If Jesus were to measure your love today…how would it measure up?

In the Book of Revelation, Jesus speaks to people who are lukewarm in their love.  Jesus says,  “So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth.  You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”  Revelation 3:16-17

In this passage Jesus is speaking to people that perceive they don’t really need Him.  They perceive they are wealthy and fulfilled, but Jesus sees that spiritually they are lacking virtues and they need His help.

In this passage Jesus is also speaking to people who have no real zeal for Him.  It is possible for our Churches to be gilded in gold, with money in the bank and no financial debt.  Our priests and ministers can be arrayed in beautiful garments, have positions of authority and influence and yet not have the holy virtues Jesus wants them to have.  Similarly we can sit in the pews every Sunday and still lack the ardent love Jesus wants us to have because we are following tradition and going through ‘religious motions’ without any real PASSION!

Holiness is only born in a communion of love with God that acknowledges our need for Him to LIVE IN US and WORK IN US so that we can be humble and full of holy desire to serve Him and honour Him.

To the lukewarm, Jesus provides this advice: “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.” Revelation 3:18-19

In this passage Jesus is speaking of the fire of the Holy Spirit that fills us with rich spiritual understanding, enabling us to acknowledge our sinfulness and our need for God’s forgiveness, purification and sanctification.

God hates hypocrisy, so let’s take a few minutes to look at our lives and pray for God’s grace to reveal the truth to us.

Jesus says, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.  Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”  Matthew 23: 25-28

LET’S NOT BE HYPOCRITES!

Let us ask ourselves some hard questions.  You are the only one who has to consider the answers, but remember Jesus already knows the truth!

Question:  Do you perceive you need Jesus? OR are you living your life thinking you are self-sufficient, independent, capable without God?

Lesson #1:  THE TRUTH IS EVERYONE NEEDS JESUS

but Satan wants you to believe there is no God and you should live for the moment, have fun and fulfill your every lust.

Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5  We can’t accomplish anything meaningful without Jesus.  Jesus is the source of all grace, all holiness, all goodness, but He won’t intrude on our life.  If we think we are rich and don’t need Jesus, then we are truly poor, wretched and blind.

Jesus wants to give our life meaning and purpose.  He wants to lift us up to understand the true meaning of love and sacrifice.

Question:  What is love to you?

Lesson #2:  LOVE IS A CHOICE!  LOVE IS A CHOICE TO HONOUR AND SERVE GOD!

If we are going to measure how deep is our love then we need to consider how are our choices, the things we do, the things we say and the things we fail to do or say, demonstrating how much we love Jesus and one another.

In economics we learn of a principle called “opportunity cost”.  Opportunity cost is the price we pay for not moving on an opportunity.  In other words, “doing nothing” has an opportunity cost associated with it.

I will tell you a bit about my own discoveries.  I have found that the most important work I have ever done has not been the work I was paid for, it was the work I volunteered to do.  Unfortunately my volunteer work in the community did not really commence until I was around 40 years old.  I regret the time I wasted.  Why did I waste this time?  Well I perceived I was busy.  I was raising my children.  I was working.  But I regret not having set a better example for my children by showing them through my actions that God’s family was bigger than our little family.

After studying the Word of God for a few years, I decided to start volunteering to teach little children about Jesus.  For ten years, I helped children and their families prepare for their First Sacraments in the Church.  The little children think that their “neighbor” is the person who lives next door to them.  When I try to have them consider that everyone is their neighbour, I usually get puzzled eyes.

More Questions:

Do you love neighbours that you do not know?  How do you prove that you do?

Do you love when it hurts? 

Do you forgive people that have hurt you, even if they have not said the words ‘I am sorry’?

It’s easy to love the people that love us.  That kind of love is reciprocal.  Perhaps God is blessing me because He has given me quite a few people who I needed to love that hurt me.   For many years I wrestled with “Do you love people that refuse to say ‘I am sorry’?  I began to study the Scriptures and I learned that Jesus said “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”  Matthew 7:12

I began to consider what if the tables were turned and I did not have it in me to forgive, would I want someone to be merciful to me?  The answer to that question was ‘yes’…but the inspiration for this ‘yes’ only came when I saw Jesus stretched out on the Cross being crucified saying, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34

Jesus forgave us, so I want to be able to forgive too!

