John 14:15, 21 & 23-24: Do you love Jesus?

John 14:15, 21 & 23-24: Do you love Jesus? 

So simple, and yet so important:

(John 14:15, 21 & 23-24) [Jesus said,] "If ye love me, keep my commandments.  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."

Jesus answered and said unto him, "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.  He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me."

We say we love the Lord, but we refuse to follow down the paths of righteousness.  No one is capable of being perfect, but few even strive for holiness anymore.  Those who preach holiness are called judgmental and legalistic, even though we preach our messages from Jesus' own words (and from the Books of the Bible directly inspired by the Holy Spirit). 

(1 John 2:4) He that saith, "I know him," and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 

How can we say we love Jesus when we refuse to do what is right?  According to the Bible, we are all hypocrites and liars when we actively rebel against the laws of Jesus Christ.

When we can read the list of actions that will keep us out of the Kingdom of God* but pick and choose what we will and will not obey, we are rejecting the most beautiful gift we have ever been given (*these lists will be at the end of this post).  

Let's face it, we have all been there and nobody likes to love and not be loved in return.  Yet whether that person is the object of infatuation or a family member, the feeling of rejection cannot even come close to comparing how God must feel when we willingly slap Him in the face by saying we will not humble ourselves and bow our will to His own.  If you say you love your spouse you would never, ever cheat on him/her.  Yet when we say we love Jesus, but we let our souls rot in front of ungodly television shows/movies, go to bars, watch pornography, glorify the occult, lie, cheat, steal, etc., then our love is every bit as tainted as the person who actively cheats on their spouse.

Today is the day to choose to accept the love of the Lord by honoring Him with your lifestyle.  It is never too late to give your life to Christ and ask for forgiveness of your sins either for the first time or to rededicate your life to the Lord and repeat your first works of salvation (see Revelation 2:5).  

For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. II Corinthians 6:2

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15    

Jesus is waiting with arms open wide, please won't you accept His precious gift of salvation and eternal life?

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness. Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. Revelation 21:8