STAY PRAYED UP!!
LOVING THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF
By Erik Rico Nance for the City of God Christian Ministries
Did u know that the way u love others may be a direct representation of how God may be treating u? The scripture is clear Matthew 22:39 says To Love thy neighbor as THYSELF. But once you look a little closer you realize that truly loving others, starts with loving YOU. Now this is not hitting Vegas or becoming anorexia. No, rather it is making a True decision to love HIM.
I know it’s not easy to go from the fields to freedom but I’ve concocted 4 steps from the Word of God to usher you along the way.
1) 1st know the word of God. Read it! Come to our bible studies so that you may understand it! How did Jesus defeat satan in the wilderness? With the word! So what makes u any different? If you want to defeat satan, KNOW HIS WORD. Call me or email me. I’m here to help. This is my job.lol
2) 2nd Once we’ve started to see what the Word says who we are, who we need to be, and what we can achieve, we need to WRITE THEM DOWN. Habakkuk 2:3-4 says that we ought to write our visions down so that we can actually move forward with it. What stops a man who has million dollar plan, to continuously put it off? No vision. What about a man who says I want to serve God, but doesn’t feel it’s truly attainable? No vision. Vision is the next step in loving YOU.
3) Then we must meditate on it. God says in Mark 11 that if you truly can believe something in your heart, then you can have whatsoever things ye say. But how can you ever get the impossible that you see with your eyes and turn it into a possession in your heart? MEDITATION. Shutting down, and seeing what you’ve written! So much to the point that it becomes truth to you, even before it happens. That’s called faith!
4) Declare them! Start to speak it out. Confess with your mouth! Your tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Write yourself in to the history books and the Lamb’s book of life with one of the smallest members in your body, the tongue!
Even though this four step process seems simple, I’ll be wrong if I didn’t tell you about some of the “kickers!” Mark 11 also tells us that if we stand praying without forgiving our brother, get off your knees, go fix things with your brother, because that’s the only way God can fix things with YOU! My father use to urge us to forgive, because he knew that it was set us free. Even though holding on to hatred seems good, it’s a disease that will kill you if you don’t let it GO! How many of us have forgiven ourselves for stupidity we’ve done in the past? Then forgive others as well!
In Matthew 22 Jesus says the first great commandment is loving God with all thy heart mind and soul and then says you should love thy neighbor as thyself. On these 2 HANG the law and the prophets. A hanger HANGS THINGS.
Loving God hung the 1st 4 out of the 10 commandments and ANYTHING LIKEN UNTO IT. Also reiterated in Romans 13, love thy neighbor as thyself is the last 6 of the 10 commandments 1.Honor thy mother and father 2. Don’t Murder 3. Don’t steal 4. Don’t lie 5. Don’t commit adultery with your neighbor 6. Don’t covet what your neighbor has and ANYTHING LIKEN UNTO IT, is how you LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF.
Therefore if you’re not patient, loving, kind, forgiving, meek, joyful, and giving to others, you are not loving others as you would yourself! Those things are the fruits of the spirit. A fruit comes from a seed and the seed that those things stem from is the commandments of the Lord.
Isaiah 58 tells us about true fasting. It opens the door of importance even further as to why we should lov thy neighbor as thyself.
6Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
7Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
8Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy reward.
9Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
10And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day:
11And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
12And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
Don’t you want to call upon the name of the Lord and He answers? What better gift? What better title than the REPAIRER OF THE BREACH? One who can lift others burdens, simply because yours are now gone! God is looking for you to be just like Him. Put aside “telling it like it is!” Pointing the finger! Speaking vanity towards others! Don’t let the hatred of many stop you from being the one God can use. Be quick to forgive, and be even quicker to love others as you do your very own self.
In God’s Timing,
Below is a link to download the audio to the sermon that was taught on this lesson.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/twzul6
