And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:3.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
People can be right in one area and off in another. That is why I give you the Holy Spirit so that He can teach you, lead you, and guide you. If you will only learn to listen to, yield to, and to lean on My guidance in Him you will always do the right thing and know the path of life.
There is a way that seems right to a man that ends in death. Be careful how you walk, keep being filled with the Holy Spirit.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:12-13.
Now you see as in a mirror dimly but soon face to face. I tell you even now to seek My face for My loving eyes are on you. To seek My face means to draw near to Me to hear what I an saying. It means you want to know the words of My mouth, that is, the guidance for your life and the revealing of mysteries—to know the things to come.
“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. John 16:12-15.
I tell you to earnestly desire the gifts of the Spirit but then I show you a more excellent way to have them all operating in your life, I tell you to pursue love. I am love and in pursuing Me everything comes to you in Me. Seek first My Kingdom and My way of righteousness and everything is added to you besides. In the knowledge of Me you will find all supplied that is needed and an overflow for life and godliness.
Primarily people do not understand love. Which means they don’t understand Me, for I am love.
I tell you that if you do not have love in your heart, if your motive and reason for what you do, say or become is not love then your words, no matter how eloquent, are not fruitful or lasting (of no effect, idle, a noisy gong, a clanging cymbal), no matter how great your accomplishments are you are nothing, and no matter what good works you do or sacrifices you make they profit you nothing. There is no reward for words, accomplishments, or works if you have not love. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.
Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ Matthew 7:22-23.
Why? I never knew you if you have no love in your heart. I think in love, talk in love, and walk in love everything else is foreign to Me and cannot abide with or in Me. We are not compatible. How can two walk together unless they agree? A house divided cannot stand.
No matter what you sacrifice in caring for another if you resent it and have hate in your heart it is wasted time. But do not misinterpret what I am saying. This does not mean that your service has no merit because you do not love what that person has become or how they behave, I am talking about the motive of love behind what you are doing, which is addressed to Me. I tell you to do your service unto Me.
Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free. Ephesians 6:5-8.
Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. Colossians 3:23-24.
I am talking about love for Me. Jesus prayed that the cup of suffering by taking on all the sins of mankind could pass from Him if there was another way to justify you and make you righteous, but since there was not, He did it with love and joy. Jesus did not have personal attachment to the Pharisees and priests of His day who rejected and persecuted Him but He laid down His life in love for every person and for Me, but above all to do My Will. It is My desire that all people be saved and come to know the truth and He gave His life in the flesh for just that. But only those who receive this gift with love benefit from it. The crown of righteousness is awarded to those who have loved His appearing.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:7-8.
On the night He was betrayed and entered into the final work for your salvation, He spoke to His disciples as follows:
I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here. John 14:30-31.
The devil had no place in Him so you know that He had no anger, revenge, bitterness, or hatred in His heart against those who would deny, betray, convict, and kill Him. His business was to follow Me out of love for Me and so is yours.
Love for Me is a pure motive that gains all and keeps you in My secret place. When you have the power to give, give and do not turn your back on your own when your help is needed. Think of Joseph and his brothers. He took care of them but please remember he did not live in close relationship with them. He kept his distance but was good to them and sustained them through famine. He did not reject them but he did not partner with them. What Joseph did that saved him was he kept My Word and walked in love for Me and treated his fellowman as he would want to be treated.
Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. John 14:23-24.
When you are doing your work unto Me you have nothing to hide from anyone for there is nothing there but love.
“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” John 3:19-21.
Wrought in love. Done for love of Me and neighbor, no malice, no shame. Do unto others as you would have them do to you. You want to be treated with compassion, love, and care not with abuse, neglect, and revenge.
Jesus did tell His disciples, however, that there comes a point when you must shake the dust from your feet and leave those who are against the gospel of salvation you are trying to give them, who reject the light of the truth of My love. Not out of hate but out of respect for their freedom and in the knowledge that your usefulness is better spent in a place where people will receive of your anointing and embrace the truth.
And He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town. Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.” They went out and preached that men should repent. Mark 6:10-12.
Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city. Luke 10:8-12.
You recall that when I called and blessed Abraham (then Abram), I told him he had to leave his country, his relatives, and his father’s house to go to the land which I would show him and it was only there he would find his blessing and his destiny. But he gave in and let Lot come with him and you know how that turned out. There was a reason I told him to leave his relatives behind.
Love Me and seek My Kingdom first. Only give your heart, soul, mind, and strength to Me. Love your neighbor as yourself in that you do not harm your neighbor and are willing to help him in his needs just as you would want to be helped if you were down. But remember the good Samaritan did not take the injured man home but left him at the inn to be cared for by hired help. Show compassion with care, keep your distance from those that would drag you out of your love of Me. Keep your eyes on Me and I will pluck your feet out of the snare. It takes discernment of spirits.
But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 1:17-25.
I am able to keep you from stumbling when you walk holding My hand.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6.
“Whatever He says to you, do it.” John 2:5.
I love you. Do not worry. I have brought you this far, watch in love and I will take you the rest of the way to full stature in the light of day.
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. 2 Peter 1:2-11.