I love you…

Sunday, June 30th, 2024

by Ken Pullen

ACP

I love you more than you love yourself…

…unbeliever. Make believer. Kind of believer. Sort of believer. Imagining you’re a believer though misguided in another gospel. Believing as the world believes believer.

I love you more than you love yourself.

Even if you find that difficult or impossible to believe.

This is not an original thought. It ought to be the thinking within every true born again believer when seeing, knowing, being around any and every unbeliever of forgiveness of sin, salvation, hope, peace, and eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ. I heard a wonderful pastor include this thought in his sermon early this morning and will include that sermon here later when it is available.

How can I, or anyone make such a statement that they love you more than you love yourself? Why would I or they say such a thing?

Because while you care about what is here, what is now, what is of self, what can be had in this life, what you can accomplish on earth I know all of that, while important, and much can be said about so many amazing, wonderful accomplishments and great things people have done, do, and can do none of it matters one bit if done if sought after, if accomplished without true, sound, abiding faith in the Lord Jesus Christ — and it all will become less than vapor that is done on this earth, by everyone.

To only matter…

…what, eternally?

I love you more than you love yourself if you are not truly a born again Christ follower — even though I have never met you, most likely never will meet you, and no matter who you are, what you look like, where you live, what your education is, what people think of you, your status in this life or lack of it, your material wealth or lack of it, your nationality, race, gender, age, weight, if you stutter, are shy, are gregarious, what your IQ is, even if lacking a sense of humor [that’s dreadful if so!], and on and on the list can go — but even then I love you more than you love yourself if not a born again Christ follower because…

…I once was exactly like you.

And I came to know the importance, the difference between the here and now and the eternal.

And what matters most.

It’s really simple. Nothing complicated about it at all. So simple in fact most can’t comprehend it, reject it, refuse to even begin to consider it. It can’t be that easy, they think or say.

For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Romans 10:13

It is. Really very simple. With God. With Jesus. With the Holy Spirit. With the Word of God. Don’t get ensnared in all the intellectualism theology, who might have a Ph.D. or Masters degree, who speaks well, what denomination believes this or that.

It’s all about only about God.

It’s all about only about Jesus.

It’s all about only about the Holy Spirit.

It’s all about and only about the contents of the Holy Bible.

And what you do with each. It’s your decision. God is leaving it up to you.

Either continue on as you have or pause and take time to seek the Lord, listen to the Lord, and find a love even greater than the love I have for you. And to know what He did in His life here among us, what He did on that tree of shame, what He endured that night prior to that day!

A love unlike the love known by most. How the world knows and defines it. Unless they come to hear, acknowledge, and believe the Lord Jesus Christ in truth. Hear the Holy Spirit and submit, surrender to the working of the Holy Spirit in a person.

To change an individual from within. From the heart. Don’t imagine you can or need to change. That you can do it. I tried that. I tried that so, so very hard.

It didn’t work. It ended in horrible disaster. And I spent years, decades in misery believing there was no hope for me no matter what I did. And that was, is the problem. The only thing I needed to do was to finally get out of my own way, pause, stop, and let all the inner and outward noise cease, and hear the voice of the Lord saying, “Come, follow me…”

Before I finally did that, before I knew the work of the Lord within me I thought I was doomed to hell for eternity. I had tried and tried and tried more to change myself and then finally gave up. I believed in Jesus my whole life. But belief isn’t what gets one into heaven and eternal life. Satan believes Jesus is real. So do the demons. So does secular history. Real faith, true faith is what is different, required. Submitting to the Lord. Allowing, trusting the Lord to manage your life. And it’s something people ought to be so willing to do — were it not for them continually listening to the world, the lies of Satan in their ears and mind — relent and allow GOD TO MANAGE YOUR LIFE TO SAVE YOUR LIFE, SAVE YOUR SOUL FOR ETERNITY! 

Think the God of Creation, the God Who provides you with everything — EVERYTHING — that is the giver of grace and salvation, Who gave His only begotten Son, Jesus for the remission and forgiveness of sin can’t do a better job than you?

Having too much fun here? You think.

Then what?

Because everyone gets laid out eventually. Motionless. In a casket. Into the ground. Think you stay there? That’s it? Game over? Nothing more?

Rather than continuing to battle in this life as you do. Disappointed. Let down. Struggling inwardly even if materially wealthy, have a beautiful wife and family, or a wonderful husband, a great job, vacations, holidays at will at places you desire, all the toys desired, everything this earth can offer — or your earthly reality is quite different and you suffer, have little materially, are feeling alone, depressed, fearful, and on and on it goes for as many folks as are on this earth…placing emphasis here.

On everything that will end. Go away. Forever. Be eternally forgotten.

And then what? Because your spirit, your soul continues on. In one of only two possible places. And you know what those are. Even if professing to be an atheist you know in your heart there is a God otherwise why would you spend so much time denying Him? You know, no matter who you are and what your status is in this life that there is something after this. That there is a heaven. A hell.

I love you more than you love yourself, unbeliever. Make believer. Kind of a believer. Sort of believer. Imagining you’re a believer though misguided in another gospel. Believing as the world believes believer. The list goes on and on into the billions if not truly transformed, renewed of mind and spirit by the Spirit of God made into a new person by the power of the Spirit of God.

It’s why I do this oft times sloppy, perhaps misguided and off track, little endeavor I do here. Maybe one person will stop. Get off their computer. Get off their mobile. Get off their device. Quiet themselves. Prepare their heart and mind to approach God. And they pray. And ask for God’s help. Ask for God’s direction. Humbly. Faithfully. Contritely.

And God will hear and answer.

And oh my, what a wonderfully glorious and eternally good thing can come of it!

Not due to me. I’m just an old cracked, chipped clay vessel, just a watchman on the wall, just a modern-day town crier saying, Hear ye, hear ye! Repent and come to the Lord while you can because Jesus is Lord and the only way to eternal life! Seek the Lord your God! Come to the Lord while you can for the time is short!

And none of the politics, the so many other things whirring, zipping, zooming about in any of our lives matters more than our eternal outcome.

Where we spend eternity.

And I love you more than you love yourself if you shrug off going to hell as if it’s nothing. As if you’re nothing in the sight of God, in the sight of those who care about you knowing what we do about the grace, the forgiveness, the salvation, the peace, and life afforded by an abiding faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who rose from the grave and walked out of that tomb to show us what is possible for each who put their faith in Him above all other things.

Shalom.

Peace, not as the world declares and believes, peace of eternal spirit and soul in the Lord I pray for you.

May God hear you and that can only happen when you speak to Him.

Clear your heart and mind. Find a place. Anyplace. And seek the Lord. Speak to Him. And then listen, oh please listen to what He has to say this very day…for none of us are guaranteed another.

Yet each of us will have an eternity.

Oh, and before you go the following is well worth a listen and pondering…

Link to the video for anyone unable to open it by clicking on the image.