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 perspective—each 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 price—the 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 Sunday—the 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.” 

Jesus—eternal Savior and King: the God of Love—came 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.

Bought At A Price

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, 

whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; 

therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 

(1 Corinthians 6:19-20)  

The other day a "christian" friend of mine hypothetically said to me; "If anyone tried to take his bible away from him, he would put a .44 slug in their stomach."

Let that sink in for a few minutes...

I responded, —"Well, by making that statement you demonstrate that you have completely missed the entire message of the bible and the heart and purpose of Jesus."

He strongly defended his position and said; "I stand by what I said 100%!"

I'm not making this up.

I only wish I were.

Before you get too excited, this isn't a blog about politics, gun control, or the Second Amendment. So don't make it about that.

No, this is about the condition of our hearts.

Let's be honest, anyone who would make an absurd statement like my friend did the other day, has an obvious heart problem. And although he does claim to be saved and to believe in God, I'm having my doubts as to if he truly knows Jesus at all. I mean really intimately knows Him—His heart, His love for people, and His purpose for dying on the Cross because "God so loved the world." (See John 3:16)

Go back to the passage quoted above from 1 Corinthians chapter 6.  The Word says, "You are not your own. For you were bought at a price." (Verses 19-20).

The precious blood of Jesus was the price paid for our eternal souls. And as a popular song rightly says, "I'll never know how much it cost, to see my sin upon that Cross."

Jesus purchased us by giving up His life on the Cross. And by putting our faith in Him, we belong to Him now.

What you need to understand—you who claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ—is that your whole life; your will, your emotions, your thoughts, your actions, your desires, your sexual integrity, your time, your resources, your rights, everything: belong to God. You're part of a different Kingdom now and you serve a different King than yourself.

And trust me, the King is not okay with you shooting someone who tries to take away your bible. 

What is the heart of the Lord of lords and the King of kings?

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13:34)

The love of Jesus would never want to shoot someone who tries to take your precious bible away from you. Who knows? They might end up reading it and come to know the God who willingly died on the Cross for your sins. More importantly, what does that say about your heart?

What else did Jesus say about how to treat people you might consider to be your enemy?

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:43-45)

Verse 20 goes on to say:

"Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s."

We glorify God by obeying His Word—because we love Him. In "body and in spirit" mean in our actions, and in our intentions. In our will, our thoughts and practically, in how we treat people.

Jesus said:

“My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” (John 18:36)

Many of us are so quick to be ready to defend to the death all of our 'rights.' But Jesus teaches us here that this way of thinking is not part of His kingdom. He could have called down legions of angels and they would have delivered Him from His persecutors. (See Matthew 26:53). But that was not His mission. 

What was His mission?

“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 manner of spirit are you?

—God is Love and Love Never Fails.