Commands and Invitations to Love

invitation

Consider this truth this morning TCO: God has spoken to us not only to move us to do what He desires and wants, but to enable to us to both know Him and love Him as He is worthy of.

Which of these lenses do you gravitate to seeing God's Word thru most often: demands to do or invitations to love? And do you see these as one or separate, meaning, do you see the love of God even in His commands, or are these separate. My hope is that we combine the two and see the love of God for us in all things, even His commands, and that everything God says is absolute truth.

We must see the Word as absolute truth in all things that it speaks to. We are to believe the Word, not simply because God says to, but because it is absolute truth and we want to.

John 17:17, among many other passages speaks to this fact. It says "your word is truth." Ps. 119:160 declares "all your words are true." 2 Sam. 7:28 declares "you are God, and your words are true."

Truth in the Bible is a quality primarily used of persons and it points to stability, reliability, firmness, trustworthiness. It is the quality of a person that is entirely self-consistent, sincere, and realistic. God is this person and thus the words and everything that flows from Him are as well.

Think about what this means for us today and every day:

God's commands are true.  See Ps. 119:151 which states "all your commands are true." Whatever the Word speaks to is truth. We can trust they are for our good and God's glory. They are reliable and stable, good for all times as truth is. 

God's promises are true, for God keeps them. Heb. 10:23 declares "He who promised is faithful." God shows unfailing commitment to all of His promises. He is a covenant-keeping God. He never fails to keep His word. When we fail to feast on and know God's promises, believers are depriving themselves of the most solid comfort and encouragement one can imagine.

May we be a people who both acknowledge and joyfully live under God's Word, knowing it is a loving gift from God in all that it contains. May we be a people who submit to the Word without reservation knowing the one from whom it came is totally trustworthy.

May we be as the one for whom Ps. 119:5, 10, and 26-27 speaks, declaring honestly and sincerely "do not let me stray from your commands; teach me your decrees, let me understand your precepts; turn my heart toward your statutes; may our hearts me blameless toward your decrees."

We know from Romans 8:28 that "God causes all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose." We learn this and so many more promises thru the Word. May the truth of God's faithful lovingkindnesses that never cease bring us great joy and peace no matter what we face, knowing God is at work for good in and thru us, no matter what we face.

Test everything to God's Word and His promises, and trust the One from whom they flowed to keep them no matter what, knowing what Numbers 23:19 declares about God, that "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"

That's our God, and He can be trusted at all times, for His Word is truth. May this be both our joy and comfort.