(Part 5) Growing Trees of Righteousness: You were made and designed to love

Five weeks ago we began this message series and I shared with you about a series of Kenneth Copeland daily broadcast where his guest was a thirty-year Christian neuroscientist named, Dr. Caroline Leaf.  In these broadcast Scripture and science are tied together showing just how literal the Bible actually is.  For example, thoughts in your brain physically look like a tree, and a bad thought, will generate bad proteins and chemistry in your brain effecting cells around this thought, and if you dwell long enough on a bad thought, you can actually impact every cell in your body, and this can lead to sickness and disease. 

The first week of this message we began our Bible study with reading in Isaiah chapter 61.  Let’s jump to verse 3 and read that again.  The Bible says…

Isaiah              61:3   To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto

                                  them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the

                                  garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they

                                  might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of

                                  the LORD, that He might be glorified.

The first week of this message we discussed the progression of three demonic attacks that try to come against us, which are ashes, mourning, and a spirit of heaviness.  Ashes express some sort of loss, mourning is the grieving for that loss, which can lead to such a spirit of heaviness that it is just hard to go on. 

Then the verse says that in exchange for these three things the LORD has given us beauty, oil of joy, and a garment of praise.  These three are a progression as well where “beauty” is the revelation that every day is a new day with the LORD, where God wants to put joy on you such that it is just stuck all over you like oil.  Praise God!  Then the LORD says that He has given us a garment of praise, but you have to put it on and on purpose lift your hands in the air and just say, “I praise you Jesus” …either for the situation, …or for getting you through the situation, …but either way you praise the LORD.  Then the Bible revealed to us the reason God does this for it says…

Isaiah               61:3  … that they might be called trees of righteousness, the

                                  planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified.

Here we see that God wants us called “trees of righteousness”.  Praise God! 

God is saying that He wants these hurtful, harmful things removed from our minds and He wants them replaced with thoughts that He plants, thinking His thoughts after Him, so that our lives …might bring Him glory.  Praise God! 

In week two of this series we discussed bad thoughts where the Bible says…

James             3:16   For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and

                                  every evil work. 

According to Dr. Leaf, she says that when you think on evil and strife it actually causes the brain to fold unusually where that thought is, and these unusual folds cause electrical turmoil in the signals that are supposed to be being sent in your brain, and it literally causes confusion in the signals that your brain is sending.  So the Bible is both spiritually and physically correct, for wrong thoughts leading to confusion in the brain leading people to perform evil deeds. 

Then we studied Mark 11:25, where Jesus says…

Mark    11:25  And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against

                        any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you

                        your trespasses.

…and we discussed that the blessings from God …are hinged …upon you …choosing …to be obedient to the LORD’s command …to forgive, …but if you choose not to forgive, …then that unforgiveness …is going to unload that cargo …in your brain, …and you will not receive from the LORD. 

Week three of the message we learned how to rid ourselves of wrong thoughts, by cutting them off at the root.  The Bible showed us that the root of a thought …is saying it.  Jesus says…

Matthew    6:31   Therefore take no thought, saying, …

Here we are taught that the way you take a thought …is to say it.  The Bible says…

Proverbs  26:20 Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where

                            there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.   

Here we see that the Bible teaches us that evil words are like adding fuel to a fire and will cause strifeful thoughts that lead to strifeful situations, which can lead a person to become a natural brute beast, for the Bible says…

II Peter     2:12   But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and

                            destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not;

                            and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

Here we see that people who continually speak against the Word and will of God are making themselves into natural brute beast made to be taken and destroyed.  It is not that God made them this way, but it is what they have made of themselves, setting up their own physical and eternal destruction. So we showed that the root of evil thoughts and evil deeds is speaking the evil, because by doing so you are causing that thought to take root in your brain and it will eventually affect your actions. 