Lesson #3:  JESUS BLESSES THE MERCIFUL!

If you want to be blessed, be merciful.  Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”  Matthew 5:7

More Questions:

Are you merciful or vengeful?

Do you trust Jesus? 

Are you following Him?

Do you have an intimate relationship with Jesus?

My Dad always had this saying when we were growing up.  He used to say, “Tell me who you are following and I will tell you who you are?”

As I reflect on my Dad’s words today I realize they were wise words.  For a lot of my life I was following other lost sheep.  I was deceived thinking I needed to be building my career, saving money, acquiring power and wealth, having some fun, exploring new vacation spots etc.  Jesus allowed me to be a lost sheep until I reached the age of 40 and then we had a “heart-to-heart” chat.

I was praying for God’s guidance when I experienced a miracle!  I heard the voice of Jesus speaking to my heart.   I heard Jesus say the words “Follow me”.  I will confess to you that at the time I had never read the Bible and I wasn’t going to Church and I didn’t know that the words “Follow me” were the words Jesus spoke to His first apostles calling them to be His followers.  My reaction to the words “Follow me” was “where are we going?”  But Jesus didn’t tell me where He was taking me.  He simply said again “Follow me”.

Then Jesus began to speak two other words to my heart daily and they were “Trust Me”.  I realized I didn’t understand what that meant either.  I had lived all my life, trusting myself.  I wondered “What did trusting Jesus really mean?”  Ultimately I discovered it meant “Surrender!” Surrender to the Holy One that you can follow and feel confident that He will take you to the Promised Land, Heaven.  So that’s what I did.  I started “Trusting Jesus” and after years of Jesus mentoring me, I thought I have to give this gift back to the world.  I have to tell other ‘lost sheep’ that the Messiah found me and that I have some Good News for all who are lonely and lost in the world.  Jesus sets us free! Jesus heals us! Jesus fills us with hope!  Jesus gives our life true meaning!  Jesus helps us to carry our cross and He is always there to help us!  Jesus makes us want to give to others!  Jesus forgives us, giving us a new beginning and He helps us to forgive too!

Lesson #4:  TRUE PASSION IS ABOUT SUFFERING!

If you were to google the word ‘passion’ you would probably find references to ‘sexual passion’, but did you know that the word ‘passion’ comes from the Greek verb πασχω meaning to suffer.

Lukewarm love is not ‘passionate love’ because lukewarm love is unwilling to suffer for love.

I think every parent that loves his or her child knows what this kind of passionate love looks like.  It means you get up in the middle of the night because your child is crying because they had a nightmare.  It means you cancel your entertainment plans because your child is sick.  It means you are ready to make any sacrifice necessary to make sure they grow up to be the people you want them to be.  THAT’S PASSION!  That’s not lukewarm – that’s LOVE ON FIRE, BLESSED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE SPIRIT OF LOVE!

Will you surrender your life to JESUS WHO IS SO PASSIONATE ABOUT YOU THAT HE WAS WILLING TO DIE FOR YOU? 

None of us know how long we will be on this earth.  Waste not another moment and give your life to Jesus.  Ask Jesus to come into your heart through the power of the Holy Spirit and surrender your life to Him.

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  John 14:6

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” 1 John 4:16

“Tell me who you are following and I will tell you who you are?”

My answer is “I am following Jesus.  I have discovered my true identity.  I am His and He is mine!”

“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” Song of Solomon 6:3

JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN!

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

Please join Christians of all denominations that are uniting in a powerful daily prayer at the time Jesus died for us, 3pm (each of us in our local time zones).  At this time, stop if but for a few moments to remember the Passion of Christ and pray for the Holy Spirit to touch all souls on earth to cause the sustainable global change God truly desires.