Genuine Love by Sister Norma Miles

It is very easy to tell your children, grandchildren, and family members you know, and even others you have come to know, that you love them. People think that to tell someone you don’t know that you love them is bizzar! How can you love someone you don’t know? The same would go for the question of how you can love God if you don’t know Him. When you are born again with the spirit of God dwelling in your heart, you can love as Christ loved. You are able to say “I love you” with the honesty that comes from the heart, and you are able to show love and compassion, even to those who seem unlovable!

John 13:34 

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

Before Christ left the Disciples, He would give them a new commandment. They were to love each other the way Christ intended for us to love one another. Loving one another promotes the gospel, and people see the God that dwells in our hearts and a genuine love in the body of Christ. When we don’t have love for one another, then people really wonder who sincere, and reject the love that is demonstrated by those that ARE sincere!

To love those as God loved is to love and know God.  Have you ever told someone you didn’t know on a personal level you love them, and you automatically feel that spirit of rejection towards you, and get no response, or they act like they didn’t hear you?

That is exactly the way God feels when we don’t allow the love of God to rule and reign in our hearts, so that we can demonstrate the true love of God towards others.

1 John 4:7-8 

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

So if we have the love of God in our hearts, we can love all who cross our path, whether we know them or not! Because of the spirit of the Lord that dwells in our hearts, when we are born again of God’s Spirit. We can look through the eyes of God and say, “I love you!”

Unheeded Mercy Brings Judgment

Nah 1:6 Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. This is a book of prophecy written by Nahum to the Ninevites. Does that name sound familiar? Yes, that’s right! Same people that repented approximately 100 years earlier. Ninevah is the capital city of Assyria, which is the enemy of God’s people. That is why it was so hard for Jonah to go to them! It would be about like a Jew going to Hitler in 1943 and trying to get him to repent, so he would be able to go to the same heaven you will. So don’t be so hard on Jonah. He had a very hard job! But this week, we are learning what happened 100 years later. After they repented. After the revival. After the popular preacher left town. What happened? Does this sound like anything you have experienced today? People come in and repent when a revival comes to town. A big name preacher comes in and everybody flocks to the church. But what happens when he leaves? Will you be able to stand for God after the revival is over? Nahum prophesied the judgment of Ninevah. And this time, there were no more chances. They had exhausted God’s mercy and grace. Judgment came. America is in danger of experiencing God’s judgment for the atrocities we have indulged in. But its not too late. Yet. There is still time. We have been told over and over by preachers for the past 30 years. Repent! Judgment is coming! Church, Pray! Repent for the sins of this nation. We can call on the God of mercy, and He is longsuffering.

Focus

God gave me a word, several months ago, and when He spoke it to me, I felt like I needed to write it in big letters, and put it on my refrigerator.  He said, “Focus on the Positive, Praise Me for the good.” 

These words came to me during a time when all I could think about, was the bad.  You know what I mean.  Sometimes, we get so preoccupied with something, it absolutely overwhelms our lives!

This is where I was living. I was not backslid.  I was praying every day.  I was at church every service.  But all I could think about, was the turmoil I felt in my heart. I was almost in mourning!  But God showed me, that the way I was living, was in a state of oppression.  The enemy was taking over.  I was no good to anybody in that condition.  So I did as I was told, and I wrote “Focus on the Positive, Praise Me for the Good” and put it on the fridge.  And every time I noticed my mind trying to run away, I remembered these words.  God wants us to focus on Him.  When we pray, He is our focus. When we worship, He is our focus. When we study, He is our focus.  But now, God was telling me, He is to be my focus, in the good times and the bad.  On the mountain, and in the valley.  If you only shout victory when the battle is won, you are missing a great blessing that the Lord has for you. 

Try putting the Lord as your focus, no matter what you are doing. If you are mopping, ironing, driving, or making lunch. If you are driving a tractor, or hammering, or running a machine in a factory, stay in the presence of God.  He was to bring you deeper.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I thank you for every mountain, and for every valley.

I thank you that you are always there to guide my every step.

I thank you for the many blessings I see every day,

And for all those I may never see. 

Help me to put you center in my life.

I want my focus to be Jesus Christ.

Remind me of your presence throughout my day.

I love You, and can’t wait to know You more!