Then in week three we also showed how to cause right thoughts to take root in your brain for the Bible says…    

Romans  10:8   The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart:

                          that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

Here we see that that God’s Word is supposed to be so close to us, that it is coming out of our mouths, so that we are sowing seeds of righteousness, taking thoughts of righteousness, growing trees of righteousness in our brains, and becoming right-thing-doers living in accordance to the Word and will of God, for when you do this, you release the life-giving, miracle-working power of God into your life to manifest the promises of God.

In week four of this message we studied where the root of our thoughts should gain their nourishment by studying the prayer that the Apostle Paul prayed for us.  In the prayer the Bible says…

Ephesians  3:17   That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye,

                             being rooted and grounded in love,

Let’s stop right here.  Here we see that we are to be rooted in love, which means that our thoughts should be getting all their nourishment, all their life …from love.  Then the Bible showed us in I John chapter 4 and verse 16 that “God is love”.  He does not have love, but God is love.  So if you are “rooted and grounded in love”, that means that you are “rooted and grounded” in God.  That means we should seek to make the nourishment …of every thought… the love of God …and realize …that if that thought …is not a love thought, …then it is not …getting its nourishment …from God.  That is why the Bible says…

II Corinthians 10:5   Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that

                                  exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and

                                  bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience

                                  of Christ; 

Our thought life should be rooted and grounded in love, which means our thought life should be rooted and grounded in God.  If our every thought is to be brought into the obedience of Christ, then our every thought should be brought into the obedience …of love.  Meaning if you are not thinking a love thought, then it is not of God. 

Again examining Paul’s prayer in Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 18, the Bible says when you are rooted in love you…

Ephesians  3:18   May be able to comprehend with all saints…

Praise God!  Let’s stop right here.  This says that if you are “rooted and grounded in love”, then you “may be able to comprehend”, or in other words, you are going to start thinking correctly, and then the Bible says something amazing, for it says that you…

Ephesians  3:18   May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the

                             breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

Study of this will show you that God is saying when you learn to think His thoughts, He will reveal to you …classical Newtonian physics …or that is you will understand our three dimensional world’s breadth, length, and height, but then the verse mentions a forth dimension and that is “depth”. 

The word “depth” here is defined as “extent, and mystery”.  So by allowing our thoughts to be rooted and grounded in God, there is a “mystery” that Paul prays that God will reveal to true believers.  I believe that this is talking about the realm …that we call …quantum physics.  In quantum physics you move beyond time and space and you are speaking of the subatomic particles and how they sense each other and respond to each other at quantum speeds that are as much and possibly greater than 10,000 times the speed of light.  You see, you have a brain made in God’s image, but the brain is made of tissue, and the tissue is made of cells, and the cells, are made of molecules, and the molecules are made of atoms, and the atoms are made of subatomic particles and now you are at the quantum level of science and all of this was made and designed in the image of God, …who is love.  On this subatomic level in the brain one electron on one side of an atom can sense another electron on the other side of the atom, that on the atomic scale, they are a tremendous distance apart, and this applies also to atoms, but it would also apply to molecules, and it would also apply to cells, and it would also apply to tissue, and it would also apply to our brains where trillions of these interactions are occurring all the time.  This interaction between particles is called, “entanglement theory” where even though these particles are separated they are “entangled” together.  Albert Einstein called this, “spooky action at a distance”.  Dr. Leaf in her studies and research said that all the interactions in the mind are happening at quantum speeds.  In fact there is an energy that people generate that others can sense.  This can be for positive or negative, but this also explains why someone can know someone else has a need or something, even before they interact.  It is because …they are quantum mechanically “entangled”. 

