A WORD FOR 2011

By this shall we be known


I recently put out this short message on Twitter and FB – “I believe it’s of huge importance that the church starts to reflect & demonstrate Jesus love more - or we are just as lost as all the unsaved.”

To which I got the response – “So True. We cannot act like the world. By this shall we be known: That we love one another.”

I answered with this – “In our church we are so blessed. At our recent Christmas dinner, a lady who has only just joined us commented this - "I have been in many churches over the years but I have never known one like this where I have been welcomed with total and unconditional love." This is due in huge measure to our wonderful pastors Richard and Joyce Hill. The love of Jesus shines through them beautifully.”

I think this leads me quite nicely into my Word for 2011 - By this shall we be known

Love is the difference between our faith and all the others. Love is what made our God, the Lord God Almighty – that is His Name – send His Son to die so that we might live with and in Him eternally. We call that eternal life.

In Matthew 16;13-20 we read :-

“Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. “

A little later on, in John’s Gospel, we read this :-

John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”
John 13:35 ”By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 15:12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
John 15:17 “These things I command you, that you love one another.”

Jesus regarded this as so important, the Bible tells us that He said it no less than FOUR times.

In Matthew 7:16, Jesus says another very important thing - that “You will know them by their fruits.”

Then in Galatians, Paul confirms all this again by saying in Galatians 5:22-23 NKJ V
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

Once again, love is top of the list.

For years and years the church has shown little love to the world and even less to many of its members. I believe the Lord is calling and challenging us that ”By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” He is talking about love. As you have already read, I am so blessed to belong to a loving church yet I know very very many who are not so blessed. Countless numbers have left the church because of the lack of love, the cant, and hypocrisy they have found in their churches.

Brothers, sisters – it is time to turn the clock back 2000 years and show love to one another and to everyone of those around us. Family, friends, enemies, work colleagues, neighbours and every single person with whom we come into contact. All of them need the love of Christ in their lives and the Lord is challenging us to love them, our ‘neighbours’ as we love ourselves.

What could happen in 2011 if we actually did even a little bit more loving and a whole lot less hating? We could also do a whole lot more living too.

CGB 18 Dec 2010