? He knew that because he was only saying what God the Father had sent him to say, and they did not love him for saying it. “If God were your Father,” he said, “you would love me, for I descended from God and am here; for I have not come of myself, but He sent me” (Jn. 8:42).

When one who loves God with all his heart, mind, and soul, he cannot love the religion of Christianity because it is not of God. It is an evil institution. The one who loves God with all his heart, mind, and soul loves and trusts Jesus completely, for the Father sent Jesus into the world. He can also love the Spirit, for God sends the Spirit upon all who believe on the name of His Son and turn from their evil ways. And if one loves God with all the love that is in his heart, mind, and soul, he will rejoice when he hears the truth because the truth comes only from the God that he loves.

The love of God is loving God and nothing else. That is what loving God with all your heart means. And the heart of no minister who is teaching error has yet been completely conquered by God. There still remains, somewhere in the heart of one who teaches falsely, some degree of love for the world.

Let us pray that the love of God will consume every other love that remains unnoticed in one of the many chambers of our heart. If that happens, we will speak and behave in very non-Christian ways, but those words and actions will be the words and actions of God living in us, and there will be no sin in us at all.