Things like “love” and “hate” are not things we can measure with a ruler, or a thermometer, but things like “love” and hate” exist in the quantum realm, for they involve entanglement between people …even at a distance.  Relationships are actually quantum mechanical in nature.  Dr. Leaf says that the reason scientists pushed quantum mechanics to the side 50-75 years ago and chose instead to view the world with classical physics, is that when they were studying quantum mechanics they realized …that they were studying God.  Today science has realized that in order to make the next big step in science, you are going to have to study quantum mechanics, which is why quantum mechanical computers are being discussed and artificial intelligence.  Listen to the next verse of Paul’s prayer.  The Bible says…

Ephesians  3:19   And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, …

Here we see that Paul prays for us to “know the love of Christ”, which passes all “knowledge”, which at first seems a quandary, for how can you “know” something surpasses all “knowledge”? This becomes clear through the definition of the words.  “Knowledge” is defined as “the systematic study of physical and natural world through observation and experiment”, as you would in classical Newtonian physics, but Paul is praying for us to know something that goes beyond this. That is why we examined the word “know” from the phrase “to know the love of Christ”, for the word, “know”, here by definition means, “to be “entangled” with Love Himself.  Praise God!  To know the love of Christ …is relationship with God Himself that is in the realm of quantum mechanical physics.  That is the dimension that exist outside of our three dimensional world, where there is no time and space. 

This week we are going to discuss the truth that you as a human being were created and designed to think, talk, and walk in love.  Listen to what the Bible says about God…

I John   4:16   And we have known and believed the love that God hath to

                        us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God,

                        and God in him.

Here we see that the Bible is clear concerning God and the Bible says that God does not have love, but instead the Bible says that “God is love”.  In fact that exact same phrase is found in I John chapter 4 and verse 8 where the Bible says…

I John   4:8     He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

So here we see again that God does not have love, but instead “God is love”.   What is so beautiful about this is the truth that since God is love, He just can’t help …but to love you, regardless of what you have ever done.  So God loves you.  I remember years ago sitting at the kitchen table with my children, talking about the vastness of the universe, and the great things that God had done and put into place, and I was expressing to my family that I just did not understand how a God who did all this, would manifest Himself as a man and die for my sins on a cross.  Then my youngest daughter, Victoria, who at the time was about six years old raised her hand and said, “I know daddy”, and I told her, “just wait a moment honey” and continued with speaking about the vastness of God, and she raised her hand again and said, “I know why God would come and die for our sins.”, and I said, “OK, honey, you tell us”, and she said, “Well, it is because …God so love the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life”.  Well, praise God, …that is the truth for my daughter quoted John chapter 3 and verse 16.  So the reason Jesus came and died for us …is because of who He is, …and who He is …is love.  God is love.

Now I want you to listen to what God says about us when man was created in the book of Genesis.  The Bible says…

Genesis   1:26   And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our

                          likeness: …

image-6754-µl,x, tselem, tseh’-lem; from an unused root mean. to shade; a phantom, i.e. (fig.) illusion, resemblance; hence, a representative figure, espec. an idol:— image, vain shew.

Vines- tselem (6754), “statue; image; copy.” Cognates of this word appear in Ugaritic and Phoenician (perhaps), Akkadian, Aramaic, and Arabic. Old Testament Hebrew attests it 17 times. 

This word means “statue”: “And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly …” (2 Kings 11:18; cf. Num. 33:52). 

This word signifies an “image or copy” of something in the sense of a replica: “Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel …” (1 Sam. 6:5). In Ezek. 23:14 tselem represents a wall painting of some Chaldeans. 

The word also means “image” in the sense of essential nature. So Adam “begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth” (Gen. 5:3). Human nature in its internal and external characteristics is what is meant here rather than an exact duplicate. So, too, God made man in His own “image,” reflecting some of His own perfections: perfect in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, and with dominion over the creatures (Gen. 1:26). Being created in God’s “image” meant being created male and female, in a loving unity of more than one person (Gen. 1:27). It is noteworthy that in Gen. 1:26 (the first occurrence of the word) the “image” of God is represented by two Hebrew words (tselem and demut); by selem alone in Gen. 1:27 and 9:6; and by demut alone in Gen. 5:1. This plus the fact that in other contexts the words are used exactly the same leads to the conclusion that the use of both in passages such as Gen. 1:26 is for literary effect. 

