1 John 4:16 New King James Version (NKJV)
16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
We see in this verse a key to a victorious Christian life! Live in the love of God. Each day begins with praise to Him for His many blessings. Meditate on and read His Word. Flee from anything that would come between you and your relationship of love and intimacy with God. Surround yourself only with people who are positive, Godly, and uplifting to your spirit. Avoid unsafe, critical, or negative people.
To truly have known and believed God’s love means we understand and are surrendered to our heavenly Father. We understand the great price God paid to redeem us from our sins; The price of His only Son. We must realize that had it not been for the Great gift of God reconciling us to Himself through the death of Jesus on the cross, we would be lost and condemned.
This is how we can daily overcome being offended and angry. We constantly focus on the love of God and strive to live in His love. We must daily extend the same forgiveness to others since we ourselves have been forgiven so much. We must develop the mind of Christ, who when he was hanging on the cross, in excruciating pain, beaten beyond human recognition, He cried out to His Heavenly Father, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Or in essence, since He was one with the Father, He was saying, “I choose to forgive them for beating me, spitting upon me, putting a crown of thorns on my head, and nailing me to this cross.” He forgave them because the love of God was made perfect in Him. Has the love of God been made perfect in you today? What do you need to let go of that is coming between you and your love for God? Abide in love and abide in God today and every day.
To abide in God means we abide in His fullness. We abide in His glory, His peace His fullness. When we abide in the love of Christ, we give His love to others through service. To truly abide in the love of Christ, you will abide in His mindset of humility and service to others. To truly abide in the love of Christ, we will give that love to others by bearing fruit and showing our love to others by being the hands and feet of Christ and planting those seeds of love to the lost and broken.
When Christ is in your heart, you will be changed and transformed by the love of Jesus when the Holy Spirit invades your heart. When the righteousness of Christ floods your heart with the Spirit of God, your heart will never be the same.
From John 15:5 “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” To abide or remain with Christ, the end result will be a life of bearing fruit. A life of bearing fruit. If you are truly abiding in Christ, then you will bear fruit in every season of life. No matter how dry or difficult times in your life may get, you will bear fruit in every storm, in every dry season, and in every difficult season of your life, you will bear fruits of righteousness, and holiness, because your life has been transformed and shaped by the Spirit of God
I challenge you to examine your life and see what kind of fruit you are bearing. Does your fruit look like one who has been changed by the love of Jesus or is your life devoid of any real, lasting fruit? Jesus said, that we will know them by their fruit. What does the fruit in your life show about the condition of your heart? Are you selfish? Are you bitter? Are you angry? Have you truly been transformed by the love of Christ? Has God’s love washed you clean of any sin and defilement in your life? Have you never encountered the love of Christ?
I challenge you to examine your life and determine what type of fruit you are producing, and see if there is an area in your life you may need to repent of. Examine your heart, and if you do not bear fruit because you have never experienced God’s saving grace and love, may today be the day of your salvation and deliverance. Salvation is a free gift. All you must do is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and repent of your sins. Salvation is a free gift but God requires we surrender our lives to Him.