THE LOVE COMMANDMENT
By Jemima Rayan

Every Christian would have prayed these words at least once. Lord, “let me hear from you”. Most of us would have prayed many times and some are praying daily. Without a doubt God wants to answer. Yet believers remain frustrated unable to hear specific instructions from the Lord, they end up wandering around in a spiritual dilemma, incapable of seeing God’s path He has planned for them.

The first step is to obey the general instructions that He has given us before we can go into any of those specific instructions. Every Soldier in the Army has to learn the general orders first. General orders are the overall military requirements that everyone in uniform must obey. Once that was in place the cadet learn the direct orders from they superior officer. Finally there are orders of the day, which is a detailed format that gave a road map for the day.

As soldiers in the kingdom of God, we’ve been given general orders by the Commander in Chief. Those commands are mandatory and important—so important that everything in life hinges upon our obedience to them.

Matthew 22 is one of the many places in the New Testament we find those general commands. There we read about a young lawyer asking Jesus a crucial question: “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (verses 36-40).

1. Love God, Love others

These are the general and direct orders of the Kingdom. 1 John 4:10 says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” The word love is a strong term. The cycle of love begins with God. His love is what gives us love for Him and love for others. Jesus prayed to the Father for His first 12 disciples and for all who would believe in Him, and said, “You have sent me and have loved them as You have loved Me.” (John 17:23). God love me as much as He loves Jesus. Thank God for that and say it out loud till it sinks in. The devil may attempt to convince you the other way but don’t give room for the devil. Pray this: Father God, I thank you for loving me so much. Thank you for sending Your Son for me. I receive that love in Jesus name, Amen.

2. Believe that Love is in you

That love is living inside of you. Romans 5:5 says, “The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Believe as Jesus said in John 17:26 that the love with which God loved Jesus is in you. 1 John 4:15,16 says, “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he in God. And we have and believed the love that God has for us.” The love of God is imparted in your heart and you are the authorized user of it. God has deposited His love in your heart and you need to withdraw from that deposit all the time. When you realize that you activate the most powerful force. You begin to love every one. You will not only love God, with the same love you will start to love on the most crazy and the meanest people you know. You will be full of love, you will not have problems releasing it. You will be so full of love, it will begin to overflow.

3. Practice the love:

Now you are saying, ‘how can I do that’? Start by taking time to really forgive others that have wronged you. How to do that? In prayer take time to picture that person in your mind. Lift him before God and say, Father I give all those unloving, bitter and hateful feeling toward this person to you. I will no longer be bitter towards this person. I surround him with love. I love that person as much as I love myself. Spend time loving God and focus on forgiving people who have been hard to love in your life. Pray for them. Consciously strive to live and walk in harmony especially those with and around you – especially with your family, people at church. The devil know the power of agreement. Mathew 18: 19-20, “ If two of you agree touching anything in this earth, it will be done by my father in heaven.”

When you catch yourself saying something angry or unloving, do not allow you to be that way. Repent immediately. Say, “ I judge myself for that in the Name of Jesus. I am not full of anger but I am full of love.”

Another way you can practice the love of God is by looking for secret ways to bless people. Do not even put your name. Let God get the glory out of it. Don’t do it to be seen or appreciated. Do it purely out of love. Look at James 2:14-17.

Finally confess the One who is the greatest. 1 John 4:4 says, “Greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world.” With Him we can do everything. We can love anyone. Cultivate a conscious awareness that God is walking with you all the time

“For you are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:16-18).

Become God-inside minded. Say, “When I walk, God walks. His hands are in my hands. I have the mind of Christ. I am the temple of the Holy Spirit. When you begin to live in the light of that revelation, you are walking in love and your path will grow brighter and brighter every day. You will be hearing specific orders from Heaven at every point.

May the Lord pour out His love on us in Jesus Name. Amen.