Love

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

                                                                                                (Eph 3:14-21 KJV)

To God be the glory!  He has does such marvelous things out of his great love for us!

Again, I remind you that it is not out of the fear of hell that we worship the Lord. It is out of love for him because of his great love for us.

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.  We love him, because he first loved us."  (John 4:18-19)

To choose to be baptized just in case that there might really be a hell and you're afraid that you might end up there if God is real then you are merely hedging your bet. That is not faith. That is not love. Love comes from being in a relationship with God. It comes from knowing that he loves you and you wanting to return even a portion of that love. 

If you were in a car accident and someone saved your life would you not care deeply for that person?  Well, God has sent his Son to die to save us from our own sinful selves. It would seem to me that we ought to love him for that act of love and compassion. We worship him not because we are afraid of the possibility of hell; but, because we love him so much that we desire, with all of our hearts, to be in a relationship with him for all of eternity. We want to know God and to know the love of Christ, which passeth all knowledge, that we might be filled with the fulness of God.

For his great love for us we glorify and magnify his Holy Name.  

God's Peace - Pr. J.