Choose Love (18 page)

Jesus proved His love for us by going to the cross to pay the consequences for our sins. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). We need to prove our love for Him by going to the foot of the cross and asking Him to expose our heart and set us free of anything that keeps us from living in the fullness of His joy.

No greater love, indeed.

Show Love for God by Letting His Word Change You

When you love God’s Word, it changes you every time you read it. You can be anxious about something, but when you read the
Scriptures, you will feel God’s love taking away your fears. The more you sense God’s love, the more your love for Him grows, and the more that changes you.

Make time every day to be changed by God’s Word. Ask Him to speak to you as you read it. Tell Him you choose to live His way and not in opposition to it. Refuse to be a part of anything that is questionable. You will find yourself growing in the Lord to the same degree that you grow in His Word. Without having your roots in
His truth
, you will not mature in truth. You will just be learning facts. There is nothing wrong with that, but in order to be changed you have to receive more. You can have knowledge of the Word and not be touched or changed by it. You want to be
transformed
and
not
just
informed
.

The Bible says we shall bear fruit and flourish into old age so we can declare that the Lord is good and He is our foundation on which we stand. “Those who are planted in the house of the L
ORD
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing”
(Psalm 92:13-14).

The only way we bear fruit into old age is if seeds from God’s Word are planted in our heart now so they can grow into something big. Ask God to remove anything from your heart that would not allow those seeds to grow. Tell God every day, “I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I love” (Psalm 119:47).

Then act accordingly.

Prayer of Love

L
ORD
, I pray You would help me to live Your way without compromise. Teach me Your laws and commands so they are etched upon my heart. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). Guide me every day in the way I should go. Your laws are good and more desirable than fine gold, and You have a great reward for those who keep them (Psalm 19:9-11). Thank You that because I love Your ways, You have anointed me “with the oil of gladness” (Psalm 45:7).

I love Your laws because I know they are right and they keep me from stumbling, and all who keep them have great peace (Psalm 119:165). I know that “all Your commandments are truth” and they have been true and unfailing forever (Psalm 119:151). “I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure” (Psalm 119:162). Help me to always feel that way. Make my faith to grow as I read and hear Your Word (Romans 10:17).

I love Your ways and despise “
the ways of those who don’t
… Rivers of water run down from my eyes, because men do not keep Your law” (Psalm 119:128,136). It grieves me to see people disregard Your laws. I know it grieves You even more when I do the same. You see my “secret sins” (Psalm 90:8), so I ask You to expose them if I am allowing something into my mind and heart that should not be there. I will confess it before You so that I can be forgiven and remove any separation between You and me. “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word” (Psalm 119:114).

In Jesus’ name I pray.

Words of Love

Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble.

P
SALM
119:165

Do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you.

P
ROVERBS
3:1-2

I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your word.

P
SALM
119:101

Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments. Those who fear You will be glad when they see me, because I have hoped in Your word.

P
SALM
119:73-74

Unless Your law had been my delight,

I would then have perished in my affliction.

I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have given me life.

P
SALM
119:92-93

10

Learn to Worship Him Lavishly

O
ne of the most powerful ways to express our love for God is by worshipping Him. It’s the purest form of adoration because we are focused completely on Him and not on ourselves.

The Bible says, “Let everything that has breath praise the L
ORD
” (Psalm 150:6). As long as we are still breathing on this earth, we should “praise Him for His mighty acts” and “according to His excellent greatness” (Psalm 150:2). In other words, praise Him
for what He has done
and
for who He is.

God is not asking us to worship Him because He has an ego that needs to be stroked. It’s because He wants us to honor Him with the reverence that is due Him. Plus, in the expressing of our love, adoration, and reverence for Him, He opens up a channel through which we connect with Him and become the closest to Him we can ever be on this earth.

Showing Love for God in Worship Changes You

We all worship something whether we realize it or not. Some people worship money, possessions, themselves, their animals, or their political party. Others make idols out of their work, their children,
their talent, their friends, the sun, the moon, the ocean, a sport, an occupation, nature, beauty, music, celebrities, hobbies, or entertainment. The list is endless. Whatever it is, it’s an attempt to fulfill the human need to worship something or someone.

Whatever we worship will be the biggest motivator of all we do and have the greatest influence on our lives
.

The truth is, there is only One who is worthy of our worship, and if we don’t understand that, we will miss out on great blessings we can never receive any other way.

