HEAVENLY INCLINED...: LEARNING TO LOVE AS DOES THE LORD...

Thanksgiving for the LORD's Favor

Psalms 138 (A Psalm of David)
1/ I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.
2/ I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving-kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
3/ In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.
4/ All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth.
5/ Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD.
6/ Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.
7/ Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.
8/ The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me:
thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands... AMEN!!!

One CANNOT earn GRACE, it is HIS own ESSENCE; a gift, still, IF one claims to be IN HIS GRACE, we ARE to, or, OUGHT to, be reflections of that GRACE! 2 CORINTHIANS 6:1, tells us not to take HIS GRACE in vain! This means, living in LOVE, morality, ethics, virtue, righteousness, and, spiritual improvement, TOWARDS, spiritual maturity, WHILE, visibly BEING as LIGHTS, beaming OF *GOD*, beckoning the world, TO THE LIGHT! Righteousness MEANS, conduct in conformity with *GOD'S* WILL, and, "Be HOLY because I AM HOLY!", therefore, indicating that knowledge, wisdom, and, effort, DO, apply TO the righteous!!! NEVER forget, we were grafted in, and, if we do not bear fruit, as a dead branch, we will be pruned out, just as were, the natural branches!!!

We are not saved by works, instead, works PROVE HIM in us: they identify HIS own...

IF I claim ONENESS with *GOD*, through CHRIST JESUS, I am DEAD TO THE WORLD, THUS, LIVING as HIM, which is, hopefully, witnessed IN, and, THROUGH, my every thought, action, and, reaction; MEANING, I am, THROUGH CONSCIOUS application OF THE WORD, HIS COMMANDS, HIS WILL, REFLECTING righteousness, not, merely, FAITH! I become, the TRULY FRUITFUL branch, of THE VINE, the TRUE member of THE BODY/THE CHURCH, CHRIST JESUS, and, TESTIFY, then, GLORIFY, BOLDLY, BY my thoughts, actions, and, reactions, HIS name, because, HE IS WORTHY, and, IN HIS LOVE, has SHOWN me, how I OUGHT to exist, to which, I eagerly, adapt, and, comply!!!

MATTHEW 5:48...
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect

1 PETER 1:14-16...
14/ Like obedient children, do not act in compliance with the desires of your former ignorance
15/ but, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct,
16/ for it is written, "Be holy because I (am) holy."

ROMANS 12:2...
Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.

Conduct, in conformity to *GOD'S* WILL, marks the righteous; it is NOT because of guilt, or, ancient Laws, but, because of LOVE; LOVE for *GOD*, self, then, others! CHRIST JESUS gave us Commandments to live by, of which, the first is to LOVE *GOD*, with all of your mind, heart, and, soul; the second is, to LOVE one another!

LOVE COMPELS us to LIVE IN HIM, through conduct which conforms to *GOD*; in other words, morality, ethics, doing good, and, being good, and, ever striving to improve the spirit! It is about REFLECTING THE TRUTH, for ALL to bear witness to, FOR, and, TO HIS GLORY, RADIANTLY SHINING OF HIS POWER, GRACE, and, MERCIES!!!

It IS ALL ABOUT LOVE, baby, all about LOVE!!!

MATTHEW 4: 17...From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

JOHN 14:15..."If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

NOTE: I do not intend to preach, rather to reach; to stir up, awaken, to inspire, and, bring forth, in discussion, that which is, perhaps, dormantly existing in the heart of hearts, thus, little, or, no, sugar coatings, just THE WORD of *GOD*, the TRUTH, along with some of my thoughts. And truth is, I am reminding myself always, as I practice these reminders, in the best of my abilities, and capacities, while RELYING on THE LORD to lead me on that narrow PATH---> MATTHEW 7: 14: "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it... TO *GOD* BE ALL GLORY...

LEARNING TO LOVE AS DOES THE LORD...