In Ps. 39:6 tselem means “shadow” of a thing which represents the original very imprecisely, or it means merely a phantom (ghost?), a thing which represents the original more closely but lacks its essential characteristic (reality): “Surely every man walketh in a vain show [tselem]; surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them” (cf. Ps. 73:20—the word represents a “dream image”). 

likeness-1823-tWmD] dƒmuÆwth, dem-ooth’; from 1819; resemblance; concr. model, shape; adv. like:— fashion, like (-ness, as), manner, similitude.

Vines- demut (1823), “likeness; shape; figure; form; pattern.” All but 5 of the 25 appearances of this word are in poetical or prophetical books of the Bible. 

First, the word means “pattern,” in the sense of the specifications from which an actual item is made: “Now King Ahaz went to Damascus … and saw the altar which was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the pattern of the altar and its model, according to all its workmanship” (2 Kings 16:10, nasb). 

Second, demut means “shape” or “form,” the thing(s) made after a given pattern. In 2 Chron. 4:3 the word represents the “shape” of a bronze statue: “And under it was the similtude of oxen, which did compass it round about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about.” In such passages demut means more than just “shape” in general; it indicates the “shape” in particular. In Ezek. 1:10, for example, the word represents the “form” or “likeness” of the faces of the living creatures Ezekiel describes. In Ezek. 1:26 the word refers to what something seemed to be rather than what it was: “And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne.…” 

Third, demut signifies the original after which a thing is patterned: “To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?” (Isa. 40:18). This significance is in its first biblical appearance: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness …” (Gen. 1:26). 

Fourth, in Ps. 58:4 the word appears to function merely to extend the form but not the meaning of the preposition ke: “Their poison is like the poison of a serpent.…” 

Here we see that we were “made” in the “image” and “likeness” of God.  The word “image” means, “reflecting some of His own perfections: perfect in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, and with dominion over the creatures”.  Then the word “likeness” means, “patterned after the original”.  So these words teach us that at the creation of man, God made man after His own pattern, after His own perfection, and after His own righteousness.  Since God is love, that means that at creation …man …was wired and created …to be love.  You are literally wired and designed for love.  Listen again to Genesis 1:27.  The Bible says…

Genesis   1:27   So God created man in His own image, in the image of God 

                          created He him; male and female created He them.

So here we see again that we humans are made in the image of God, which means we are made …in the image …of love, …which again means we are wired and designed for love.  We find this again in Genesis chapter 9 and verse 6, where the Bible says…

Genesis   9:6     Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be

                          shed: for in the image of God made He man.

Here again we see that man is made in the image of God.  So we are made in the image of love, and are wired and designed for love.  I know that some would say, “Well, Adam messed all that up when he chose to sin against God”. 

Well, that is true, and according to Romans chapter 5, because of Adam’s sin all of mankind was cursed with the curse of sin and wrong thinking.  You have to remember what Adam did.  He partook of the tree …of the “knowledge” of good …“and evil”. 

Prior to this Adam already had the knowledge of good, for he walked with God in the garden, but when Adam sinned against God’s command, Adam taught himself how to think …wrong thoughts, …which led …to wrong deeds, which took him from a position of love …to a position of fear, …where Adam was hiding from God, who is love, who made him.  Adam’s entanglement with God was totally disturbed and messed up by Adam’s sin, which led God to ask him, “Where are you Adam?”.

So man was made and designed in the image of love, and Adam’s sin brought the curse …of wrong thinking …on all of mankind; however, through Jesus death on the cross, the curse of sin was broken, for the debt was paid, and God made the way for people to be restored to a position of walking in love in a right relationship with Love Himself, who is God.  Listen to what the Bible says…

Colossians   3:8     But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice,

                                blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

                     3:9     Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old

                                man with his deeds;

                     3:10   And have put on the new man, which is renewed in 

                                knowledge after the image of Him that created him:

Praise God!  Here we see that once we receive Jesus as Savior and LORD, we are to stop taking wrong thoughts by saying them and acting upon them, but instead we are to “put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge”, which means you are renewed and restored in your way of thinking to a better position, because you are being renewed and restored to think in love, after God, who is Love, who created you.  Praise God!

Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 21 and listen to what the Bible says…

Ephesians    4:21   If so be that ye have heard Him, and have been taught by

                                Him, as the truth is in Jesus:

                     4:22   That ye put off concerning the former conversation the

                                old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful

                                lusts;

Let’s stop here a moment.  Here we see that the truth is in Jesus, who is God, who is Love.  So the truth is in love, and this verse says once you have heard the love and received the love, then you should stop speaking the way you used to speak.  You should not be speaking after the evil any more, because if you do, you are taking that thought, and it is unloading its cargo of evil lusts and deeds in your brain.  Instead, listen to what the Bible says next…

Ephesians    4:23   And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

This says that you are to let the Word of God, which is Love, renew and restore your minds all the way down to the quantum level where your thoughts of love are thinking after the thoughts of Love who created you.  Listen to how this continues…

Ephesians    4:24   And that ye put on the new man, which after God is

                                created in righteousness and true holiness. 

Here we see that through renewing you mind to think the thoughts of Love, you will be putting on the new man, which was the creation that God intended, which was made in His own image.  Listen to how this continues…

Ephesians    4:25   Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth

                                with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

                     4:26   Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon

                                your wrath:

                     4:27   Neither give place to the devil.

Look here again at the emphasis on what you say, for we just read that we are to speak “truth” to our neighbor. 

Speaking truth means that you are speaking in love, you are speaking in line with the Word of God, because if you do otherwise, if you speak evil, or angrily, or lying, you are creating a wrong thought in your brain, which grows wrong proteins and chemistry, folds your brain improperly causing electrical chaos, which will lead to confusion and evil works, which are giving place to the devil.  Listen to how this continues…

Ephesians    4:28   Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him

                                labour, working with his hands the thing which is good,

                                that he may have to give to him that needeth. 

                     4:29   Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your

                                mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that

                                it may minister grace unto the hearers. 

Here again we see that we are not to allow corrupt communication to proceed out of our mouths, because it is not of love, but instead we are to speak that which is good to build people up in truth of the love of God.  Listen to how this continues…

Ephesians    4:30   And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are

                                sealed unto the day of redemption.

Grieve-3076-lupevw lupeáoµ, loo-peh´-o; from 3077; to distress; refl. or pass. to be sad:— cause grief, grieve, be in heaviness, (be) sorrow (-ful), be (make) sorry.

Vines- 1. lupeo (3076), akin to A, denotes (a), in the active voice, “to cause pain, or grief, to distress, grieve,” e.g., 2 Cor. 2:2 (twice, active and passive voices); v. 5 (twice), rv, “hath caused sorrow” (kjv, “have caused grief,” and “grieved”); 7:8, “made (you) sorry”; Eph. 4:30, of grieving the Holy Spirit of God (as indwelling the believer); (b) in the passive voice, “to be grieved, to be made sorry, to be sorry, sorrowful,” e.g., Matt. 14:9, rv, “(the king) was grieved” (kjv, “was sorry”); Mark 10:22, rv, “(went away) sorrowful” (kjv, “grieved”); John 21:17, “(Peter) was grieved”, Rom. 14:15, “(if … thy brother) is grieved”; 2 Cor. 2:4, “(not that) ye should be made sorry,” rv, kjv, “ye should be grieved.” See heaviness, sorrow, sorrowful, sorry. 

What would it mean to grieve the holy Spirit of God?  Well, Dr. Leaf says that neuroscience involves the brain, the tissue, the cells, the molecules in the cells, and the atoms in the molecules, but it also involves the subatomic particles and the quantum energies that get down to the level of electromagnetic waves.  What I am saying is that you were designed …to have …love waves, …love energy …at the very core …of your being, …just like God …who is Love, …and if you get out of Love, then you have just caused disharmony in your relationship with God, causing things to get out of synchronization.  Your spirit, your essence …is no longer in unity with God, which grieves His Spirit.  That is why the next verse says…

Ephesians    4:31   Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and

                                evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

Here again we see the emphasis on putting “evil speaking” away from you, for when you speak the evil, you take the thought, and that is the dendrite on the neuron that begins the process of a wrong deed, and wrong brain chemistry, which can lead to wrong actions and health issues.  Instead, listen to what the Bible says…

Ephesians    4:32   And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving

                                one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven

                                you.