We were born to worship God
.
It’s the way He shares Himself with us
.
As we worship Him, He pours Himself into us—His love, power, joy, peace, and wisdom—and in the process He transforms us into who we were created to be
. We become like what we worship, so the more we worship God, the more we become like Him (Psalm 115:4-8). And we cannot become all we were created to be without that happening.

One of the most amazing things about God is that even though our worship and praise are directed solely at Him, we are the ones who benefit. Isn’t it just like our loving God to make something that is totally about Him to be the key to our greatest blessing?

Expressing our love for God in worship and praise fulfills us in ways we didn’t realize we could be filled—in ways we didn’t even know we were empty. That’s because He wants to give us certain blessings that can only happen when we are praising Him. Every time we worship Him, something changes in us—in our mind, emotions, attitudes, desires, or goals.

The more you understand who God is, the more you will love Him. The closer you walk with Him, the more you will worship Him and be changed by Him.

Praise God No Matter What Is Happening in Your Life

God’s kingdom is invited into our lives in a powerful way every time we lift up praise and worship to Him. Our worship demonstrates our love for Him and opens the way for Him to work
powerfully in our lives to transform us and our impossible situations. That’s why it’s God’s will that we give thanks and praise to Him
in every situation
. When we don’t do that, we shut off possibilities for great things God wants to do in our life. Worship can even stop or reverse something that is headed in the wrong direction.

There have been countless times in my life as a believer where I prayed and prayed about a problem, praising God that He cared about a particular situation and He was greater than what I was facing. But there came a time when God instructed my heart that I was to continue praising Him no matter what did or did not happen. I was to trust that He had the answer to what was needed and the power to change things, and His timing and judgment were perfect. I took that stance of trust in Him until breakthrough finally came.

Worship establishes an atmosphere in which God moves powerfully. Things happened that I believe would not have without that powerful dynamic.

God requires worship and praise of all of who believe in Him because He wants us to be sold out to Him one hundred percent. And He does that because He has so much He wants to give us and do in our lives, and He must be able to trust us with the blessings we will receive.

“
Let the peoples praise You
, O God; let all the peoples praise You.
Then the earth shall yield her increase;
God
, our own God, shall bless us.
God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him” (Psalm 67:5-7). Blessings happen to people who worship Him.

What parent doesn’t want their children to express love and appreciation for them without wanting something? God wants that too. That’s why we need to make worship of Him a priority, not just something we may or may not remember to do. It must become a way of life.

We were created to worship God, and when we are doing what we were
created
to do, we more quickly move into other aspects of our purpose as well.

On the day that God delivered David from his enemies, he worshipped God
before
the victory happened, saying, “The L
ORD
is
my rock
and
my fortress
and
my deliverer
; my God,
my strength
, in whom I will trust;
my shield
and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold
. I will call upon the L
ORD
, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies” (Psalm 18:2-3).

David didn’t wait for the victory, or the answer to prayer, or for everything to turn out right. He worshipped God until the victory happened. We need to do the same.

God wants us to worship Him lavishly
.
“Lavishly” means to go all out, hold nothing back, offer freely with both hands, spare no expense, and give generously without counting the cost
.

When you worship God in that way, telling Him of your love, adoration, affection, devotion, passion, respect, awe, and reverence of Him, great changes are certain to be in you and your life.

When you exalt, cherish, hold dear, revere, and glorify the Lord for all He has done, you will be filled with His love, joy, peace, and power as well as compassion and love for others. All of those things will be infused into you like a life-giving serum. It will determine who you become. It doesn’t determine who God made you to be, but who God made you to be will be more fully realized in a way that will not happen without a heart of lavish worship for Him.

Worship will always be your greatest act of love toward God. And it will be because of a
choice
you make. If you choose not to praise and worship God until everything is going the way you want it to or until your prayers have been answered, you will miss what God wants to do in your life.

Worship Him at
all times
because He is always—every moment of the day—worthy of it. Let His praise continually be in your heart and your mouth. Soon you will not be able to stop yourself from worshipping Him.

There Is Never a Time When You Don’t Need to Worship God

Those who do not worship God soon forget all He has done
.

When the Israelites didn’t worship God, they started worshipping their own ways. They stopped seeking His counsel. And they did that even after God had done many obvious miracles in order to free them. They complained and lusted after other things and were not thankful for what He had provided for them. So God let them have what they wanted, but there was an enormous price to pay.

“
They soon forgot His works
; they
did not wait for His counsel
, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tested God in the desert.
And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul
” (Psalm 106:13-15).