Sunday, March 25, 2018

Has Your Love Grown Cold?

“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”—Jesus
(Matthew 24:12)


Us against them.

That's what we've become.

Liberal against Conservative. Republican against Democrat. Red state against Blue state. American against foreigner. Young against old. Brother against brother. Our way or the highway.

We're pretty much against everyone who disagrees with us on anything.

I was looking at some particularly ugly online comments last night on a popular social media site. And the amount of hate and vicious ridicule people were saying to anyone who was on the opposing side from them was unbelievable. And sadly, neither "side" was right. But they were practically killing one another electronically by their posts.

Is this really how far we've fallen?

This blog today is not written to the general public, or secularists, or atheists. This is only for those who specifically profess to be born again followers and lovers of Jesus Christ.

To put this in the right perspectiveeach one of us, when we die, will stand at the Judgment seat of Christ for believers. There, we will give an account to Jesus of all our deeds. It says we will "receive" the things done in the body, according to what we have done, both good and bad. So we will be accountable to Christ, and there will be consequences.

“Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.” (2 Corinthians 5:9-11)

Paul starts that passage off by saying, "Therefore we make it our aim to be well pleasing to Him." That is, to Jesus.

And I don't believe it is well pleasing to our Lord to bite and devour one another with our words, anger, divisions, and actions. It seems most of us have forgotten that our life is no longer our own. We are no longer our own. Our very life was bought at a pricethe price of the precious, sinless blood of our Savior; the Lord Jesus Christ.

Does that still mean something to you?

I'm writing this entry on Palm Sundaythe same day Jesus rode triumphantly and humbly into Jerusalem on the back of a small donkey, fulfilling the Zechariah 9:9 prophecy of Him which said:

“Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.” 

Jesuseternal Savior and King: the God of Lovecame to usher in a new Kingdom, not of this world, to a world that is hopelessly lost and broken on its own.

And Jesus came to save His people from their sins.

“Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” (Luke 9:51-56)

What is the purpose and highest calling of your life?  To help save people from their sins?

Or is it something else?

It's painfully obvious today that a lot of people who profess to be "Christian" would virtually destroy the lives of people who oppose them or their views.

The very lives that Jesus came to save.

Let that resonate for a few minutes.

There's no question that lawlessness abounds in this messed up world.

But the question God is posing to each of us from His timeless Word is:

Has your love grown cold?

The Word says that we as followers of Jesus are in this world, but we are not of the world.

God's people are supposed to be different from the world. A bright and shining light, bringing His message of love, hope, and salvation by Grace.

So, are we being different?

We're not supposed to be 'Us against them' people... We're supposed to 'Us for them' people.



God is Love and Love Never Fails.






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