"Nothing Else"

"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matthew 22:37-39).

Repeated in both Old and New Testaments, the two great commands must form the determined purpose of our heart in all things, and at all times. We are to love God, and to love others in everything we do.

This determination, however, must always be viewed as the primary fruit of our existence, rather than as its root.

"We love Him because He first loved us" (I John 4:19).

"The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us" (Romans 5:5).

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (John 13:34).

Our love for God and others can never independently arise in and of ourselves. Only our Creator is love in His essence (I John 4:8; 16). Only He can originate, feel, and act from Himself the sublime reality of this most wonderful quality of His holy being. Therefore, when genuine love is known and expressed in any created being, the source and power always flows from the God who "is love," and from living relationship with Him.

Such relationship begins and eternally continues through the Lord Jesus Christ.

"Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do" (John 14:30-31).

The Son who perfectly loves both the Father and the human race is the one who enables us to do the same. "God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father" (Galatians 4:6). The Christ who lived a perfectly earthly lifetime of loving His Father and others now dwells within the redeemed spirits of born again believers. Thereby we are enabled to "walk, even as He walked," and thus to love the Father and to love others in the beauty of holy self sacrifice (I John 2:6). Our experience of this "hope of glory" will not be perfect as it was in the Lord Jesus, but it is mean to be more and more the consistent reality of our thoughts, attitudes, emotions, words, actions, and relatings to God and man. "As touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more" (I Thessalonians 4:9-10).

Any other understanding of what our life is, or what our determined purpose is meant to be, does not fit God's definition of life. We exist to be loved by Him, to love Him in response through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and to love others as the expression of our Christ-wrought union with God. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else. There is, in fact, nothing else, because any other existence is vanity in the present, and eternal misery in the future. May our Heavenly Father lead us more and more to the only emphasis whereby we are truly alive, and to its vibrant expression in our lives both now and forevermore.

"Mercy unto you, and peace, and love be multiplied."

(Jude 1:2)

"Love, As Defined By God"

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:43-45).


The first mention of love in the New Testament concerns our enemies, and thus reveals our complete dependence on help from Above if we are to fulfill the will of God.


Loving our enemies is a human impossibility. We are not composed of such holy substance in and of ourselves, a self evident truth prove by the history of the human race and our own personal experience. Despite our frequent consideration of the concept of love, the personal and corporate experience of humanity conflict reveals that love, as defined by God, is our great weakness.


"For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:7-8).


We may find motivation to bless and do good for family and friends (although we are weak even in this pursuit). However, human beings do not love enemies unless empowered by the One who died for those whose sins were the very cause of His suffering. There is such an empowering through the Lord Jesus: "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us" (Romans 5:5). Through Him, we can love, bless, do good, and pray for who hate, curse, do evil, and seek our harm. We must, because love that exempts enemies from its bestowal is not love as God defines it.


The great commands of Scripture, repeated in both Old and New Testaments, are to "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself" (Luke 10:27). This is the proper goal of human existence, established and commanded by the Creator of human existence. If any lesser pursuit rules our hearts, we can be sure that we are being controlled by our native human weakness. On the other hand, if the altar of love has been built in our hearts through faith in the Lord Jesus and submission to His will, we must continually seek His enabling. He will gladly respond, and we will find ourselves loving, as God defines love. He will be the origin, the motivation, the reason and the power of such self sacrifice, and He alone will be glorified. We will be the glad recipients of that love not only bestowed upon us, but abundantly made resident within us.


"Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor."
(Ephesians 5:2)

"In the Details"

The old saying, "the devil is in the details" may bear some truth. However, far more to the point is the blessed reality that God is in the details.

The former axiom refers to some mysterious fact existing within the details of a condition, situation, or circumstance. Doubtless our spiritual enemy does nefariously work behind the scenes to seek our harm, and more importantly, the enshrouding of God's glory revealed in our lives. Again, however, the Lord who "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" is infinitely more active in specific and presently hidden ways that will one day shine forth in the beauty of His perfect working in our lives (Ephesians 1:11).

"Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not!" (Genesis 28:16). Jacob's admission is surely shared by all believers who are the subjects of our Heavenly Father's continual involvement and care, but who see so very little of what He is doing. Life often seems so human and ordinary for even the most godly among us, and the unseen Heart and Hand that work "all things together for good" are normally so inauspicious that we see only the tiniest glimmer of their dynamic activity on our behalf (Romans 8:28). Our presently limited vision also contributes to the "I knew it not" reality of our earthly sojourn. "We see through a glass darkly" wrote the Apostle Paul who was caught up to Heaven for the vision of inutterable glories, but who nevertheless included himself - "we see... darkly" - in the admission of how little God's children actually know of His presence in the moments of our lives (II Corinthians 12:2-4; I Corinthians 13:12).

I often thank God for the things He has done and is doing that I know nothing about. Provisions for needs I never knew existed because the supply was so quickly and abundantly provided. Protections from jeopardy of which I was unaware. Intricate working in circumstances and conditions - and my heart - that will remain unknown until I get to Heaven. Perfect coordination of the details of life that will one day reveal our Father's infinite wisdom and boundless love to such degree that we will fall to our faces in wonder. All declare that God is in the details, and that despite the fact that we so often know it not, we can still believe as a matter of conviction that nothing will be wasted in our Father's ongoing purpose of conforming us to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. This moment in our lives teems with the vibrant activity of God. May it teem also with offerings of praise and thanksgiving from our hearts to the One whose involvement in the details reveals the loving devotion of His heart.

"Many, O LORD my God, are Thy wonderful works which Thou hast done, and Thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto Thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered."

(Psalm 40:5)