by Apostle Gabriel Cross
Be released from yesterday into the new day and new era of the fresh wineskin presence of the Lord! Father, show your people off for your glory and make them greater advertisement for your kingdom!
The truth is this, whether we’re guilty or forgiven, God’s love for us is the same. We’ve been given the ministry of reconciliation. Some of our conversations and speeches, many times reveal where our love levels are. Unfortunately, many major on the giftings but they forget that love is between first Corinthians chapters 12 and 14. Love is the foundation, the motivation, the glue that causes it all to mesh. The body of Christ suffers from schism diseases, due to the missing vitamin, the pure Love of God, in demonstration towards each other.
The world will identify us by our love for one another, as Jesus’ disciples. Therefore, we need the Father to raise our love levels. True love and true covenant are not valued because we are more impressionable than relational. Jesus said, in Matthew 7:22-23, “…many will say to me. Lord! Lord!” We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in you name, But I will reply, I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.” God’s law is love and against such there is no law. The word “knew” in this passage, means to know intimately, therefore, we cannot be intimate without relationship. The real becomes the target because of the commonality; for not succumbing to the status quo. Our love for each other should reflect our love for Jesus. We treat each other how we treat God. Our relationships with each other lacks depth and continuity due to a lack of trust. This is why our worship is shallow. Therefore, our worship is how we treat each other, when we do not agree. Who gladly loves more, more and more while they are loved less, less and less? Yet Paul says, “I do not care whether you love me or not, I am willing to destitute myself completely, not merely for your sakes, but that I may draw you to God.” (2 Corinthians 12:15) We love better, when we love with the purpose of drawing others closer to God and loving beyond ourselves. We know the scriptures, head knowledge, but love is not exemplified. Love will keep us together. Our love job is to restore anyone who is overtaken in a fault, not bury them or beat them with it. “Less we be tempted or fall into the same thing.” God’s love is selfless, our love is selfish, this grieves the heart of God, how we treat each other, calling ourselves ambassadors of Christ.
Rather than love motivating us, we seek prestige, worldly acclaim, ambition, and self-promotion. Where is the love? There are many people from different walks of life that are non exemplary of true covenant. The heart of God bleeds at how we proclaim what is wrong with someone else, while at the same time we are personally desiring love and mercy. We cannot deny that we all have struggles, however, love will keep us together.
If we speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, we are nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If we speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if we have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but we don’t love, we are nothing. If we give everything we own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but we don’t love, we have gotten nowhere. So, no matter what we say, what we believe, and what we do, we are bankrupt without love. If we say we love God and hate our brothers we are liars.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others nor keep record of the wrongs suffered,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. Prophesying will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our “incompletes” will be canceled.
When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. The best of the three is love. Love, love will keep us together!
