No Greater Love

What is love?
Ask any person this question, and they will have their own description of what love is to them.
The worldly definition of love would probably have to do with mushy gushy emotional, romantic, feelings and affections toward another.
Some may define love as a commitment.
As we read in 1 Corinthians 13, love is many different things such as patient and kind.
1 John 4 tells us that God is love.
So...how does that answer our question- what is love?

I think to know what true love is, we must look to Christ. He is love(1 Jn 4). His love for us gives us a real picture of what true love is. This also will help us to understand what true love is NOT and how we are to understand the meaning of love.

I thought about this today as I sat in my chair at work staring out my big window at the rain falling from the sky and the cars passing by. We have been singing "Through the Precious Blood" on Sunday mornings at my church for the past several weeks. It meant a lot to me yesterday and today I was really meditating on the words to this song. There was one particular phrase that I pondered for quite some time. It says, "For just one reason Christ was crucified." I thought about this...He died in obedience to our Heavenly Father and to bring glory to Him, but His death was for His bride. He died for me. He died to save me from my sins. He died for me. Why? For me, really understanding this has given me a fuller meaning to Christ's death on the cross and of His love for me. Think about it...

(I took these from some notes I had written awhile back from a Paul Washer sermon on the cross of Christ.)

When all have forsaken you, here comes the One who has your name carved on the palm of His hand!

There are people out there who will spend $40,000 for a car. That's almost a house! But I don't think there's anybody out there who will buy a car for $40,000 in order to fix it up. You don't do that. If something is wrong with your new car, you immediately take it back to the dealer and have them take care of it.

Christ spent His love to buy a bride that was ugly and that He would have to spend countless hours fixing up. Now that's love.

He buys you out of the ditch, your own filth, with His own blood with the intention of cleaning you up!

Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
He spilt His blood!

When He went to the cross He knew exactly what He was going to suffer.
That is love.


As I often do, I am including a song that directly relates to Christ's love. Think about Him going to the cross for you knowing what He was going to suffer and why He was suffering it.
That is real love.

Thank you my Lord Jesus!



At the Cross
by Hillsong

Oh Lord You've searched me
You know my ways
Even when I fail You
I know You love me

Your holy presence
Surrounding me
In every season
I know You love me
I know You love me

Chorus
At the cross I bow my knee
Where Your blood was shed for me
There's no greater love than this
You have overcome the grave
Your Glory fills the highest place
What can separate me now?

You go before me
You shield my way
Your hand upholds me
I know You love me

Chorus
At the cross I bow my knee
Where Your blood was shed for me
There's no greater love than this
You have overcome the grave
Your Glory fills the highest place
What can separate me now

You tore the veil
You made a way
When You said that it is done

And when the earth fades
falls from my eyes
You stand before me
I know You love me
I know You love me

Chorus

My Boast- My God- His faithfulness!

"Thus says the LORD, 'Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,' declares the LORD."
Jeremiah 9:23-24

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!


LAMENTATIONS 3

21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;

23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”

25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him

26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.

My Jesus

"Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever...But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works." Psalm 73:25-26,28

I'd like to share some of the songs that have been on my heart lately...


All That Thrills My Soul
hymn by Thoro Harris

Who can cheer the heart like Jesus
By His presence all divine
True and tender, pure and precious
O, how blest to call Him mine

Chorus
All that thrills my soul is Jesus
He is more than life to me
And the fairest of ten thousand
In my blessed Lord I see

Love of Christ so freely given
Grace of God beyond degree
Mercy higher than the heavens
Deeper than the deepest sea

What a wonderful redemption
Never can a mortal know
How my sin, though red like crimson
Can be whiter than the snow

Every need His hand supplying
Every good in Him I see
On His strength divine relying
He is all in all to me

By the crystal flowing river
With the ransomed I will sing
And forever and forever
Praise and glorify the King



Enough
by Chris Tomlin

All of You is more than enough for
All of me for every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You
Is more than enough

You are my supply
My breath of life
Still more awesome than I know
You are my reward
Worth living for
Still more awesome than I know

All of You is more than enough for
All of me for every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You
Is more than enough

You're my sacrifice of greatest price
Still more awesome than I know
You're my coming King You're everything
Still more awesome than I know

All of You is more than enough for
All of me for every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You
Is more than enough



Absolutely
by Starfield

Lover of my soul
I want to tell You
Only You have all of me
I cannot contain my adoration
I'm in love so desperately

No one is as lovely as You are
There is no one else who has my heart

Jesus, You have me completely
Every breath I breathe
I am absolutely in love
Jesus, I am Yours forever
All of me surrenders
I am absolutely in love with You

Down upon my knees
I'm lost in worship
Humbled by Your majesty
What is there to say
But how I love You
Thank You for forgiving me

No one is as lovely as You are
There is no one else who has my heart

Jesus, You have me completely
Every breath I breathe
I am absolutely in love
Jesus, I am Yours forever
All of me surrenders
I am absolutely in love with You





None But Jesus
by Hillsong United

In the quiet, in the stillness
I know that You are God
In the secret of Your presence
I know there I am restored

When You call I won't refuse
Each new day again I'll choose

There is no one else for me
None but Jesus
Crucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise

In the chaos, in confusion
I know You're sovereign still
In the moment of my weakness
You give me grace to do Your will

So when You call I won't delay
This my song through all my days

There is no one else for me
None but Jesus
Crucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise

All my delight is in You, Lord
All of my hope, all of my strength
All my delight is in You, Lord, forevermore


