{"id":1808,"date":"2022-06-05T13:21:58","date_gmt":"2022-06-05T18:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/?p=1808"},"modified":"2022-06-05T13:21:58","modified_gmt":"2022-06-05T18:21:58","slug":"how-can-one-love-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/2022\/06\/05\/how-can-one-love-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"How Can One Love Jesus?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
\u201cIf ye love me, keep my commandments.<\/strong>\u201d
John 14:15 <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Why is it so important to study the books of History and the Prophets in the Old Testament, along with the New Testament? \u201cFor whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope<\/strong>\u201d (Romans 15:4). As we remember the history of Israel and Judah, we are to remember that God always dealt with his people. He warned of discipline for disobedience and promised restoration of His people when they repented. God is the same today. God disciplines Christians to bring them back to Him when they are not living according to the Bible\u2019s teachings. \u201c5. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth<\/strong>\u201d (Hebrews 12:5-6). Remember, God loved us so much, He sent His only begotten Son to die upon the cross to pay for our sins. We are to show our love to Him by obeying His commands \u2013 remember Jesus\u2019 words. \u201cIf ye love me, keep my commandments<\/strong>\u201d (John 14:15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognize some things we just cannot help but notice. God has always\nwarned His people to avoid sin and people who sin. \u201c14. Enter not into the\npath of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men<\/em>. 15. Avoid it,\npass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. 16. For they sleep not, except\nthey have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some<\/em>\nto fall. 17. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of\nviolence. 18. But the path of the just is<\/em> as the shining light, that\nshineth more and more unto the perfect day. 19. The way of the wicked is<\/em>\nas darkness: they know not at what they stumble<\/strong>\u201d (Proverbs 4:14-19). \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God has always called people to turn from their sin toward Him. \u201cIf my\npeople, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and\nseek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven,\nand will forgive their sin, and will heal their land<\/strong>\u201d (2 Chronicles 7:14).\nThese were encouraging words for the Israelites in King Solomon\u2019s day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God wants people to live a just life, not a wicked life. God also warned\nus in the following verses.  \u201c23. Keep\nthy heart with all diligence; for out of it are<\/em> the issues of life \u2026 27.\nTurn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil<\/strong>\u201d\n(Proverbs 4:23, 27). It is important\nto protect each heart \u2013 for what is placed in each individual\u2019s heart will come\nout. Avoid wickedness and evil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christians today are to recognize the destruction sin can do to a life.\nRemember what James teaches. \u201cThen when lust hath conceived, it bringeth\nforth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death<\/strong>\u201d (James 1:15). Lust<\/strong>\nmeans \u201cto satisfy the carnal appetites.<\/em>\u201d\nChristians are to choose to do what is right (what pleases God) over what we\nwant to do. When we choose our own pleasures over God\u2019s plan, it is sin and it\nbrings death. Also, see the following verse. \u201cAs righteousness tendeth<\/em>\nto life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it<\/em> to his own death<\/strong>\u201d\n(Proverbs 11:19).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christians must also be careful that something that has the appearance<\/em><\/strong>\nof good is not just a form<\/em><\/strong> of godliness, denying the power\nof Jesus (never having known Jesus themselves). \u201cHaving a form of godliness,\nbut denying the power thereof: from such turn away<\/strong>\u201d (2 Timothy 3:5). We are\nto be cautious and make sure that what seems good<\/em><\/strong> is something that\nis truly from God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is something else important to recognize. Once one becomes a Christian and begins to follow the Lord, that person must forsake all of the things of their past life. When Jesus called his disciples, they forsook all to follow Him. \u201cAnd when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him<\/strong>\u201d (Luke 5:11). When the people in Ephesus believed in Jesus and confessed Him as their Lord. \u201cAnd many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds<\/strong>\u201d (Acts 19:18). Deeds <\/strong>means \u201can act, practice; works; meaning conduct<\/em>.\u201d They had to remove their \u201cdeeds\u201d from their sinful past. \u201cMany of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men<\/em>: and they counted the price of them, and found it<\/em> fifty thousand pieces<\/em> of silver<\/strong>\u201d (Acts 19:19). Curious arts<\/strong> means \u201ca standard term for magic or black arts; pointing to the lengthy and various rituals involved in incantation ceremonies and the precision with which they were performed<\/em>.\u201d The people understood that they must eliminate theses wicked things from their lives. It did not matter to them the monetary cost.\u00a0 They wanted to live a new life pleasing God. Once they did this, read what followed. \u201cSo mightily grew the word of God and prevailed<\/strong>\u201d (Acts 19:20). Many people were saved, and God\u2019s Word was spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you avoiding evil and eliminating wicked things from your life, choosing to obey Jesus\u2019 commands?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why is it so important to study the books of History and the Prophets in the Old Testament, along with the New Testament? \u201cFor whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope\u201d (Romans 15:4). As we remember the history of Israel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[318],"tags":[131,936,40,348,914,80,634,358,262,404,203,935,260],"class_list":["post-1808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-picture-with-verse-and-blog","tag-commandments","tag-confessed","tag-history","tag-hope","tag-humble","tag-jesus","tag-keep","tag-life","tag-love","tag-obey","tag-sin","tag-warned","tag-wicked"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1808"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1811,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1808\/revisions\/1811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}