Here again we see that we are to walk in love, and forgive others, just like God has forgiven us, for by doing this, the Bible says…

Ephesians    5:1     Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

Here we see that we are to follow after Love, for when we follow after Love, we are the children of Love, and the next verse says…

Ephesians    5:2     And 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 savour.

Here it is all summed up.  We are to “walk in love”, but in order to “walk in love”, you are going to have to speak in love, and you are going to have to take thoughts of love, and you are going to have to chop the roots of unforgiveness, chop the roots of bitterness, chop the roots of hatred, and nourish your thoughts on the Word of God, and the Love that is God. 

The Bible says…

Hebrews      12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which 

                                no man shall see the Lord:

                     12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God;

                                lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and

                                thereby many be defiled; 

Here you can see that if you do not root out all the wrong thoughts, if you do not stop speaking all the evil, then those wrong thoughts are going to be roots that will spring up and grow bitterness that will hamper, if not destroy, the love walk in which you were created to walk.  Listen to what the Bible says…

II John  5        And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new

                        commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the 

                        beginning, ...

Let’s stop here a moment.  Here we see that we that under the influence of the Holy Ghost the Apostle John is going to instruct us in a commandment, which is a thought from God, and the commandment that he is going to instruct us in is the same commandment that God gave to man from the beginning of creation, way back there when we were made in the image of God, which meant that we were made in the image of Love.  Let’s read this verse again this time in its entirety and hear the commandment to which John is speaking.  Again the Bible says…

II John  5        And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new

                        commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the 

                        beginning, that we love one another.

O praise God!  Did you hear that?  The commandment that we had from the beginning, the thought that God gave unto man at creation, when we were made in the image of God, was that we were to “love one another”.  So in the beginning we were designed and wired to walk in love just like God, who is love Himself, and when you are walking in God, you are walking in Love, …and when you are walking in love, …you are walking in God.  Just to make sure that someone did not try to pervert the meaning of love, listen to the next verse.  The Bible says…

II John 6        And this is love, that we walk after His commandments. This

                        is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the

                        beginning, ye should walk in it.

Praise God!  Here we learn that God’s commandments, God’s thoughts, are actually teaching us how to walk in love.  In fact God’s commandments, or God’s thoughts, are teaching us how to love God and love our neighbor.  Listen to what Jesus says…

John     14:15  If ye love Me, keep My commandments.

Here we see that the way we express our love to God is that we keep His commandments.  We think His thoughts after Him.  Listen to verse 21.  Jesus says…

John     14:21  He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is

                        that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My

                        Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.

Here we see again that if we are keeping God’s commandments, if our thought life is after the thoughts of God, then we are learning to think in love, and Jesus says that He will manifest Himself to us, for love will be manifest as we walk in love.  Listen to what Jesus says about staying in love.  Jesus says…

John     15:10  If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love;

                        even as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in

                        His love.

Here again we see that by seeking to keep the commandments of God, we are seeking to abide in love, and if we are abiding in love, then we are abiding in God.  Listen to how we know if we are the children of God.  The Bible says…

I John   5:2     By this we know that we love the children of God, when we

                        love God, and keep His commandments.

             5:3     For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments:

                        and His commandments are not grievous.

So this means that the expression of the love for which you have been designed, and expression of the love for which you have been wired is actually found in the commandments of God, for the commandments of God are God’s thoughts where He is teaching us how to love.  So you have been designed and wired to follow the commandments of God, just like Adam at creation, for walking in love is fulfilling God’s commandments.  The Bible says…

Romans       13:8   Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he

                                that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

                     13:9   For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not

                                kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false

                                witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other

                                commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying,

                                namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

                     13:10  Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is 

                                the fulfilling of the law.

