Will You Love Him?

Greetings in the name of Jesus ! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. I count it a great honor and a great joy to do this program, and my whole desire is to honor God and to edify you.  Today’s program is called Will You Love Him? Let’s turn to 1 John 1:1-10, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us. 1 John 2:1-6, My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His Word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. Verse 15, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Chapter 2, verse 6, He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. Jesus said, I only say what I hear My Father saying, and I only do what I see My Father doing. Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit every day and every night; He yielded to the Holy Spirit to do the Father’s will, even in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He wrestled in prayer with His flesh  and with the powers of darkness seeking to keep Him from completing the work of our salvation which the Father sent Him to accomplish. God is not asking us to do something we cannot do: the essential thing is the love of God. Verse 5 of chapter 2,  But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. Jesus loves the Father, and it was His love for the Father, and His love for us that enabled Him to go through the suffering of the Cross. It also enabled Him to overcome all the sin, and all the powers of darkness set against Him. The only way that we are going to be able to fulfill 1 John 2:5&6 is through the love of God.

First we must believe the love that God has for us. Let’s turn to John 3:16&17, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. When He says the world, He means every person in the world. You can see that where He says, “whoever believes in Him”; those are individual people that believe in Jesus. So, God so loved every person in the world!, that He gave His only begotten Son. If you just think about it: He created us; He loves us! He formed us in our mothers’ wombs. We did not exist until He created us! He so loved us, that He gave His only begotten, beloved Son to suffer for us, that whoever of us will believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Let’s go back to 1 John 4:9-21, 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. 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. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 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. 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. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. 1 John 3:13-24, Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. I’m reminded that Jesus said, Greater love has no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends. And He said, You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. Jesus said, He that loves Me keeps my sayings. He said, If you keep my commandments you shall abide in my love, even as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. He said, if we abide in Him; He is the vine and we are the branches, and His Word abides in us, then we will bring forth much fruit. He said, He is the vine, and the Father is the vine-dresser, and every branch in Him that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Jesus said, Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can you except you abide in Me. Going back to John 3:17-21, For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. Going back to 1 John 2:15-17, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. 

Light is come into the world! God is light, and He sent His Son into the world that the world through Him might be saved. If we will come to the light, if we will come to Jesus and walk with Him, if we will keep His Words and walk in the light, if we will love Him and continue with Him, abiding in Him, and if we will love one another, we will overcome the darkness, and we will bring forth good fruit that remains to the glory of God the Father. If we don’t care about these things; if we don’t love the Father, but rather, we love ourselves, our pleasures and our money: the things of the world, the things of this life; if we don’t love one another; if we don’t come to the light, we will be overtaken by the powers of darkness that are against us, and we will never overcome. In 2 Tim 3:1-5 , it is written, But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! This is the way that the Apostle Paul said it would be in the last days. If we will not come to the light, we will be overtaken by the darkness and we will never overcome. We will be condemned with the goats, weeping and gnashing our teeth, as we are cast into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. This is the truth! Don’t just shrug this off ! Choose this day whom you will serve!

Humble yourself before the great and mighty God, who is able to save you to the uttermost if you will come back to Him and put all your trust in Him! Be honest with Him. He already knows everything about you. Confess all your sin to Him, and turn from it! Confess your lack of love for Him, your rebellion and your witchcrafts. Acknowledge the truth about yourself now! Don’t be deceived! We will all give an account to Jesus, and He has clearly promised that He is going to give unto every one of us according to our works. If you want to change, and you will come to Him, with godly sorrow, confessing your faults to Him: He is merciful! Joel 2:12-14, Now, therefore, says the Lord, Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him—a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? 

Will you love Him? Do you really understand how much He loves you? Will you come to Him and give yourself to Him to serve Him for the rest of your life, and keep His commandments which are not burdensome? Will you commit to Him to serve Him and His people from now on, and not yourself and your desires and your will anymore? As I have said before, God would be unjust to require us to be holy if that was impossible. If you will love Him, you can do it! If you will separate yourself from all the unclean things in your life, the things that don’t please him, you can do it! If you won’t separate from them; if you keep on loving your idols and unclean things; worldly, carnal things, then you will remain in the darkness, and you won’t have true fellowship with the Father and Jesus, and your brothers and sisters. And ultimately, if you won’t repent; for God is graciously giving you space to repent, you will be cut off and cast into the fire. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God! Remember, He has already proven His love for us through the gift of His beloved Son Jesus to suffer for us on the Cross, and it has not even entered into the heart of man: the things that God has prepared for those that love Him.