LOVE IS THE LAW! CHRIST tells us:
MATTHEW 5: 38-48...
38/ "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'
39/ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on (your) right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.
40/ If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well.
41/ Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles.
42/ Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.
43/ "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
44/ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you,
45/ that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
46/ For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same?
47/ And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?
48/ So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

[38-42] See Lev 24:20. The Old Testament commandment was meant to moderate vengeance; the punishment should not exceed the injury done. Jesus forbids even this proportionate retaliation. Of the five examples that follow, only the first deals directly with retaliation for evil; the others speak of liberality.

[43-48] See Lev 19:18. There is no Old Testament commandment demanding hatred of one's enemy, but the "neighbor" of the love commandment was understood as one's fellow countryman. Both in the Old Testament (Psalm 139:19-22) and at Qumran (1QS 9:21) hatred of evil persons is assumed to be right. Jesus extends the love commandment to the enemy and the persecutor. His disciples, as children of God, must imitate the example of their Father, who grants his gifts of sun and rain to both the good and the bad.

Jesus' disciples must not be content with merely usual standards of conduct; see Matthew 5:20 where the verb "surpass" (Greek perisseuo) is cognate with the unusual (perisson) of this.

The LOVE of *GOD*/CHRIST, is PERFECT, and, requires NO reciprocation! LOVE exists no matter what! *GOD*/CHRIST might detest what a person does, but, LOVE yet, exists! Thus, our mentality, as ONE with HIM, is to be the same! LOVE is not selfish, therefore, it doesn't need reciprocation, it merely has the inclination to share of itself, and, move, ever forward...

LOVE can cover a multitude of sins; 1 PETER 4: 8, a maxim based on PROVERBS 10:12; see also PSALM 32:1; JAMES 5:20.

You see, when one exists in LOVE in letter, and, deed, instead of in passing thought, or, lipservice, there opens UP, great possibility, both for those who LOVE, and, those who do not! When one exists in LOVE, LOVE can show others THE WAY, THE LIGHT, THE TRUTH, and, save them from their hostility! LOVE is like a vault of possibilities, but, cannot be opened in partiality, though, there has to be a starting point to realizing it's rich fullness!!!

1 CORINTHIANS 13...
1/ If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
2/ And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.
3/ If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4/ Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated,
5/ it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
6/ it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
7/ It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8/ Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
9/ For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
10/ but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
11/ When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
12/ At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
13/ So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

We LEARN to LOVE in the righteous way, THROUGH our coming closer, and, closer, to *GOD*/CHRIST, in understanding, for HE HAS SHOWN us, exactly, the full breadth, height, and, measure of LOVE! CHRIST, our LORD, and, *GOD*, not only LOVED those who persecuted, tortured, ridiculed, mocked, and, nailed HIM to the cross, HE prayed, "FATHER, forgive them, for they know not what they do!" If we do not look to HIM to learn LOVE, it will remain fractured, for the human perception of LOVE is so! We are to LOVE extremely, intensely, and, without fail, for LOVE has NO flaws!!!

In HIS LOVE for us, we find GRACE, and, MERCY, which, HE EXPECTS us to forward to others! MATTHEW 5: 7; PROVERBS 3:3; MATTHEW 23:23; HOSEA 6:6; MICAH 6:8; LUKE 6:36. There are countless references to being just, and, merciful; in such acts, we are exemplifying HIS LOVE!!!

I have had, and still do have, enough opposition in my lifetime to have learned to LOVE, no matter what, and, to understand it's deep-running necessity! I am not perfect in this LOVE, but, as I keep trying to perfect it, and, the more it is tried, the stronger it gets, and, the more sense it makes!!!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE: first *GOD*/CHRIST, then others, at all times, at all costs, and, realize the treasures therein! LOVE IS THE LAW, because it is TRIED, TESTED, and, TRUE; IT WORKS OVER all else!!!

REV. LWINSOR © 2012
BIBLICAL, and/or, other references marked BOLDLY IN COLOURS