Orange Moon Cafe "The 'How' of Love"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe

"The 'How' of Love"

     

        It is one thing to desire to love God and people, a holy inclination wrought in born again believers by the indwelling Holy Spirit.  "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).  It is quite another, however, to know how to love, that is, to bless others in ways that truly meet their need.  Again, the Spirit of God must lead us in the proper application of love.

    "And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment" (Philippians 1:9).

   Few prayers more address central issues regarding our walk with the Lord.  His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8).  Thus, His love may lead us to counterintuitive steps along pathways we would never have anticipated to journey.  As we seek to walk in the love of Christ, we do well to remember this reality of the God whose working in our lives directs us in ways that are "exceeding, abundantly above all we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20).  We may know some aspects of our Lord's love well enough to anticipate how He will guide us in devotion to Himself and others.  However, the leading of the Holy Spirit will frequently surprise us as He empowers us to love in a manner that genuinely and effectively addresses the heart of the matter at hand.  "O send out Thy light and Thy truth.  Let them lead me" (Psalm 43:3).

   Note that the Apostle Paul framed the subject at hand in terms of intercessory prayer for brothers and sisters in Christ.  Few prayerful offerings for one another equal this privileged responsibility to approach the Throne of grace with requests that our fellow believers will love according to God's will.  We all possess His willingness and enabling within our innermost being.  "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us" (Romans 5:5).  Such love must be accessed and applied in ways first known only by God, and then discovered by us as we trust and submit ourselves to Him.  Thus, we do well to pray for one another and for ourselves that we will increasingly love God and others as directed by the Holy Spirit, of whom the Lord Jesus long ago promised…

"When He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth."

(John 16:13)

"The path of the just is as the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day."

(Proverbs 4:18)

Weekly Memory Verse    

    "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might."

 (Ephesians 6:10)

  

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