HOW HOT IS YOUR LOVE FOR GOD? / WHAT IS THE TEMPERATURE / DEGREE OF YOUR LOVE FOR GOD?
From the Heart of God Series
The Love Motivation
15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these [others do—with total commitment and devotion]?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I [a]love You [with a deep, personal affection, as for a close friend].” Jesus said to him, “Feed My lambs.”16 Again He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with total commitment and devotion]?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You [with a deep, personal affection, as for a close friend].” Jesus said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with a deep, personal affection for Me, as for a close friend]?” Peter was grieved that He asked him the third time, “Do you [really] [b]love Me [with a deep, personal affection, as for a close friend]?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You [with a deep, personal affection, as for a close friend].” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.
Our Times Are in His Hand
18 I assure you and most solemnly say to you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and walked wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and arms, and someone else will dress you, and carry you where you do not wish to go.” 19 Now He said this to indicate the [c]kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And after saying this, He said to him, “Follow Me [walk the same path of life that I have walked]!” (AMP) John 21:15-19
- John 21:15 As indicated by the amplifications, Peter uses a different Greek word for love (phileo) than Jesus does (agapao) in His first two questions to Peter (see note v 17).
- John 21:17 This time Jesus uses the same word for love that Peter previously used twice (phileo).
- John 21:15 & John 21:16
- English: Jesus asked? do you love to love as Jesus would and could love
- HELPS Word-studies Cognate: 25 agapáō – properly, to prefer, to love; for the believer, preferring to “live through Christ“ (1 Jn 4:9,10), i.e. embracing God’s will (choosing His choices) and obeying them through His power. 25 (agapáō)
- 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:9,10
- preeminently refers to what God prefers as He “is love” (1 Jn 4:8,16). See 26 (agapē).
- 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 John 4:8
- 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16
- HELPS Word-studies With the believer, 25 /agapáō (“to love”) means actively doing what the Lord prefers, with Him (by His power and direction). True 25 /agapáō (“loving”) is always defined by God – a “discriminating affection which involves choice and selection” (WS, 477). 1 Jn 4:8,16,17 for example convey how loving (“preferring,” 25 /agapáō) is Christ living His life through the believer.
- 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 1 John 4:17
- John 21:15
- English: Peter answered, that I love to love in a human level only
- HELPS Word-studies 5368 philéō (from 5384 /phílos, “affectionate friendship”) – properly, to show warm affection in intimate friendship, characterized by tender, heartfelt consideration and kinship.
Jesus questioned agapao but Peter answered phileo for twice :
- do you love Me as I love you?
- I love you as I would love a friend
Last time Jesus questioned, phileo but Peter answered phileo :
- will you even love me as a friend?
- I love you as I would love a friend
Question from the heart of God:
(1) How do we love God today?
Our answer is:
- (1) To love God for what we can GET out of God
- Our love is a TAKING love, not a GIVING love
- Our love expires on the earthly plane and has not heavenly value
- (2) The most we will arrive will be like Peter’s kind of love, that is to love God like we understand in English
- (3) But we must migrate to a place where our desire and God’s desire will become ONE
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
Capo 6: C – Lord I Come To You
REFERENCE
WHY PRAY?
The basis must be more than procedures. Though we live in time and age and in the christian church with established ideas about what prayer is – God is looking a relationship that comes from the heart.
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