Here we see that walking in love is fulfilling the commandments of God. 

Does this mean you can get saved by walking in love obeying God’s commandments?  No, of course not!  Sin separated all of mankind from God, and it is only through Jesus Christ that you can be born again into the kingdom of God, …but once you are born again, and put on the new man, you are supposed to be seeking to walk in love, which is obeying the commandments, which are the thoughts of God, for by walking in love, you are walking in God, and that is where you find the blessing of God.  Listen to what Jesus says…

John   15:7   If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask

                     what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Here love says to us that if we will abide in love, we can ask what we will and God will move on our behalf to help us.  Listen to how Jesus continues…

John   15:8   Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall

                     ye be My disciples.

           15:9   As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you: continue ye 

                     in My love.

Praise God!  Here Jesus says that we are to continue in His love ..as disciples of love, …which means that we are diligent, disciplined followers of love.

I remember in 2003 I had lost my job and was very unhappy.  My middle daughter, who was about three years old at the time, would come every day would come into the room where I was using the computer looking for a job, and she would say to me, “Daddy, momma’s happy today, and daddy, Gabrielle’s happy today, and daddy, I am happy today, and you are happy today too”, and she would run out of the room, because I was not happy today, and I was not walking in love.  She did this repeatedly for weeks, until when I saw her, I would, “Christina, momma’s happy today, Christina, Gabrielle’s happy today, Christina, you are happy today, and Christina, I’m happy today too”, and eventually I was happy that day too, and I began to walk in love again.  Christina was planting seed in my thoughts with her words, until I said I spoke those words with her, taking that thought, and allowing that thought to manifest itself in my body and in my life. 

Christina helped me to literally transform and change my mind.  Did you know that one of the definitions of the word “repent” is “to change your mind”?

So we have learned that we have to choose what thoughts we are going to dwell upon, and that choice can either be in accordance to how you were designed, which is to talk, think, and walk in love, or you can try to fight the Designer and set you own course which will lead you to wrong thoughts, wrong body chemistry, and wrong deeds that can eventually cut your life short and definitely inhibit the plan that God has for you and your life.

Today you can choose to walk in love as you were created to do, which also means that you will be walking in God, for He is love.  Today you can choose to repent and literally change your mind and allow love to transform your life.  Pray with me and just say…

God ...I know that I have sinned ...but I repent …I change my mind …and turn from that sin right now ...and I set my goal …not to walk in sin any more ...I receive Your cleansing …of everything that I have ever thought wrong ...I receive Your cleansing … of everything that I have ever said wrong ...I receive Your cleansing … of everything that I have ever done wrong ...I receive You cleansing of all these things …in the blood of Jesus ...Jesus, that means You are my Savior ...and I believe that God raised You from the dead ...so I ask You, Jesus ...to come into my heart ...to be the Lord of my life ...Lord Jesus, I ask You to baptize me in the Holy Ghost ...Father God, You are now my Daddy …You are now my heavenly Father ...and praise God …I am now Your child …I am now in the family of God ...LORD Jesus …this day …I choose …to forgive everyone …every situation… that hurt me …caused me harm…  hurt my loved ones …or caused anything else …I forgive …I forgive now  …and I release those people …and those situations …into Your hands …and I commit …to loving the LORD Jesus Christ …all the remaining days of my life …and I choose to purposefully walk in love  …My life …beginning this day …will show a difference for You Lord  …thank You Lord Jesus ...for my victory this day ...and for all of Your blessings ...that are headed my way …I receive them now by faith ...so be it ...Amen.

Praise God!  You have just begun the greatest adventure of your life, for in following and serving God, you will get to see God perform miracles in your life and in the lives of those around you.  Expect good things to happen for God is good and wants good things in your life.  Read God’s word and speak His word in your life for this will release the power of God to begin working on your behalf …to take you from where you are …into God’s best blessings.  Praise God!  Remember, God loves you, Jesus is Lord, and Jesus is coming soon.