Love – Page 72 – Instructions To A Young Life

A Life Under His Wings

Every young lady wants her dreams to come true, to become the person that she longs to be,to live life to the fullest and to feel safe and secure. So how do you run the race of life…so that you can be free of guilt, free of regrets, free of bondage, free of bitterness, free of depression, free of envy, free of self pity and live the abundant life, that is, life to the fullest? Is it possible? Yes, it is very much possible and is a gift that has been promised to us. The first step needs to be taken before you will ever know life to the fullest. You need to receive the One who gives this life so that you can live securely under His love, care and protection.

Psalm 91:4 “He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.”

You alone will either experience this life with great joy and gladness or your life will have the greatest of heartaches and sorrow. Wisdom is making the right choices so that you can have the desired outcome.

Proverbs 9:12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you alone bear it.

Wisdom is the right application of knowledge and scoffing is turning your back on knowledge. Joy and gladness is the outcome of making the right choice and heartache and sorrow comes from making the wrong decisions in life. If you act wisely then you will be glad but if you scoff you will regret it. He came that you might have life and live it to the fullest.

John 10:10 I came that they may have life and may have it abundantly.

The wisest decision you can ever make is to give your heart completely to the One who made it and knows you better than anyone else ever will and who loves you perfectly. Not only does He love you but He is looking for people that He may strongly support. The opposite of choosing to give your heart to Him is to act foolishly and feel like you know what is best for your life. If, you do not choose Him then you will have drama and friction with others. It usually begins in your family with those whom you love the most and who love you.

II Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolish in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.

His love is the only perfect love.

I John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

You can trust Him completely because He loves you perfectly. When you give your heart to Him, He takes all of your fears and He also took your punishment for everything you have ever done so you do not need to fear giving your heart to Him. When you give your heart to Him, you also give your sins, your guilt, your failures, your regrets, your longings, your hopes and your dreams. He takes the punishment that you deserve and gives you a life that you do not deserve. It is a gift from Him to all who will trust Him completely. You must receive the gift of becoming His child, a child of God.

John 1:12,13 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name; who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Receiving Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior means that God, the Father becomes your Heavenly Father and He gives you His Spirit. He also calls you His Friend and He says that He will never leave you nor forsake you. Receiving Him means that you are asking Him to rule in your life and that you will follow Him. He who made you will only lead you in a way that is good for you. He is good and loved you perfectly. He says that those who follow Him will hear His voice because He also becomes their “Good Shepherd”, who laid down His life for them. This is the first step to knowing Him, to seeing Him and to hearing Him.

A Life with a Great Love

The Lord offers us in His Word a great peace, a great reward and great goodness to be bestowed on us, but first we must receive His great love. His great love is available to all but only those who receive His Son will ever know the privilege,honor and gift of experiencing His great love by becoming His child.

I John 3:1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are.

Not only do you become His child but your Heavenly Father will love you with the same love with which He loves Jesus Christ. Unbelievable! We understand how He could love Jesus. Of course He loves Jesus because Jesus Christ is perfect but does He really love the rest of us the same way? Yes!!!

John 17:23 so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.

Once you belong to Him there is nothing that can separate you from His love.

Romans 8:38,39 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Once you have His great love then He promises to give you all things. You no longer have to work for God’s favor or hope that your good will outweigh your bad. His love is a gift and everything that you receive after His great love is a gift. He wants to give to you and give to you some more.

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

God’s incredible great love is available to all. There is no one who has sinned too much or has done anything too horrible to be rejected by His great love. All have been disobedient to God. We have all sinned.

Romans 11:32 For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.

God has loved everyone, every single person ever born, the Lord has and is offering His great love to them.

Romans 8:5 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The Lord talks about a “time of visitation”, which means that this is the time that He is coming to you and calling to you to come to Him. Do you hear Him calling to you to come to Him or if you have strayed, calling to you to come back to Him?

Luke 19:44 …because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.

The Lord works through His children so that the world might come to Him and be saved. The world is looking for the “real thing” and observing your life to see if you are genuine or a hypocrite. Are you a real Christian or are you pretending to be something that is not really real in your life. Are you ever afraid to be transparent? The Lord wants our lives to be transparent so that others might see Jesus in us. The only way that you can be transparent is if you have a clear conscience.

I Peter 2:12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

If you want to experience the greatest love ever known and want to live a life in His great love then you must receive Him as your Lord and Savior.