Only Jesus
Sovereign Grace Ministries
By Doug Plank

Father of grace, You’ve sacrificed
Your only Son for us, the crucified Jesus
Enlarge our hearts to love Your Son
O grant to us the grace to walk with Him always
To make Him our great delight
Bringing worship with our lives

Only Jesus! Only Jesus!
Give us Jesus, we cry
Only Jesus! Only Jesus!
The Pearl of greatest price

Spirit of grace, You’ve shed Your light
Upon our darkened eyes, unveiling Jesus Christ
Come change our hearts, conform our ways
To honor Jesus’ Name, His glory our refrain
Let His love compel our own
As we worship at His throne

Jesus, our great Savior,
Lord of heaven, Son of God


Longing Heart
by Jeremy Camp

What can separate us
From the love of Jesus Christ
Nothing this world can even change
The thought I once was lost
But now been given grace
It's a mystery that I will not chase

You are all this heart is longing for
Jesus, You are all my soul is pleading for

What can separate us
From the love of Jesus Christ
Nothing in this world can even change
The thought I once was lost
But now been given grace
It's a mystery I will not chase

I don't understand it
How You love the way You do
Even when I've fallen
You always lift me up to You

You are all this heart is longing for
Jesus, You are all my soul is pleading for

What have I to offer?

"...I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing." (2 Samuel 24:24)

The Lord told King David to go and raise up an altar on the threshing floor that belonged to Araunah the Jebusite. When the king asked Araunah if he might buy it(the threshing floor), Araunah begged him to take it, as a gift, along with his oxen for an offering and the threshing sledges for fuel. "No," said the king, "...I will not offer to the Lord my God whole-offerings that have cost me nothing..."

In the same way, God has asked us to offer everything to Him. I have been writing very similar posts on my blog lately. My most recent was about surrender and how God asks for everything. I also posted back in August about how we're to lay everything at His feet.
As you can see, God is really teaching me what it means to give Him everything. Romans 12:1 says, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." God has also been reminding me that I am not my own for I was bought with a price(1 Cor 6). Jesus Christ paid the ransom for my life with His own blood, therefore I am His. So my life should be lived in every way to glorify His name. To live in every way to glorify His name, we have to give ourselves to Him. And I have chosen this 2 Samuel passage for my post today to point out something very important about giving ourselves to Him. When we give ourselves, we have to give Him everything. If we give Him everything BUT...that one thing that is so hard to give up...then we aren't truly giving Him EVERYTHING. In fact, we must give to Him FIRST the things that are most difficult and in the context of the 2 Samuel passage, the things that are most costly- what we treasure the most.
I believe that He blesses us with wonderful gifts because He loves us. But then we have the opportunity to GIVE those wonderful gifts back to Him because we love Him.

What is the hardest thing for you to let go of? What do you treasure the most? What do you think of all the time? What consumes most of your time and energy. What does your heart long for? Where do your affections lie?
Think about this long and hard and ask yourself, "Am I giving this to the Lord?" And if not, "Am I willing to give this to the Lord?" Should the answer still be no, then I suggest asking the Lord to enable you to give this to Him. He will hear and respond to your prayer if it is your heart's desire.

He sacrificed what was most important to Himself for us out of His love for us. We need to be willing to give everything back to Him. It belongs to Him anyway.

Don't just give to Him what is easy to let go of. Give to Him what is the most difficult thing to give. You will never regret it.

"...I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing."

Surrender

Die to self and live to God...

Matthew 16:26
"Then Jesus said to His disciples, '"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.'"

What kind of a God is it who asks everything of us?
The same God who "...did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all; and with this gift how can He fail to lavish up us all He has to give?"

Romans 8:32
"He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?"

HE GIVES ALL.
HE ASKS ALL.

Oh Lord, let this be my prayer today...

Surrender
by Jeremy Camp

Purify this tainted soul
I'm tired of living life a fool
Soften up this heart in clay
To be a servant this I pray
A reflection of You I long to be
So Your kingdom I will see

I Surrender to Your throne
I Surrender to Your throne
And I will make my heart Your home
Oh I Surrender to Your throne

I've taken things I've thought my own
Only to reap what I sow
You've given back the years I've fought
An Ending love and grace You brought
Eternal hope and peace You bring
And forever unto You I will sing

Forever unto You I will sing

And I surrender
And I surrender
And I surrender now

Soften up this heart in clay
To be a servant this I pray

My Lord, I Did Not Choose You

My Lord, I Did Not Choose You
(Verses by Josiah Conder (1836), Music and chorus by Devon Kauflin)

My Lord, I did not choose You
For that could never be
My heart would still refuse You
Had You not chosen me
You took the sin that stained me
You cleansed me, made me new
Of old You have ordained me
That I should live in You

Jesus, You have saved me
And taken all my sin, all my sins away
Jesus, You have called me
Before the world began, to glorify Your name
I was without hope and dead inside
But You chose to save my life

Unless Your grace had called me
And taught my darkened mind
The world would have enthralled me
To Your glories I’d be blind
My heart knows none above You
For Your rich grace I thirst
I know that if I love You
You must have loved me first

Jesus, You have saved me
And taken all my sin, all my sins away
Jesus, You have called me
Before the world began, to glorify Your name

Jesus, You have saved me
And taken all my sin, all my sins away
Jesus, You have called me
Before the world began, to glorify Your name
I was without hope and dead inside
But You chose to save
I was without hope and dead inside
But You chose to save my life

© 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)

Thank you Lord for choosing me and saving me. Thank you Jesus for taking all my sins away. My heart's desire is to live for You and glorify Your name!!