Too often in the average Christian Church, the attendees are given one of two messages:
1. You can have an eternal life with God and an abundant life on earth if you only will believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. But the book (Bible) clearly says in both parts (Old & New Testaments) that God gave us a commandment (requirement) that “We (humans) MUST LOVE God with our WHOLE Heart, Mind, and Spirit.
2. You can have an eternal life with God and an abundant life on earth if you only will take up your cross and relinquish your control of your life; and completely commit to live as a slave or servant to God and man. That is really difficult.
Well this book proposes that what God really wants is the “Great Commandment” “Love God with your WHOLE heart, mind, and spirit.” This is what we will look at in this book.
Too often preachers try to talk people into following Jesus, as appealing, comfortable, and convenient as possible; or as scary as possible, so everyone either drops out or is not prepared for the challenges of life.
I hope you will read this book and discover with me what it really means to share love with God. I will talk more about sharing love than forgiveness, more about surrender than salvation, more about happiness than repentance, and more about life than death. The truth is, this book will lay out a comfortable and reassuring path. But it will require complete commitment.
Lover of God
Are You a Lover of God?
I would say the chances are pretty good that you just skipped over the above question. You may have read it, but I doubt it carried much weight or has very little impact on your life. But would you let me ask you this question again? It’s the most important question you will ever answer.
Are you a Lover of God?
You may not have been asked this question before. Because it is not familiar, there is a tendency to dismiss it. Not because it makes you uncomfortable. The question is dismissed mostly because it seems not relevant or necessary.
You probably have not dealt with it before, so you may quickly dismiss it. But before you move on too quickly, let me clarify what I am not asking. I am not asking the following:
· Do you go to church?
· Are you a Christian?
· Do you own more than one Bible?
· Have you ever appeared as a Church member, elder?
· Did you go to Christian children’s events?
Here is the point: many of us are quick to say, “Yes, I am a Christian.” But I am not sure we really understand what we are saying. Inigo Montoya once said, “I do not think that means what you think it means.”
One of the most essential passages of the Bible tells of a day when many who consider themselves to be followers of Christ will be stunned to find out that he doesn’t recognize them. In Matthew, chapter 7, Jesus tells of a day when everyone who has ever lived will stand in front of God. On that day, many who call themselves followers of Jesus and identify themselves as members of a Christian church will stand proudly in front of Christ, only to hear him say, “I never knew you. Away from me.” If you’ve assumed you were going to join God in heaven forever; I pray that this book will either confirm that confidence or hopefully will get you to reevaluate your relationship with God and commit you to share love with Him.
I’m not a Christian yet.
It would be interesting to know how and why you got this book? And maybe you have skipped over the question: “Are you a lover of God?” You probably felt it was not relevant to you?
It doesn’t bother you if someone loves or not loves God. Others can love him or not; because it is not relevant to you. You might be asking yourself about now, but what if it should be relevant to you. What if all of life comes down to this one question? What if there is really is a God, and a heaven, and there could be an eternal love-fest, and it all hinges on that one question. Shouldn’t you look into that possibility? These thoughts may seem completely ridiculous, but if there is any part of you that is considering that there may be some relevance to you, then isn’t it worth looking into this question? As you read this book, I hope that you would at least consider that this may be the most important question you will ever consider. I believe that the reason we were put on this earth is to answer this one question. And by not answering this question, we are answering this in the negative.
In my earlier book, “WHY” I attempted to sell people on Sharing Love with God. After reading this book, there will be people who still, will not agree with me. But all I will ask is that if you have not read my earlier book, “WHY” please do so, because this question is too important. You still may not agree with me, but even Jesus invited people to love God, there were still people who would not agree with Jesus.
Time for the evaluation
So where do you start in determining if you really a lover of God? How do you start even deciding whether you should love God? You may want to start, by looking at the statement: Love makes the world go around. Does it? Well for most people, one of the goals of becoming an adult, is to find someone who they can love and become partners in a loving relationship.
Define the Relationship
In the physical world, there is usually a period of evaluation in any relationship to determine the relevance and commitment. This is very important in a love relationship; you want to determine where things stand and to find out if the love you are sharing is real.
Every loving relationship needs to make this evaluation. Is it casual or committed? Have things moved beyond friendship and liking towards a deeper love (where you are ready to put the other party’s needs, desires, etc. – have a higher priority to you than your own) and dedication to that love relationship. You need to intentionally evaluate the state of that relationship and your level of commitment to that relationship.
Is your relationship with God exclusive? Is it just a casual Sunday morning-one hour thing or has it moved past that? How would your relationship with God be defined? What exactly is your level of love?
Whether you’ve called yourself a Christian since childhood, or all of this is new to you. God has clearly defined what kind of relationship he wants to have with you. He said He wants your WHOLE HEART MIND AND SPIRIT. Or in another explanation He wants your WHOLE life. I hope you can’t stop wondering if that question, “Are you a lover of God?” is relevant.
It may seem that there are many lovers of God, but if they were honestly to define the relationship they have with Him, I am not sure it would be accurate to describe them as lovers.
The biggest threat to the church and world today is fans who call themselves Christians but aren’t actually interested in following Jesus into a fully committed love affair with God. They want to be close enough to God to get all the benefits, but not so close that it requires anything from them.
A Loving Evaluation
So, are you a Lover of God or not? Many individuals, mistakenly identify themselves as lovers by using comparisons. They look at the commitment levels of others around them and feel like their relationship is good. As long as they are more spiritual and loving than the next person, everything is good.
Have you noticed that when we compare ourselves to others, we almost always put ourselves up against those who would make us on the better side.
Another measurement we use is the one where we evaluate relationships using religious rules and rituals as evidence. Of course, I’m a lover, I’m not doing it for nothing!”
We have other ways to determine if we are lovers: Denominational measurement, our family heritage, and biblical knowledge are all ways we try to prove that we really are God lovers. But here’s the real question: how does God defines what it means to love him?
The biblical accounts of God requiring people to define the relationship and honestly determine if they were true lovers. As we study these encounters with Jesus they will act as a mirror so we can have a more honest evaluation of our shared love relationship.
Many Christians admit that they do not really Know God. For other believers, lack of knowledge of God is the cause of vacillating spirituality, inconsistency between the talk and the walk of faith, and ineffectiveness in prayer. For still others, inadequate knowledge of God accounts for the reluctant response to holy living and moral responsibility….
What does it mean to know God and live with a knowledge of Him? It involves both intimacy and integrity. The intimacy of the Thou-I relationship we were created to experience with God requires the opening of our innermost being to Him just as He has revealed His innermost nature to us. The word intimacy means “proceeding from within, inward, internal.” In Hebrew, the word for knowledge has the same root as “to know.” It is also the physical and spiritual oneness of a husband and wife, we call (shared) love.
Knowledge of God is more than ideas about Him. It involves our total inner selves, intellect, emotion, and will. Otherwise known as “Shared Love”.
