1 John 4:8
God is LOVE
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
John 5:16-30
God is at Work, and Jesus is at Work
16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
Matthew 22:34-40
The Greatest Commandment
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Sometimes I think that Jesus, knowing He is without sin and what He did on earth has set the bar so high for us to follow, makes for a guilty life...But LOVE does not want the ones you love to go around feeling guilty most of your life...Jesus and His Father, the Living God are watching us, but they are doing much more than watch...Jesus did not become our Savior just to sit on the sidelines only to watch us...What good is a Savior, if we are not being helped when we need to be helped?...What good is a Father, who does not love us?...But Jesus is our salvation, and God is LOVE...
Pain and sufferings do hit us and the weight of life literally weighs on our shoulders...The Living God, has a Living Son...We have them to turn to...The Son is working as God also is also working for us...The indwelt Holy Spirit, the Working God, and the Working Son are at work in our lives, if we listen and watch...Sometimes we notice the things they done later in our lives...We can see the spiritual things around us, when we are paying attention to them...
The Living God and Living Son are our example of LOVE, and how we are to love on earth, as they do in heaven...There is this Great Harmony in life when we love and are loving our neighbors, and are merciful and forgiving of our neighbors...Jesus sums up the Bible, by saying Loving God and Loving neighbor are the two greatest commandments...The entire books of the law, and the books written by the Prophets hang on these two commandments...
Pastor Craig Barnes said it like this, “While it is popular to ask, "What would Jesus do?" the better question was always "What is Jesus doing?"...The first question assumes that the Savior is on the sidelines and that the burden of life and work is on our shoulders...But in that case the Savior is not really saving but is setting impossibly high standards that we attempt to imitate by doing what we assume he would do if he were in our situation...On the other hand, the question "What is Jesus doing?" is built on the conviction that he is alive, reigning, and at work in our lives...In other words, He is in our situation, and that changes everything about our mission...Rather than believing that the work of Christ is completed and that now it is our turn to try to imitate His life and work, we take on the identity of being witnesses who watch and testify to His continued work of salvation that is unfolding before our eyes.”...
What is Jesus doing right now?...He and His Father are doing something good for us...Let us listen and then pray and give them thanks, for their Goodness...