The Key to Everything!

"He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." 

 -John 14:21

Ahh! To see Him face to face! My thoughts when I read this verse always settle on the part where He manifests Himself to us. But recently, the Holy Spirit directed my attention to the first part of this verse. The part that explains that our love for Him is determined by knowing & keeping His commandments. But this isn't a -  10 Commandments, obey or burn type message! We live with a NEW commandment - to  LOVE.

When asked what the greatest commandment in the law was, Jesus answered: 
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." - Matthew 22:37-40

Jesus doesn't promise to manifest Himself (show Himself openly) to us because of how great we preach, how anointed we are, because we heal the sick, win the lost, or even how badly we desire the manifestation. No! It is the incentive behind these things that matter. Jesus was moved with compassion and THEN healed the sick. Our actions must flow out of our love walk with the Lord and as an extension of our love for others. Motive matters and nobody knows what your motives are besides you and the Lord. So, while our heart yearn to see Him clearly, we must first ask ourselves if we are showing our love for Him according to these two commandments. Are we walking in love? Are we loving Him with every ounce of our being- our thoughts, our motives, our actions? Are we loving each other - those who are a part of the Body and those who aren't? Jesus said the way we LOVE will show the world that we belong to Him. (John 13:35)

He loves to be around burning hearts. Hearts full with His love and at the same time crying out for even greater depths of His love. He longs to be around those who extend His love into the deepest, darkest places of the human soul. God IS love and we were created in His image. You carry a unique facet of His love on this earth that nobody else carries. You are called to be the extension of His love everywhere you go and in everything you do. Unless you release what you carry, the world will be denied the very facet of His love that only you can radiate! No one else can shine the way you can. You are unique.

Bob Jones, a powerful Prophet of God, once died and went to Heaven. The question the Lord asked him and the others that were waiting to get into Heaven was, "Did you learn to love?" Love is the key to everything that really matters! If we feel we may not be loving well, it is with a simple acknowledgement that even loving is a gift from God. He is the one who gives us love to love with, and He gives it liberally to those who ask.