God's Word says
that their are three very important things He looks for in us.
Three things that will please Him about our walk on His path.
Our walk with Jesus. Let's take a closer look at what He is saying:
Faith - He says we must have faith.
This is different from being faithful as we learned in part of
this lesson on the Fruits of God's Spirit. God wants us to have
faith in Jesus, our Savior and Lord. God wants us to have faith
in Him to do what He says He will do.
Hebrews 11:1 "Faith
is being sure of what we hope for. It is being certain of what
we do not see."
We cannot see Jesus
with our eyes. We don't know about the wonderful works He will
do today or in all of our tomorrows. We don't always know what
we need. We can have faith that God knows all about us and will
give us what we need. We can have faith that He is with us at
all times and He cares for us. He will show us all these things
as we learn to know Him better and better!
Hebrews 11:6 "Without
faith it isn't possible to please God. Those who come to God
must believe that he exists. And they must believe that he rewards
those who look
to him."
"Looking to God," means that we trust Him
and we seek to know all about Him. Studying His Word and hoping
that He will answer our prayers.
Hope - You need to know that when
God says the word "hope" in the Bible, He does not
mean, when you say, "Gee, I hope I get that new toy,"
or "I hope it doesn't rain so I can play outside."
Hoping in God is a stronger hope. It means you believe with all
our heart! Your mind and your soul (feelings and emotions) will
agree with you heart when you hope with God's strong hope.
Lamentations 3:25
"The LORD is good to those who put their hope in him. He
is good to those who look to him."
Psalm 33:18 "But
the LORD looks with favor on those who respect him. He watches
over those who put their hope in his faithful love."
Love - God says that the most important
of these three things is Love. His greatest command to us is
that we love.
Love God first,
Matthew 22:37-38
Jesus Replied,'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul. Love him with all you mind. This is the first
and most important commandment.' (Deu.6:5)
Love others next,
and ourselves third.
Matthew 22:39 And
the second is like it. 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.'
(Lev.19:18)
This is how we
can have joy. God's love is not like loving our kitten or your
favorite toy. It is a love that looks past the faults or misfortunes
of others and sees people, even ourselves, with the loving eyes
of God. We can, if you have His Spirit living inside of us.
Ask Jesus to live
in your heart and be the center of your life. He wants to be
first. Always put God first, others next, and you third!
2John 6 "The
way we show our love is to obey God's commands. He commands you
to lead a life of love..."
Jesus ,Others,
You = JOY
When God gives
a command, it is for your good. You need to do what is right
because you LOVE God. Jesus is the answer to everything. He deserves
first place in your life. He is an Awesome, Mighty God, who loves
you!
Gramma
Cherbear