John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,

Once you receive Him you will also experience His great goodness in your life. The Lord loves to show the world how good He is and He does it by showing His great goodness to His children, for those who fear Him and to those who take refuge in Him.

Psalm 31:19 How great is Your goodness,
Which You have stored up for those who fear You,
Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You,
Before the sons of men!

A Life that Listens

A life that listens to the voice of the Good Shepherd is a life that lives in tranquility. The Lord speaks to us in different ways. He says that His sheep hear His voice. This is what He wants. He wants to speak to you through His Holy Spirit that He has made to dwell within you. He speaks to your spirit when you become spiritually alive. You become spiritually alive when you become born again. You become one of His sheep and He becomes your Shepherd. As your Good Shepherd, who lays down His life for the sheep, He will protect you and guide your steps to keep you out of harm.

John10:11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

He knows you by name and calls to you. He will communicate His love for you in many different ways. You will see His hand and hear His voice.

John 10:14-16 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

He has sheep throughout the world and all through the ages. We belong to the Shepherd and He makes us one, regardless of color or race. He is the good Shepherd. The word “good” means the highest form of love. He has an unconditional love for each one of us. There is nothing that we can do to cause Him to love us more.

Proverbs 6:22 When you walk about, they will guide you; When you sleep, they will watch over you; And when you awake, they will talk to you.

He speaks to you through His Word. You must be faithful to put it in your heart so that when the time comes that you need comfort or guidance or whatever your need is, He can talk to you as you walk about and even when you are asleep or awake.

Psalm 127:2 It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.

The word “beloved” means just what it says, “be loved”. The Lord calls you beloved because He wants you to be loved by Him. Let Him love you as He longs to do. Let your striving be your seeking after Him so that you can hear His voice. He will give to you even in your sleep.

A Life that Lives Above Circumstances

There is a promise in the Bible that is an amazing promise and it is one that says if you do a certain thing then you will ride on the heights of the earth. This means that you will live above the circumstances of every day life. However, as with many of His promises, there is a condition. What does the Lord require of you to live this incredible life?

Isaiah 58:13,14 “If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot
From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,
And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable,
And honor it, desisting from your own ways,
From seeking your own pleasure
And speaking your own word,
Then you will take delight in the Lord,
And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

The Lord established the Sabbath commandment at the beginning of creation when the Lord Himself rested on the seventh day of the week. Was He tired? No, the Bible says that the Lord God does not get tired.

Isaiah 40:28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.

The Lord was setting the pattern for work and for life by His example. He does not only teach us but He shows us how to live life. He gave us a day of rest because He is good. He did not make man for the Sabbath but the Sabbath for man.

Mark 2:27 Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

Often people will say that they wish they had a day where they did not have to do anything. He has given us a day every week to rest and become refreshed in our relationship with Him. It is not “family day” or a day that we can do things we want to do and because we enjoy them then it is not considered work. No, rather He makes it very clear that we are not to do our own pleasure or live life our way. We are not to seek our own pleasure or speak our own words but we are to honor Him by honoring His holy day. He says that if we do this then we will ride on the heights of the earth. Holy means that it is set a part for Him.

Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day,

This is the Apostle John speaking. Since Jesus Christ rose again from the dead on Sunday, the first day of the week, Sunday became the Sabbath day for the Christians after the resurrection. Sunday became the day that was set a part from the other days of the week so that they might get together and worship the Lord and rest.

Deuteronomy 5:12-14 ‘Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

The Lord considered the setting aside one day a week and not doing any work so important that He made it one of the Ten commandments. You will find that if you will keep this commandment then the quality of your life will become much better and you will also “take delight in the Lord”, as He promises.

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.

One of the beautiful characteristics of the Lord is that He does not make you do anything. You don’t have to obey any of His commandments. However, because He is so incredibly good He promises a reward if we delight ourselves in Him. He will give us the desires of our heart.

A Life that Seeks

We all seek after different things but the Lord is looking for the one who will seek after Him.

Psalm 14:2 The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God.

The Lord wants you to seek Him so much that He says that if you will do this then you will not lack any good thing. Do you need anything? Then you must seek Him. His promises are true.

Psalm 34:10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing.

He made us to seek Him because it is in Him alone that we live and move and exist.

