WEEK 2.
LOVE AS A COMMAND.
Hurry! Its another week of going deeper into Love.
The previous week we learn about the extravagant Love of God. We understood that God loves us unconditionally and we can't do anything to earn His Love. He freely loved us through Jesus Christ.

This week we will learn about Love as a command. The greatest commandment we are given is Love. Its easy to understand love as a commandment, when you get to know how much God loves you.

Matthew 22:37-40
[37]Jesus replied, “‘You must love the lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’
[38]This is the first and greatest commandment.
[39]A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

The greatest commandment is to Love God and people. Since God has poured out His Love on our hearts (Rom 5.5-6). He expect us to live and walk in love.
The 10 commandments among many others, which the Israelites were given by God through Moses, displayed God's standard and righteousness. The commandment were holy and good (Romans 7.12), but the Israelites failed to attain the demands of the law. They couldn't reach the requirements of God, for there were already captive of sin. They murmured and tested God in the wilderness, for they couldn't discern God's Love for them. They lacked the baptism of Love. When God soaks you in His love ull have the nature and power to live a love-life.
We thank God that Jesus brought a new covenant, the covenant of Love. He fulfilled all the requirements of God, he made them all to be love. Something we can live everyday enjoying to do, for Love is freedom. We are not bound to anything.

Galatians 5:14
[14]For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.

Romans 13:9
[9]For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

The law and the requirements of God to us were summed up in one law, "Love."
You will realize that if you walk in love and in God who is love. There are things you will not desire to do to your neighbour. Greed, selfishness, pride, bitterness and jealousy all operates outside the realm of love. They lead to strife and wicked desires to satisfy self. "Consider other greater than you," (Philippians 2.3.) Is a statement of love. You cant consider other people greater than youself, if the love of God have not purged you.

Its all that is required of you.

LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD
Deuteronomy 6:5
[5]And you must love the lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

Deuteronomy 30:6
[6]“The lord your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live!

Wow! This is incredible. As much as God commands us to love Him. He will change our hearts first so that we may know how to love Him. We worship God from our hearts not our deeds alone. The only way we can effectively love God from a genuine and a sincere heart is allowing Him to change our heart through His love. He wants our whole being for Himself.
We are all products of Love.
Love God with your emotions, your strength and with your all.

Last year, a time like this i was undergoing an emotional breakdown. I was very keen on how to express my emotions to anyone. I feared to trust people again with my emotions. I was disappointed, hurt and frustrated, by the people i loved, this changed a lot in me. It affected my relationship with God. I also feared to express my emotions to Him. Its until God told me that He wants my emotions for Himself,it then i became free. Free to cry, laugh, dance and rejoice in His presence. He delivered me. Am not afraid to be loved or to love, for i have surrendered my emotions to Him.
God want us to love Him, by giving Him our all.

1 John 4:20
[20]If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?

To love God is to Love people. You can't say you love God if you don't love people He first loved. Have genuine Love, show deep affection and compassion to people. Love both sinners and your brothers in the faith. For this pleases God.

To love God is to obey His commands, that is to live according to His Holy word(1 John 2:5[5]But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him.) That is how we know we are living in him. Be doers of the Word not hears only. (James 1.22) For it is in doing the Word that you produce lasting fruits of love.

LOVE OTHER PEOPLE

1 John 3:11
[11]This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
1 John 2:7
[7]Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before.

Its repeated several times that we should love one another. There is no doubt about it. In the witness of two or three a matter is established.. I love the book of 1 John. It talk so plainly about love. I strongly believe that John, one of the disciples of Jesus, understood the Love of God so deeply. He had the audacity of saying, "the disciple whom Jesus loved"(John 13.23) referring to himself in his writings. He was always with Jesus together with James and peter in most occasion. He experience the heart of Jesus which is love and personalize it for His own freedom. God opened His inner eye and revealed deep things of the future and he wrote the book of revelation. This is just amazing what Love can do.

My best song this year is "touch of heaven" one of it verses says that, all i want is to live within your love, be undone by who you are my desire is to know your deeper.
This my pray everyday, that God will undo me in His love. That ill live to declare it and produce what is love alone.

...faith, hope and love remains and the greatest is love.(1 Corinthians 13.13)

You can do many things to please God, but if you do them outside the realm of love its vain. Our motive should be only love.
 You can move mountains and speak tongues of men and angels but without love all is nothing.(1corinthians 13.1-2) .Righteousness and holiness flows only through love. You can't pursue the things of God outside love. The foundation of all things in the kingdom of God is love.
So i urge us to accept the command of God, which is to love Him from a pure heart and love people with genuine affection.

Power points

• The greatest commandment is love
• Love the Lord your God and one another
• To love God is walk according to His Word and loving His people
• To love people is to show genuine affection toward them.
• Anything done outside the realm of love is sin and not of God.

Prayer
Thank you God, for your loving kindness. You have changed our hearts, so that we may love you and love one another. Thank you for you have not burden us with many law but only to love. Undo us in your love, that we may display it to humanity. Amen.