THEME: RE-EXAMINING OUR LOVE FOR GOD
MINISTER: PASTOR SIMEON AFOLABI
VENUE: FIRST LOVE ASSEMBLY
DATE: 20/11/2016
Main scripture: John 21:15-23
15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?”and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.”
19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”
20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?”
21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”
22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”
23 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers[a] that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
Sometimes when we talk about love, we misdirect and misinterpret because it is in terms of something that catches the eyes.
God loves us and He wants us to respond to Him in love.
One of the most frustrating things in life is pouring out love and not getting corresponding response.
Any love that is not reciprocated breeds frustration.
Love is referencing God; showing preference for God over and above every other thing.
Love is giving God preferential treatment over and above anyone and everything else.
If you claim you have a blessing and it is tearing you up, tearing your family apart, you need to re-examine it. God does not bless in a place and tear in another place.
God will never demand you drop your love and affection for anything else.
There are things you love legitimately but He wants to find out the order of preference.
Luke 14:26
Mt. 10:37
Every other thing takes a second fiddle after Him that is what it means to love God.
Does He say no entertainment? No, but to place entertainment below Him in preference.
- Loving God means accepting responsibility. Love commits you. Nothing commits you than love. Love is caring for whatever matter to the subject of your love.
Love is not simply what we say, it is defining what we do, it is measuring what we do.
- Loving God means a forfeiting of our liberty. Love curtails our freedom. In a sense when we come to God, we come to liberty in a sense, we also come into a yoke.
He destroys one yoke to put another on you. He takes away the satanic yoke and puts His own on you. You are never without a yoke.
If you want to retain all the liberty you have as a single person after you got married, you might be sending a wrong signal to your spouse that you don’t really care.
Some measure of liberty is forfeited as a sacrifice that you love that individual except you don’t love that individual.
John 21:22
Since plans of God for us are not the same, then timings are also different. It is injurious to compare lives. Planning are not the same, times are not the same.
In Luke 19:12, Jesus was referring to his second coming.
The second coming of Christ is a cardinal point in our Christian faith.
2 Peter 3:1-9
The word is on a collision course with prophecy. There is no hiding place for this world, every nation you run to it’s the same.
WHAT IS EXPECTED OF US?
- Joining the efforts for global harvest. Every extra time we have is to look at how we get more people into the kingdom of God. Why has he not come? It is because he wants more people in the kingdom. Every harvest you bring draws his coming closer.
- Continually keep your garment clean. Revelations 19:7