Acts 17:26-28, 30-31 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist…

Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

The Bible says that only the fool lives as if there is no God. He also says that if we seek Him with all of our heart we will find Him. The Lord tells us to seek Him continually. He is declaring to us through Jesus Christ that we need to repent and seek Him. He is not far from us.

Deuteronomy 4:29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.

The God of the universe, who made all things, wants to have a relationship with you and fellowship with you. This is much greater than any king or president and yet if someone of great importance were to contact you then you would make every effort to accept their invitation and in all likelihood you would share what has happened with everyone you know. Yet…He who is the King of kings and Lord of lords is seeking you!

Psalm 138:6 For though the Lord is exalted,
Yet He regards the lowly,
But the haughty He knows from afar.

A Life of Humility

If you want to be great then the Lord says you must be least. If you want to be exalted then He says that you must humble yourself. He knew that His disciples wanted to be great and wanted to be somebody. In our hearts we are the same. So, as they walked with the Lord Jesus He taught them a different way of life. A way that leads to life and to life abundantly.

Proverbs 18:12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, But humility goes before honor.

If we don’t live life God’s way then we will have sorrow and pain.

Proverbs 10:22 It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, And He adds no sorrow to it.

Many people will get riches and honor but with it will come sorrow and destruction. Jesus Christ gives us the picture of what it means to have humility. We are to consider others more important than ourselves and to not merely look out for our own personal interests but also for the interests of others.

Philippians 2:3-5 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,

Humility is the inward expression of total dependence on God and the outward expression of total obedience to Christ. Moses was called the most humble man on earth before Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, came to live and die and rise again from the dead. The phrase that characterized Moses’ life was he “did according to all that the Lord commanded him”.

Exodus 40:16 Thus Moses did; according to all that the Lord had commanded him, so he did.

Humility and obedience go together. Jesus was obedient to the point of death and then the Father highly exalted Him above every name that is named.

Philippians 2:8-11 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus is Lord of all. Every knee will bow before Him. You can either bow now voluntarily or you will bow against your will in hell because you did not bow willingly on earth.

I Peter 5:5,6 … all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,

Yes, He will life up those who clothe themselves with humility and obey Him during this life. He says that we will reign with Him when He comes in His glory. Don’t be foolish and think that you can wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow may not come but eternity will.

A Married Life Overflowing with Love

Everyone who is married longs for there to be true love in the marriage. Love is the sweet fragrance of a great marriage and the if you have love in your marriage then it truly cuts your sorrows in half and doubles your joys. Without love then life and marriage is much harder and eventually can become bitter or lifeless. Love softens the blows that life sometimes brings that are out of our control. Love is the oil in relationships and without it relationships are a grind that can wear us down. Most marriages begin with good intentions but many do not know how to live out the desires and dreams that were there at the beginning.

I John 4:7,8 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

God is love and there is no love a part from God. We do not know love a part from the Lord and we can not love a part from the Lord Jesus Christ. There may be duty, obligation or even a selfish love a part from the Lord but there will never be an agape love which is an unselfish, unconditional love apart from Jesus Christ. God came to us through Jesus Christ to show us what true love is and how we can experience it and know it. You must have Christ in your life to love and to be loved. We are untrusting creatures and don’t even know how to receive or give love. When we come into an encounter with Jesus Christ and receive Him then we are loved just the way we are and we can learn to love others just the way they are.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

God loves us. Christ died for us when we did not love Him and had turned our back on Him. Jesus Christ loves us just the way we are with an unconditional, agape love. We are complete in Him and do not need the approval of others. He will always have our back and will never turn His back on us. He will never leave us or forsake us, even when it feels as though all others have and we are alone.

Hebrews 13:4,5 Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”

We do not need to have the “boastful pride of man” nor do we need to fulfill the lusts of the flesh or the lusts of the eyes when we have Christ. He is our glory and He will never leave us. We do not have to ever be lonely again. Being lonely is not His will and He wants His people to have a home. He wants you to have a home.

Psalm 68:6 God makes a home for the lonely;
He leads out the prisoners into prosperity,
Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

Rebellion is simply wanting to go your own way. If you have gone your own way and you are lonely in your marriage then turn to the Lord with all of your heart. He will fill your loneliness and fill you with love for your marriage partner. He will teach you how to love His way.

