DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT - WEDNESDAY - LOVING JESUS.

"Every thing that a man leans upon but God, will be a dart that will certainly pierce his heart through and through. He, who leans only upon Christ, lives the highest, choicest, safest, and sweetest life." - Thomas Brooks.
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Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. - John 14:23. ESV

WHAT IS LOVING JESUS?
To love Jesus is to long to be with Him. To love Jesus is to think about Him. To love Jesus is to obey Him, to obey Him readily and implicitly, not feebly and reluctantly.

I heard about a man sitting before a fireplace lost in thought. The drapes had been closed and the room was dark except for the flickering light of the dying fire. Finally the flames themselves disappeared, leaving nothing but a heap of grey ashes topped with glowing embers. One burning coal stood out brilliantly from all the rest because it was white hot. The man's gaze was transfixed upon it. Suddenly that brilliant white-hot coal turned completely black. The man was startled. What had caused the instant change? As he looked around, he noticed that the drapes had parted slightly and a shaft of brilliant sunlight had shot into the study and landed directly on the burning coal. The greater light had made the lesser light look black by comparison.

That is what Christ demands of us. Our love and devotion for Him must be so complete that the deepest love we have for our dearest loved one fades in comparison. Do you love the Lord Jesus like that? If you don't -- or aren't willing to -- you cannot be His disciple. –Source unknown.

WHAT IS JESUS TO YOU?
Does He fascinate you? Does He draw you towards heaven? Is it to be with Him that you seek heaven? The certainty of heaven is assured when we keep Jesus in the centre of our hearts, in the centre of our lives. He is to be the author of impulse and desire, of effort and action… And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. - Col 3:17. Will you get to heaven?

Is He the fairest flower in all heaven’s garden?
Is He the rarest and most precious of all its jewels?
Is He sweeter than all its songs?

Does the desire to see and be with Him stir the deepest ambition of your soul? Jesus and heaven are bound up together, you can’t have one without the other. Does He produce the longings for heavens happy abode?

I counted all my dollars while God counted crosses;
I counted gains while he counted losses;
I counted my worth by the things gained in store,
But he sized me up by the scars that I bore.
I coveted honours and sought for degrees;
He wept as He counted the hours on my knees.
I never knew till one day by a grave;
How vain are the things that we spend life to save.
I did not know till a friend went above…
That richest is he who is rich in God's love. – Source unknown.


DO YOU LOVE HIM WITH AN UNTOLD PASSION?
To love Him with an untold passionate devotion is heaven begun, heaven continued, and heaven ended. Paul says… For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. - 2 Tim 4:6-8.

The crown is not only personal to him, but universal, not only universal, but limited. Paul says… " and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." Here it is not simply love for Jesus personally, but love for the great fact which is to culminate in the great glory of Jesus.

To "love his appearing" there is the absolute necessity for loving His Person, the loving of His coming is the test of loving His Person. We love the fact because we love the Person, we are not charged to love any theory or opinion about the manner of His coming, or the time, but the fact. Let Him come when He will, how He will, and for what purpose He will.

Rev 3:11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.
Rev 22:7 "And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."
Rev 22:12 "Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done.
Rev 22:20 He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

We love his coming because we love Him…. "Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus," and bring your heaven with you.

Charles Spurgeon tells of a Mr. Welch, a Suffolk minister, who was noticed to sit and weep; and one said to him,
"My dear Mr. Welch, why are you weeping?"
"Well," he replied, "I can't tell you."
But when they pressed him very hard, he answered,
"I am weeping because I cannot love Christ more." – Source unknown.

Do you love Jesus?

Loving Father, I thank you that Jesus loves me, loves me enough to die for me, loves me enough to give me a new life. Help me by the power of the Holy Spirit, to love Him with an untold passion. In His wonderful name I pray! Amen!