Praise the Lord, Beloved!
You know, there are so many ways the world tries to communicate "love", but not REAL love. Oh, sure they may spell it l-o-v-e, or "luv", or they may use net-lingo, " 143" or "ILY", but most times that is superficial, fickle love. If I say, " I love period drama movies!" I mean that I strongly LIKE them, (And I do!)...not that I genuinely LOVE them. We have come to use the word love so casually it has lost its true meaning. Today, I was out and about, and I saw a church marquee that read, "Luv is God". Not only did it mistate the scripture, it spelled the verb "Love" in a way that has a casual, "here today, gone tomorrow" feel. God is eternal, and God is Love!
1 John 4:16
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
At first, I was a bit grieved as to why the scripture was posted there backwards and in a pop culture-ish, "Luv is God". As I pondered it I thought, "Luv" of a thing, or person, or act CAN be a sort of "god", if one allows. We have all heard that anything you put before God...ANYTHING, is your god. So that if I "luv" my lawn or car or sports team so much that I give priority to that, rather than sunday morning worship service...yes, "Luv is god". Because luv of that car, etc., separates me from the God of the Bible. In that sense, the marquee was correct. It is so important that we know the Word of God for ourselves. The Bible tells us from Genesis to Revelation, that God is love. At the heart of it is John 3:16 which tells us how He demonstrated that love by sending his Son, Jesus Christ. To take and twist the Word and make it kind of "user-friendly", "word lite" is an affront to our holy God. Love is the very essence of God's being. Not only is God love, but love comes from God.
1 John 4:7
Knowing God through Love Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
It's just three little words, but the significance is that to know God is to understand Him more and more, to get a better and clearer knowledge of Him, to recognize Him. That is what our salvation is all about: Knowing God.
It is not about knowing OF Him, but truly knowing God. And so we cannot afford to even let three words in Holy Scripture be made light of, for to make light of them is to make light/"lite" of God. Love goes to the very heart of who God is. How like the enemy to twist it as I saw today! That last verse says we are to "love one another". The enemy does not want that and will use scripture against even the elect for a specific reason:
1 John 4:8
He who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love.
He wants to hinder a deep knowledge of Our God of LOVE. His goal is that the lost do not now or ever come to KNOW Him! Throw God in the mix with other "LUV". He is just one of several "luvs" one can have. It is not necessary to truly LOVE him body, spirit, and soul. Liar! Beloved, study to show yourself approved, hide the Word in your heart, and be ever ready to speak a Word in season to him who is weary. That word may be a simple yet powerful:
God is Love!
Now,go and share the love of God,
Prophetess Vickie Lee
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