Bible Study: A Cultural Attache of the Kingdom of Heaven
Job Description: Love One Another
In an era when Bibles may or may not be available, and meeting together with believers may or may not be possible, depending on where one lives, it is encouraging to know that a relationship with God, the Author and Finisher of His work in us, is capable of bypassing all our earthly limitations or restrictions.
God’s desire, as our Father, is to speak directly to our hearts. That which He desires to impart to us: instruction, direction, encouragement, and His infinite love for those who love Him, can be directly planted in a loving and receptive heart, which in turn is productive in every area of life, Spirit, soul and body. [Matthew 13:1-8; Galatians 5:22-23].
Whether one has a physical, or online Church to attend or not, and whether one is surrounded by believers, or unbelievers, God’s indwelling anointing teaches us everything we need to know about Him, and about life lived in the Kingdom of God, because He is the Word.
Therefore take heart, and be encouraged as we walk together with Him daily, and get to know Him. And let us us pray for everyone who lives with limits and restrictions in their earthly walk — that nothing will ever separate them from the love of God, and that we will all know the infinite love God has for us in a personal and tangible way.
Then, no matter the environment in which we live, no weapon formed against us shall prosper or come to fruition, but every good and perfect gift coming down from the Father of Lights will be our portion, even if our table is in enemy territory. [Psalm 23]
Getting to Know God’s Heart for Us
Proverbs 3:3 [NIV]
“Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.”
Proverbs 7:2-4
2 “Keep My commands and you will live; guard My teachings as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, ‘You are my sister,’ and to insight, ‘You are my relative.’”
Jeremiah 31:33
“‘This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.’”
[Hebrews 8:10, and Hebrews 10:16 both quote Jeremiah 31:33]
You can put your own name and nation in that verse as a believer who has been grafted into the olive tree, as Paul teaches in Romans 11.
In the Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew 5-7, Jesus discusses God’s heart in regard to what people have been taught in the Mosaic Law about obeying God. God’s heart is for us to love wholeheartedly, both God and humanity, with our thoughts, our words, and our deeds.
There is no room for hate or an unforgiving lifestyle in the Kingdom of God, of which we are Ambassadors to our earthly countries. As cultural attaches we represent the Kingdom, and Kingdom lifestyles, to earth’s inhabitants, including everything that has the spirit and breath of life in it.
God’s Unchanging Command
John 13:34
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
John 14: 15
“If you love Me, keep My commands.”
John 14:21
“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love them and show Myself to them.”
John 15:10
“If you keep My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His love.”
John 15:12
“My command is this: love each other as I have loved you.”
John 15:17
“This is My command: Love each other.”
Romans 13:9
“The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and whatever other commands there may be, are summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Galatians 5:14
‘For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
1Timothy 1:5
“The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”
1John 2:3
“We know that we have come to know Him if we keep His commands.”
1John 3:23
“And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us.”
1John 4:21
“And He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”
1John 5:2
‘This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands.”
2John 1:6
“And this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love.”
1John 2:27
27 “As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit — just as it has taught you, remain in Him.
28 And now, dear children, continue in Him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming.”
Reward for Obedience
Matthew 25:31-46
A Reminder
Exodus 20:6 and Deuteronomy 5:10
“But showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.”
Deuteronomy 7:9
“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands.”
Deuteronomy 30:16
“For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him, and to keep His commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.”
Prayer
Nehemiah 1:4-6
4 “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
5 Then I said: ‘Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments,
6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you.’”
Daniel 9:4-5
4 “I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed, ‘Lord, the great and awesome God, Who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and keep His commandments,
5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.”
Encouragement
1John 3:9
“No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.”
1John 5:18
“We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One Who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.”
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