to love the Lord...

what does it mean to love the Lord?

what does it mean to adore the Creator of the universe?

love is not just a mere proclamation uttered but its genuine presence is backed up by actions of sacrifice and loyalty.

to love someone means you are willing to sacrifice for that person.

when it comes to Jesus Christ, I believe no sacrifice is too big. For the One who gave His entire life for you, placing a cap on how much you do for Him will undeniably be an injustice and a display of pure disparity.

this is the type of love that exempts thinking because sacrifices never make sense. this is the type of love where love is the sole force carrying the relationship.

this is the type of love that just doesn’t make sense, it’s unconditional.

I need everyone to understand that they are loved by God. This is not just a ‘saying’ but Christ has proved His words by His actions. He came to die a brutal death for your sake. Just for you He laid on the cross, beaten and bruised so that you might inherit eternal life and be reconciled back to the Father.

this love should not be taken for granted because it’s a genuine manifestation of “I love you, despite”

familiarity

Mark 6:1-6
“Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. 2 And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! 3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.
4 But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” 5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He marvelled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.”

Many cannot see the disadvantageous effects of familiarity. This story, nevertheless, explicitly shows us.

The definition of familiarity is in its name; becoming too familiar or used to an individual or a situation or a thing. In the context of this message, we will primarily look at the harmful effects of becoming too familiar with an individual.

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a quick psa: there is nothing wrong with strengthening relationships and building intimacy but in a space where familiarity is bred, respect can vanish easily. Therefore, the aim of this message is to caution readers of the danger of familiarity.

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Jesus was in His hometown, according to the passage above. Essentially, the people there were familiar with Him. Due to this familiarity, they could not see Him beyond the image they have already established in their minds. To everyone in His home country, He is just the carpenter’s son. They have limited Him in their minds so they fail to believe that He can be more than that. When we become too familiar with people, we place a cap on their potential in our minds.

The largest disadvantage of this ‘limiting situation’ is that we can never be blessed by them because we just cannot believe they can bless us to that extent. Referring back to the passage, Christ could not perform many miracles there because of their unbelief. Due to your unbelief in someone’s advancement, you will be robbed of blessings. God blesses us through people or in other words, people are doors to blessings. Blessings can lead you to your destiny. Familiarity can cause you to close the door to your destiny.

Let’s have a self-evaluation moment where we identify those we are too familiar with and whether due to that state, we are being robbed of blessings.

Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help us see people as He sees them. Different perspectives will result in different dimensions of honour and respect.

2 Corinthians 5:16

‘So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!’

Just as we see Christ as more than just a carpenter’s son, let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help us see beyond the human perspective.

Hope you’ve been blessed and will no longer be robbed of your blessings.

Until next time ….

revelation

The only thing that will cause people to surrender is a revelation. 

Revelation in Greek: apokalypsis - ‘the removal of a veil so that something can be seen’ (Wahlberg, 2020)

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Sometimes I think to myself, why can’t people just believe in Christ and sacrifice just a little to serve Him?

However, I’ve come to understand, with the help of the Holy Spirit, that only people who have received a revelation can surrender or sacrifice. Revelations give people a reason to do what they do thus making it easier for them to sacrifice.

In Acts 9, Saul had an encounter with Jesus Christ. He received the revelation that Jesus Christ is God and that He is real. His eyes were literally opened. That experience immediately propelled him into his ministry of being a shameless apostle and disciple of Jesus Christ. Revelations fuel your faith and increase it. They can usher you into your destiny.

Revelations also allow you to unravel the nature of God. Unravelling God’s nature allows you to comprehend how great He is and leaves you more in awe of Him. Being in awe of the Lord puts you in a state where you are able to connect with your First Love. A sense of perfect unity is experienced because the man or woman who was once lost finds themselves in the arms of the loving Father again.

Revelations give us eyes to see the Lord beyond the flesh.

If you want to believe more, ask God for a revelation.

Speak to you soon

Wahlberg, M. (2020). Divine Revelation. Fall 2020 ed. [online] Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/divine-revelation/

[Accessed 24 Feb. 2023].