Day 19 "Love As A Way OF Life"

To protect and guide us as children, our parents instill rules and boundaries for our benefit. From our perspective, however, we have seen them as unfair shackles and contraints preventing us from doing the things we really want to do. We just can't wait to be old enough to have the freedom to do whatever we want to do! So, too, in the Bible, we find God implementing laws and standards for our protection and as a means by which we are to be guided into becoming healthy-minded, well-esteemed creations of God. But, also, God provided within our DNA makeup the capacity to self-govern ourselves both corporately as a nation and individually as separate individuals each guided by their own wants and desires. After all, where is real love if freedom to love is withheld? The laws implemented by God for man was known as the Mosaic Laws- given to Moses to lead and guide God's people.

Throughout man's history with God, there has been a strong tendency to self-govern himself and pull away from God's direction and care. Like little kids, we too want to manage our own affairs, steer our own course, make our own choices apart from God. We want ownership of our own lives. In truth, we want to be God of ourselves. As a result, sin entered and created a divide between man and a holy God. Like water and oil, the two cannot mix. The Bible illuminates that God cannot cohabitate with sin. The relationship in the spiritual realm is broken and severed.

"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the

Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:6

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our

Lord." Romans 6:23

But God's love remarkably continued to flow and demonstrate itself. While man has continue to strive towards reestablishing this broken relationship with God through attempts of good works and performance, God has implemented his own plan for the salvation of man and healing reconciliation based on love and grace, not works! His plan was sending Jesus, his one and only Son, in the form of man to pay the penalty for of our sins upon the cross. Jesus was to be the sacrificial lamb who would forever take away the sins of man and reestablish a pathway of reconciliation between a holy God and man so that once again, spiritually, man could have a personal relationship with God.

"Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law;

rather through the law we become conscious of our sin." Roman 3:20

"But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known to which

the law and prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus

Christ to all who believe." Romans 3:21-22

"and all are justified freely by his grace through redemption that came by Jesus

Christ." Roman 3:24

"For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart for the works of the law."

Romans 3:28

"The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased,

grace increased all the more." Romans 5:20

"So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that

you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we

might bear fruit for God. Romans 7:4

"But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that

we serve in a new way of the Spirit, and not the old way of the written code."

Romans 7:6

"Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone

who believes." Romans 10:4

"and if by grace, then it cannot be based by works; if it were, grace would no longer

be grace." Romans 11:6

"After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the

Majesty in heaven." Hebrews 1:3

"If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood ( on the basis

of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to

come-one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?" Hebrews 8:11

"The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made

nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God."

Hebrews 7:18-19

"but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able

to save completely those who come to God through him., because he always lives to

intercede for them. such a high priest meets our need- one who is holy, blameless,

pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens." Hebrews 7:24-26

"He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself." Hebrews 7:27

"For if there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant (living under the law), no

place would have been sought for another (living under grace)." Hebrews 8:7

"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts." Hebrews 8:10

"he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption." Hebrews 9:12

"For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called

may receive the promised eternal inheritance-now that he has died as a ransom to

set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant." Hebrews 9:15

"He set aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made

holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Hebrews 10:9-10

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1

Do you see it? In our own nature, we are incapable of living a life righteous enough that warrants reestablishing our relationship with God- no matter how self-sacrificing or good towards others we strive to be.

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

But God did for us what we could not do for ourselves. God gave his best and dearest to be sacrificed to pay the penalty for our sins. God loves us that much! And Jesus was willing to lay down his life for us because he loves the Heavenly Father and us that much!

What now, then? Our sins have been forgiven in Christ and our relationship with God restored. Now what? How should we live out our lives here on Earth? Go, live out the rest of your life in the shadow of such love and extend love towards others. That's it! Everything thing else will fall into place as you live each and every moment motivated by love. May God open your spiritual eyes to see and spiritual minds to understand all the implications and ramifications that can occur it we make it our aim to love God and love our fellow man. It is much like knowing you have done your very best at a task. You can't do any better, can you? You gave your best, you all. So to, loving is giving your best. It is the purest and most beneficial of all the motivations. So, go and love as you have been loved by the Heavenly Father and Christ.

Jesus said, "A new commandment 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." John 13:34-35

"Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love on another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law." Romans 13:8

"CARPE MOMENTUM IN LOVE"

(Seize the moment in love)

Until tomorrow...