Galatians 6:9,10 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

The word “good” means the “highest form of love”. The Lord will show you how to “do good” to your spouse. In due time you will reap if you do not grow weary. He will show you the opportunities to do good. The Lord will teach you.

A Life that is Loving

There are three evidences that someone is a Christian. They are love for others, unity with Christians and holiness to God.

God is love and we love because He first loved us. To the degree that you can love others depends on the degree that you have experienced His love. He loves you intimately and unconditionally. His love is not based on how successful you are, how much you do for Him, how good you are, how bad you are or anything else about you. His love is all about Him. He loves everyone because He is love. The love of Christ for you cost Him His very life.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

The Lord came so that He might have a relationship with you. He wants you to belong to Him, which means, He wants you to “be longing” for Him. He longs to be gracious to you and to show His love to you and for you.

Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.

When Jesus came He gave a new commandment to His disciples and that is to love one another as He loved us.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

How did He love us? By laying down His life for us.

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

He calls to you through creation. He seeks you through His Spirit and He died for you and expressed His love for you through His Son, Jesus Christ. When you come to know Him then you come to know His love.

I John 4:8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

True love for God requires the heart and soul. All of it. The soul is made up of the mind, will and emotions. The heart is your innermost being.

Deuteronomy 10:12 …what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

By your love for others will people know if you are a Christian, for a Christian is one who has been born again as His child and has come into a personal knowledge of Him.

I John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

If nothing can separate us from His love then why are we so fearful to love others? Why are we afraid to go out of our comfort zone?

Romans 8:37-39 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Has the Lord prompted you to do something for someone else? Don’t wait. It is the Lord who wants to bless you and bless that person. If you close your heart to that person in need then you are closing your heart to Christ. Even though the Lord loves you, you may not see His love for you as long as your heart is closed.

I John 3:17 But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

He was rich but became poor that we might become rich. He did this that we might not indulge ourselves in His blessings or to hold on to the blessings but rather that we might become poor that others might know the riches of Christ.

II Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

If He cares for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, then how much more does He care for you. Do not have little faith? Live with abandonment to self and fully to Christ. He Himself said that He would never leave you or forsake you.

Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

Matthew 6:30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!

A Life that Can Discern

Discernment is the ability to tell the difference between right and wrong, but not what the obvious is to everyone else also. With discernment you can decide before the action takes place whether something is right or wrong. It is a spiritual strength that allows you tell the difference between the spirit of good and the spirit of evil, the spirit of righteousness and the spirit of wickedness. Often the devil will disguise himself as a messenger of good. Something will look good, it will seem as though it would be good for you but it is evil. It will bring you great sorrow.

Genesis 3:4-6 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

Eve saw three good reasons to eat of the fruit that the Lord told her not to eat. However, it does not matter if there are one hundred reasons to do something, if the Lord says not to do something then you are not to do it. There is only one reason that should determine whether we should do something and the reason is, “does the Lord want us to do it?” Or, has the Lord said not to do something. We do or don’t do everything according to His Word.

Colossians 3:25 For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.

The Lord does not show partiality. His ways are laws and they are true no matter who keeps them or who does not keep them. Just as the “law of gravity” is a physical law and does not show partiality, neither does God’s laws.

Proverbs 19:3 A person’s own foolishness leads him astray, yet his heart rages against the Lord.

A person who goes his own way or runs his own life will come into trouble by his own doing but then he will get mad at the Lord. If you find yourself saying, “Lord, why did you allow this to happen?” You need to go back and reexamine your actions to see if you violated any of the Lord’s commandments.

Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.

Especially if it is a big decision go to an older godly woman who will speak the truth to you and not what you want to hear. Do not go to a man other than your father or your husband. The Bible says that Eve was deceived but Adam was not deceived. if she had gone to Adam then possibly they would still be in the garden.

Psalm 119:24 Your testimonies also are my delight;
They are my counselors.

God’s Word is the only true counselor. One of His names is Counselor. Whoever you go to for counsel, they must counsel you out of God’s Word, otherwise it is not counsel but opinion, which is almost always wrong.

Isaiah 9:6 And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

The Lord is a Wonderful Counselor. Wonderful means that you will be full of wonder as you see Him and His marvelous ways.

Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

It is your spiritual senses that learn to discern good and evil. We all mess up but don’t give up. Learn from your mistakes so that you do not do it again. It takes much practice in life to mature. Don’t give up and you will become a mature Christian.