The Reason For Living

John 13:34--A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

What does that mean? Pretty simple, isn't it? Love others, like Jesus loved us.

John 14:21--Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.

Also simple, no? If we love Jesus, we follow his commands. Okay, easy enough. Let's keep going.

Luke 9:26--If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Alright, alright. All this sounds pretty elementary. Nothing complicated to read into. Don't be ashamed of Jesus and the words he spoke--the words above, included. Alright. I'm sure you're asking yourself if there's a point in all this. There is, trust me. I'm just layin all the cards on the table.
Two more verses:

Mark 1:14-18--After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fisherman. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and i will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.

Matthew 28:18-20--Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

Okay, now to the juicy stuff. Tonight was midweek, and we went over the discipleship study, and what it really meant. So that's where all these scriptures came from. Now, as for the emphasis to it all: We love Jesus. That is why we do all of this stuff. That is why we love others, and obey his commands, and--as the first part of Luke 9 said--deny ourselves and take up our crosses daily. Because we love Jesus.

Again, easy stuff, right? That's what I thought too. But we also went over Luke 13:25-33, which basically says that we have to love Jesus soooo much, it's as if we hate the people in our lives in comparison, in order to be His disciple. And if we really love Jesus, we'll want to be his disciple, and obey all his commands.
Obeying all his commands include Matthew 28:20--teaching others to obey Jesus' commands, and making them disciples. And if we are truly not ashamed of Jesus, as Luke 9:26 says we shouldn't be, we should be more than eager to go make disciples; all because we love Jesus.

The crunch lies in this: we're human. We don't take too easily to something or someone intangible, and it takes a lot of faith to do that. It's hard to love someone that you can't see. For me it shouldn't be that hard, especially considering where this intangible being brought me from. For those of you who know my story, you would think I wouldn't know what to do but love God more than anything on earth. Yeah, about that...

My brother and my best friend are both awesome guys. I love them to death--like no other. My flaw, however, comes from the fact that I talk about them a lot more openly and a lot more often than I talk about the one that saved my life from physical, emotional, and spiritual death--literally. If I really loved Jesus that much, I should have absolutely no shame in talking about him, like there was no other person on the earth that ever mattered to me or would ever matter to me again. I would want others to know what he did for me, and I would want others to know the love, peace, and joy that can only come from this great God. But the truth of the matter, is that my brother and my best friend are coming first in my life, even above God. Listen to me for five minutes and you'll hear it.

I openly apologize to God and to my brother and best friend for doing this to them. I have realized my sin, and I now repent from it. My life is not one I live for myself anymore--why I keep trying is a mystery to me. And I am trying to live my life for God, not for human beings as as small and insignificant my brother and best friend are in comparison to this almighty, powerful, loving, merciful, graceful God has been to me. God has to be the complete and total focus of my life, way above anything anyone else can be in my life. I will follow his commands, and love others like he has loved me, but I will love others because my God loved me--and still loves me.

And for you: is God the complete and total central focus of your life? If not, why isn't he? And do you love Him enough to make him the center? Think about where he brought you from, and where you could possibly go to. And then think about if you could have gotten where you are now without him; likewise, if you could possibly get where you're wanting to go, on your own. If you realize God's true power, you would know your answer is that no, you can't do any of it on your own, without God's help. He knows what he's doing, and he's there to lend a helping, saving hand anytime you ask. So just call to him. Ask, and you will receive.

Keep in the Word, keep praying, and keep in Step with the Spirit. I love you all, as Jesus has loved me!!