The Great "Because"

"I love the LORD, because He has heard my voice and my supplications." (Psalm 116:1)

The psalmist says that he loves "the Lord because...."  We all have many "becauses."  But the Bible is clear.  Loving God and our fellow man needs no "because" other than the command of the Living Triune God.  I love Jesus Christ because I am commanded to.  I love you because I am commanded to.  Now if that sounds cold, it is only because Hollywood, Cole Porter, or the Beatles got to you before the Word of God.  Any love based on any reality other than the command of the Word of God, Jesus Christ, is shaky at best, doomed at worst.

Let your, "because," of what you feel, do, and say be the "God-Breathed" Word.  Jesus did not say, "A new feeling or a new option I give you."  It is, "A new command I give you."  The command of Jesus Christ to love will keep me in love far longer and better than any love which you or I or any love song can come up with.  Love is a command, not a feeling.  If a feeling accompanies love, great.  But if, as the song says, "The Thrill is Gone," love will nonetheless abide and endure.

This day will bring opportunities to put this theology to the test.  The Word of God will stand that test.  Any other interpretation of love or attempt at love and loving will simply fail.  I believe it is, "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock...."  Now for a little poetic license"------ and when the feelings leave, when people greatly disappoint me, when they abandoned me and do terrible things to me, the love of Jesus in me will "not fall, for it [is] built...on the Rock."  Dear Fellow Follower of Jesus Christ, do not try to keep yourself in your love for anyone.  "Keep yoursel[f] in the love of God."

Father, in Jesus' Name, it is only Your Love which "never fails."  Keep me in Your Love.  Amen.
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Prophetic News:          www.antipasprayerforce.blogspot.com 

In 1910, an 18 year old Norwegian, Peter Torjesen, "when he heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words,'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2