Glory to God!
The Lord is continuing to speak to us about loving Him and loving one another out of our fear of the Lord. Yesterday the Lord spoke to us from 1 Peter where he writes,
"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart." 1 Peter 1:22
The Lord calls every believer to take responsibility for his life and to purify himself "from everything that contaminates body and spirit" (2 Cor. 7:1). Obedience to God's Word brings the believer into agreement with God's will so that God can do His work in and through us. God's will is that the believer should have sincere love for the Church - a love that is deep and from the heart. The Lord is more concerned with the heart than He is with behaviour or outward appearances (see 1 Sam. 16:7 and Mat. 7:21,22). The Lord spoke to us about our need to face the facts and the condition of our hearts and to confess and repent of bad attitudes and bad fruit. Failure to do so can lead to deception and hypocrisy! When the believer ignores the weeds in his life and doesn't act on God's Word (James 1:22-24), he begins to walk in denial and will ultimately walk in darkness, unable to recognise the weeds in his life. Those who know about the weeds in their lives and pretend to walk in righteousness, not only walk in denial but live hypocritical lives.
God is concerned about the garden of the believer's heart! He desires to enter the garden of the believer's heart and "taste its choice fruits" (see Song of songs 4:12-5:1). Through faith in Christ, the believer receives a new heart, cleansed and purified by the blood of the Lamb. God has done everything for the believer to produce good fruit - that which the Spirit produces and not the works of man. God therefore expects every believer to produce the aroma of a good attitude of the heart and the fruit that proceeds from the heart that is filled with God (see Isaiah 5:1-4 and John 15).
We praise God for His revelation to us and for helping us to live in love as we devote ourselves to God's presence, people and purposes!
Yesterday evening we had another opportunity to bless the poor and needy in Frankfurt at our monthly soup kitchen. We had a great team that not only served the people but spent time with them to hear their story and encourage them in love.
This week we are hosting a series of God encounter meetings with Dr Richard Maybery from Cape Town, South Africa. This Healing Presence Seminar will help people encounter God's healing presence, receive healing and be equipped to heal others. Click here for more information...
Quote of the week:
"My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit...What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?" Isaiah 5:1,2,4
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