March 3, 2021
Wednesday
Mark 12:28-31 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all? 29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Which is the first commandment of all? This translates as, “what is the most important thing that God has told us to do?” It is narrowed down to two things! Love God, and love others. The reason we don’t know and understand God like we should, is because we don’t understand Agape. We know and understand natural human love and have diluted Agape with natural human love because that is all we have known. Agape is not from this world. You are never going to know God without understanding Agape. Agape is a self-denying love that prefers the other person over itself. Its sole interest is the well-being of the other person more than itself. Agape would never do anything to hurt another person. It does not even notice when someone does something wrong. When you got born again, the love of God came into you in seed form. You can be taught the scriptures about love, but until you experience it for yourself, you cannot grow in it.
Compassion is not pity. True compassion is a divine attribute of Agape. When Agape grows in your life, so will compassion.
Luke 7:11-16 Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. 12 And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”14 Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother. 16 Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.”
Jesus didn’t see the funeral, he didn’t see the casket, he didn’t see anything but her. When He saw her, he had compassion for her. He didn’t feel sorry for her. You cannot confuse the two. He was secure in who He is and with no fear He spoke to the boy to come alive. Love is greater than death! Love is God! Love came to that funeral! God was showing who He is! The life of Jesus is your inheritance! God is a father before He is anything. He created us because He wanted a family! He anointed Jesus (a natural man) with the Holy Ghost and power. You are a natural man, you have a natural body. You are not walking around with darkness and death in you, you’re walking with light and life! We are to love and shine that light! But we have to come to understand it for ourselves. Not because it was explained to us or we learned it in a book, you have to experience it for yourself! It’s why we were created! Let that love take over you and compel you to do things you could never do apart from it. It is supernatural and happens from the inside out. You got more than heaven insurance when you were born again. You have heaven in you now! Eternal life isn’t just for when you get to heaven, its for now!
Love your neighbor as yourself. No grudges, no offences, no revenge! The same love that you love God with, is the same love you should love others with. When the love of God comes into you, the things that you once thought were important become less and less. The things that God sees as important become the important things to you. There’s nothing more important to God than people. Selfishness and pride are on a ridiculous level in our day. If you increase your love, those things will leave you! Focus on love! Every morning bring God a gift. What is the gift? You. Make sure you bring all of you. God doesn’t want just part. Bring your mind, will, and emotions. How do you increase the love? Pray in the Holy Ghost. Your mind does not understand it but the Holy Spirit is teaching you on the inside. You will start reading the scriptures and it will come alive to you! Supernatural understanding! The love will affect you from the inside out and drive out fear, anxiety, and worry. You’ll experience a peace that you never knew existed! Let Him increase the capacity! The more the capacity increases, the more of His love He can pour on you!